North-East India, surrounded by Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet (China), Myanmar and Bangladesh, gives shelter to over 20 active armed outfits, which are fighting against the central government for many decades. With demands ranging from sovereignty to self-rule, the insurgent groups have almost waged a war against New Delhi that almost crippled the economy of the alienated region. The prolonged armed struggle has already snatched away thousands of lives form both the state and non-state actors in the region that is home to around 50 million population. Some of the militant outfits are still running training camps inside jungles of south Bangladesh and northern Myanmar. New Delhi has repeatedly asked both the governments to crack down on those camps.
Though Dhaka has shown seriousness on the issue, the Myanmar junta almost ignores India’s request. It is a general understanding that the junta is playing with the government of India on the issue and it has neither the capacity nor interest to take actions against the North-Eastern militants taking shelter inside that country.
Slowly but steadily, the conscious citizens of the region have come out to the streets against the inhuman and unruly activities of the insurgent outfits. Defying the diktats of the militants, the electorates of the region have been participating in the elections, conducted by the Election Commission of India, with huge turnouts. Moreover, the number of citizens participating in the Independence Day and Republic Day (of India) are growing every year, even though the armed groups continued their threats against such celebrations in the region. There are instances when the conscious citizens have expressed their angers publicly against the militant leaders, who had been masterminding the terror activities to keep the region burning.
Speaking about this, the secretary of Gauhati Cine Club, Kanak Chandra Kalita, expressed optimism that the coming festival will receive significant response from the film lovers of Assam. Talking about the theme of anti-terrorism, Kalita asserted that it was everyone’s duty to stand against terrorism. “We expect a world of peace, prosperity and wisdom. And terrorism has no place there. That is why we have planned the theme for the next Guwahati festival to be anti-terrorism. It will be a small contribution from our end to understand and resolve the issue of terrorism for the sake of humanity,” Kalita added.
The four-decade old Gauhati Cine Club has been organising regular screening of films of national and international repute in the city. Established (under the leadership of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika) in 1965 with an aim to create awareness about cinema as a serious art form and also encourage debate and discourses about the cinema in the society, the cine club publishes an annual cine journal named Chitra Chinta. Till date, the cine club has published some exceptional books on the legendary film personalities like the Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, pioneer of Assamese Cinema Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala, awardwinning Manipuri film director Aribam Shyam Sharma etc.
Moreover, it organises the film appreciation courses for the interested filmgoers and also interactive sessions with distinguished film personalities. The annual memorial lecture on Rupkonwar Jyotiprasad Agarwala, the doyen of Assamese cinema, who dared to make the first Assamese movie Joymati in 1935 amidst all challenge and difficulties, is also a praiseworthy activity of the cine club.
