Status of Enrolment and Achievement in Higher Education in the Hill Areas of Manipur
By Thenkhogin Haokip
The hill areas of Manipur, which covers about 92 percent of the geographical areas of the state and 35.1 percent of its population, is comparatively backward in terms of higher education. There are only 17 colleges of general education and a lone law college in these areas serving the higher education needs. There are 33 recognised tribes living in the hill areas of the state. However, there is no separate policy for higher education in these areas. This article attempts to study the trends and status of enrolment and achievement of higher education in the hill areas of Manipur in terms of available documents like government records, College Development Council Reports and information gathered from the principals of these colleges. The presentations are made using tables and figures. The data for this article was gathered during the year 2013.
Mobile Theatre of Assam: A Socio-Historical Perspective
By Rituparna Patgiri
Mobile theatre groups of Assam (known as ‘bhyrmoman natak’ in Assamese) consist of a collective of actors, singers, dancers, directors, action artists, makeup artists, workers, and the producer. The theatre group moves from place to place within the state – from villages to towns to cities as indicated by the word ‘mobile.’ Mobile theatre has become increasingly visible in Assam as a medium of entertainment and as a part of its public culture. In the present time, almost 60 theatre groups perform their plays all over the state, making mobile theatre widely popular and visible. In this paper, I intend to understand the visibility and popularity of mobile theatre from a socio-historical perspective. I argue that the emergence and popularity of mobile theatre is rooted in the socio-cultural history of theatre in Assam by using a combination of primary and secondary methods. The aim will be to unravel the circumstances and courses that led to the beginning of mobile theatre in the state.
Difficult Decolonization: Debates, Divisions, and Deaths Within the Naga Uprising, 1944-1963
By Jelle J.P. Wouters
This essay traces the early beginnings of the Indo-Naga conflict, which erupts in the 1950s and continues into the present-day. It focuses on the period roughly between the Battle of Kohima in 1944, which ends Japanese expansionism in the east, and the enactment of Nagaland state in 1963 as an envisaged (but failed) political compromise to the demand by the Naga National Council (NNC) for complete Naga sovereignty. This essay uses hitherto scantily used tour and personal diaries, government reports, private correspondence, memoires, and recorded memories to interrogate the master-narrative of the Naga struggle that reconstructs a relatively straight and uncomplicated historical trajectory that sees the genuine awakening and NNC-led political mobilization of an upland community situated off the beaten track of both Indian civilization and colonial domination, and of Nagas’ collective resolve to take up arms to fight for a place on the table of nation-states. Alternatively, if the story is told from the vantage of the Indian state, the dominant narrative apportions blame to a ‘misguided’ Naga elite that seeks to undermine the territorial and national integrity of the Indian state. These prevailing views, attractive for their absence of complexity, however, ignore the anguished debates, interpersonal and intertribal differences, contingent histories and events, dissenting voices, political assassinations, and sharp divisions within the rank-and-file of the NNC, and whose inner dynamics and sentiments could as well have produced outcomes other than war.
Naga Nationalism’s Dilemma over Meanings, Politics and Religion
By Elija Chara
When ‘Naga’ is discussed, it begins with the primordial cosmology and then to colonial politics and armed conflict with India, by a romanticised desperate tribal group, for a modern state. Apart from this, there is limited focus to understand the Nagas’ national political philosophies and methodologies. The paper examines the theological interpretation of Naga nationalism. It first defines the features of the Naga nation, patriotism, nationalism and state, and then explores the history of national movement to locate the ideological discourses and conflicts that transformed to the origination of the Naga theo-political theme – ‘Nagalim for Christ’. At the heart of the examination is the Nagas patriotic psychology, national and spiritual dilemma, that attempts to bring about reconciliation among nationalism, armed conflict, political ideologies, theology and modernism, which is largely misinterpreted by outsiders. The positives and negatives of mixing nationalism and religion are critically examined to question the Nagas’ being on self-determination, at the same time attempt is made to understand if Naga nationalism’s onto-theological nature is a reconciliation, or escapade or for notification, or a forced consciousness.
The Kukis of Naga Hills: Rethinking Kuki-Naga Relations in Light of Kukis Contribution to the Early Naga Movement
By David Hanneng
Whenever we heard about the Kukis and Nagas, the binary identity is often assumed to be antagonistic and synonymous with conflicts over land and the antagonistic positions taken by both the communities over any issue in Manipur, which had clouded over all other stories of the past. The past may not be rosy but it is different from what has often been portrayed – a history supposedly of continuous hatred and killings. In the dispensation of sub-nationalist struggles in the northeastern region, often diatribes directed towards each other are a result of the present fights for bigger control over land and resources, particularly in Manipur. The Kukis and Nagas lived together for centuries in Manipur and composite Assam and their relationship in the past was not necessarily antagonistic, as often portrayed. In the then Naga Hills the relationship was even closer where the Kukis played an important role in the early Naga movement. This essay will trace the relationship between the Kukis and Nagas in the Naga Hills and discuss the contributions of the Kukis in the Naga political movement. Besides, this work shows the fallacy of focusing on conflicts of the past when warfare was a way of life in the tribal world, be it within the Kukis and the Nagas – often within tribes and clans, resulting in inter-village feuds. The Kuki and Naga relation in the past has elucidated interest in recent years. This study aims to present the historical facts so that people contemplate the past without relying on hearsay.
Distribution of Ethnic Groups in Manipur Hills
By S. Thangboi Zou
The study of ethnicity goes beyond searching for its definitions and characteristics. Exploring the geographical pattern of ethnic groups is an interesting shift in the study of conventional and contemporary social sciences. This paper aims to analyse the nature of classification and spatial distribution of the ethnic groups in Manipur hill areas between 1991 and 2001, when the hills witnessed two ethnic conflicts during these decadal censuses. As per an official record, three tribal groups –Naga, Intermediate and Kuki-Chin-Mizo are found in the State. Internal dynamics on the discourse of ethnicity has different narratives on the ground reality. In terms of spatial distribution, the Naga group is more clustered than its counterpart Kuki-Chin-Mizo across the hills. The paper also looks into how the change in spatial pattern of distribution and redistribution of ethnic groups has largely contributed to ethnic homogenization in the hill areas of Manipur.
Remains of the Past: History, Diary, and Collective Memory of the Battle of Kohima, 1944
By K B VeioPou
The Second World War made huge impact to the Nagas living in some quiet corners of India’s Northeast. When it finally made its way into the Naga Hills towards the beginning of 1944 the Nagas rudely woke up to a realization of what war could do to humanity. For the British the victory over the invading Japanese forces following the Battle of Kohima was ‘the most decisive’ one as it turned the tide of the war. Many historical accounts have been written about it, but have largely remained military accounts. When Easterine Kire’s Mari (2010) was published, it became an eye opener for many as it tells how the people of Kohima experienced a war that was not of their making and yet changed their lives forever. This paper will largely focus on why Mari is important not just for its depiction of the struggle of a death defying girl but for its historical account from a native perspective of the war. In addition this paper will also engage with another book, The Battle of Kohima (2007), a collection of stories from those who survived the war and what it meant to experience it. A relook at these narratives is important in the re-imagination of the past events and how such events shape the lives of individuals who lived through it.
Ngamkhohao Haokip and Michael Lunminthang (eds.). Kuki Society: Past, Present, Future. Kuki Research Forum’s Publication, New Delhi: Maxford Books, 2011
Reviewed by Letminlun Khongsai
The book under review is the first of its kind undertaken by the Kuki Research Forum since its inception in 2009. It is the outcome of a seminar organised by Kuki Research Forum in collaboration with Kuki Students’ Organisation. The book contains a collection of twenty one articles written by Kuki-Chin scholars that deals with a variety of issues pertaining to history, culture, identity, language, religion, literature, politics, agriculture, status of women in the contemporary Kuki society. The volume throws light on the insights of the hitherto unnoticed issues and challenges particularly the socio-political-linguistic issues and the resulting complexities of identity crisis and dynamics of the society.