If one was being parochial one would have only said that Kalikho Pul’s Suicide Note is one the most important literary sources to understand politics and governance in the North East of India (relevant parochial sections highlighted in green in the english translation). But this Suicide note is also a key public document which lifted the tattered veil of judicial incorruptibility (highlighted in pink in the english translation). Today when 4 senior most judges have broken ranks to point at the rot in the judicial system under the present CJI Mr. Dipak Misra, it is important to revisit the suicide note, for here was the fuse which finally ignited the firework today.
Author: Raiot Collective
We are many, we are one.
Can the Government guarantee safety of data ?
Is Aadhaar fool proof ?
Is Aadhaar making identity theft easier ?
Is Government putting citizen’s data at risk ?
Why is Government in a hurry to mandate Aadhaar ?
Is Government unable/can’t control Aadhaar leaks ?
Published in 1864 ‘Papers relating to the Disturbances in the Cossyah and Jynteeah-Hills’ is a classic colonial administrative report on the indigenous insurrections in Khasi Jaintia Hills. Model for all the contemporary Sarkari reports on people’s resistances. Long buried in the libraries, this text has made careers of many a historians. If you are interested in insurrection Kiang Nangbah, you have trawl through this text to know the colonial version of the events. Raiot will be putting in public domain many of the key archival historical document relating to the history of our hills. Download – it goes without saying.
It doesn’t snow in my village,
Santa Claus is unfamiliar to us,
though we don’t get Christmas cake,
Yet Christmas is best in my village;
Reindeers don’t roam in our forest,
Exchanging Christmas gifts is not our tradition,
Bethlehem is a place we’ve never seen,
yet Christmas is best in my village.
[Khrismas Ye Niphulo pavi / Christmas is best in my village, a christmas song by Sumi Naga Choral group NAGAGENOUS]
After receiving the recent accolade of “Festival capital of Europe” – Meghalaya gets its first participatory festival of BAD ROADS.
Kane ka dei ka jingthoh jong ka Reetika Khera kaba kyrteng “Why ABBA must go”, kaba la pynwan sha ka ktien khasi da u Rev. Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh hadien ba la ioh jingbit. Ka Reetika Khera ka hikai Economics ha IIT Delhi
Congress, BJP, NPP, Independent, Regionalist. Corruption cuts across party line in Meghalaya. So presenting (drum roll) Education Scam Hall of Shame
The case was simple – based on the recommendations from the politicians – then Education Minister Ms. Ampareen Lyngdoh, instructed her officer Mr. J. D. Sangma to doctor the selection list. Mr. Sangma ably supported by Ms Lyngdoh’s supporters wantonly white inked successful candidates and marks and created a ‘tainted’ merit list. It took eight years of long and convoluted struggle, from the lowest to highest court, inside and outside the court system, before the division bench of Meghalaya High Court delivered its bombshell judgement on 2nd November 2017.
Some of us in RAIOT Collective (and our mother ship Thma U Rangli-Juki) have been closely associated with the challenge to this mega corruption case and we thought that we should draw up a chronology of this long struggle, not merely for the sake of history but also to remind the citizens that justice can be won, if one persists with commitment.
Lada phi dei i nongtrei-nongbylla ha jylla Meghalaya, peit ia kane ka video. kan batai shai ia ki hok jong phi ha ki kam sorkar, lane ha ki kam riewshimet (private) bad ter ter. Ngi lah ban ioh ki hok lada ngi ieng tylli lang kawei. Peit bad pynsaphriang ia kane sha baroh ki nongbylla ba shah pynduh ia ki hok jong ki.
The Meeting resolved to start an Opt-Out campaign for those who had already enrolled in Aadhaar but who wish to withdraw their consent and with draw from the Central Data Storage which they believe that both their Bio-metric and Demographic Information are stored. The Opt-Out campaign is based on an informed opinion that the adhaar project is inherently flawed/dangerous and it is also based on the fact that now Privacy is a Fundamental Right as guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution of India so therefore the Adhaar Project infringes upon this Right and as citizens we resolved to protect our Right to Privacy by opting out of Adhaar. A sample Opt-Out Letter was drafted both in English and Khasi and distributed so that people can read, understand and decide. The Meghalaya Peoples Committee on Adhaar had fixed 30 October as a date to collect all those individual opt-out letters and send them to authorities concerned and the Committee firmly believed that this opt-out campaign will have long lasting impact on the fight against intrusion by the Power of the State on individual citizens. Individuals who wish to withdraw their consent are requested to come to KSU office at Jaiaw Shillong on the 30 October 2017 and submit their opt-out letters from 11am to 3pm.
The dangers of Aadhaar/UIDAI isn’t about privacy or data security alone. It is far bigger. It is about how much power you as an individual, surrender to the government.
Sadguru who has taken up to saving the rivers by spending millions of crores of rupees himself is accused of violation of many environmental laws in Tamil Nadu. Encroachment on the Kundakoi tributary of the river Noyal, construction of ashram with nearly one thousand buildings on the reserved forest, encroachment on the elephants corridors, are some of the acts he is involved in. There are many petitions filed before the court against him, which are in progress. In this regard, the government officials of Combatore district have confirmed these violations in affidavits and even given stop order, which has been violated by Sadhguru.
We need to also know that Jaggi Vasudev’s father-in-law has charged him with murder of his wife. The case is still pending. “Why are they not arresting me then?” this is what he said in response to a question by a journalist. We only want to remind people who are bowing down to him and colluding with him today, must remember the fate of Asaram Bapu or Ram-Rahim. One must support, or donate only after complete awareness and inquiry. We would like to give this warning on behalf of the Narmada Bachao Andolan to all. The journalists and newspaper correspondents must thoroughly research so that rivers can be saved and not sold in the name of “Rally for Rivers”.
He started his career in music at a very young age of 6 Years playing in church services and winning many music competitions at a very young age.
At a time when many of his school mates where preparing for their final exams, Manfulson was busy playing as a session musician in studios making music for iconic albums like those produced by the Khasi Students Union. He continued playing for bands like Conbrio and others. Meanwhile he continued playing in gospel albums produced by the Bible Society India Shillong Auxilliary and innumerable other albums.
In this excerpt from his autobiography, Syed Ali Shah Geelani talks of 1947, the tribal invasion and Indian Army in Kashmir
I read The Wire’s story and Jay Amit Shah’s response. The story is factual, based on the annual reports filed with ROC. The story doesn’t make any allegations or imputations. It quotes the responses of the lawyer of Jay Amit Shah extensively. It also puts up their entire response. All It does is a mere extrapolation based on the numbers in the ROC filings. And in a country where public scrutiny of individuals who rule us is minimal, It does raise important questions
Gauri Lankesh was one of the Karnataka’s most prominent and fearless journalist. She was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru on the night of 5th September, 2017. Gauri spoke out against communal forces in the Country and represented dissent and freedom of speech. The film is more than a personal tribute and follows her political journey, envisaging what she stood for and her struggle for communal harmony until her last breath. And her life story has become the history of Karnataka’s fight against right-wing communal forces.
Akhil Gogoi’s, incarcerated people’s leader of Assam, statement in front of the Chief Judicial Magistrate on 25th September in Dibrugarh
Few days ago one of the Raiot collective members received a Whatsapp message in Hindi. However, since some of the receivers of this message could not read hindi, the thrust of the threat was not instantly delivered, so it turned into a bit of a failure. But then yesterday, it came to our attention that a few other people- journalists, activists, as well as students – received the same whatsapp-forwarded death-threat; each coming from different numbers originating from different states in the country.
The high profile rally initiative to save India’s rivers taken up by well respected religious guru Sadguru and his followers is noteworthy, and the most recent case in point. It is striking that so many film stars, politicians, governments, and public personalities, are joining the call. Lakhs of children are expected to join in the program. While we welcome such an outpouring of good intentions and good will as a demonstration of the positive energy all around, unfortunately, we have seen no evidence either from the rally organisers, on their website or their messaging, that they understand or plan to address the real threats faced by our rivers and their sorry state.
Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR against Vikramaditya Rana (whose FB Profile is registered as Ashok Brahma), who supposedly works in Department of Accounts in Shillong who openly threatened to eliminate four eminent women and a noted journalist, all of whom he termed “anti-national”.
We are curious about why the government wants to block our website. A traveling arts project is not exactly threatening the status quo. Further, curiosity and engagement with processes of identity construction is necessarily an open-ended process. There is no in-advance condemnation of any particular party, politician or any social group. From concerns about language, to food habits, to religion, marriage, divorce, clothing, color of skin and other minutiae of public and private life, identity has acquired weight if you live in India.
The police has arrested a person on the charge of rape and abduction of a minor girl of Namsai district of Arunachal Pradesh. The person, stated to be a RSS pracharak, was arrested on Augutst 22, Namsai superintendent of police C K Mein said on Friday.
Tonight Gurmeet Ram Rahim from his prison cell calls upon you to dance and purify yourself to his tunes and join his followers in the new world they are creating. So get charged you sons of lion.
MPCA urges upon all concerned and at various levels of authority not to breach upon the right of privacy of each and every individual while attempting to get maximum number of persons for Aadhaar enrolment during a given period of time. As we have received the Ruling on the Right to Privacy, so shall come the Ruling on Aadhaar enrolment and registration. “Force, unaided by judgement, collapses through its own weight.” (Horace, 65-8 BC: Ode)
Ka TUR ka pynrem jur ia ka jing ibein bad jingymsuidniew jong ki katto katne ki riew Kristan ia kiba long ki nongbud Jong ka Niam Khasi Niam Trai
“His birthday is everybody’s birthday
Let’s say born to light
The day of burning the lamp of hope
Let’s say born to light”
An Open Letter to Assam Chief Minister, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal on the killing of Lafiqul Islam Ahmed of All BTC Minority Students Union (ABMSU)
We, the undersigned Adivasis strongly condemn these literary activists and self-styled guardians of Adivasi culture and morality, their hypocrisy, acts of provoking the community and their smear campaign against author Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar.
On July 19, 2017, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court has assembled for the first time in 10 years to answer one long-debated question:
*Do Indians have a Fundamental Right to privacy?*
The Greatest Festival of the Pnars is here and here’s a chance for the Khynriam, Bhoi, War etc to know their Pnar brethren a little better. Do forgive us, if you knew them rather well already.
Distressing state of affairs in the Supreme Court
What are the instances of abuse of the power of the master of roster in the Supreme Court? The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) press release
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