Delhi students break stereotypes through Grassroots Comics

A three days grassroots comics workshop for breaking stereotype and end discrimination against people from northeastern states was organized at MCRC, Jamia Millia Islamia from 9- 11th September 2014. Students of development communication of AJKMCRC, several other students from northeastern region living and studying in Delhi participated in this workshop.

While founder of World Comics Network and cartoonist Sharad Sharma broke ice by asking students to name states of northeastern region and their capitals. The response was big silence. Lack of information about the region is the major reason for existing stereotypes against them and that gives rise to crude form of discrimination, said Sharad.

Ms Binalaxmi Nepram the Secretary General of Control Arms Foundation of India emphasized that rest of the India knows northeastern region as states of wilderness and animals, which it’s just the conflict zone where locals are insurgents, men were drug addict and women are available. She firmed ‘ however in reality it’s the place where real people live real life’. She also gave glimpse of the history of northeastern states, traced their origin and how conflict took root in the states. She also addressed major problems and threats of the people of the place and how draconian colonial act AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) was playing with lives and rights of the people in northeast.

She raised her concern about how and when the people from north east come to Delhi for studies or jobs, how they were called names-chinkis and momos and how the women were looked down upon as prostitutes.

This was followed by a session from Dr Alana Golmei, founder of North East Support Centre & Helpline. She narrated heart rendering cases of violence against northeastern people in NCR Delhi especially with woman. She shared how they rescue violence survivors. Dr Alana, added that to create safe environment for people from north east, we should not only go for empty hallow rhetoric on sensitization, but we need to discuss and feel the issues. She said one to one meetings and conversations are required to break the pre-conceived notion about them.

Having concluded, she answered questions raised by students. North Indian students present in the workshop narrated their sordid tales, personal experiences to the audience. Ruth Row, student told that once a man at a metro station called her prostitute, when she retaliated people started giving advice to her and nobody stood to support her.

During the rest part of the day students pen down general stereotypes and specific once against the against the northeastern state people and how to overcome and break them. The first day of the workshop ended with Sharad giving assignment to students to bring their short stories on the subject that would be translated into comic form.

Participants of the workshop shared heart-wrenching stories based on their real life experiences and learnt to convert them into comics. Through many interesting drawing exercise they were made comfortable in drawings, while they were also told that in grassroots comics the message and story is more important rather than giving too much emphasis on the quality of the drawing.

At the end of day three every one made a wallposter comics, which soon be exhibited in different departments of the unicesity and also in different parts of the city. The posters were looking so great that students couldn’t believe that they themselves have produced them.

(Report by Niharika Awasthi, student of Devp Communication,AJKMCRC, JMI, Delhi)