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Agro-Economy in the Hills of Manipur: An Interplay of Peasants, Middlemen and Markets

Article

By Hoineilhing Sitlhou

The paper examines a peasant society’s interface with modernization, essentially the penetration of capitalist relations of production in the hills of Manipur. The space for labour has changed and has become commoditized. It is no longer the bonds of kinship, operative through families of clans and kindred, which govern production and distribution. Though there are a sizable population of rural poor, mostly landless labourers, who are dependent on agriculture as their primary source of livelihood, the introduction of peasants to commercial market economy have made them a vulnerable prey of the middlemen who exploit them in the business transactions. The outcome is the ensuing dwindling interest of the peasants in agriculture production as it is no longer considered to be a productive enterprise. This is despite the fact that they have no alternative vocation or source of livelihood or resource capital to fall back on. The study concludes that the peasants need to be encouraged by the state keeping in mind their important contribution to the state’s economy and subsistence.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12748009

Ethnic and Counter-Ethnic Mobilization: A Study of Bodoland Territorial Region, Assam

Article

By Dipika Paul

Northeast India for long has witnessed ethnic mobilizations for greater autonomy. The Government of India’s attempt to meet such demands with statehood and Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) did not end such demands. Formation of ADC under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India in a multi-ethnic society like in Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) of Assam have proliferated ethnic mobilization. BTC has only 33.5% ST population with the Bodos as the dominant tribe. Therefore, introducing BTC for empowering the Bodos led to the question of marginalization and counterethnic mobilization of other communities. It also led to the strengthening of “Non-Bodo” as a collective identity. The paper analysed counter-ethnic mobilization as a consequences of the formation of ADCs in a multi-ethnic society. It discusses the factors for such mobilization i.e., incidences of violence, insecurity, and questions of deprivation. It also discusses the consequences of the mobilization in strengthening of “Non-Bodo” identity.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12747990

Gender and Sports: Representation of Women Athletes in Mizo Dailies

Article

By Nicky Lalrinsanga Lotlai, V. Ratnamala, and Mangchungnunga Hangsing

Gender has always played a key role in defining the ways in which athletes are portrayed in the media. This paper tackled how the patriarchal set-up of the Mizo culture and society resulted in the limited opportunity for Mizo women to participate in sports. It gives an in-sight on the status of women in Mizo traditional society, also how changes brought along by the Christian missionaries have led to the wider participation of women in society and in sports. This study explores the level of representation of women athletes in Mizo daily newspapers. It highlighted the differences in the representation of men and women athletes in Mizo dailies, and also studies the space given to women athletes in news coverage. and the types of sports covered by Mizos dailies. Content analysis is employed for the evaluation of data. Using purposive sampling method, three Mizo daily newspapers i.e., Vanglaini, The Zozam Times, and The Aizawl Post are selected as sample dailies. The sample dailies are selected based on their circulation figures. The data revealed that women athletes does not get the level of representation compared to male athletes, also the types of sports played by women paved a way for coverage in the Mizo dailies. The reason for the lack of coverage of women’s sports news is deliberated in this paper. This paper will fill the vast research gap that existed in women’s participation in sports in Northeast India.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12747972

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Evidences of Job Search Behaviour, Waiting, Employability Skills, Change and Dissatisfaction of North-East Migrant Worker and Employer’s Reciprocity in Bengaluru

Article

By Reimeingam Marchang

It is evident from the primary data that North-East migrant workers in Bengaluru search job widely through social networks. Job search competition was relatively low owing to the flexibility in entry and exit particularly in private sector. Largely, job waiting period was considerably short because of the flexibility in searching and choosing job. Experienced workers in particular usually sought for a specific job with certain reservation wage. Employers preferred experienced over fresher workers. Most workers do not have a continuous work. Some workers have lowered their job aspiration below their educational qualification while employers have raised the minimum hiring qualification of the workers to be employable in their establishment due to skill shortfall. Communication was the foremost skills required and demanded to consider labour as employable. Migrant workers prominently engaged in retail, hospitality and corporate job. Workers’ average income was modest and earnings vary across the occupations. Workers kept on changing their job through on-the-job search as an attempt to achieve wage growth and job satisfaction. Employers also felt the same. However, most workers desire to stay on their job due to job satisfaction and employer wanted to retain their workers owing to labour productivity. Both workers and employers encountered a widespread work, workplace and organisational problems that were addressed through various mechanisms involving colleague, employers and worker’s voicing dissatisfaction.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12747938

Examining Some Aspects of the Political Economy of Manipur from the Perspective of Amartya Sens’s Theory of Development

Review Essay

By Ngahpi Lhouvum

The paper examines the political economy of Manipur and explores whether Amartya Sen’s theory of development as freedom could be applied to elevate the economic backwardness and other socio-political problems in the state. Sen’s theory of development states that development is to be measured in terms of the freedom people have to choose the kind of life they want to lead. Development requires that an enabling environment whereby people are empowered economically, socially and politically in order to have the capability to make rational choices. Traditional yardsticks of development like high GDP, increase in per capita income, growth in GNP, technological advancement, etc. do not capture the true essence of development. Besides economic growth, there are also equally important factors of development such as civil and political liberties, justice, equality, health, education etc. So, development would mean removing all sorts of what Sen would call “unfreedoms” which could be economic, social and political in nature. Manipur is one of the most disturbed states, economically backward and politically unstable due to various insurgent groups operating in the state. AFSPA is used to maintain law and order thereby curtailing various rights and civil liberties granted by the Constitution of India to its citizens. All sorts of ‘unfreedoms’– the obstacles that stand in the way of development – have their nagging presence in this state. So, Sen’s theory of development has special relevance to the problems of Manipur and may serve as an effective remedy.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12747881

Giorgio Agamben, State of Exception, University of Chicago Press, 2005

Book Review

Reviewed by Monis Ahmad

Giorgio Agamben’s seminal work the State of exception is primarily dealing with the nuances of theorising, when it comes to using/enforcing emergency power provisions by modern constitutional states. To quote Agamben, “the unstoppable progression of what has been called a “global civil war,” the state of exception tends increasingly to appear as the dominant paradigm of government in contemporary politics. This transformation of a provisional and exceptional measure into a government technique threatens to radically alter, and at times have altered the structure and meaning of the traditional distinction between constitutional forms”. The state of exception from the outset is a point of indeterminacy between democracy and absolutism. In this context the concept of bio-politics borrowed from Michel Foucault to further expatiate on the control of state when it comes to enforcing and controlling law over its citizens deserves a mention.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12781763

North East India: A Region in an Endless Ordeal

Article

By Sarup Sinha

15th August 1947; a date that transcends beyond a mere entry in history books, it is a meaning that resonates with every Indian as the day of Independence, as an event of freedom, and above all birth of the largest democracy in the world. Independence was however not an overnight process nor was the formation of the Indian landscape as we visualize today. British left India with more than 500 princely states and the herculean task of integrating those princely states lay on the capable shoulders of Sardar Vallabhai Patel and V.P Mennon. One such event that leaves behind a legacy of varied tastes is that of North East India. It is a potent case to examine the nature of nation making and its consequences. The northeastern region is the hub of multiple tribes and communities each having their distinct identities with their own historical past. Today, the region is lagging behind other parts of the country in terms of infrastructure and economic development due to myriad reasons. In addition, we encounter many separatist and militant movements from different quarters of the region such as Nagaland, Assam, Manipur beginning with Naga Insurgency in 1950s.The methods adopted by the Indian state to tackle such situation of unrest is marred with stories of widespread human rights violations coupled with militant violence. Armed Force Special Powers Act remains as an instrument of military force asserted by the State which persists up to the present.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12781649

From Marginalisation to Stereotypes — ‘North East India’ in Indian Media: Evidences from Focus Group Discussions in Manipur

Article

By Shipra Raj

Previous media studies have noted that India’s North East often remains absent from the mainstream media. As news media plays a formidable role in minorities recognition and representation and it is important to ask how media represents the North East.1 Building from the role of media in democracy this paper analyses how media reports the North East. The traditional journalistic ethics of fair, balanced and truthful does not mean that everybody gets equal representation. Three Focus Group Discussions were held in Manipur which involved 30 participants through purposive and snowball sampling technique. This paper analyses how and when the North East gets space in mainstream media. Participants noted that the coverage of Manipur in the mainstream media has widely been negative and their issues and interests are underrepresented. Majority of the participants noted that the coverage of mainstream media has often been incorrect and subject to stereotypes and has largely been focused on insurgency and conflict.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12781535

Status of Development in Meghalaya: An Inter-District Analysis

Article

By Sangeeta Dasgupta

Poor development status of Meghalaya and the North Eastern region as a whole has been a significant concern to policy makers. The centralised system of planning followed in Meghalaya so far could not bring about the desired level of development in the state. Although the condition of the people of the state has improved over the years, their situation remains backward as compared to the rest of the country’s population. Further, the state has already gone through seven five-year plan periods with various sectoral strategies adopted in each plan, but inequality in sectoral development in the different regions and districts of the state have been observed. A number of areas in Meghalaya are still lacking in many respects and there exists intra regional variations in terms of the level of development. Thus, micro-level studies for better understanding of the various factors affecting the development of the state are crucial. The present paper made an attempt to determine the comparative state of development and the magnitude of inter-district disparities of the then seven districts of Meghalaya. In order to address the existing socio-economic differential and related behavior in a development perspective, it is essential to determine the comparative state of development of the districts of Meghalaya.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12781423

Autonomy Demands in the Hill Areas of Manipur: Issues and Challenges

Article

By Seikhogin Haokip

In contemporary multi-ethnic nation-states of the world, autonomy has been often seen as a panacea for solving ethnic conflicts. However, when ethnic groups do not settle compactly in a particular geographical area, granting of autonomy to minority ethnic groups becomes problematic. It is often faced with overlapping land and territorial claims between groups and the tensions and conflicts thereafter. In India’s Northeast, ethnic groups are seldom found settled compactly in defined geographical areas. As such, autonomy demands in the region often involve contesting identity, land and territorial claims between groups, thereby, becoming the source of ethnic tensions and conflicts in the region. This paper examines the various issues and challenges in ethnic-based autonomy demands in the hill areas of Manipur.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12780865

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