Harsh Mander:Assam’s youngest legislator shows how elections can be won even with truth, love and poetry
"Sometimes they call us foreigners.
Sometimes they call us Pakistanis.
Sometimes they call us Bangladeshis."
WATCH HERE
"The river has taken away our land.
I have moved so many times that
the roof of my house has
turned to powder."
Watch here
"The other students at school say
'Look at him. His father is a labourer.'
I say, What should my father do then?"
Watch here
"The bed you slept on father,
that bed is empty...
I have been sleeping on your bed
since I lost you."
Watch hereAshraful Hussain’s story demonstrates that even with flaws in Indian democracy, it is still possible for youth from marginalised groups to get elected. writes Harsh Mander in scroll.in
Harsh Mander:The spectre of foreignness
Extending the concept of foreigners tribunals from Assam to rest of India will result in an upheaval that will stir memories of Partition, writes Harsh Mander in indianexpress.com
Harsh Mander & Mohsin Alam Bhat:Why the National Population Register is more dangerous than the Assam NRC
The Assam NRC was not an anti-Muslim project. But an all-India NRC based on the NPR will allow the executive to pick whose citizenship it wishes to question, write Harsh Mander and Mohsin Alam Bhat in scroll.in
Harsh Mander & John Dayal:Tinsukia killings may have changed Assam village forever
The murder of five Hindu Bengali men by armed gunmen in Kherbari village in November has left its residents anxious.’ write Harsh Mander and John Dayal in scroll.in
“We, Orang, Munda, Santhal and Kharias are Adivasis. We demand our rights.” Listen to the powerful voice of Mansukh Sankharika, public secretary of All Adivasi Student’s Association of Assam (AASAA) as he walks us through the lives and history of the Adivasis residing in Assam’s tea-gardens. Officially referred to as ‘tea-garden’ tribes till date, Assam’s tea-garden workers are asking for ST status. While ministers and elected officials refuse to listen to the demands of the Adivasis.
‘Miya’ poetry is a reclaiming of one’s Muslim identity by the Bengal-origin Muslims of Assam. It is protest poetry that rebels against oppression and subjugation.That asserts and empowers the self. Miya is an Urdu word that means “gentleman”, but it has become a slur in Assam and is used as a word of abuse. Poets and activists from the Muslim community in Assam have found a way to take the derogatory term “Miya” and subvert it. Miya poetry seeks answers to questions of belonging and citizenship. It echoes the fears of a community threatened by exclusion from the NRC – National Register of Citizens
How does one endure the violence of being told to leave from the only home one knows? Behind the headlines from Assam, who are some of the people whose names are missing from the NRC – the National Register of Citizens? Labelled as ‘foreigners‘ and mocked as ‘termites’, what do they look like, where do they live? This is the story of the people of the Char islands, 10% of the population of Assam. This film looks them in the eye, listens to their voice, their song and their despair.
