On 4th March 2009, security forces came to Phoubakchao Makha Leikai in Imphal valley, in the Northeast Indian state of Manipur, looking for a militant ostensibly named, “Azad.” They dragged another, Azad Khan, just 12yrs and studying for school exams, out of his home, and shot him dead in front his parents. The draconian Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. 1958, in force in large parts of several states of NE India, offers unbridled impunity to security forces for such gross lapses. Azad’s parents are still waiting for justice.

Bhaskar Jyoti Das, a screenwriter and filmmaker from Assam, passed away from cancer on 26th December 2024. He is best known for documentary “I Don’t Want to Be born Again for Poem’ (co-directed with Waribam Dorendra, 2019) and for the scripts of feature films “Sonar Baran Pakhi” (2016), “Haanduk: The Hidden Corner” (2016). He loved working in experimental and research-based projects.