Did the BJP take help from Kuki militants during election? As per the chief, his group UKLF and another group UPF helped BJP candidates win. Now why is that BJP silent? Come and stop the mayhem. indiatodayne.in/national/sto…

For over a year, @ayushikar1998 @TweetSumedha @ShubhangiJourno @DikshyaKoirala7 and the @reporters_co team have been consistently following up on how the SIR system is not just opaque, but a dangerous centralisation of who gets to be a voter. Read their work👇

As common citizens queue up at SIR hearing centres to fight for their voting rights, ECI's VIPs in Delhi are getting doorstep hearing facilities, and will be fast tracked into final rolls. Only if you were in ECI's "selebritis" list! reporters-collective.in/trc/…

Once again, amazing work from @reporters_co 👏 piped.video/shorts/6DwpmgCPE…

A personal and professional note. I have personally felt bored, tired, and irritated over the last couple of years, sitting in rooms that endlessly discuss how bad the state of Indian journalism is and the challenges it faces. It does. But there is so much to be done. I feel we are also living a new phase of Indian journalism. One with hope and innovation. One that can be done with much lower capital investment, with much more rigour and by a more diverse set of people. I am happier discussing and sharing how we can do more of it and what is already happening. And there is so much of it already happening that we must spend our energies building on it. In parallel, at The Reporters' Collective @reporters_co, largely driven by my co-trustee @journomayank, we have asked what practices can make us a better collective, and not just a better newsroom. Three answers to it have been simple: 1. We must pay fair remuneration, and the best possible for us as a Collective, to courageous journalists who undertake investigative journalism. We pay a base rate of Rs 40,000 plus reporting and legal costs at TRC for commissioned work. We pay interns, translators, local journalists in distant areas who support us, and everyone else who works with us. Everyone's labour is (and should be) recognised. This is the bare minimum. 2. We must share even our modest financial resources with the larger fraternity, even as we struggle to collect donations for TRC's team and work. Through fellowships and awards, we have instituted a range of them over the past six months. 3. Even as we learn at work (and we are learning a lot everyday), we must share what we have learnt from doing our journalism - our skills, our methods and approach. Gatekeeping has been the bane of Indian journalism. It must end. For some years, we have been informally helping fraternal colleagues from other newsrooms do their investigations, when and if they approach us. But that meant supporting a few sporadically. So, when some donors told us they would donate to support us in training journalists across the country for investigative reporting, we jumped at the opportunity. They had read our hearts. Funded by citizens, we have begun undertaking training for courageous journalists from across the country (not just the metropolitan towns). We have three or four larger purposes in mind, besides sharing the skills we deploy at The Reporters' Collective. 1. Show with proof that younger journalists can undertake investigative reportage given the opportunity and resources; it's no quantum physics. We can all do it. 2. Working journalists at TRC share their methods and skills (not just older grey beards like me), so we all learn to share and build a community. 3. We exchange learnings. There are brave journalists working outside metropolitan towns, whom we want to learn from and work with. There are young colleagues who are more capable in deploying new forms and technology (such as Insta and AI) for good journalism. We want to learn from them too. 4. We enable other fraternal colleagues through solid legal support (and not just fellowships) to deal with the tough legal terrain that we tread during investigative work. Here 👇 is a glimpse of our first intensive 3-day workshop on investigative reporting held for journalists from all northern and central states. Given the resources, we want to do more such intensive workshops across the country. We are keen to do one for colleagues in southern states and another in the northeast of India. If you think this is a worthwhile adventure, please fund The Reporters' Collective. Enable us to support other courageous journalists. Also, do tell us how we can do this better. Donate at reporters-collective.in/supp…

When will people from Manipur finally feel safe? They are not safe in Manipur. They are not even safe in Delhi. Will the Prime Minister finally open his mouth about the violence and insecurity faced by the people of Manipur?

Chongtham Vikram Singh ji, a renowned musician from Manipur, went downstairs to ask some men to lower the noise outside his home. He was beaten to death for it. A father, killed outside his own home, in his own country's capital. After many such incidents, every Northeast family in Delhi is asking the same question today - are we safe here? What are Shah's MHA and Delhi Police doing to stop this growing lawlessness, especially against people from the Northeast? There must be a swift investigation, and the culprits must be brought to justice. My condolences to Vikram ji's family.

Investigation: One family used four front organisations to capture crores worth of contracts from the Indian army for protective equipment such as bunkers. Govts' online platform for tenders failed to detect the collusion. 1/3 @ShubhangiJourno reports. reporters-collective.in/trc/…

Dear Editors at @timesofindia, be better. Credit the news organisation that investigated the JNU recruitment Scam. @reporters_co is 10,000th the time your annual budget. Quite literally. This investigation was by @alokrajput781 for @reporters_co. You can read the original here: reporters-collective.in/trc/…

While youth across the country has been protesting for the fair Education System the @reporters_co found India's 2nd ranked university, JNU, has done scam in recruitments of their professors. reporters-collective.in/trc/…

Watch my @reporters_co colleague @ayushikar1998 speak on the Rs 88,234 crore hole in citizens' pockets due to Modi govt's Great Ethanol Experiment. 👇

New social media influencer brigade coming soon

This is more brutal than the police action

Suspected Kuki National Army-Burma (KNA-B) cadres allegedly crossed the Myanmar border and set fire to 12 houses and a local market in Kongkan Thana of Manipur's Kamjong district on Wednesday. Phungyar MLA Leishiyo Keishing criticised the Assam Rifles, questioning how the attack occurred just 3 km from one of its posts. He urged the state government to deploy neutral state forces, including the India Reserve Battalion (IRB), to strengthen security in the border region. Read more: nenow.in/north-east-news/man… #Manipur #Kamjong #indomyanmarborder #SecurityAlert

If you want to understand the complexity (or maybe the simplicity) of what's happening in Manipur, read this report by @AnganaCk & @Robinson_Waheng for @reporters_co Pls consider donating to enable such patient & in-depth journalism. Even if you can't donate, pls read the story

3+ years of the #Manipur crisis and most commentators & media jury have moved on without even a basic understanding of the situation. This long form by @AnganaCk and @Robinson_Waheng for @reporters_co puts the spotlight on the various factors at play. A must read.

Meanwhile, behind the ethnic violence in Kamjong, a district bordering Myanmar, lies an older fight over narcotics and timber trade routes — one inseparable from the government's security strategy in a state the UN recognises as one of the world's biggest drug trafficking hubs. (Photo from Kamjong: @Robinson_Waheng ⬇)

Of note: I detailed a 17-page proposal the Kuki-Zo armed groups submitted to the Union government after the conflict with the Meiteis displaced thousands. It demands a Union Territory covering their settlements across Manipur — including areas that cut across territorial claims of communities like the Nagas. The Union government has neither accepted nor rejected it, acc. to sources. reporters-collective.in/trc/…

Investigation: Peace in Manipur, at Gunpoint A proposal. Escalating conflict between Kuki-Zo and Naga people. And, how Union govt’s role & BJP’s politics is roiling Manipur. @AnganaCk & @Robinson_Waheng report from Manipur, Nagaland, Assam & Delhi 1/2 reporters-collective.in/trc/…

New Investigation. Out Tomorrow. By @AnganaCk and @Robinson_Waheng. Read on our website: reporters-collective.in.

Many in journalism, civil society and politics, of all hues, played moral posturing games on the lives of #Manipur citizens to suit their mainland needs. Our miseries was fodder for your politics. You shamefully and with arrogance Misled ordinary Indian citizens too. You did not care or bother to even listen, forget trying to understand. You demonised one or the other society to suit your purposes. You tried to discredit other people from these 3 streams who were honestly trying to understand better. Today when you don't see the changed nature of conflict fit your agenda you are in wait and watch mode. Waiting till we have enough citizens lost and for the dead to first suit your politics, for you to play your savior complex again.