Annual R epor t 1 9 9 7 - 9 8
I nt r oduct ion
T he Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup was establis hed in December 1995, with a cor e gr oup of eight s cholar s of the city. S ome of the main obj ectives of for ming the r es ear ch gr oup wer e (a) to develop a gr oup of s cholar – activists to engage in policy studies par ticular ly r elating to the eas t and nor th eas t of I ndia and the s ub – continent, thes e policy matter s r elating to the themes of cultur al s tudies , ethnicity, tr ance bor der and inter nal population flow, human r ights and peace and conflict r es olution, labor r ights and dignity; (b) to s pons or or commis s ion s tudies bas ed on r es ear ch and tr ans lation or compilation r elating to the above mentioned themes of policy inter es t;
(c) to fos ter academic and cultur al contacts within the countr y and S outh As ia at lar ge towar ds developing a r es ear ch networ k on r elated policy matter s; (d) to or ganize, under take and pr omote publications , audio – vis ual documentations s eminar s, wor ks hops , and campaigns on the s aid policy matter s .
T he Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup following its applications was r egis tered as Mahanir ban Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup (MCRG) in June 1997, under the West Bengal S ocieties Regis tr ation Act 1961. T he MCRG is now a Regis ter ed S ociety with cer tain s tatuar y obligations . I t has now its own office, a par t time computer oper ator , and help – hand for its office wor k.
I n this per iod r epor ting (1997 – 1998), the s ociety has been active in a number of pr oj ects of s ocial impor tance as per the obj ectives of the society. S ome of the activities the book r elease cer emony.
Car r ied out include:
1 . R ef ugee W at ch
Refugee Watch is a quar ter ly news letter on the flow of r efugees , migr ants , inter nally dis placed per s ons and potential r efugees in S outh As ia.
T he pur pos e of this newsletter is to s tudy, campaign, and build a networ k of concer ned people including academics and activists . T he fis t is s ue of the news letter was publis hed in Januar y 1998 and the s econd iss ue is under pr epar ation. T he news letter is edited by Ranabir S amaddar , who is s uppor ted by a team of s pecialis ts in the field including Paula B aner j ee, Lipi Ghos h, S abyasachi Basu Roychaudhur y, Pr odip B os e and S ubir Bhaumik and other s . S pecial mention s hould be made of Jayanta Das Gupta, Ciculation Manager , who has put in unstinted effor t to br ing out the publication in time.
Refugee Watch is br ought out in collabor ation with S outh As ian For um for Human Rights (S AFHR). I t has been cir culated widely and is viewed as neces s ar y contr ibution in the dis s emination of infor mation on the Refugee pr oblems in S outh As ia.
2 . P u blicat ion
A two days wor ks hop on the Chittagong Hill T r acts , Banglades h, helds by the CRG in Calcutta in 1996 had decided to fur ther campaign on r elated is s ues of militer is ation, r efugee exodus , pr oblem of s ettlement in the hill tr acts, tr eatment of the j umma r efugees in I ndia etc. As a par t of the campaign pr ogr amme on the CHT , Living on T he Edge, Es s ays on the Chittagong Hill
T r acts came out in October 1997. T he volume has been edited by S ubir Bhaumik, of BBC, Dr . Megna Guha T hakur ta of Dhaka Univer s ity and S abyasachi Bas u Roychaudhuty of the Rabindr a Bhar ati Univer s ity, Calcutta.
T he volume is bas ed on the paper s pr es ented in the above mentioned s eminar and a s imilar s eminar was held in Dhaka in 1996.
T his book als o has been publis hed in as s ociation with the S outh As ian For um for Human Rights . T he book was r eleas ed in December 1997 at Kathmandu, Nepal by S AFHR. Ranabir S amaddar , Pr adip Bos e, S abyas achi B as u Raychaudhur y and S ubir Bhaumik, member s and fr iends of MCRG wer e pr es ent in the book r eleas e cer emony.
3 . Meet ing
A meeting was or ganized on “Women in Banglades h” at Bangla Academy, Calcutta on 16 December 1997. T he s peaker wer e Dr . Megna Guha T hakur ta, Dhaka Univer s ity, Banglades h and S ur iyya Bengam, Has ina Ahmed Activist fr om B anglades h. T hr ough the audience was not lar ge, the meeting was r ich in the dis cus s ion.
4 . S ociet y Managem ent a) new Member s hip
T hr ee new member s have enr olled in the per iod of r epor ting.
i) Paula B aner j ee, Women’s S tudies , Res ear ch Centr e, Calcutta Univer s ity.
j ) Anir ban Chattopadhyay, Jour nalis t, Ananda Bazar Patr ika.
k) S abyasachi Bas u Ray Chudhur y, T eacher , Rabindr a Bhar ati Univer s ity.
b) S taff
T he MCRG has two par t time s taff in this per iod for car r ying out neces s ar y adminis tr ative functions . T hey wer e R. K. Mahato, Computer Oper ator and K. K. S ingh, Office staff.
Debj ani Datta S ecr etar y
Mahanir ban Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup
