akoijam sunita

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/story…

During the appointment of sitting Vice Chancellor of JNU dissent of the Elected Professors of this University was in full swing and yet Santishree Pandit managed to grab the JNU's top position. Reported for @reporters_co reporters-collective.in/trc/jnu-appoin…

Oh my goodness! What is this? Respected Prime Minister, you can easily get someone to find a decent photo of Sajibu Cheiraoba meal. This is atrocious! The steel containers, the puri, the dishes and that curry leaves look alike . Seriously, this is not done.

Yesterday a coordinated and orchestrated campaign was carried out against The Reporters' Collective @reporters_co investigation on the Assam-Adani deal for 3,200 MW of coal power. The story: reporters-collective.in/trc/assam-govt… We analysed the attack using Grok, X's AI tool. I am sharing the report here and citing below its findings verbatim. Method of Attack "This is a highly organised, top-down coordinated campaign — not grassroots outrage or independent journalism critique. The pattern matches classic Indian political IT-cell operations: pre-packaged talking points + graphics issued to a mix of official spokespersons and loyal amplifiers for immediate narrative control. The goal is transparent — neutralise the TRC investigation’s impact on the Adani deal and the BJP government ahead of Assam assembly elections by reframing serious scrutiny as “propaganda” and “misrepresentation”. No involvement from Adani Power’s official handle; this is purely political defence." Verdict on Sophistication "This is Tier-1 political IT-cell orchestration — pre-briefed, pre-designed, pre-timed, and pre-loaded for instant deployment. The 107-second graphic sync, consecutive asset files, and 95%+ script fidelity are smoking-gun proof of a central command distributing ready-to-post packages. The goal was not debate but narrative neutralisation ahead of Assam elections: reframe investigative journalism as “propaganda” within 5 hours of publication. No Adani corporate involvement; purely political protective shield. This network is battle-tested and highly effective at shaping X discourse in India on sensitive corporate-political stories." The summary executive report by Grok AI on the coordinated attack can be read below. Includes the prompts we used. This is why investigative journalism matters. It scares those in power. Because it brings out the truth they try to distract us from using rhetoric and paid social media campaigns. To citizens: It's a sad irony that journalists who do such brave investigations struggle to earn a decent livelihood with security while the army of trolls get paid as a consequence of their work. You have the power to fix this. Donate to @reporters_co today. We back brave journalists to do reportage that holds the powerful accountable to journalists. You can donate by clicking reporters-collective.in/support-us To the paid trolls: You could also thank us for getting your more business (unless you are on monthly retainers, in which case you won't like us for providing you extra work for the same pay). Regardless, I am sure many of you do this work because it's hard to find dignified decent paying work. I honestly hope and pray you find it and live happier lives of dignity. I feel upset only at your employers, who rob our people of dignity by putting them to such crass, sad an ugly work. #Assam #adani #investigativejournalism #journalism

2. Reports like this built on government records and months of reporting, can’t happen without your support. If you believe independent journalism should keep holding the powerful to account, consider supporting us. Donate Now! reporters-collective.in/support-us

@ayushikar1998 rooting for you 🤩

New Investigation. Out tomorrow at 8:30 am. March 17, 2026. By @shreegireesh. Watch this space.

#Manipur is witnessing violence again. Civilians being kidnapped, people being killed. Armed conflict ramping up. Strains between Kuki and Naga groups are bringing the state to a violent edge again. This is subsequent to BJP cutting a deal again with some in the Kuki leaderships to claw back power in the state at the cost of a more durable social and political settlement. BJP's political settlement, with unverified claims that the Union government will provide some kind of autonomy to Kuki Zo-dominated territories is likely to have caused the building of Kuki-Naga group strains. Claims of identity-based homelands in Manipur have always overlapped and have required a more dexterous Union gov't to establish a 'durable disorder', as Dr Sanjib Baruah put it. It is not the first time that a party in power in Centre has used the State's resources to bring itself to power in a northeastern state. But the current BJP as the govt and the party seems to have not found the dexterity and sagacity needed to stitch even such superficial political settlements in Manipur. Citizens of Manipur will continue to pay the cost for this, with their lives and livelihoods, if the Union gov't does not act to arrange a political and social truce, without preconditioning it to fit BJP's political ambitions. Mainland India's media-mounted public persons, from right and left, who had largely wrongly portrayed the conflict in Manipur earlier are now mostly silent or mealy-mouthed because the emerging 'story' does not fit the need of their politics. I say this often. The 'story' of Manipur is the 'story' of the hypocrisy, ignorance, structural racism and callousness collectively of the State, of those in power, the powerful and the influential in mainland India's public spaces. It requires us to look more closely at how Indian democracy has dealt with and continues to deal with the region and its citizens.

This order is patently beyond the powers of the Chief Justice of India or any SC bench under the Constitution and any extant law. In my view, corruption in the broad and narrow terms not only in judicial pillar of our democracy but in the entire polity, including the political class and bureaucracy along with crony capitalism by the pvt sector should be explained, taught and spoken about to students. This will only help them grow up with a realistic understanding of where our country stands today, giving them an early start to bettering our democracy for the future.

Modi gov't has 'temporarily suspended' the forced feeding of Fortified Rice to 80 cr poor Indians. Context: In May 2023 my @reporters_co colleague @shreegireesh unearthed the scam called Modi govt's Fortified Rice Scheme. Based on spurious science and failed pilot projects, against warnings by its own experts, Modi gov't had pressed ahead to force feed fortified rice to all of 80 crore poor in India. The orders to do so had come from the top. There were foreign business interests backing the scheme. They stood to earn thousands of crores annually from this move. Modi gov't, which otherwise makes such a hue and cry over 'foreign interests', had played into their hands to force the poor in India to consume something untested. Across the country, Shreegireesh found, the poor were complaining of this 'plastic rice' making it to their plates. He brought out a complete set of internal gov't documents to demolish the governments propaganda around the scheme. And showed who the real beneficiaries of the scheme were - Corporates backed by dubious NGOs working for the corporate interests. Now, the government has 'temporarily suspended' the scheme claiming its now learnt that fortified rice is not doing any good. We still don't know the real reasons why it has done so. We will dig those out too. Shreegireesh's reports and evidence was used in the courts. It was picked up, plagiarised, copy pasted and replicated by others in media, sometimes with and sometimes without due credit. Our reports were shortlisted for the world's biggest award for investigative journalism, the Fetisov award. We were grateful for the straight and the backhanded compliments. But, most of all, we were happy that our work had put the truth out bluntly and with hard evidence. I write this to explain, why investigative journalism is central to keeping those in power accountable. It is the essential form of journalism. It is effective, even if the wheels take time to turn. We don't know why yet the government has finally stopped the distribution of the spurious artificial rice grain. We are glad it has. Such journalism requires immense courage and resources. When you support it, you empower yourselves as citizens, to defend your rights and that of the poorest who have the least ability t hold the powerful to account. Democracies need public-funded journalism to be better democracies. Read Shreegireesh's work, if you had missed it then. reporters-collective.in/projects/modif…

How to Understand the New Deal in Manipur In light of the old. I write... nitset.substack.com/p/bjps-politic…

A course in investigative and data journalism. I am teaching a course in data and investigative journalism for the next three months. This is the fourth iteration of the course. Sharing the course structure here. We at @reporters_co hope to make the course available to the larger fraternity this year. Too much gatekeeping takes place in the tiny world of investigative journalism in India. It's time we collectively break down these gates that protect nothing but privilege. Some of these are basic skills and methods that many can pick up to do robust evidence-based journalism. A lot of it is merely training your mind to access and process information and data in the context of Indian social, political and economic and legal practices. Given the time, we at The Reporters' Collective informally help colleagues from across orgs with these skills. Because we are often generously helped and aided by several public-minded experts, journalists, researchers and others. We learn from each other. This village of like-minded people who want to foster rigorous reportage in India needs to grow. I have personally learnt from so many generous fraternal colleagues over last two decades. They have shared their knowledge and methods with such big hearts. They continue to aid and abet our work in so many ways. We have been sporadically training journalists and researchers, given an opportunity. This year, we will create a structured method to share more consistently with fellow journalists and researchers and do so in a manner that those with financial limitations and from disadvantaged backgrounds have committed seats in the room. Would love to hear from fellow researchers and journalists, what you feel we could do to adapt the course to your needs. Feel free to comment here, message or email.

This is a reader funded fellowship. Please support us so we can keep bringing independent journalistic work to you. pages.razorpay.com/TRC-fellowship

Have an investigative story that needs time and backing? ⏰ Apply for the 3rd TRC Investigative Reporting Fellowship. ₹100,000 + editorial support. Deadline: Dec 31, 2025 🔗 reporters-collective.in/trc- reporters-collective.in/trc-investigat…

Also, this series is dedicated to my dadu, an educator who fiercely held his own even when he was arrested during a protest for teachers' pensions. He believed in the redistribution of wealth & opposed any political system that did not place this principle at its core. 15/15

Podcast: This conversation with Dr Nabam Teyi, a prof of mechanical engineering in Arunachal, who also does a wonderful podcast, is something special to me. Recorded in the homeland that adopted me. He gently got me talking of how my life moved to that side of the chicken neck. A lot about investigative journalism and life living with the two threads. youtu.be/Q2MGSRbdDGM

🚨The Reporters' Collective has opened its 3rd round of Fellowship for Investigative Reporting for applications. What it offers: Rs 1 lakh for the fellow selected for this quarter. Plus costs. What we hope for: A cracking investigative reportage that puts the powerful under the spotlight. No thematic limitations. Just good rigorous journalism. I feel proud, that as a tiny newsroom with limited resources, @reporters_co provides the biggest fellowship for investigative journalism in India. And, provide editorial and legal support to help fellow journalists give their best. We grow together. Please share this 👇 in you circles to help the deserving candidate apply.

Dead @PCITweets, change is tough, new ideas and innovations are difficult. The journalistic fraternity is not large but it will support you. It’s time for the press club (or any press body) to be a little more than what it used to be.

The incumbent leadership of Press Club of India @PCITweets has put out a statement against my request that the club spend at least 5% of its revenue from liquor to support disadvantaged journalists across the country. They disagree with me. Here is my response in the images below. I stand by my recommendation and reassert with deeper conviction, data and argument. 5% of PCI's alcohol sales revenue should be committed towards disadvantaged journalists across the country. I suggest two ways to do it with existing resources that will perhaps provide even more for the staff. One can read the PCI's leadership's statement here: x.com/PCITweets/stat… PS: Am glad, this has kicked off the debate in public square even if its in a tone i wish my friends leading the club at the moment will, at least retrospectively, find to be undignified in the way it paints the opinion of just another member (like they all are) as some form of dissent against the institution itself. The government is not the nation, I believe.

New Investigation: BJP donors from Ghaziabad, UP got a law passed to to set up a private university in Tripura. The same year they donated Rs 50 lakh to BJP. Investigation by @AnganaCk and @vandana_menon. 1/2 reporters-collective.in/trc/bjp-donor-…

Congratulations @tapasya_umm, @furquansid and @Bhumikasara. Shine.