North East Catholic Research Forum

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Upholding Gandhian Values of Truth, Justice and Nonviolence for Journalism Today!

Opinion | Articles | Cedric Prakash |

It is good to be here at this the 29th Annual Convention of the Indian Catholic Press Association (ICPA). I wish to place on record my deep and sincere gratitude to the Executive Committee of the ICPA and all others concerned for giving me the joy and pri.....

Sacrificing Childhood magic to social media

Opinion | Articles | Peter F Borges |

Imagine a world where the echoes of children’s laughter are replaced by the quiet taps on a smartphone screen. Where once there were scraped knees from climbing trees and chasing friends, now there’s the glow of Instagram and TikTok keeping kids captivate.....

Where are we going?

Opinion | Articles | M L Satyan |

Every day news headlines, both in print and digital media, give us terrible shocks. News about murders, robberies, human trafficking, cheatings, corruption, atrocities on women, sectarian violence, caste-based discrimination, abuse of nature and natural r.....

Harvesting Souls?

Opinion | Articles | Chhotebhai |

Back in 2000 Arun Shourie wrote a book “Harvesting Souls – Missionaries, their designs and claims”. It was a condemnation of everything remotely connected with missionaries. In the Indian context it was about our Christian presence. For those who came.....

Fratelli Tooti

Opinion | Articles | Chhotebhai |

Had I entered a Spelling Bee contest I would have failed miserably, considering that I have mis-spelt the title of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” that he wrote during the Covid pandemic. Unlike previous Popes, he wrote in Italian, not Latin. Se.....

Mother Teresa: Saint who taught us Compassion

Opinion | Articles | Cedric Prakash |

Today (5 September) is a very special day for the world: it is the Feast Day of Mother Teresa, the Foundress of the Missionaries of Charity. She died on this day in 1997. The Catholic Church throughout the world venerate her as a Saint – and rightly so. F.....

Tele-serials Propagate Destructive Values

Opinion | Articles | M L Satyan |

Of late I have been watching a few Tamil television serials. I was surprised to note a running thread in all the serials. What is it? HATRED. This hatred is usually fuelled by different types of revengeful activities. For this purpose, every serial has a .....

India: An ailing nation, a sick society

Opinion | Articles | John Dayal |

Sometime later this year, if all goes well in India and the United States, India will send its second citizen into space. The first one, fighter pilot Rakesh Sharma, was on board a Soviet spacecraft in 1984. The next, also an air force pilot, will be on b.....

Your Slip is Showing

Opinion | Articles | Chhotebhai |

Let me begin with a frank admission. From school days I have hated English grammar. On the other hand, my wife is a grammarian, knowing Wren and Martin’s grammar like the back of her hand. She compensates for my many inadequacies. The word “slip” is bot.....

India Cries for Freedom!

Opinion | Articles | Cedric Prakash |

India cries for Freedom: Thanks to the relentless struggles and sacrifices of our freedom fighters, on 15 August 1947, India made her tryst with destiny! After years of colonial rule, she finally became an independent nation. Ever since (during these past.....

Indian women live in an unsafe environment

Opinion | Articles | M L Satyan |

This year India is celebrating its 78th Independence Day on August 15, marking 77 years since the first anniversary of independence. As usual, hoisting of the national flag, colourful decorations, illuminations, fire crackers, cultural events, and tea par.....

TODAY, is WORSE than the ‘EMERGENCY!’

Opinion | Articles | Cedric Prakash |

TODAY, is WORSE than the ‘EMERGENCY!’ India will and should never forget that infamous night of 25/26 June 1975, when, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had a state of emergency declared all over the country. During that dark chapter of the country.....

Shankaracharya exercises his prophetic mission

Opinion | Articles | M L Satyan |

Shankaracharya exercises his prophetic mission A few days ago, I watched a YouTube video uploaded by AAA YouTube channel of Ajit Anjum. In this video the news reporter is interviewing Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand. He came across to me as a .....

The Journey to my Vocation Part-II

Opinion | Articles | Benjamin Chang |

In the Foot print of Christ

The Journey to my Vocation Part-II In my previous post, I had written about My Vocation as Part I and I am so overwhelmed by the response and request for ‘My Vocation Part II.’ I ended with a note that I was given a break and with all the limited resourc.....

Editorial

Persecutions in the land of Tagore, Vivekananda, and Gandhi

India is fortunate to have given birth to three outstanding sons, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, and Mahatma Gandhi, who inspired generations not only in India but across the world. Apart from their liberal thinking, their thoughts on religious f.....

The determination was written on every Indian player’s face

On the intervening night of November 2nd and 3rd, the Indian women’s cricket team created history by winning the ICC Women’s World Cup for the first time at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai. They defeated South Africa, a team dubbed by many cricketing.....

Zubeen Garg unites people even in his death

Many ordinary people who are not connected to music and art might not have even heard of Zubeen Garg, despite being an iconic artist and a person who cared for others. However, after his unfortunate and untimely demise on September 19, 2025, social media.....

How serious are educational Institutions about the mental health of young people?

During the monsoon session of the Parliament in July 2025, Union Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar informed the house that student suicide cases accounted for 7.6 per cent of all suicide cases reported across India in 2022, showing a slight.....

Religious Persecutions in the Land of Vivekananda and Gandhi

The dictionary meaning of ‘persecution’ reads as ‘unfair or cruel treatment based on race, religion, or political belief’. Therefore, persecution can occur through racial discrimination or political exploitation and is not necessarily limited to the relig.....

From a Murderer to a Pilgrim of Faith

Prior to June 27, 2025, not many people in this country and elsewhere would have heard of Chengu@Sudharsan@Chandu Hansda, who at the age of 13 turned into a murderer when he joined the mob that brutally burnt alive an Australian missionary, Graham Stewart.....

Ominous Signs and the Catholic response

India is a country that boasts staggering diversity—a colourful mix few in the world have the privilege of sharing. Since independence and the enactment of the constitution, freedom, liberty, and equality before the law has always been our treasured right.....

The New Pope and His Message

This time, 1.39 billion Catholics across the globe were fortunate to see the white smoke come out of the Sistine Chapel chimney on the second day as Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected by the cardinal conclave in the fourth round of voting, one less than .....

The Pope didn’t Sulk or Shun

The Vatican News released a video of Pope Francis extending Easter greetings to a multitude of people at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, which was one day before his final journey to the eternal world. A close look at that video reveals that the Holy Father w.....

The CBCI blinks yet again

The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), regarded as a father figure by an estimated 23 million Catholics in this country, has yet again shown lack of wisdom while taking decision on crucial matters. While the organization may like to downplay som.....

Persecution as an Opportunity

The history of the church is replete with stories of persecution; the crucifixion of Christ itself being the greatest of all. Rome, where the Vatican, the supreme seat of the Pontiff, stands today, in fact was one of the foremost places where Christian pe.....

Weaving a Christian Relationship

His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, in his book, Toward A True Kinship of Faith, wrote, “I have boundless respect for my Buddhist faith, but to see it within the context of its brother and sister religions has afforded me a vision of the grandeur and exten.....

Previous Articles

Christian Mission: Holding up the Mirror of Truth

Opinion | People's Edit | Ladislaus Louis D'Souza

"Missionary work is not something that is reserved for a select few individuals. It is the vocation of all Christians,” says Father Ambrose Pichaimuthu, National Director, Pontifical Mission Organizations. If one could cite a single concrete example of th.....

Need for Re-skilling and Up-skilling in Post Covid 19

Opinion | Articles | Felix Jajo

The whole world still continues to fight a pandemic and the fight seems to have taken a longer period than expected. But with the vaccines rolling out, there is a ray of hope amongst the people. It has been almost a year since the first nationwide lockdow.....

Where are we going?

Opinion | Articles | M L Satyan

Every day news headlines, both in print and digital media, give us terrible shocks. News about murders, robberies, human trafficking, cheatings, corruption, atrocities on women, sectarian violence, caste-based discrimination, abuse of nature and natural r.....

Ecumenism is non-negotiable

Opinion | Articles | Chhotebhai

Ecumenism is non-negotiable When we say that something is non-negotiable, we mean that it cannot be compromised or watered down. Its message and mission must be forthright, sincere and enduring. Ecumenism, commonly understood as Christian Unity, comes .....

Hat-Trick

Opinion | Articles | Chhotebhai

The just concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) would be fresh in people’s minds. Hence one cannot be faulted for presuming that this piece is about cricket! It isn’t. It’s not about red balls but about red hats, the red Berettas given to Cardinals. They a.....

Our Culture and the Gospel Encounter

Opinion | People's Edit | Joseph M Thohrii

Introduction Since early human civilisations, there has always been feeling of awe towards the supernatural being, and human beings had always been curious and interested to understand this phenomenon and wanted to relate life to this reality or being. I.....

Catholics of Zhavame: Faith triumphed over persecution

Opinion | People's Edit | Team NECARF

This poignantly touching story of grit and determination shown by the early Catholics of Zhavame village in Nagland, was carried in the publication of the 9th Nagaland Catholic Youth Movement Convention. We picked not because it tells stories of persecuti.....

Kings or No Kings

Opinion | Articles | Chhotebhai

Both Kings and No Kings are in the news for very different reasons. First there is King Charles III of England who just visited Pope Leo in the Vatican and held a joint prayer service with him. The other is the No King rally in the USA on 18th October whe.....

Journalists need to be credible and courageous

Opinion | Articles | M L Satyan

The arrest of News Click founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha, the human resources chief Amit Chakravarty and a few other journalists associated with News Click on October 04, 2023 has sent a shock wave throughout the country. Amid growing restrictions o.....

APCA felicitated Bishops of North East Region

Current Updates | NE Brief | NECARF Rep

The Arunachal Pradesh Catholic Association (APCA) hosted an impressive reception in honour of the Bishops of North East region, in Itanagar where 17 Bishops gathered for their Annual Conference, the first to be held in Arunachal Pradesh. The reception was.....

Conversion, Colonizer and the People

Opinion | Articles | Victor Ferrao

Conversion has come back to haunt us. How are we to understand the complex reality of conversion? Are we to simplify it by reducing it to spiritual conquests? Conversion viewed as a spiritual conquest is tainted by its political overtones. Our understan.....

Current Updates

Attacks aginst Christians increased by 500% since 2014: Rights Groups

Editorial Pick | Editorial team |

Attacks Against Christians Increased by 500% Since 2014: Rights Groups New Delhi: On November 4, Christian rights activists assembled at the Press Club of India to release a report about an alarming and sustained annual surge in incidents of violence a.....

An MSMHC Nun from Mizoram did the North East Proud

NE Brief | NECARF Rep |

Sr Rose Paite

October 14, 2025: Sr Rose Paite, an MSMHC nun from Mizoram, received the prestigious National Award from the Catholic Mental Health Ministry (CMHM) at the World Mental Health Day Conference in Kerala. The prestigious award was handed over to the recipie.....

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez’s address

Editorial Pick | Editorial team |

Synodality: Why No, and Why Yes Some have hoped that our new pope would ease up a little on this matter of synodality. Instead, Pope Leo has expressed a strong desire to continue along the path of synodality. For example: “Synodality becomes a mindset, .....

North East Catholic Community of Delhi puts up a Glittering show

NE Brief | NECARF Rep |

Mr Lalduhoma and Archbishop Anil J T Couto, with other dignataries

The North East Catholic Committee of Delhi (NECCOD) accorded a warm welcome to their new members who had joined them in the Delhi NCR region with spiritual and a social gathering worthy of the colours mix of the region they come from. This was the 33rd oc.....

NEIRBC Gets a new Education Commission Team

Editorial Pick | Editorial team |

Guwahati, June 25, 2025 – The Northeast Bishops Council’s Commission for Education has appointed a new leadership team, with Fr. Dr. Paul Pudussery, a Holy Cross priest, taking the helm. This transition marks the third leadership handover since the commis.....

Francis’s Bottle Craft: Miniature Homes in Glasses

Editorial Pick | Editorial team |

The Miniature Artist of Sikkim

In a quiet corner of Sikkim’s Lingzey, Gairigaon, an artist has been creating entire worlds inside bottles—one intricate house at a time. Meet Mr Francis Rai, the man behind Francis Bottle Crafts, whose passion for miniature architecture has turned into b.....

Education

Job Fair in Don Bosco Kohima

College | NECARF Rep |

Job Fair Notice

For kind attention of young boys and girls who are interested in getting recruited in different Comnpaies......

Step in to the World of Journalism and Mass Media

College | NECARF Rep |

Niscort Media College

For those who aspire for the world of Mass media.....

Avail Early Bird Discount in Media Studies

College | NECARF Rep |

Admission Notice

NISCORT, one of the Premier Media Colleges in the National Capital area, announces admission for several graduate and post-graduate level courses in Media studies. Interested students may visit www.niscort.com for details......

NISCORT Announces three different courses in Journalism and Mass Communication

College | NECARF Rep |

aa

For those Interested in Journalism studies, the above affordable courses comes as a boon.....

NICORT Media College Announces Short Courses in Media fields

College | NECARF Rep |

Annoucment

NICORT Media College Announces Short Courses in Media fields.....

For those interested to make a Career in Mass Media and Journalism, NISCORT provides the opportunity

College | NECARF Rep |

NISCORT opens Admissions for Course in Mass Media and Journalism

NISCORT opens Admissions for Course in Mass Media and Journalism.....

Opinion

Persecutions in the land of Tagore, Vivekananda, and Gandhi

Editorial | John S. Shilshi |

India is fortunate to have given birth to three outstanding sons, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda, and Mahatma Gandhi, who inspired generations not only in India but across the world. Apart from their liberal thinking, their thoughts on religious f.....

A Conspiracy to Disempower Christian Adivasis

Articles | John Dayal |

The organisers had instructions for speakers to not criticise the top political leaders, the government or the ruling party in the "National Christian Convention" at the New Delhi's Jantar Mantar protest site, but that did not stop Dalit and other speaker.....

Reclaim the Constituion

Articles | Cedric Prakash |

On 26 November, the nation will once again observe ‘Constitution Day’! There will be the usual plethora of speeches (ad nauseam!) of ‘how important the Constitution is for all of us’, ‘why it is important to safeguard it’, the fact that we have the best C.....

A reality check on SIR-driven Reverse-migration and the Internal disquiet

Articles | Isaac Harold Gomes |

Homeward Bangladeshis at the Indo-Bangladesh border

Since my last report of 10th November on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), an unprecedented reverse migration into Bangladesh has begun through Hakimpur, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India-Bangladesh check-post. On 23.11.2025 Anandabazar.com rep.....

The spectral presence of Christians in Indian politics

Articles | John Dayal |

There are hardly any Christian MPs and MLAs in India other than those elected on a political party ticket from Kerala, Andhra, Telangana, West Bengal, Karnataka, Goa, Orissa and the tiny-population north east states of Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunac.....

The Yellow Card

Articles | Chhotebhai |

There are two reasons why I remember the Yellow Card. The first dates back to boarding school more than 60 years ago. We had monthly tests for which we got cards – Gold for excellence, Blue for good work, Yellow for average marks and Pink for failure. Dur.....

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