In 1985, I had just come back to Delhi after a stint at the New York Times main office. One of the first dispatches I reported was India’s announcement that it would build a fence to stop illegal migration from Bangladesh. The Assam agreement on illegal migration and the state’s development had been signed earlier…
The South Asian Games, a sporting event of international importance, was inaugurated on Friday in Guwahati. No less a personality than the Prime Minister was present at what can be called a spectacular opening ceremony. The dances, songs and brass bands were exceptionally brilliant. The drums ensemble from the eight northeastern states was mesmerising. And…
The man lay crumpled on the highway, wearing a brown jacket and dark trousers. A checked handkerchief was next to his knee and he looked as if he was sleeping. Was he drunk? I wondered. in my mind, that moment remains frozen in time. We had just passed Amoni on the national highway between Nogaon…
To remember brave Nirbhaya and to pay a tribute, Population Foundation of India (PFI) has produced ‘Nirbhaya – India’s Daughter we shall not forget’ by Feroz Abbas Khan and Pracheta Sharma, which will be released today. ************************** From Poonam Muthreja: I am writing to request for your support to mark the day to honour Nirbhaya's memory.…
As a lethal combination of pollutants — from traffic emissions to particulates from the burning fields in Punjab and Haryana, as well as industrial effluents (and anything else I may have left out) — descends on the capital city and its luckless inhabitants, it has never been clearer how critical air pollution is to health. Indeed,…
As Myanmar rushes to its date with democratic and electoral destiny on November 8, one of the key challenges that will face a new government is the shaping of peace with major ethnic groups that have stayed away from a ‘nationwide’ ceasefire agreement — or CFA as it is widely known — with the current…
Every effort at resolving the Naga imbroglio has been embroiled in a challenging quagmire of unending and conflicting demands. While most commentaries on the recent consensual framework for a long-term agreement between the Centre and the NSCN(I-M) have focused on the here and now and sought to define the long road to peace, I will…
'To expect that these past decades of grief, inter-group killings, anxiety and fear will be brushed aside because of the Naga peace accord is being unrealistic. Memories are built on old wounds and they heal slowly. So, it is important to be cautiously optimistic,' says Sanjoy Hazarika. First of all, let us hail the peacemakers…
This is an overall tapestry of vivid colour and powerful imagery, with vignettes and insights into geopolitics, and also the personal lives of those who shaped these major events. It has all the ingredients for a major feature film: Love and hate, suspense and suspicion, great powers and small nations, a Shangri-la, beautiful foreign and…
Shahnaz Anklesaria Aiyar, who passed away in Washington DC yesterday, was a close friend and a wonderful human being who touched everyone she met with her joyfulness and kindness She was one of those rare people in the world: a good human being. I had known her for nearly 40 years and respected her unstinting fight against cancer,…