Rumours were afoot about a conspiracy to get Tripura to merge with East Pakistan. In a Ruritanian plot twist, a key actor in this plot was thought to be Durjoy Karta, a relative of the late king. A local political party, the Anjuman-e-Islamia, promised him the throne if he was able to swing the region still known as Hill Tippera. (Plains Tippera, a neighbouring district governed by British India, had already become a part of East Pakistan.) Anjuman-e-Islamia had strong support from the Muslim Le

The headlines were ecstatic. One said, “Amit Shah leads historic resettlement of Bru refugees”. Another said, “For Bru refugees in Tripura, hope after years of struggle for settlement”. Yet another said, “How Solving 23-Year-Long Bru Refugee Crisis Is Shot In The Arm For BJP”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it “a special day” and several senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders called the development “historic”.

It was January 2020, and Shah had presided over what was hailed as a landmark mo

A spotlight pierces the darkness and reveals swathes of cloth fluttering on a makeshift stage. A model of a ship—flat, made of wood, but with a recognizable silhouette—floats in the center. After the model passes, we see a man and a woman climb a small fragment of the bow of a ship, her arms outstretched as he supports her from behind. An iconic soundtrack blares through the speakers, and the packed house whips into a frenzy. This was nearly two decades ago, when Assamese playwright Hemanta Dutt

Leena Khurana was 14 years old when her classmates began bullying her—and soon after, she had her first psychotic breakdown. Leena’s older sister Payal Kumar recalls how her younger sister was “an amazing girl” with a “very high IQ” who excelled in studies as well as music and swimming. Back then, the family was settled in Manchester, England, where Payal and Leena’s father K.M. Khurana worked as a doctor in the National Health Service. After her breakdown, Leena never quite recovered. She attem