Ri- the country of militancy

Militancy or shall we call it insurgency - it’s all the same - has plagued most parts of the North Eastern Region. Over countless decades, the problem remaining woefully unresolved. Talk after talk, parleys after parleys, across the negotiating table; one after another failing to reach any concrete solution. Instead, groups of insurgents have multiplied and are still mushrooming, which has resulted in numerous deaths and loss of lives including those of the insurgents, the police and para military forces as well as innocent lives caught in the cross fire thereby, disturbing normal life in this game of hide and seek. Even the weaker sex is not spared from blatant acts of rape, kidnapping, molestation and assault. It seems New Delhi is too far away to be even aware of the ground realities,while life here is crippled with fear, anxiety and uncertainty among the common people, the farmers and the traders with the administration caught in the web of a shadow play.

Such a situation is a prick in the eyes of the peace loving people, the intellectuals, the elders, the social thinkers.While the political leaders are playing a blame game of having nexus with the different insurgent groups, these groups are busy using their muscle and money power to influence the process of conducting election, thus, disrupting this constitutional and democratic exercise.

‘Ri’ captures the mood and uncertainties of the youth over their future, in a place where the state governments are being toppled one after another falling like nine pins, creating a havoc of political instability.

This confusing scenario has caught the imagination of the local moviemakers who have captured this conflict in an intense action-packed film titled Ri- the country. Set in the backdrop of the Khasi-Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya and the adjoining Bangladesh, which is one of the hot spots of the insurgent movement, the movie with all its intrigues and complexities has won the National Award for the ‘Best Feature Film’ in the category of ‘Other Languages’. This realistic story, transcribed into a fiction, was given due recognition by an eleven-member jury, headed by notable Director Saeed Akhtar Mirzza. Ri has also been awarded the Rajat Kamal Award along with a cash prize of rupees one lakh, fulfilling the aspirations of the hard working cast, its director Pradip Kurbah and the production banner Heirisa Entertainment and Kurbah Films. Ever Since its premiere in Shillong, ‘Ri’ has been drawing movie goers to cinema halls in large numbers.

Sumar Sing Saiwan

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