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Wasbir Hussain | |
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| Born | |
| Years active | 1984 – present |
| Notable credit(s) | Talk Time with Wasbir Hussain – A Weekly English Talk Show on News Live, on air since 2008 |
| Television | North East Live, News Live |
Wasbir Hussain is an Indian journalist, author, and political commentator specializing in peace, security and development in Northeast India. He is the Editor-in-Chief of North East Live. [1]
Beginning his career as a journalist in 1984, Hussain covered Northeast India, Bangladesh and Bhutan for major Indian newspapers and journals, including The Hindu , The Telegraph, India Today Group Online, and Outlook. He was also Editor of The Northeast Daily, an English daily from Guwahati, and was Consulting Editor of The Sentinel , a premier English daily from Assam. He had also been Consulting Editor of Times Now TV (2009-2016).[ citation needed ]
Hussain has written regularly for The Asian Age, The Associated Press and a host of other newspapers and journals.[ citation needed ] Besides, his writings on security issues concerning India's Northeast and its surrounding foreign neighbours appear regularly in strategic affairs think tanks and journals. His major research work has been on the issues of insurgency and trans-national insurgency in Northeast India, comparative study of ethnic insurrections in Northeast India and the Maoist rebellion in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh, the problem of illegal migration and demographic ‘invasion’ in Northeast India, ethno-nationalism, and India’s Act East Policy. He has also reviewed strategic and political developments in Myanmar and China and written opinion pieces on these issues.[ citation needed ]
One of the founders of the research and policy think tank, the Centre for Development and Peace Studies, [2] he is currently its executive director. In 2006 [3] and 2008, [4] Hussain was appointed a member of India's National Security Advisory Board.
He is the Editor-in-Chief of North East Live, northeastern India's first satellite English News Channel, with headquarters in Guwahati. The channel is the latest venture of Pride East Entertainments Pvt Ltd, the region's largest media group. Hussain hosts a debate show on the Channel titled 'Northeast Tonight with Wasbir Hussain, telecast every Saturday at 8 pm. The program involves discussion on current trending topics in Northeast India. He also hosts a weekly English talk show 'Talk Time with Wasbir Hussain' on News Live, a Group channel. In 2017, Hussain and two of his associates established the region's first state-of-the-art Television Media Institute at Guwahati called Turning Point Institute of Media & Creative Skills.[ citation needed ]
In the 2003 collection Missing Boundaries: Refugees, Migrants, Stateless and Internally Displaced Persons in South Asia, based on 2002 Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) conference proceedings, Hussain contributed a chapter with a case study on Bangladeshi migrants into Northeast India, and according to a review by Alan B. Anderson in Pacific Affairs , "What might have seemed to be some rather obvious refugee and population displacement dilemmas to include in the book are missing, at least as separate case studies, yet the cases that are included are important and interesting." [5] A review by Sanjana Chappalli in South Asia Research , despite finding the book "a little one-sided" for presenting "the migrant population as contributing to conflict and security problems," acknowledges the effort to focus on displacement and migration, including in how "this volume directs the gaze upon lesser known migrant communities - the Lhotsampas following their eviction from Bhutan, the Bihari Muslims in Bangladesh, the Burmese Rohingayas in Bangladesh, and the internally displaced people in Sri Lanka." [6]
In 2006, Hussain released Homemakers Without the Men: Assam's Widows of Violence, described in a review by the Indo-Asian News Service, published in the The Hindustan Times , as a book "about 12 courageous women - who lost their husbands or kin during the decades-long insurgency in Assam - but have not given up on life," which also notes Hussain "has been writing on insurgency and ethnic strife in Assam and other northeastern states for more than two decades and has short-listed women survivors from across the state for his work." [7] Guwahati-based sociologist Anima Guha said Hussain "has brought out the pathos, trauma, struggle and challenges of these remarkable women." [8] Amrit Jyoti Mahanta writes in a review of the book in The Hindu , "To his credit, the author refrains from judgmental statements while narrating the incidents. Apart from pointing out various related issues like economic hardship (except in the case of a fortunate few) and at times loneliness (ostracized by a panic-stricken society), he argues for some urgent necessities like professional counselling to the shocked family members." [9]
In December 2010, Hussain released the authorized biography Tarun Gogoi: The Inside Story of a Blunt Politician, about the now-former Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi. [10] [11] [12] A review by Pramathesh Borkotoky in the magazine Fried Eye states, "The book is not a typical political biography. The author attempts to touch certain aspects of political history of Assam through the eyes of Tarun Gogoi," and "I would have liked if the book also addressed some of the more serious allegations made against him than those addressed here." [13]
In the 2012 collection Armed Conflicts in South Asia 2011: The Promise and Threat of Transformation, edited by D. Suba Chandran and P.R. Chari, which was described by Raviprasad Narayana in a review for the Journal of International and Global Studies as "a comprehensive survey of the conflicts plaguing the region" that "brings together an eclectic group of scholars and practitioners," Hussain contributed a chapter on northeast region conflict, and "attributes the sustainability of the conflict to several reasons: the plethora of armed groups in a region which is an ethnic mosaic, the existence of porous borders making the situation complicated, the development process undertaken by the union government to work hand-in-hand with anti-insurgency operations, need for the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to be repealed or amended, and the lack of a regional anti-terror network." [14] A review in HIMALAYA by Olivia Molden notes Hussain's chapter covers "the rise of terrorism in Northeast India," and the collection, which is "part of an annual series on the state of peace and conflict on the Indian subcontinent [, ...] paints a picture of dynamic and persistent conflict across South Asia." [15]
Some of the books Hussain has authored or edited touches on issues of communal harmony and has succeeded in highlighting the devastating impact of violence and insurgency. His books include:
The United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is an armed separatist organisation operating in the Northeast Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an independent sovereign nation state of Assam for the indigenous Assamese people through an armed struggle in the Assam conflict. The Government of India banned the organisation in 1990 citing it as a terrorist organisation, while the United States Department of State lists it under "other groups of concern."
The Insurgency in Northeast India involves multiple separatist militant groups operating in some of India's northeastern states, which are connected to the rest of India by the Siliguri Corridor, a strip of land as narrow as 14.29 miles (23.00 km) wide.
Tarun Gogoi was an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 13th Chief Minister of Assam from 2001 to 2016. He was the longest serving Chief Minister of Assam. He was a member of the Indian National Congress. During his tenure as the chief minister, he is credited with ending militant insurgency and mitigating violence in addition to improving the state's fiscal condition.
Nagaon is a town and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated 122.6 kilometres (76 mi) east of Guwahati.
The 2008 Assam bombings occurred on 30 October 2008, before noon in markets in Guwahati city and the surrounding area of western Assam. Reports indicated as many as eighteen bombs went off, causing at least 81 deaths and 470 injuries.
The People's Consultative Group (PCG) was a citizen's group in Assam, India, comprising 11 members and established by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) on September 8, 2005. Its objective was to initiate the peace talk process as mediator between the central government and ULFA. The PCG was dissolved by ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa in February 2011. ULFA continued the peace talk process without the PCG on 10 February 2011 in New Delhi.
The secret killings of Assam (1998–2001) was probably the darkest chapter in Assam's political history when relatives, friends, and sympathisers of ULFA insurgents were systematically killed by unknown assailants. These extra-judicial murders happened in Assam between 1998 and 2001.
Assam separatist movements refers to a series of multiple insurgent and separatist movements that are or have been operating the in Northeast Indian state of Assam. The conflict started in the 1970s following tension between the native indigenous Assamese people and the Indian government over alleged neglect, political, social, cultural, economic issues and increased levels of illegal immigration from Bangladesh. The conflict has resulted in the deaths of 12,000 United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) militants and 18,000 others.
In July 2012, violence in the Indian state of Assam broke out with riots between indigenous Bodos and Bengali Muslims in the Bodoland region of North East, India. The first incident was reported to have taken place on 20 July 2012. As of 8 August 2012, 77 people had died and over 400,000 people were taking shelter in 270 relief camps, after being displaced from almost 400 villages. Eleven people have been reported missing.
From the night of 1 May 2014 until the early morning hours of 3 May a series of attacks occurred on the Bengali Muslims in Assam, a north-eastern state of India. The perpetrator is suspected to be the terrorist group National Democratic Front of Bodoland's Songbijit faction. Speculated to be revenge for not voting for the National Democratic Front in the Lok Sabha elections, the death toll reached 32.
In December 2014, a series of attacks by militants resulted in the deaths of more than 76 people in India. The attacks took place in the Chirang, Sonitpur, and Kokrajhar districts on 23 December 2014. They were attributed to the Songbijit faction of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland.
The Assam Legislative Assembly Election of 2016 was held in two phases, on 4 and 11 April 2016, to elect members of the 126 constituencies in Assam, a state in North-eastern India. The overall voter turnout was 84.72%, which set a new record for Assam. The turnout was an increase from the 2011 Assembly election figure of 75%.
Sanjay (Xonzoi) Barbora is a professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences Guwahati and the former Dean of School of Social Sciences. He is on the editorial board of Refugee Watch. He is also on the board of trustees of The Kohima Institute.
Bismita Gogoi is an Indian politician from the state of Assam who is currently general secretary of All India Mahila Congress in Assam. Gogoi was the member of Assam Legislative Assembly for Khumtai from 2011 to 2016 and culture minister of Assam from 2015 to 2016. She is a member of the Indian National Congress.
Captain Jintu Gogoi, VrC was an Indian Army officer of 17 Garhwal Rifles. He was posthumously awarded the Vir Chakra, India's third highest wartime military decoration, for his courage and bravery in combat during operations in the Kargil War in 1999.
Tarun Gogoi constituted his ministry for a second time on 21 May 2006. Gogoi had previously been Chief Minister since 2001. Following the 2006 Assam Legislative Assembly election, Gogoi became Chief Minister for a second time as he had formed his first ministry previously. The coalition government was supported by the Hagrama faction of the Bodoland People's Progressive Front, NCP and independents. There were 17 cabinet ministers and one minister of state, all of whom were either Congress or Independent.
Operation Bajrang was a military operation, conducted by the Indian army, in Assam, against the militant organization, United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
The Barman Ministry was the Cabinet of Assam headed by Chief Minister of Assam Bhumidhar Barman that was formed following the death of Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia. The ministry had 11 Cabinet ministers along with 3 ministers of state. The ministry was dissolved following the 1996 Assam Legislative Assembly election, which resulted in the formation of the Second Mahanta Ministry. Barman was the shortest serving Chief Minister of Assam, with a tenure of 22 days.
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