The Centre for Research and Advocacy, Manipur would like to express our concern with the ongoing oil spill and fire at the oil drilling site of the Oil India Limited (OIL) at Baghjan Village in Assam since 27 May 2020. OIL officials failed to control the oil spill as of 10 June 2020. The oil Blowout, or uncontrolled spillage of oil and gas at the oil drilling site has led to displacement of more than 3000 community members in Baghjan Village and surrounding areas and contaminated much of the Maguri-Motapung wetland, part of the eco-sensitive zone of the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. The oil spill has had an adverse effect on biodiversity of the two eco-sensitive zone.
The Dibru Saikhowa National park is home to at least 36 species of mammals including feral horses and at least 382 species of birds. Locals found a carcass of a Gangetic dolphin, declared as "endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with its skin peeled in the Maguri wetland. The OIL company has contracted experts from Singapore based Alert Disaster Control to control the oil spill. OIL's seeking help from foreign countries indicates the failure or the lack of capacity of the OIL company to handle major oil spills, which is a concern for indigenous peoples across North East where Jubilant Oil and Gas Pnvate Limited and Oil India Limited are involved in oil exploration and survey works like in Manipur since 2010.
In Manipur, the Oil India Limited (OIL) commenced surveys in Khaidem, Moidangpok, Sangaithel villages in lmphal West district in Manipur since March 2017 without providing any detailed information to the villagers and in absence of their consent. Manipur indeed falls in two of the World's Biodiversity Hotspot, the Eastern Himalayas Biodiversity Hotspot, and lndo-Burma Hotspot and oil exploration and related spills like in Baghjan will entail massive social and environmental impacts. Oil companies downplayed the impacts of oil exploration in Manipur.
The Oil India Limited unleashed human rights violations by contaminating the land and water bodies and by denying the livelihood of communities depending on Rivers and wetlands, such as in Baghjan Area of Assam. The oil exploration moves in Manipur failed to recognise indigenous peoples' rights over their land and resources. The effort to explore and drill oil in Manipur involves a process of disrespect and non-application of human rights-based approach to development, one that recognise Indigenous peoples' rights, more with self-determined development over their land and resources.
The continued oil spill and uncontrolled fire at Baghjan should lead to serious review and rethinking of oil exploration and fossil fuel-based industries pursued aggressively across India's North East. The communities affected by the oil spill should be fully compensated and rehabilitated to restore their livelihood and health. OIL should be held accountability for social impacts and irreparable loss of biodiversity. An investigation should be pursued to prosecute responsible officials of Oil companies involved. The Government should refrain from pursuing unsustainable extractive industries, like oil exploration without recognizing community rights and without taking their consent.
When Zubeen Garg stepped onto a stage, whether in a packed Guwahati stadium or before a modest rural crowd, something remarkable happened: the air thickened with anticipation, and the moment he sang, generations sang with him. On September 19, 2025, that voice — at once fiery, tender, and uncontainable — was silenced forever in Singapore under tragic circumstances. He was 53.
For Assam and the Northeast, Zubeen was not simply a musician; he was a living cultural movement, a heartbeat that synchronized with millions. A singer, composer, lyricist, actor, and filmmaker, his career spanned over three decades and encompassed songs in more than 40 languages and dialects. His music shaped...
In a chilling reminder of the dangers faced by the press, Hornbill TV reporter Dip (Deep) Saikia was shot in Manipur’s Senapati district on Saturday evening, just a week after being publicly threatened by Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton. The brazen attack has sent shockwaves across the Northeast, raising urgent questions about political intimidation and the safety of journalists.
Saikia, a young reporter from Assam’s Jorhat district, had travelled to Laii village to cover the Zinnia Flower Festival when he was targeted. Witnesses say an assailant opened fire, striking him in the leg and underarm. Villagers quickly subdued the attacker, who was reportedly carrying an air...
When Shri PVSLN Murty, Chairman and Managing Director of the North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (NEDFi), speaks about entrepreneurship in the Northeast, it does not sound like the language of a banker. It sounds more like the voice of someone who has walked the muddy lanes of remote villages, spoken with women artisans at their looms, and listened to farmers struggling to sell their produce.
In his recent television interview, Murty painted a picture of a Northeast alive with ideas, but constrained by access. His reflections move beyond institutional reports and into a larger vision: finance not merely as credit, but as liberation, dignity, and futures being rewritten...
This week, I’ve been swept away by three songs from very different worlds—but each one touched something deep inside me. They tell stories of life, struggle, hope, and joy in their own unique ways. And I want to share how these songs became a part of my own story.
Rose in My Garden — Lou Majaw’s New Video, A Dream Finally Realized
The highlight of my week—and honestly, a moment I’ve been waiting for—is the official music video release of Rose in My Garden by Lou Majaw, my all-time favourite musician and a true living legend of Northeast India’s rock scene.
Written back in 1993 on a lazy summer afternoon in Shillong, this song has been a quiet companion in my life for years. But...
A massive protest was held in the Boroduar Bagan region of the Goalpara district, where Indigenous communities came together to assert their rights over land they have long inhabited. With banners stating "The land belongs to those who occupy it—first give us the land, then give it to the traders," local men and women from various tribal communities rallied to protect their ancestral land from external forces trying to seize it.
Since early morning, Indigenous people from far-flung villages have gathered to resist the threat of losing the land they have occupied for decades. Amid growing fears of displacement, many workers, shopkeepers, and farmers have left their fields to join the...
Assam, one of India’s seven biodiversity rich northeastern states, presents a landscape of lush evergreen forests and grasslands that is home to a great diversity of species including many of the rare cat species. Of the magnificent felines--while the tiger enjoys the lion share of all conservation efforts--the leopard however, continues to remain neglected. A Scheduled I species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, the survival of the leopard (Panthera pardus) in Assam is under threat due to an expanding human population and accompanying development and habitat fragmentation.
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Anjali is my friend. She lived in Guwahati for nearly three years. I didn't know she was researching this book!
I love to read books. Recently, I read her book, "Keeping in Touch." It's a love story set in today's world. The story is about Keteki, a designer, and Ved, a businessperson. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.
The story begins with Keteki and Ved meeting at an airport. Ved is going to Assam to see a special lightbulb factory. Keteki is coming back home to Guwahati after an art show in London. Their chance meeting leads to a love story that goes beyond borders and takes them on adventures in Assam and other places.
What I liked about "Keeping in Touch" is how Anjali...
During the Covid-19, a few brave Assamese boys and girls sailed offshore in search of their destiny, braving heavy odds like the lack of flights, lack of appointments for visas and uncertainty in foreign land. In the most unprecedented times in the history of mankind, now when the world goes through spells of complete lockdown, the youth were clueless about how to deal with this situation. Nevertheless, some brave-hearts embraced challenges with the right spirit and converted them to opportunities.
Dewang Rajkakati is one of them. He left India during the height of the Corona Pandemic in December 2020 after completing B Tech from SRM University. He studied MS from the State...
KOKRAJHAR: An encounter incident took place in the Ultapani forest area along the Indo-Bhutan border area of Kokrajhar district on Thursday night that reportedly killed a person who was allegedly involved with extremist activities recently in Chirang district.
The deceased was identified as Sanjula Wary, 26, of the Sapkata area of the Gossaigaon subdivision.
Police arrested Sanjula Wary(26) of Kashiabari Dulagaon under Gossaigaon police station on Thursday. as per police, he was earlier a member of the NLFB Udalguri camp and had formed an extremist gang of about 10-15 members who were personally involved in the recent dacoity and firing incident at Bithani village under Amteka in...
Guwahati: An orgy of "encounters" triggered no less uproar in the state assembly on Monday, where the government denied any such case of an encounter by police. According to the government, there is nothing new in a few incidents of deaths of criminals in police firing in the state.
Opposition legislators alleged a mysterious rise in the number of deaths in police firings since the new government was installed in Dispur.
Senior minister Piyush Hazarika tried to pacify the legislators by saying that there is no such word as "encounter" in the Assam police manual. He said that police can’t remain idle if a criminal tries to flee from custody.
“It was during the erstwhile...
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