Kolkata: Former Nagaland Governor launches report
The former Governor of Nagaland, Mr. Shyamal Datta, launched the Report ‘Bearing Witness’ on the impact of conflict on women in Nagaland and Assam in Kolkata at the Seagull Centre for Arts, describing it as a document that had ‘opened his eyes’ to the nature of the crisis.
“The report and the exhibition are a tribute to the courage and capacity of those who have suffered and their determination to go on, without complaining,” said Mr. Datta, who earlier headed the national Intelligence Bureau, on Sept. 29 evening.
The event, which has been part of C-NES’ outreach programme about issues and concerns of the region with the report, exhibition of photographs and documentary film to various metros, has traveled already from New Delhi, where former Union Home Secretary Gopal K. Pillai launched it, to Chennai where the audience included largely students and faculty from Madras University. It will travel to Mumbai on Oct 15 for two days before moving to the North-east. The exhibition here ends Oct. 1.
The audience, which including senior officials from the Central Government, diplomats, faculty from the Indian Institute of Management, representatives of the tea industry as well as other businesses, also listened to Lt. Gen. John Mukherjee, a former corps commander who had held distinguished positions in service in the North-east and Jammu and Kashmir.
Citing his personal experiences, Gen. Mukherjee acknowledged that there had been mistakes on both sides during the conflicts. But he emphasized that all those in uniform could not be condemned because of the actions of a few.
“Yes, there has been suffering on the part of the civilian population, we are aware of it and we have tried to tackle it and many others like me are there in the army.” He recounted how he had authorized the court martial of soldiers involved in rape in Assam during his tenure.
Sanjoy Hazarika, C-NES Managing Trustee, welcoming the guests and dignitaries, said that the effort was a small way to address the “democratic deficit” in the North-east and other parts of the country. “We will learn from each other as we speak to each other, not by raising our hands against each other.” The programme in Kolkata and elsewhere was not just to point out the injustices of the past but also to build bridges.
Visitors who walked through the gallery of photographs by Kausiki Sarma, spread over three rooms in the elegant space of Seagull, a premier international publishing house and arts centre, wrote of how they were deeply moved by the photos and the event.
The screening of Maulee Senapati’s documentary ‘A Measure of Impunity’ and a panel discussion on the film, report and issues before the region is scheduled for 4:30 pm on 30th Sept.
Earlier, Mr. Hazarika, Mr. Senapati and Ms Sarma were interviewed by Kolkata Doordarshan on the project for their weekend magazine programme; the interviews are scheduled for broadcast on Saturday (Oct 1) at 10:30 pm with a repeat the following morning at 9:30 am.