The day that the ‘foreigners’ issue caused turmoil in the Assam Assembly and made headlines, once again – as it has for over 30 years, without much being resolved one way or the other – a few revealing statistics also were reported. I reflect on them here because they raise troubling issues. These are questions…
A documentary film, "Where there are no roads", on the unique boat clinics that ply on the Brahmaputra in Assam, has been screened to international audiences of scholars, media, writers, area specialists, students and professionals in Vienna and London. The latest screening was held at the Indian government's main cultural venue, the Nehru Centre, in…
By the Brahmaputra (Vol 22) (For the quarter April – June 2013) Editorial The Outsider Syndrome: ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ To say that the news from Meghalaya’s Garo Hills is disturbing is to make an understatement. It reminds one of the bad, dark days in Assam, Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, in the Punjab: ordinary workers lined…
After a wonderful response at Delhi, Guwahati, Shillong, Jorhat and Dibrugarh "Where There Are No Roads" C-NES' documentary on the Boat Clinics to be screened at London's Nehru Centre at 11:30 am on 10th July. Producer, Script writer and Managing Trustee, C-NES Sanjoy Hazarika will be present.
To say that the news from Meghalaya’s Garo Hills is disturbing is to make an understatement. It reminds one of the bad, dark days in Assam, Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, in the Punjab: ordinary workers lined up and shot; others attacked in the dark of night (in a sudden assault by a mob, you can’t…
The screening of "Where There Are No Roads" at Jorhat's JB College Auditorium on June 17 was attended by over 100 people- students, health and district officials,homemakers and academicians, followed by a vigorous question and answer session afterwards with Managing Trustee Sanjoy Hazarika, District Programme Officer, Boat Clinic Unit Jorhat, Riturekah Baruah, State Family Planning…
“If I don’t get a hundred it would be a bad day.” said Muniran Bibi. She sounded like an ambitious cricket player. “The boat clinic is our only chance of getting health care here on the island.” she insisted. “If not many people come, a big chance would be wasted for them.” Her eyes were…
“Where There Are No Roads” is as much a statement on the might of the Brahmaputra as on the promise held out by a boat clinic project that delivers healthcare to a million people living by the river Fresh thinking has often delivered. Where There are No Roads, a 48-minute documentary screened at the India…
MAZERCHAR CHALAKURA, Assam — On the banks of the Brahmaputra River, off the coast of Dhubri town in the northeastern state of Assam, lie a few hundred villages that seem stuck in time, difficult to reach from the mainland and undeveloped for decades. These “char,” the name given to the more than 2,000 riverbank villages…