SIREN OF THE EAST

CONVERSATIONS AT THE INDIA TODAY CONCLAVE EAST 2019 WERE WIDE-RANGING, BUT CITIZENSHIP REMAINED THE HOTTEST TOPIC

- Romita Datta

Taking place in the shadow of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and the uncertainty over the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the issue of citizenship, but naturally, became the foremost subject of debate at the third edition of the India Today Conclave East. As Aroon Purie, Editor-in-chief of the India Today Group, asked most pertinently in his speech—“Will citizenship in 2024 be the Ram Mandir of the 1990s?”

This question set the tone for the two-daylong conclave that took place in Kolkata, West Bengal, on December 6 and 7.

Lawmakers, corporates, former members of the judiciary, icons from the worlds of sports, cinema and theatre, congregated to debate and discuss the key issues the nation, and especially the Northeastern states, are grappling with—identity politics, religion and exclusion, the economic downslide, the safety and security of Indian women, regional cinema and Bollywood and the existential crisis in the age of the multiplex.

West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankar spoke about the breakdown of democracy in the state and the insults and name-calling he has been subjected to by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s ministers, whom he described as “loose cannons”. Since assuming office earlier this year, Dhankar and the Trinamool government have clashed over several issues and the governor spoke about his position being continuously belittled by the TMC matriarch. However, he reserved comment when asked if the situation warranted imposition of president’s rule.

While Bengal and its allegedly crumbling state of democracy surfaced intermittently, it was concern over citizenship that dominated the conclave.