Book on recollection of Journalist Rupa Chinai’s work traversing the North East
Morung Express News
Kohima | June 4
“This book is from the people from the rest of India to the people of the Northeast. It’s a gift of love and respect” began Journalist Rupa Chinai during the launching of her book ‘Understanding India’s Northeast- A reporter’s journal’ on June 4 at Symphony Cafe, Kohima.
Organised by the North East Network, Nagaland, the release also held discussions on the book by Niketu Iralu, Peace Activist, Khesheli Chishi, Indigenous Women Forum for North East India (IWFNEI), and Seno Tsuhah, North East Network.
While the book is a recollection of the journalist’s work traversing the North East for almost three decades as a journalist writing on issues of conflict, health and culture, it is also an outcome of the writer’s personal journey which began at the age of ten when she first heard Niketu Iralu sing ‘Kohima/Kewhira’ a song of nostalgia composed by Keduolhoulie Pienyii which speaks of the beauty and yearning for one’s land.
This influence and passion drove Chinai to first visit the North East in the 1980s which she mentioned as arriving at a ‘time of turmoil in the North east’ with the region mired with movements, conflict and violence.
Working for a magazine called ‘Himmat’, Chinai was sent to cover the Northeast, a region in a turbulent phase with no correspondent to report on except for distorted news in leading national dailies. “During that first trip to the region in 1980, i found that ordinary people nurtured a deep sense of injustice and alienation. Denying them an opportunity to be head and understood, depriving them access to receptive media and sensitive judiciary while unleashing the full force of military might and inhuman laws, we are guilty of ruthlessly pushing peaceful, gentle people against the wall,” stated Chinai.
“This book is about listening to the people of Northeast, to know who you are, give pen to your voices and give context to your background,” said Chinai.
The book provides various insights and personal stories of lived history and realities of people in the Northeast.
Niketu Iralu remarked the release of the book as timely in meeting the pressing need to address the urgent issue of ‘starting, deepening and widening understanding among peoples in situations of longstanding conflict so that their formidable difficulties become their common strength instead of causing their destruction’.
Iralu viewed that after reading the book, the reader will discover that the writer from Mumbai knows about the peoples of our region much more intimately than many of us know about our own region. “The understanding of the Northeast that Rupa has sought in order to convey it to the people of India and their government in Delhi is strikingly free from pressure for achieving the needed solutions. That is why the stories are captivating and hope giving. The book is very much about a better future for the region and all concerned with that challenge,” stated Iralu.
Rupa Chinai is an independent journalist based in Mumbai who has written extensively on Public Health Development and the North East regions of India.
