2018 : Twocircles.net’s Year in Review

Twocircles.net has had an eventful 2018. We would like to share with our readers some of the key highlights from this year’s coverage and wish our readers a very happy new year

STORIES IN PRINT

1. Reduction in Hajj fares? Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi fooled us, and media lapped it up
March 2, 2018
By Afroz Alam Sahil and Amit Kumar

Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, in a press conference in Delhi, announced that the airfares for Hajj pilgrims had been reduced considerably after the subsidy on Hajj came to an end. What Naqvi failed to point out, was that in the name of ‘reducing’ the fare, it had quietly increased the amount that is paid by the pilgrims.

2. How does a senior citizen become an illegal migrant? Spelling mistakes: The story of Rehat Ali, a detainee a the Goalpara camp
April 18, 2018
By Amit Kumar

The events that took place prior to the arrest of Rehat Ali also show that regardless of how long you have lived in Assam, how many government surveys you have participated in or how many papers you have in your name proving your residence, there is little you can do to be safe. Rehat Ali, for example, has his name in the 1951 National Register of Citizens Record; his name appears on every electoral roll since then; all his children are registered voters; all his brothers and their extended families are also voters. A farmer who had finally retired from work but continued to run a small sweet shop to support his family, Rehat Ali wanted to enjoy his life as a grandfather. Instead, he has been condemned to the detention camp in Goalpara. And the reason? A couple of spelling mistakes.

In one of the electoral rolls in the previous elections, Rehat Ali’s name was misspelt as Rehaja Ali. Lukman says he doesn’t remember exactly which year this happened but says that this was a clerical mistake that had nothing to do with his father’s citizenship. “Here is a simple truth: to question his citizenship because his name was misspelt is absurd. Let alone the fact that Rehaja is the name of a woman…how can these identities be confused?” he asks.

3. How Tamil Nadu government turned Thoothukudi into a living hell
June 4, 2018
By Grace Banu

Through her tears, her sister explained to me. “She went to buy fish for her eldest daughter living nearby. She went near the bridge and she saw the procession and the people and she stood there watching as a bystander. But watching the crowd was a crime to the police and they rained bullets on her. Her one side of the face was torn off. When she fell, they wrapped her body in a banner and put her in the police van and took her away. When we went to the hospital, they first told is there is no such woman here. We continued to ask and push them angrily. After that they showed us her blood-stained bangle. We screamed and wept when we saw that the bangle was our sister’s. The police are saying the protesters had weapons. But the weapon my sister had was the packet of fish she had in her hand for her daughter. If we catch fish they are shooting us (fishing in border waters between Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka is dangerous), if we carry the fish we caught, they are shooting us so how are we expected to live??”

4. Ambedkarism on the canvas: Artist Navin Chahande’s attempt to bring caste to art’s discourse
August 22, 2018
By Daisy Katta

Another of Navin’s work is called the Circle of Equality, here shows us the Roundtable Conference with bespectacled Babasaheb Ambedkar looking towards the camera, Navin says, “We were taught the significance of the Roundtable conference in school, its not only about the freedom struggle but the future of Indians and what are the rights they will get, here the table is not square, it is round, a round table is about assertion, it depicts that everyone is equal.”

5. How an Adivasi Youth outfit plans to give a tough fight to the BJP and Congress in upcoming MP elections
September 11, 2018
By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net

With slogans such as “Abki Baar, Adivasi Sarkaar” and “The JAYS Express”, Hiralal Alawa and other JAYS members and moving around villages of Madhya Pradesh trying to increase their base among the Adivasis. While JAYS may not be able to form a government in the state, experts are sure that it can help create one large coalition against the BJP.

6. This funeral will not be televised: The encounter of Mannan Wani and the media gag
October 25, 2018
By Auqib Javeed

For the first time, they even went on to stop around a dozen journalists from covering Mannan’s funeral. Aakash Hassan, a journalist working with news18 told TwoCircles.net that he, along with a dozen other journalists, were stopped for over three hours by the Jammu and Kashmir police personnel at the Bab-e-Lolab. “We were detained for three hours, they (police) ensured that we don’t cover his funeral,” he added.

A senior Journalist who wished not to be named said, “Images of the funeral help keep the militants alive in the hearts of the people. This is why the Police didn’t allow media to cover his funeral.”

7. Haram in the name of Halal: TCN’s Investigative Series on duping in the name of Halal Investments
November 2018
By Nikhat Fatima, Shaikh Zakeer, Syed Mohammed Abud Asif, Najiya O

Duping in the name of Halal investments is an issue that has left thousands of Indian Muslims confused, scared and angry. Muslims in two cities -Hyderabad and Bangalore are especially at the receiving end, yet there is every chance that unless you are from that region and following local media, you may have no clue that thousands of Muslims have been duped over just the past year in the name of “Halal” investments.

8. How Dalit music in Punjab transformed from a religious to a political soundtrack
November 14, 2018
By Manisha Bhalla

Dadral, who is a resident of Navasheher, has songs like “Tor Chamara Di(The walking style of Chamars), Balle Balle Chamara Di (Balle Balle of Chamaras), Jhande Gade Ravidasia Ne (Flags planted by Ravidasi community” which are all about Dalit pride, assertion, celebration and acknowledging the achievements of the community. As a result, his songs which are in Punjabi, have found acceptance even in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

9. राजस्थान: ऑस्ट्रेलियाई एनआरआई वाजिब अली बने मेवात से विधायक
December 19, 2018
आस मोहम्मद कैफ

लाखों की आबादी और तीन राज्यों तक फैले मेवात में वाजिब अली बिरादरी (मेव)में अकेले विधायक नही है मगर आशा उन्ही से सबसे ज्यादा है.इसके अपने कारण है युवा इमरान मेवाती बताते है”वाजिब अली परिवार की तरक़्क़ी प्रभावित करती है, स्थानीय लोगो मे उनकी दीवानगी है यहां आम लोगो के बीच से निकलकर उन्होंने ऑस्ट्रेलिया में झंडे गाड़े है युवाओं को उनसे सबसे ज्यादा उम्मीद है वो सब वाजिब बनना चाहते हैं”.

10. Bengali-speaking minority students of Bodoland protest in Delhi to demand justice for slain leader Lafiqul Islam and fair NRC process
October 14, 2018
by Nikhat Fatima

Mohidul Islam, the education secretary of ABMSU and also the brother of the martyred Lafiqul Islam said, “We are hoping the President will respond to our memorandum and intervene in these two important matters. I fear the murder case may be closed as it is more than a year and still there is not even a single clue as to who is behind this political murder.”

“I want to keep alive the movement started by my brother who was a strong political figure and had a large following. He was involved in a lot of social work and I am now continuing his legacy by starting a trust under his name to provide education to the poor. More than anything today we need education in our place”, he added during a conversation with TwoCircles.net.

STORIES IN VIDEO

1. Conversation with Arfa Khanum: Indian Muslims – Between Islamophobia and Hindutva
September 4, 2018
By Kashif-Ul-Huda

 

2. The Victims of Kaziranga National Park’s ‘Conservation’
August 3, 2018
by Amit Kumar and Saptarshi Gogoi

The following video, which was shot over two months, looks at how the victims of Kaziranga’s conservation, the farmers have lost all hopes from the government when it comes to compensation. It also looks at the role of community organisations like Jeepal in raising the issue of the farmers at the right level. Amit Kumar of TwoCircles.net travelled across the eastern range of the Kaziranga National Park to find out there were few, if any, villages that had not suffered because of animal encroachment, and what the local people have to say about this issue.

 

3. Supreme Court expedites case against Dainik Jagran for terror defamation of Wasif Haider
April 9, 2018
By Amit Kumar

On April 3, 2018, a bench of the apex court headed by Justice Chalameshwar expedited the trial of Wasif Haider’s defamation case against the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran. Wasif Haider, a wrongfully prosecuted citizen who was declared innocent of all charges against him, had filed a case against the editor as well as the publisher of Dainik Jagran for running a vilification campaign in the years after his acquittal.

Dainik Jagran, a newspaper of the Jagran group, had repeatedly called Wasif Haider ‘Aatanki Wasif’ and ran false stories against him over a period of one year. The stories included headlining his role in the Benaras blast as well as linking him with other terror activities- none of which were based on either facts or police investigation.

 

4. Live Coverage of the Protests at BHU
May 5, 2018
By Siddhant Mohan

Protest against BHU administration and University’s chief proctor Professor Royana Singh for her remark that female students were “fed and funded”

 

5. Rajasthan: Exit Poll Analysis
Dec 7, 2018
By Aas Mohammad Kaif

Aas Mohammad speaks of his predictions for the elections in Rajasthan after extensive travels through the state.

 

6. दलित बहुल गांव के लोगों का झलका दर्द
May 26, 2018
By Fahmina Hussain

देश के कई ऐसे जिले में आज भी ऐसे कई गांव मौजूद है जहां सरकार मूलभूत सुविधाएं पहुंचाने में नाकाम रही है. नीतीश सरकार के तमाम दावों के बाद सरकार और प्रशासन की लापरवाही साफ़ नज़र आ रही है.

बिहार के औरंगाबाद जिले में बसा नारायण खाप गाँव, जहां 4000 आबादी वाले गाँव में 1200 से भी अधिक दलित परिवार रह रहें हैं. इसी गाँव में 19 अप्रैल को अचानक लगी आग से 25-30 घर तबाह हो गये. इस घटना में जहाँ तीन लोग जिंदा जलें। वही कई लोग घायल भी हुए. इतना ही नहीं इस घटना में दलितों के कई पशु-मवेशी भी जल के मारे गए. व्यवस्था की सभी सामान जल के राख हुए.

 

PHOTO STORIES

1. A teacher in #Aurangabad #Bihar naps during school hours
May 14, 2018
By Fahmina Hussain

 

2. Fast-track court, fearless lawyers and an unbiased Police: How 11 people got life sentences in Ramgarh Lynching case

21 March, 2018
By TCN Staff Reporter

 

3. Ramadan 1439 : Photoseries
June 3, 2018
Photo and text by @poornimamarh