Dissent and Torture

                                   Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved


Irom Sharmila, 42, a woman with unkempt black hair and a disarming smile, has long advocated for the repeal of India's Armed Forces ( Special Powers) Act, or AFSPA, which gives the Indian Army legal immunity for its various brutal actions. She has been arrested again and again since starting a hunger strike in November 2000. "I have spent 14 years of my life chewing my tongue just for violence on all sides to end", she said.

My Report for US-based Women Under Siege Project

Nagaland, before elections

                                        Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved


We travelled to Nagaland for a report before the Assembly elections in the state's 50th year.
This photograph of cadres belonging to the NSCN-IM, a Naga rebel group in a ceasefire with the Government of India for the last 15 years, was taken during an earlier visit to their headquarter near Dimapur.
This is the link to the Nagaland news documentary

Meghalaya Elections

                                            Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

Photograph taken on our way to Shillong earlier in February. We were in Meghalaya for this report on the Assembly elections in the state. 

A Manipur morning

                                                        Photograph@Arijit Sen and Tomba--All Rights Reserved

Early morning at a village in the Tamenglong district of Manipur. December 2012. And then this in one corner (below)

                                                          Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

And this in another (below)

                                                          Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

Survival moves

                                                           Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

After Jorhat we travelled to Imphal, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. The state has 42, 116 people who are HIV+. Manipur is quite close to Burma. The porous border with Burma and proximity to the infamous Golden Triangle drug route ensures drugs are easily available in Manipur. Add to that a life stifled under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Many intravenous drug users in Manipur struggle to survive in this state. Leading the battle for survival is the Manipur Network of Positive People. Formed in 1997, currently it has 2000 members who are countering fear, ignorance, social stigma and helping build a community based organisation. It is not an easy job to say the least. We had visited MNP+ in 2007. When we were there in December 2012, it was our second visit after five years.

A mad green soul

                                                                         Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

In December 2012 we also travelled to Jorhat in Assam to meet Jadab Mulai Payeng, a green hero. For the last thirty three years of his life he has been crossing this river and planting trees near an isolated sandbar of the Bramhaputra river and has single-handedly given rise to a forest.

                                                                         Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

A Burning Lake

                                             Photograph@Arijit Sen and Tomba--All Rights Reserved

From 1984 development promises have engulfed Loktak lake in Manipur--one of the largest freshwater lakes in India. First came a hydel project and now the government wants to evict fisherfolk to save the lake. Photograph taken by Tomba on location during the filming in November 2012. A short Loktake Video Report 

Madness and a road project

                                                               Photograph@Arijit Sen and Tomba--All Rights Reserved


I was travelling in the Tousem subdivision of Tamenglong district of Manipur. A young and probably mad IAS officer has decided to involve his community and build a road that connects people of the Zeliangrong community and gets them closer. That was our story. This photograph was clicked in the remote Phoklong village in Tousem. The village elders from the Zemi Naga tribe were eagerly waiting for us, the visitors.

                                                               Photograph@Arijit Sen -All Rights Reserved

Fifty Years After A War

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This year we travelled extensively in Arunachal Pradesh for a news documentary on 50 years of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. This photograph was taken at the Sela Pass. A link to the report. 1962: Lest We Forget

Assam Violence

                                        Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved


Last month violence in the Bodoland Territorial Areas District in Assam has left 400,000 people homeless and at least 57 dead. We travelled to some of the villages that have been burnt by mobs. It presents a picture of horror and helplessness. Despite promises and assurances no one knows how long it will take to rebuild homes and rebuild lives.

Transcript and Link of a CNN-IBN video report: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/amidst-ruins-hope-survives-in-kokrajhar/275792-3-251.html

This is a link to the news documentary on the violence: Assam: Split Wide Open

Bus to Burma

                                                                               Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Just returned from an official Burma trip. Nay Pi Taw, the capital, looks like a ghost city. Almost no people in the capital. Just huge hotels and malls stare at you from all corners. And huge roads. Yangon, the original capital city, could probably pass off as Calcutta in the 40s. And Aung San Suu Kyi, whom I met in a Yangon press conference, is magnetic. Hope to revisit soon and with a proper TV crew. As for this visit, it was just my camera and I.
Link to the CNN-IBN blogpost: http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/flyingtrapeze/148/63591/how-india-missed-the-burma-bus.html

On the reporting road

                                                      Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Back in Northeast bureau and back to travelling and reporting. This photograph was taken in Manipur by my friend Tomba. With me in this photo is Mukut, Sunzu and Taton. Link to the election report. Manipur: The Angry State

Around Oxford

Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Noticed this at a corner in Woodstock

Northeast India From A Distance

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In Oxford now and visiting the university as a Fellow. And in an attempt to recast my travels in Northeastern Indian states in the form of structured words--what could be a book at some point of time. This photograph is from a museum visit.

Train Again

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The Hill Queen zigzagging to Halflong, North Cachar

On a train to North Cachar

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After Nagaland was in Delhi for a while. And then travelled to North Cachar in the hill district of Assam. What a fascinating train journey in the metre gauge line! More on the journey and North Cachar in the next posts.

Inside Nagaland

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We took National Highway-39 and crossed Senapati district. Crossed Mao Gate. Reached Kohima. From Kohima travelled inside Nagaland to meet Thuingaleng Muivah in Pughoboto for a long interview. In this photograph my cameraman with Muivah after the interview.

Back to Imphal

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We got back to Imphal. Met people from the valley. Most of them disgusted with this economic blockade ( which was on then) and also with New Delhi. Here we are talking to Rajkumar Ranendrajit.

Somdal

In Somdal in the hill district of Manipur, we met a lot of people. Some still waiting for Thuingaleng Muivah to visit his home. This is the road just outside the village

Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Waiting for Jesus

Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

Noticed this is in Ukhrul. In fact in a lot of other places as well.

From Ukhrul we travelled to Somdal, then travelled back to Imphal. From there to Senapati district of Manipur and then to Kohima. This is the news documentary we did on the 68 day Manipur blockade.