Author: editor

Hira Moni Deka, Politics of Identity and the Bodo Movement in Assam. New Delhi: Scholar World, 2014.

Book Review

[Book Review] Hira Moni Deka, Politics of Identity and the Bodo Movement in Assam. New Delhi: Scholar World, 2014.

Reviewed by Anup Das

The Northeast region of India has witnessed political movements in the form of either demands for cessation or separate autonomy among different ethnic groups. Each ethnic group express and asserts one’s cultural identity in order to claim a territory and political control over natural resources. The present book attempts to provide a holistic understanding of the Bodo movement in Assam which is demanding for a separate state within the democratic framework of India. The author focuses on different issues that have fuelled or motivated the identity movement among the Bodos since the colonial period. She systematically traced the different phases of Bodo identity assertion beginning from the colonial period to the post independence era. The Bodo identity assertion movement is divided into four different phases. Altogether the book has six chapters.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783277

Agricultural Practices and the Changing Pattern of Land Holding System from Pre-Colonial to Colonial Manipur

Article

By Moirangthem Monica Devi

In contemporary Manipur, agriculture is the main economic base of the rural society. In earlier times too, such was the economic scenario as observed from various sources and accounts. Both the valley people and the hill tribes were agriculturalists even though their modes of cultivation varied. As the society was predominantly a subsistence based economy, land especially agricultural land was a big part of life. Therefore, the paper will examine the various modes of cultivation prevalent in Manipur. The paper will also be examining how the agricultural land of the kingdom was controlled and the various modes revenue collection systems that the Pre Colonial State used during that period. The paper will further discuss the course of historical development and the changes that British brought into land holding system and land revenue policies throughout the colonial Manipur.

Keywords: Agriculture, land holding, economy, land revenue, Pre-colonial, Colonial, Manipur

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12784004

Urban water governance: Examining the role of traditional institutions in Shillong, Meghalaya

Article

By Bankerlang Kharmylliem and Ngamjahao Kipgen

This paper explores the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional institutions (dorbar shnongs) operating in the urban setting in the context of domestic water distribution in Meghalaya’s capital city of Shillong. The nature of water governance carried out by these institutions is examined to understand their role and contribution to water (in)equity in the city. Based on empirical study, selected localities are undertaken and compared to highlight the role of dorbar shnongs in water governance that are directly and indirectly contributing to water supply. This study focuses on the significance and the role of the local traditional institutions with regards to urban water governance in Shillong.

Keywords: dorbar shnong, traditional institutions, urban water governance, Shillong, social sustainability, water (in)equity

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783990

Memories that always return

Editorial

By Thongkholal Haokip

Twenty four years ago Naga Lim Guard killed more than a hundred innocent Kuki villagers on 13th September 1993 in Tamenglong district of Manipur. These villagers were fleeing after a ‘quit notice’ was served to them by the United Naga Council, an apex body of the Naga tribes of Manipur, on 10th September to leave their villages in the Naga dominated areas, in the erstwhile Jampi area, before the 15th of September, otherwise their secure passage to Sadar Hills via Tamei would come to an end. On the 11th of September Joupi villagers performed the last rite of their kidnapped village chief assuming that he had been killed. The church bell rang for the last service, though it was not Sunday. The following day the entire villagers left their village with resounding cries at the last glimpse of their homesteads. Rushing on their way towards their sanctuary before the deadline, they were intercepted by Naga ultras en route Tamei on 13th September. The victims on that day were tied behind, killed with dao not sparing women, children or the aged, and their mutilated dead bodies either thrown in the river or buried to conceal. On the same day several others were also killed in Janglenphai and in Gelnel just the previous day. These massacres were the highest number of deaths in a single day in the Kuki-Naga conflict of 1993, which continues to simmer till today. The day is observed annually by the Kukis around the world as Sahnit-ni or Black Day.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783127

Natural Resources and Socio-Economic Development in North East India

Article

By Mirinchonme Mahongnao, Noklenyangla & Subhash Kumar

The Northeastern region of India comprising eight states has enormous natural resources. Like the rest of the world, this region faces threat to biodiversity and river ecosystem owing to various developmental projects. This paper attempts to highlight the problems which are not impossible to solve: if only addressed, and identifies the existence of a gap between what policy for development for Northeast aims to achieve and what really happens. Since, development in northeast region is inevitable. We argued that a genuine and concrete social-environmental impact assessment must be properly done before the initiation of any developmental activities. The hydroelectric projects are more sustainable and cost-effective, and thus smaller dams should be constructed in lieu of large dams. Finally, we conclude with the assumption that instead of ‘planning for the Northeast’ the emphasis should be ‘planning with the Northeast’ for the benefit of its people through industrial prospects of this region, keeping in mind the basic determinates of such process in order to facilitate effective growth strategies.

Keywords: Northeast India, Natural Resources, Socio-Economic Development, Sustainable Development

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783245

Food Culture, Nutritional Status and Health-Care Accessibility of the Kukis of Manipur

Article

By Ruth Nengneilhing

The paper studies the quality of life and health of a conflicted affected population by taking the case of the Kukis of Manipur in the aftermath of the 1990s’ Kuki-Naga ethnic conflict. The clash resulted in the uprooting of hundreds of villages with the loss of more than 1,000 lives and enormous internal displacement. Conflicts have often resulted in various forms of infectious diseases in epidemic forms resulting in high rate of mortality among the affected population. The objective of this paper is to study the quality of life and health of the conflict affected Kuki population in three selected sites: Chavangphai, Gelnel and Tujang Vaichong. The determinants of health that are taken in the study are food culture, nutritional status and accessibility to health care facilities. It takes into account the health indicators such as height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI) and mortality rates.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783224

Role of the State and Traditional Institutions in Identity Formation: A Study of the Namghar in Assam

Article

By Ankita Dutta

The Neo-Vaishnavite movement of Srimanta Sankardeva in the 14th century led to the subsequent formation of an ‘Assamese’ identity centering around the Sattra (a Vaishnavite monastery) and the Namghar (the former’s extended wing). Both the Sattra and the Namghar are intimately associated with the socio-cultural and religious life of the Assamese society. The ‘democratic’ institution of the Namghar provides a common forum for villagers to assemble and not only discuss collectively their common issues and problems but also resolve the local disputes of the village through locally evolved judicial procedures and methods. This paper tries to locate the role of the Namghar as a traditional institution in today’s context of the fragmentation of the Vaishnavite community into different sects and sub-sects. It makes a study of the factors resulting in the ‘fracture’ of the ‘Assamese’ identity in the context of the Namghar, and looks into the several ways by which people identify and distinguish themselves from the ‘other’. It also tries to emphasise the complementary relationship between the traditional and the modern, and how the continuous interaction between the state and traditional institutions seeks to create and re-create new identities and new dynamics of legitimacy and power relations, having implications on the way of functioning of both.

Keywords: Neo-Vaishnavism, Namghar, Sattra, identity, Assam.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783194

Migration from Agricultural Land in Barpeta to Waste-land in Lucknow: A Struggle for Livelihood

Article

By Roli Misra

Migration influences the society, polity, geography, culture, demography and economy in different ways and degrees. From the global macro level to the rural micro level via nation-states and other politico-spatial formations it exerts influence at all levels. This paper is based on the field survey conducted in two cities i.e., Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh (the destination) and Barpeta in Assam (the source). The experiences from the field survey demonstrate that people from a particular religious minority from rural Barpeta have been migrating since last two decades to Lucknow and they have found their livelihoods in waste. It is a kind of long distance rural-urban migration. There are mixed reasons to migrate. Hence, it is a kind of complex yet interesting situation where a certain linguistic community has migrated to a distant land, chosen to indulge in a menial job and the state is indifferent to include them in mainstream development policies because of their contested identities.

Keywords: Migration, Identity, Bangladesh, Assam, Bodo, Waste- picker, Lucknow, Barpeta

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783173

Role of Women during the Anti-Foreigners’ Agitation in Assam 1979-1985

Article

By Nabanita Sharma

The Anti-foreigners agitation in Assam started against the alleged inclusion of ‘foreigners’ name in the voters’ lists in several electoral constituencies in Assam in the 1970s. This agitation lasted for nearly five years. This event has been researched widely. Women constituted a major chunk among the agitators. Women were most vulnerable to violence that occurred during the agitation and afterward. However, this group of agitators has not been studied separately. In this paper, I have made an attempt to see how they viewed the agitation and what prompted them to join in such a large scale. I have also tried to study the need for looking at women’s participation in the agitation separately. Women in Assam, compare to the rest of India were less educated and had almost zero participation in politics in the 1970s. This paper is an attempt to explore the reasons and repercussions of the joining of women in the agitation.

Keywords: Anti-Foreigners’ Agitation, AASU, AAGSP, Agitation, Assam, Foreigner, Women.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783158

Forest Conservation and Management Practices among the Ahom rulers of Pre-Colonial Assam: An Historical Assessment

Article

By Srijani Bhattacharjee

Variances in administrative sanctions over nature under pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial regimes have been the subject matter of enquiry in the discourses of environmental history. It is usually estimated that with the establishment of colonial power in India, state intervention over nature have multiplied leading to interference in the flora, fauna and indigenous rights of the forest based communities. The contrary argument put against this is that the traditional societies maintained a balanced approach towards nature with nominal intrusion of the state. This paper attempts to analyse the role of the traditional rulers in administering nature by maintaining a balance between state forest policies and indigenous forest rights. For our study we have taken the Ahom rulers of Assam and their endeavours of forest conservation and management over the region. The Ahom monarchs ruled over Assam from the 13th century till the initiation of British administration over the territory. The study intends to find out the extent of floral and faunal use in the region under the Ahom state, state policies towards forests and neighbouring tribes and the royal approach towards the fauna of the region.

Keywords: Conservation, Management, Forest use, Ahom, Assam, Nature.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12783150

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