Didn’t want to but felt compelled to write this thread on how the horrendous rape cases in Manipur came to light. It’s everything that is wrong with the media, not just in India but the intl outlets reporting this civil war. Sexual assault on tribal women spurred by fake news about Meitei women being raped was first reported by Hoinehling Sitlhou. She gave it to @thewire_in but they didn’t respond. She isn’t a journalist but a respected academic from the Kuki-Zo tribe newsclick.in/how-fake-news-…

So after the infamous NRC dossier from Assam, the Meitei dossier is out.

It reads like a mix of what AASU (all Assam students union) and MAGA Trumpians would have written. Meanwhile a whole story on Manipur’s own Proud Boys has been missed by the media thanks to “peace loving” narratives on twitter of “but both sides are victims but only one side is indigenous”

How have the Guwahati bureaus not landed up in Churachandpur yet? Tyranny of distance? Churches have been burned, people have been attacked and there are serious allegations against state police not taking any action. Tribals are calling for central security forces to be sent in.

Meanwhile guwahati journalists are wondering why are tribals attacking tribals ffs

For rest of India to understand why Manipur is burning is to first understand that all residents living in Manipur are not tribals. That Meiteis are not tribals.

https://twitter.com/ROKIBUZZAMAN2/status/1653784616581623809

I remember explaining this to a journalist from Gujarat who felt it was a matter of identity and self determination. NO!

Being scheduled tribe is not the same as being Bahujan, it is actually decided by the central Govt.

A couple of days ago I saw some Delhi journos tweeting about their fond memories of Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan. I too finished my high school from there. But my experiences are more bitter than sweet. It was the first school where I was called ‘Ching Ching China’ that I had to endure for four years of my life. Even though I pushed back every single time, it was the most humiliating experience.

The killing fields where Moinul Haque and others were shot dead @Article14live Ahmed Ali breaks down after narrating a harrowing day when he saw the photographer burning down houses, his child getting lost in the chaos and a man being burnt alive. @Article14live

Caste census is anyway an unpopular topic, even more so in the Indian media. But in the 2018 #mediarumble organised by @newslaundry, a report was launched detailing the figures and a panel was conducted on representation.

What’s the follow up? In a predominantly tribal region like India’s Northeast, the number of Hindu upper caste journalists in national media is fairly astounding.

And yes their caste has a bearing on their reportage. Not necessarily better or worse but not without its mark.

This is happening now bit.ly/tlos-getout In a RTI I filed in 2017, 87% of universities reported that they had received zero complaints of caste-based discrimination. But only 144 out of 800 universities had actually responded to UGC’s call for Action Taken Reports thewire.in/caste/india-un…

Today 6pm interview of NSCN-IM General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah with Karan Thapar on @thewire_in The small but significant irony here is that the interview's sponsored by Glenlivet 🤭

Among other things this year, I have covered the myriad ways in which citizenship trials have affected almost all communities in Assam. Receiving a notice from a foreigners' tribunal left these families devastated - socially, financially, emotionally.

A thread 👇 Amena Begum, a Khilonjia (indigenous) Muslim, was marked a D voter in '97. She received a notice in 2013 but was detained three years after being declared a foreigner. In her village in North Lakhimpur, many other Assamese Muslims have received notices article-14.com/post/it-took-a…

After war broke out with China in 1962, thousands of Chinese Indians were picked up from Northeast and taken away to Rajasthan to be interned at India's first detention camp. For @IndianQuarterly I wrote about those who left after their release and some who stayed back For Joy Ma (The Deoliwallahs), Yin Marsh (Doing Time with Nehru) and Andy Hsieh - identify as Indians till today despite emigrating decades ago. But they carry on with this feeling of betrayal - being detained for yrs and not being allowed to go back to their homes.

As we're close to almost a year since the abrogation of article 370 in J&K, re-upping my piece from my meeting last year with NSCN leader, Th. Muivah, who said the decision to scrap Kashmir's special status 'unacceptable' aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/n… On Aug 5, it'll be five years since the leader signed a framework agreement with the Centre, in the midst of Narendra Modi. Since then, his brother in arms, Isak Chishi Swu passed away and he had been patiently waiting for the talks to proceed towards a peace accord.

Curating some of the best amongst the scant coverage of challenges faced by migrants from Northeastern states during covid19 lockdown caravanmagazine.in/communities/mi… "Jamal had spent many anxious months when the National Register of Citizens had been in the making. When he found that his name was not on it, he had to rush back" amp.scroll.in/article/962761…

Crisis reporting for freelancers in India - A thread 

When violent protests broke out in Guwahati, a few unsettling realisations dawned on me as a freelance journalist. Putting them together for the benefit of others like me but more imp publications/channels that hire us. 1/n A presscard is the most sacrosanct during crisis. Of course, there's every chance of you being unable to escape harm despite one but it is a useful, even if temporary, shield.

I know journalists are rushing to break news on the names of those who have been spied on by Pegasus. But a security expert just told me that revealing names is the WORST idea. They said that this is bigger than just select activists, journalists and academics being snooped upon. Revealing their names puts their family members, friends and colleagues at risk of being targeted.

Remember remember the 13 of September. You wouldn't but people from the Kuki tribe across the world do. Who are the Kukis? Here's a good explainer (although unrelated to the event) scroll.in/article/847136… As Naga-Kuki clash broke out in 1993, the NSCN-IM led a 'genocide' to regroup villages in Tamenglong, Senapati and Ukhrul to establish Naga dominance. Several villages were burned down, at least 800 men, women and children massacred