Siren of the East

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-day-long 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