NE-Tym, the annual fest by the North-East Cell, Hindu College was held on 25th February, 2013. With stalls for food, handicrafts and books in one part of the college and canvas exhibition in the other, the students felt the presence of the north-eastern culture around them. Simultaneously, a national seminar was held in the auditorium about mainstreaming the north-east and its implications to the state and society. Binalaxmi Nepram, founder of Manipur Gun Survivors Network and Secretary General, Control Arms Foundation of India, conducted the seminar. M.A. Sikander, Director of the National Book Trust of India and Robin Hibu, IPS Joint Commissioner, Delhi Police also spoke about the issue, along with moderator Maharaja Pradyot Deb Burman, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, The North East Today. Binalaxmi spoke about students coming from the north-east to Delhi to study and feeling alienated here. She talked about AFSPA, and the need to transform. She spoke with great compassion about the north-eastern people being called ‘chinkis’ and how the history of 45 million people hasn’t been included in our textbooks. North-east was called the ‘Switzerland of India’ by Pandit Nehru and indeed it is that beautiful. We just need to have the eyes to look beyond the issues and violence prevailing in the region. The main attraction of the event, however, was an interactive session with Arnab Goswami, after the panel discussion. Born in Guwahati, Arnab is the Editor-in-Chief and news anchor of the Indian news channel, Times Now. His special television programme, “Frankly Speaking”, has featured many eminent personalities. Being an alumnus of Hindu College itself, Arnab took a nostalgic walk around the campus and was happy to declare that not even the smell of the hostel had changed over the years. He said that his intellectual prejudices and debating instincts have all come from this college. He had joined Hindu when the Mandal Commission was in action and protests were going on in the campus. In his words, “on one side of the road, was the real India, out on the streets and on the other, a college which shut its gates. I was proud to belong to the India of Hindu College. The college that didn’t live in fake elitism and where college politics was not a bad thing. I was part of the new India, not the India that has ruled this country for decades.” He gave some words of advice to the students, saying that one should always stick his neck out, not belong to the cosy club. To break the system, never be a part of it. To be a leader, break out. Arnab admitted that he is often criticised for being loud and argumentative but he also knows that his journalism has changed the nature of news coverage in the country. Unless one goes over the top, the country can’t be changed. In the end, he only said that he wears his nationalism on his sleeve, not his regionalism, and that’s what he would ask his listeners to do as well. After some questions and debate on good journalism, the session came to an end. A cultural extravaganza and a star performance by Alobo Naga and the Band followed this. Surbhi Grover([email protected]), with inputs from Aanchal Sethi]]>
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