HAUNTED AND GHETTOISED: Prolonged Aftermath
Khairunissa, along with her siblings and parents, spent years living in a multi-religious and multicultural apartment in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. When communal tensions and targeted violence against Muslims erupted in the city on February 28, 2002, her family initially felt secure, confident that their neighbours would be able to protect them. But then Khairunissa saw a mob approaching their building. In an instant, their lives and circumstances changed dramatically. More than 22 years later, the lasting impact continues to affect them and hundreds of thousands of Muslims in the state.
Where MEITEIS AND KUKIS UNITE in Manipur
Amid the 15-month ethnic divide between the majority Meitei community and Kuki-Zo tribes in Manipur, there is a place where youth from both groups come together for their future and education. In a special educational project run by the NGO NIEDO and the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force, young girls and boys from both groups unite, believing that leaving the past behind and focusing on the future is key to restoring peace in violence-stricken Manipur. Despite the state’s deep divisions, these students hold onto the hope of one day reconnecting with friends from other communities.
BEING A SARPANCH | The Price of Honesty
(WATCH): Raj Kumar Rana, a Dalit Sarpanch from Nurpur Village in Punjab, has been committed to the development of his community. Despite his earnest efforts, state-level party politics have significantly hindered his progress. The Panchayati Raj system, designed to empower local communities and promote responsive governance, faces challenges when state politics intrude. In the case of Sarpanch Rana, his firm stance leads to unforeseen consequences for him and his family.
DEATH IN A RELIEF CAMP | The Impacts of Prolonged Displacement in Manipur
Neikochin is among the 67,000 individuals displaced by ethnic violence in Lamka, as local residents of Manipur's Churachandpur district prefer to call this region. A member of the minority Kuki-Zo tribe, she has taken refuge in one of the 115 relief camps established across the district. Basic supplies are available in the camps, but the extended displacement, combined with minimal government aid, has inflicted significant emotional and physical suffering. This crisis has resulted in the deaths of more than 100 displaced individuals, including many children. Neikochin’s 20-year-old son, Haovingly, was among those who died.
LIFE IN LAMKA | Economic Impact of Violence on Kuki - Zo Community in Manipur
Benjamin, a Kuki-Zo man and father of five in Manipur’s Churachandpur district, struggles daily to meet his family's needs amid ongoing ethnic violence. The unrest, which began over a year ago, has severely impacted the state's economy, with retail inflation soaring to 11.63% in November 2023, compared to the national average of 5.55%. The prices of essential goods have skyrocketed in this border district, which remains cut off from the commercial hub of the Meitei-dominant Imphal region, about 60 km away. All goods now come through mountainous terrain, covering a distance of over 800 km. How is Benjamin’s family – and other residents – surviving this economic crisis?
UMAR KHALID | From the Eyes of His Loved Ones
Umar Khalid, who once dreamed of playing cricket for India, now faces serious terrorism charges from the government. The vilification spurred by media trials reached its peak with a chilling assassination attempt. He's been in prison for 3.5 years as of March 2024, highlighting a worrying crackdown on dissent in India. This is his story, as told by his loved ones.
WHAT MAKES A ‘HOME’ | Demolition Drives in Delhi
The video delves into the lives of Delhi's slum dwellers, whose homes perpetually face the threat of demolition. In a recent case, on May 19, 2023, residents of Priyanka Gandhi Camp in Vasant Vihar, Delhi, received official notices from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to vacate the land by June 15, 2023. Despite legal battles fought by the PG camp residents, their ‘Jhuggis’ (slums) were ultimately demolished. Between April 1 and July 27, 2023, Delhi witnessed 49 demolition drives. In 2023, at least 1600 homes have been destroyed and about 2,50,000 are homeless in India’s Capital. This story is about the plight of those who become homeless overnight.
MANIPUR | The Men Behind Violence In Manipur
Newsreel Asia revisits Manipur, a state in Northeast India, now besieged by near-daily attacks since May 3, 2023. Moving from survivors' homes to violence epicentres, this mini-documentary investigates alarming accusations that implicate both local extremist factions and state security forces in the attacks on the Kuki-Zo tribal community.
MANIPUR | A Surge of Violence
Kai Neu, a nurse, and Thanghoulal, a driver, represent many from the Kuki-Zomi tribes who have suffered ceaseless violence since May 3, 2023, in Manipur, a state in Northeast India. They inhabit Churachandpur district, which remained inaccessible with no Internet connectivity either.
A GREY WORLD
Kaolin, or China clay, is a mineral harmful to both humans and the environment. Located in Kharia Village in West Bengal state?s Birbhum District, is a Kaolin mine and processing unit owned by Patel Nagar Minerals Pvt. Ltd. Founded in 1955, it?s one of India's longest-standing China clay processing units. The unregulated pollution from this unit poses a significant health risk to locals, damaging soil, groundwater and agriculture, and severely affecting the region's ecosystem. This story, by Kolkata-based filmmaker Subhrajit Sen, explores the mining?s impact on workers and villagers. It was produced with support from Internews? Earth Journalism Network Asia Pacific Grant 2022.
CART PULLER | Life of a Daily Wage Worker
More than 41,000 daily-wage workers died by suicide in India in 2021, as per the government?s National Crime Records Bureau, which also showed these workers form the country?s largest group among the suicide victims. This short film depicts a day in the lives of cart pullers in the national capital of Delhi.
PAVITRA | An Addict is Reborn
It was out of curiosity that Pavitra tasted alcohol for the first time when he was at school. His adventure soon turned into drug abuse, addiction.... and even crime. The story of Pavitra, who lives in Punjab state's Sri Muktsar Sahib district, may resemble the stories of nearly four million people in the state who abuse substances.
PORTER | Life of A Daily- Wage Worker
As railway stations now have fairly modern infrastructure and travellers use wheel trollies, the demand for porters has gone down in recent years. COVID-19 restrictions have further brought their earnings down. This first episode of a series of short films, with no dialogues …
UNHEARD ECHOES
Duka Devi is nearly 100 years old but her activist spirit appears to be as youthful as it must have been during the ?Chipko? movement she was part of decades ago. In that agitation in Raini village in Uttarakhand state?s Chamoli district in the 1970s, women from the Bhotia indigenous community hugged trees and offered to be shot by loggers, successfully preventing fell of trees.
LEOPARD IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
Sarveshwar Prasad?s family is among the very few people in his village in northern India?s Uttarakhand state who have not migrated away out of fear of leopards. These wild cats are often seen wandering in residential areas in the state?s Pauri Garhwal district and sometimes mauling humans, even to death.
A CRY FOR DIGNITY | Punjab’s Dalit Christians Speak Out
Kamal Masih, a lawyer practising in a region near India’s border with Pakistan, has represented many victims of discrimination and violence against Dalit Christians in Punjab state. However, Hindu nationalists claim that Christians seek to convert Dalits by offering monetary benefits.
WHY ARE MINORITIES ATTACKED IN INDIA
About 200 people barged into a church in Roorkee city’s Solanipuram area in Uttarakhand state on Oct. 3, vandalised its property and beat up Christians, including women. When the Christians filed a police plaint, three people lodged a counter complaint alleging that workers of the church …
WOMEN RISE UP | No Marriage Before 21
Women from rural India assemble in a village in the north Indian state of Haryana to take an oath, and declare, that they will not marry, or allow other women in their families to do so, before they are 21 years old. Could this be the beginning of a revolution among the country’s women?
LIVES ON FIRE | Jharkhand State’s Underground Fire
A seven-year-old girl witnesses her mother’s death after a portion of land caves in, burying her under debris in Jharia coalfields in India's Jharkhand state, where an underground fire has been raging for over 100 years due to unscientific mining. The girl's father, Dilip Bauri, recalls the incident …