Tinderbox

Name of Book: Tinderbox

Author: M. J. Akbar.

Publisher: Harper Collins.

Year: 2011.

Pages: 342.

Price: Rs.499.00

Many books have been written about Partition, India and Pakistan. We are familiar with most of the events leading up to 1947, and thereafter — Kashmir, the wars, creation of Bangladesh, terrorism. What is different in this book is the coverage. The book is more a historical account with a new vista of events leading to the demand for and the creation of Pakistan, and does a little crystal-gazing into the future.

M.J. Akbar begins with the initial interaction between Islam and the subcontinent with the invasion of Muhammad bin Kasim in the eighth century (712 AD).

Why this is so is explained in the very first chapter. He continues with the succeeding Muslim influence in India with the raids of Mahmud Ghazni, the beginning of Muslim rule with Muhammad Ghori, the Delhi Sultanate, the Khiljis, Tughlaqs, Sayyids, Lodis, Suris, and Mughals, spanning a period of about 650 years.

This long period of Muslim domination over the largely Hindu population was the root cause of a feeling of separateness, which dogged the Muslim psyche. It became more pronounced with the end of Muslim rule in India. The British used this to consolidate their control over the Hindus, whom they disliked. Creating the divide helped them in maintaining control over the entire country.

Except for a brief period during the Khilafat movement, this feeling of separateness underlined Hindu-Muslim relations throughout, and became more pronounced during the rest of the freedom struggle.

The British took advantage of this feeling to widen the schism between the Hindus and the Muslims, which evolved into the Congress-versus-Muslim League tussle, in order to weaken the efforts of Mahatma Gandhi and the other leaders. They encouraged Muslim separation which crystallized into dislike, distrust and hatred between the two communities and finally led to Partition and the creation of India and Pakistan. This hatred and hostility has dogged relations to the present day.

Pakistan’s own inner contradictions, the Kashmir dispute led to three wars and the creation of Bangladesh.

The continued animosity led to a hardening of views. Fundamentalism, religious extremism and the start of terrorism became vital implements of state policy. Pakistan deftly used international situations and the Afghanistan problems to its advantage on a number of occasions vis-à-vis India. However, the encouragement given to fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism has also resulted in internal instability and strife which has become a Frankenstein to Pakistan itself. Akbar does a little crystalball gazing and foresees a dark future for the country if the struggle between moderate and extreme forces goes in favour of the latter. The outcome is not certain at the moment.

Akbar has dealt with the subject in a very balanced and objective manner. He has accorded blame where it was due without being acerbic or offensive. The shortcomings of Jinnah and the Muslim leaders as well as the mistakes of the Congress leaders, including Gandhi, have been pointed out without being critical in any way. He leaves the criticism to the reader.

His style is simple as is expected of a journalist of his standing. There are some analytical portions. All the components have been given a most appropriate mix to bring out a very well researched account of a very crucial phase of the history of India and Pakistan.

A very readable book, indeed.

H.W.T. SYIEM

Published on September 23, 2011

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110923/jsp/northeast/story_14511556.jsp

Aarchi

Name of the book: Aarchi

Writer: Nituparna Rajbongshi

Publisher: Jyoti Prakashan

Pages: 112

Price: Rs 70

“Ridicule is the only weapon the English climate cannot rust,” Lord Byron had said.

Nituparna Rajbongshi uses this weapon judiciously in Assam’s wet climate, sketching one scathing cartoon after the other, sparing no one but never failing to wrap each piece of biting sarcasm in unmistakable humour.

Aarchi, a collection of 200 of his carefully handpicked cartoons that have appeared in various newspapers and magazines over the years, is a collector’s item for all those who have been in love with his acerbic wit.

In Assamese, Aarchi means mirror — an apt name for a collection that reflects the cartoonist’s world as he saw it.

Cartoons, in fact, have always been a potent tool for social satire.

The spurt came particularly during World War II when the warring sides realised the power of the pictorial image to convey a powerful message both to the barely literate and to those who spoke a different language. Cartoons and caricature were hence part of propaganda campaign.

The rise of the caption-less cartoon drawings also expanded the scope for malicious lampoonery.

The art got a new dimension in Assam with Bahi, an Assamese magazine edited by Lakshminath Bezbaruah. In Bahi, Bezbaruah himself drew cartoons criticising the hypocrisies of his society.

The first cartoon magazine in Assam, simply called Cartoon, was published by Pulok Gogoi from Calcutta in 1967.

Compilations of published articles, poems and short stories are common in Assam but, for unknown reasons, the same had not happened with cartoons, for which a good many cartoons are lost forever.

By publishing Aarchi, Jyoti Publication, a leading publishing house of Assam, has ignited hope for other cartoonists in the state.

Rajbongshi’s collection has an interesting mix — while some reveal hypocrisies and double standards, other target specific groups like unemployed youths, housewives and any cartoonist’s favourite, the politician.

A glimpse into the development of cartoons in Assam as well as in India and the world in the book’s foreword will definitely help readers get an insight into this witty, expressive and extremely creative art form.

RAJIV KONWAR

Published on September 23, 2011

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110923/jsp/northeast/story_14543095.jsp

The Assamese Christians

Name of the book: The Assamese Christians

Writer: Dr. Manjula Hussain

Publisher: Purbanchal Prakash, Guwahati

Pages: 111

Price: Rs 300

The Assamese Christians by Dr. Manjula Hussain is a consolidated study of Christianity amongst the people of various ethnic diversities in the Northeast part of India; the book scours the path of the religion from its introduction and inception to the present day practices, with a special attention to the Assamese Christians.

“The earliest entry of the Christians into North East can be traced much before the advent of the British rule. Sangma (1987) has mentioned that the earliest recorded visit by the Christian missionaries to North East India was in 1626 by two Jesuit Missionaries namely Father Stephen Cacella and Father John Gabrial, who were probably looking for a passage to Tibet and China . ”

It is interesting to note that when the other parts of India were going through a sea-change politically -Malik Amber founded the city of Aurangabad in 1610- the North East part opened up to Jesuit missionaries, and Christianity quietly made its headway into this part of the country. The actual religion though was introduced two centuries later, when “ on 23 rd March, 1836, two American Baptists, Nathan Brown and Oliver T. Cutter arrived with their families at Sadiya, an easternmost point in Assam (now in the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh). ” Their mission was to reach the Chinese empire; but, Dr. Hussain writes, that they were probably destined by their Holy Ghost to proselytize the Assamese people.

The religious history of Assam in context of Christianity is so intermeshed with the political upheaval in the region, that one could well be said to complement the other. Dr. Hussain goes on to explain this in great detail and with data to back her claims. Her study of background literature is an impressive one and the contextual history of the other parts of the country are also hinted at through her well researched book.

She writes that while the Ahom kings were busy trying to keep their kingdom from falling apart, what with the indigenous communities from the nearby hills of the Brahmaputra valley and the Burmese intruding their territories frequently, the region was ravaged with war between the intruders and the allied forces of the British and the Ahom kings. The treaty at Yandabu, compelled the Burmese to retreat. It was at this time that the Assam came under the rule of the East India Company in 1826, after holding their own for 67 years against the British mega-corporation.

The political upheaval and the dousing of the same kept the British so busy that the “ role of the British Baptist mission and the Serampore Baptist Mission is noteworthy ” in the context of religious leadership.

Dr. Hussain draws inspiration from writers like Herskovits (1938) and Smith (1986) to go on to say that Christianity where embraced, is always reinterpreted in terms of the local beliefs and practices. She says that the practice holds good even in the northeast Indian context. The convert indigenous communities have retained their faith in clan and other social organization systems.

The book is a fairly detailed study of the Assamese Christians from an anthropological context. A student of anthropology or an avid reader of sociology can get information of the advent and the practice of Christianity in context to the Assamese people.

PATHIKA DHARA SARMA

Published on September 9, 2011

Unisher Kobita

Name of the book: Unisher Kobita

Edited by: Atin Das

Published by: Vicky Publishers

Price: Rs 60

Mention "ekushe February" to any Bengali proud of his cultural and linguistic roots and he will regale you with tales of a glorious heritage and valiant struggle of his counterparts in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) against Pakistani oppression. Mention "unishe May" to the same person and there is every chance of evoking an uneasy silence.

Indeed, very few Bengalis are familiar with the firing at Silchar police station on May 19 exactly half a century ago in which 11 persons laid down their lives. They were protesting against the diktat of the then Assam government, under the chief ministership of B.P. Chaliha, in imposing Assamese on the Bengalis of the Barak Valley. It was on this day in 1961 that the crackdown on these unarmed protesters resulted in their death, following which the Assam government withdrew the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status in the three Barak Valley districts.

It is as though selective amnesia has set in through years of studied silence about the language martyrs from the Northeast. To highlight this aspect and to commemorate 50 years of the martyrdom, Silchar’s Atin Das has edited an anthology of poems aptly titled Unisher Kobita. One of the poems, Abasthan , by Dilip Kanti Laskar, captures the cultivated ignorance and disdain of the Bengali cultural elite of Calcutta towards the people of the Northeast. Loosely translated, it goes:

From where have you come, he asked me.

I said Karimganj, Assam.

He was beside himself with joy and said,

But you speak nice and fluent Bengali!

When an educated person suffers

From such atrophied concepts,

What more can I say in defining my identity?

Another poem, Jabane Tatka Rakto by Karuna Ranjan Bhattacharyya, is infused with the sentiments of the language movement. It reads (translation mine):

Why? Why do you break down the geography of language?

One language, one land

Why? Will you split here? Or join there?

One language, fragmented boundaries

Why? Will I forsake my mother tongue smilingly?

You expect me to learn the language imposed on us

Am I a mynah that I will learn a language

Pushed down my throat to showcase your cage?

The other poems have been written by a cross-section of Silchar’s social fabric in particular and the Barak Valley in general. Each is replete with angst and emotion, as well as a pervasive resentment over the failure of the language movement in crystallising into a mass protest all over Assam to achieve its end.

Even after an interregnum of half a century, the basic demands of the language movement of the Bengalis of Barak Valley are yet to be fulfilled. Most of the poems in the collection harp on this. The poets themselves have given a clarion call for a reawakening; they foresee a new dawn when the martyrs will infuse life into the Bengali language for generations to come.

Poems like Unish by Bhakta Singh Thakuri, Sakal by Sitangshu Chakraborty, Unisher Journal by Atin Das, Unishe May by Lutfa Ara Chowdhury, Unish Ele by Ashishranjan Nath and Ekta Agun by Ashutosh Das highlight the disenchantment and echo the pent-up emotions of those who keep the fire of the mother tongue burning in their hearts.

The cover carries a picture of the marble memorial with the names of the 11 who died, while the book is dedicated to the memory of the language martyrs. Atin Das deserves unstinted praise for editing this collection of inspiring poems that should go a long way in bridging the divide between linguistic groups of Assam and Bengal.

SUDIPTA BHATTACHARJEE

Published on September 9, 2011

Under A Cloud

Name of Book : Under A Cloud.

Name of Author: Binoo K. John.

Publisher: Penguin.

Number of Pages: 161.

The book is a travelogue of sorts starting with the train journey from Delhi to Assam and Meghalaya. The book focuses on Cherrapunji , Mawsynram and Shillong. The author’s intention is to highlight different aspects and experiences of the places he travelled in from what is commonly known.

The style is racy even when he narrates of his wanderings on foot. To emphasize this he indulges in drama and hyperbole in his narrative, as in the case of his journeys in the streets of Guwahati and the drive to Shillong.

There are many inaccuracies in the narration.. To start with Shillong is not 6,500 feet above sea level. It is 4908 feet at the Kutchery point. Even Shillong Peak is just above 6000 feet. The waters of Ward’s Lake could not have possibly destroyed Shillong Town in the Earthquake of 1897, because it was simply not large enough. Tirot Singh did not belong to Sohra or Cherrapunji as he claimed, nor does the eldest daughter inherit in the matrilineal system. Dohkhlieh is not made from buffalo head nor have I heard of pig killing done among the Khasis with a red hot iron rod being pushed up the rectum of the animal. Mr. John has been very fortunate in seeing “youngsters with belly buttons decorated with fake pearls” on the main streets and near schools, a sight I have not had the privilege to witness in a lifetime of wandering those same streets.

There are many more inaccuracies relating to David Scott’s age, the altitude of Cherrapunji and Mawsynram plateaus (6000 feet?), the Assam floods being caused by the flowing waters from Cherra, being glaring ones.

One would expect that the truth should not have been so glaringly overlooked in a writing of this kind.

H. W. T. Syiem

Published on August 26

Nilamani Phookan Kabi Aru Kabita

A poet about another poet

Name of the book: Nilamani Phookan Kabi Aru Kabita

Writer: Harekrishna Deka

Publisher: Anwesha, M C Road, Barowari, Guwahati

Pages: 144

Price: Rs 99

As the name distinctively suggests, the book is about Nilamoni Phukon, the poet and his poems. Critics are unanimous in opinion that Phukon is one of the greatest and most influential modern Assamese poets and his poems have given another weight to our poetry. Deka, himself a poet of great reputation is an ardent admirer of Phukon, and he, as a true connoisseur of poetry, analysis some of his poems, and does it convincingly.

Aprat from the appendix, the book contains seven essays on and an interview with Nilamoni Phukon. The articles were written at different times and for different occasions; still there is a link among them. The first one is almost an introductory one in which the author tells how and why he became interested in the works of the poet. “Nilamoni Phukonor kavitat chitrkalpa” will help any reader to understand and appreciate the apparently difficult poet. Discovery of a meaning implied in an image is indeed gratifying and a reward in itself. The texts of his poems are so compact and pregnant with meaning that the meaning “often elusively slips from the grasp.” The distinctive Assamese way of life, particularly the ambience that has shaped it fascinates him, and allusions to it are plenty in his poems; natural beauty and popular beliefs of the country people have always stirred his poetic mind.

“Nilamoni Phukonor Kavita,” reprinted here was originally the preface to the poems of Nilamoni Phukon published in 2006, and it is so exhaustively written that the place is likely to come in handy to explore meanings in the poems of Phukon. Almost all the aspects of his poems are discussed and substantiated with pertinent explanations. Even the occasions of writing of some poems are cited; it is also referred to how some unfortunate and untoward happenings of our social life had robbed the poet of his mental peace until he wrote a poem to give to his agony and restlessness caused by them. It speaks volumes of his social commitment.

“Nrityarata Prithivi” is a critical evaluation of his poems included in the collection of the same title. With the passage of time man grows more experienced, and his outlook undergoes changes. The poems of this collection were written during a chaotic and turbulent periods of our history when the beast in man reigned supreme. Phukon’s heart bled; and many of the poems of the collection, as Deka points out, bears its indelible stamp. But that is not last say; his lust for life and longing for peace for all humanity are present here. “Ata artanadar aant bichari” and “Kahaneo ninadita hoi nutha kichuman sabda” are analysis and appreciation of two poems of the same titles.

Reading Nilamoni Phukon’s poetry, texts of eighteen poems with a pageful specimen of the poet’s handwriting and an outline of his life and achievements constitute the appendix. The fourteen questionnaire of the author and their answers by the poet are quite informative.

The contents of the book were published in different magazines and many readers might have read them. Anwesha has collected and published all the essays in a single book. It is a significant contribution to Assamese literature; with plenty of explanations the author illuminates the meaning of some significant poems, and it serves as guide lines to many readers. (EOM)

SYED MAHAMMAD MAHSHIN

Published on August 26, 2011

UPROOTED FOR WHOSE BENEFIT –Development-Induced Displacement in Assam 1947-2000.

DISPLACED FOR A LOST CAUSE

Name of the book: UPROOTED FOR WHOSE BENEFIT –Development-Induced Displacement in Assam 1947-2000.

Writer: Walter Fernandes and Gita Bharali;

Publisher: North Eastern Social Research Centre, 110 Kharghuli Road, Guwahati.

Number of pages: 734 Price Rs. 350.

Singur and Nandigram marked not just a watershed moment in deciding the political fortunes of the TMC and Left Front Government in West Bengal by catapulting Mamata Bannerjee as the didi of the masses, ripping off, not in the least unceremoniously, what was essentially a leftist ideal and making it her own. It also jolted the comfortably complacent urban middle class from his blissful ignorance and made the average Indian family familiar with issues of displacement, rehabilitation, resettlement etc. It is no wonder then, that policy framers in New Delhi are sitting up and taking note of how the dispossessed marginal can shape political destinies. The Land Acquisition Act (LAA), 1894, a colonial legacy, is no doubt outdated. With the draft land acquisition bill to go public in a few days, one can be assured that the raging debate will continue.

The book is first among an NESRC initiative on a series on displacement studies. The study looks at the extent of post-independent displacement and deprivation in the state by development projects from 1947 to 2000. Completed in 2006 and published in Assamese in 2007, lack of funding delayed its english translation. Nevertheless, it couldn’t have come out at a better time.

The first chapter as an introduction calls the study, a ‘story of the losers’ – the narrative of the dispossessed coming to the fore. Initially one maybe overwhelmed by the numbers and statistics but that makes it credible. Conscientious effort of the researchers to arrive at a conservative estimate of the number of people who are deprived of livelihood without physical relocation (PAPs) as well as displaced people (DPs), in the face of inadequate data and official records, is commendable.

Interviewing 726 families from 12 representative projects, the study creates a strong database of development affected people with separate analysis for the extent to which people belonging to the general category, dalits and tribals in particular are alienated, not just from their physical spaces but also their social and cultural domains. Highlighting the plight of the displaced woman as twice removed, the study calls for an alternative developmental paradigm which upholds a person’s right to a life of dignity in Article 21of the Constitution. A perceptive examination of the quality of life of the displaced, before and after the completion of developmental projects, illuminates the unmistakable urban bias of the ‘public purpose’ behind such projects. Understandably, one accustomed to a sustainable traditional economy cannot be deposed and placed in a formal economy with the expectation to survive unassisted. 1,916,085 people, 22.14% of it tribals (they form 12.9% of the state’s population), have been displaced from over 1,405,809 acres of land acquired for development from 1947-2000. With resettlement as little as 9%, Assam has a very poor track record of rehabilitation.

It stresses on the need to replace the market value with ‘replacement value’. “Land, because of its intrinsic nature of being naturally given and fixed in quantity, attracts rent and prices based on the current incomes from land are inadequate”-Anup Sinha, Professor of Economics, IIM, Calcutta. The new draft bill emphasises the need to make the affected people stakeholders in the development process. In the new proposal, farmers should get six times the market value as compensation for their land and landless labours should get Rs 2,000 per month for 20 years. It also makes it mandatory for projects to obtain approval of 80% of the affected people.

Is the hullaballoo surrounding the Subansiri project anti-development? Despite reassurances from both the NHL and the government, constructive wisdom from NEEPCO’S Ranganadi project cannot be ignored. Commissioned in 2002, it has been accused of neglecting downstream impact studies as well as going against the promise of giving jobs to affected people. As Milan Kundera puts it, “The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” This book is a celebration of the struggle.

SUMEELA ADHIKARIMAYUM

Published on August 12, 2011

Bhramyaman Theatarar Itihas

Name of the book: Bhramyaman Theatarar Itihas

Compiler: Kishore Kumar Kalita

Publisher: All Assam Mobile Theatre Producer Association

Pages: 296

Price: Rs 300

Bhramyaman Theaterar Itihas, as the name suggests, is a history of state’s largest entertainment industry – mobile theatre. Indigenously developed, this unique entertainment industry of Assam, has also established itself as one of the strongest means of communication among the people.

Besides contributing to state’s cultural world, today, mobile theatres are also generating employment to hundreds of youths. At present, not less than 5000 people are working at around 40 theatre groups across the state.

However, there are allegations from several quarters that despite of five decades long silent contribution to state’s cultural arena mobile theatres have not received proper recognition from the intelligentsia and government. But, if one does a comprehensive overview of the Assamese society one can not evade the role played by them, whose influence is more apparent in rural Assam than urban.

In such context a history on mobile theatre is the need of our today, and here lies the significance of Kalita’s Bhramyaman Theaterar Itihas which tries to capture the evolvement of this art right from the day the first mobile theatre Nataraj came into existence in 1963.

The author gives special emphasis on formation of Nataraj in the hand of Achyut Lahkar. He also gives a short account about one act plays of Srimanta Sankardeva , role of the Yatra Parties, penetration of modern stage in Assam , contribution of Tithiram Bayan and Braja Sarma to theatre, and role of various operas to the evolvement of drama.

It is indeed not an easy task to collect details about the development of mobile theatre, as, unlike today, there was limited information about their initial years in newspapers. Besides, no other effort was noticed to write their chronicles by anybody associated with them. Perhaps, nobody had ever thought that one day mobile theatre would flourish to today’s dimension. The author has confessed these difficulties while he was going to collect data for the book.

After Nataraj many theatre groups came into existence. Some of them flourished braving numerous adversities, especially financial constrain, but many died down after performing a few years. Interviewing people and searching on whatever scattered documents available on mobile theatre, the author has enlisted names of 109 mobile theatre groups year-wise, and said that some names might have left out due to lack of information.

The 31-page black and white photographs of actors, posters of different mobile theatre groups and their performance help readers understand the theatre groups better. Some writes up by different prominent persons, including Mahendra Barthakur, Bishnu Prasad Rabha and Garima Hazarika throw more lights on the journey of mobile theatre.

A long interview with Achyut Lahkar by the author is a significant source of information about formation of mobile theatre and the people behind them. In the interview Lahkar humbly says that the concept of Nataraj Theatre was taken from Nataraj Opera which was run by his brother Sadananda Lahkar.

The book also throws light on how taste of Assamese people has changed over time. Initially, historical plays dominated the stage. Nataraj staged Jerengar Xoti, Tikendrajit, Haidor Ali and Bhogjora in the first year and Jerengar Xoti, Haidor Ali, Angar and Beula were staged in the second year.

Written in simple language, the book is a mine of information of mobile theatre industry.

RAJIV KONWAR

Published on August 12, 2011

Viable Education for the Tribals

Name of the book: Viable Education for the Tribals

Name of author: Z.K. Pahru

Number of pages: 174

Publisher: North Eastern Social Research Centre

Price: Rs 120

In his book Viable Education for the Tribals, Z.K. Pahru has put forward a variety of suggestions towards creating a different kind of education system for indigenous communities in his home state, Manipur.

While some of his ideas seem extremely viable, some appear rather regressive.

Pahru’s focus is on the education system prevalent among various indigenous communities of Manipur in general and his own clan — the Poumai Nagas — in particular.

He traces the origin and evolution of the Poumais, who have been inhabitants of Manipur’s Senapati district since ages. As was common among most indigenous communities, they, too, were an agrarian community following an animistic religion. The society, with a strong patriarchal structure, revolved around beliefs and superstitions.

The author associates the strong patriarchal social structure with the need of the times for survival through hunting and warfare. The women were barred from participating in village council meetings and their place was in homes, close to their hearths. Education was limited to word of mouth and youths were delegated various tasks or responsibilities, which could be called trade in modern-day parlance.

After the British entered the scene, the Poumais, along with other indigenous hill communities of present-day Manipur, came under the Manipuri kingdom. Then followed the missionaries, who brought in Christianity and western education. Despite initial resistance from the local people, missionary activity started towards the end of the nineteenth century through the efforts of William Pettigrew and his wife Alice, who started the Baptist Mission. The Catholics followed after some time.

During this phase, religious activities and education went hand-in-hand. Pahru says that while the Baptists were individualistic in approach, the Catholics had a coordinated approach. They set up many schools, paving the way for government, and finally, private schools.

Here the author gets into the act of criticising schools, He blames the teachers and management of government schools of being dishonest, insincere and corrupt, alleges that missionary schools are focussed on their own agenda and favour their own denomination. Private schools, he says, are mercenary organisations set up to sell education.

He says the western education system has alienated the indigenous people from their roots, strengthened patriarchy, and created a competitive atmosphere and class categorisation among the otherwise classless people.

Pahru favours an education system on the lines of those prescribed by Ivan Illich and Mahatma Gandhi, and refers to Kanavu and Jeevan Shala type of schools for the indigenous people, to allow them to follow a curriculum based on their roots, traditional values, local knowledge and folklore. He also advocates the teaching mode to be vernacular till Class V, with English and other languages introduced later.

While Pahru is entitled to his views on the educational system, it needs to be recognised that the “western” type of education has become established. It has led to improvement in the economic and social standards of society at large, including his community. This, too, in no small measure. The system does have provision for vocational education, apart from the academic variety he disapproves of.

There will always be some who will excel and others who will lag behind in any system. Following his prescription will not bring about a uniform standard of ability. This is so even in traditional societies. Chiefs and leaders have emerged because of their recognised qualities to lead and decide.

The book contains some useful information. While there is no doubt that educational reforms are required, the prescription given is fraught with danger. Going back to the roots may merit some consideration, but to go back in totality has inherent dangers of isolating a society, rendering it irrelevant.

H.W.T. SYIEM

Published on July 29, 2011

Anannya

Name of the book: Anannya

Writer: Nirupama Borgohain

Publisher: Aank Baak

Pages: 384

Price: Rs 140

Nirupama Borgohain needs no introduction to the Assamese reader; she is a versatile writer who has enriched our literature with the bulk of her creative writings.

Her new publication, Anannya, is a biographical novel based on the life and achievements of Indira Devi, the founder-headmistress of T.C. Girls’ High School, Guwahati.

The novel is divided into two sections. In the first, the sincere longing for learning of a little damsel from an interior backward village Baghjanp and the different odds and adversities that had befallen her are narrated. In course of the narration, the reader is provided with glimpses of the freedom struggle in which Indira’s father Dharmakanta Borkataky participated actively and suffered. He lost his job and was imprisoned; but he was concerned about the education of his daughters. He brought them to Nagaon, and that was the turning point of Indira’s life. But for that decision, Indira’s life might have taken a different course.

Indira’s marriage to Barada Sarma was arranged before she had attained puberty. He was a very impressive character. A post-graduate, he knew the importance of education, and he did everything possible for his part for Indira’s education. To him, the cause of her education was greater than everything else.

Educating a married girl was an ordeal in those days, and Barada braced himself for it and provided guidance and encouragement to his wife.

After graduation from Cotton College she started her teaching career at Nagaon. Barada Sarma had left Shillong to join the newly incepted school at Raha; it was a very crucial period of Indira’s life. Then her husband passed away, and the young widow was all at sea.

The second section deals with the establishment of T.C. Girls’ School and Indira’s association with it. It was again her loving and foresighted father who shifted her to Guwahati and managed her a job in the new school. The novelist gives details of how some great minds were instrumental in fortifying the school; and also how Indira toiled hard for the same.

A great teacher contributes a lot towards moulding the students; Nirupama Borgohain acknowledges this truth with gratitude to her teacher; she recapitulates the quality education that the teachers had imparted under able stewardship of Indira Devi.

She has depicted the noble teacher with love, reverence and admiration. The novelist is proud of her Alma Mater; but laments that its glory has faded away.

Anannya is a saga of a dedicated teacher who possessed the morale to rise to any occasion to make life worth living.

The book, with a nice title page, is well printed. Aank Baak deserves thanks for this beautiful publication.

SYED MAHAMMAD MAHSHIN

Published on July 29; 2011

Traditional Method of Conflict Resolution: In three tribal societies of North East India

Name of book: Traditional Method of Conflict Resolution: In three tribal societies of North East India

Edited by: Alphonsus D’Souza

Published by: North Eastern Social Research Centre

Number of pages: 98

Price: Rs 75

Nestled in the easternmost part of India, the seven states of the Northeast have been amphitheatres of separatist violence and conflicts since the 1950s.

Connected to mainland India by a narrow 22km stretch, also called the chicken’s neck, a relentless isolationist approach to the region in a post-independent scenario, coupled with policies that were not quite cognizant of the ground realities, facilitated feelings of frustration and fear of losing ethnic identities.

Inefficient development initiatives, extended ceasefires with no resolution in sight and surrender and rehabilitation schemes with unproven efficacy have done little to alleviate the existing socio-political mayhem.

The booklet, part of a North Eastern Social Research Centre series on peace initiatives, attempts at an alternative understanding of conflict by examining three communities — Dimasa, Karbi and Lotha Naga — and the traditional methods of conflict resolution in these three indigenous societies.

In the introduction, D’Souza says: “The present study is an effort to look at the situation from the perspective of a common person” — and that is exactly what makes the study interesting.

Refraining from journalistic or social analyses and scholarly commentaries, it provides an objective “insider’s” perspective from communities witness to conflict situations. In doing so, it moves away from the general presumptuous and reductionist view that all the conflicts in the region are purely between the nationalist state or the government and the various insurgent groups, motivated solely by xenophobic intentions.

The sections on origin, history and social organisation of each community highlights not only the misperception in treating the entire Northeast as a homogenised composite entity, but also reinforces the idea that contrary to popular view, these tribes have always resorted to non-violent means of resolving conflicts.

The study gives an illuminating insight into the customary ways of conflict resolution, with emphasis on the welfare of people, as “restorative and reparative”.

The appendix on the chronology of the Karbi-Dimasa conflict, 2006, offers the discerning reader a peek into how ethnic clashes do not necessarily arise from communal hatred and how proactive participation of both communities, especially its youth, in ensuring peace does scale down the colossal loss, if not revert it altogether.

It also looks at how Christianity, modernisation and commodification of land have, in a big way, led to the dilution of tradition in a society in transition.

Brief, concise and crisp, one can treat the book as a starting point of a more nuanced understanding of conflict in this conflict-torn region.

At present, promising political negotiations with various militant outfits, which have opened doors of dialogue, like Ulfa, DHD-J and UPDS, has fuelled hopes of peaceful resolution to decades of violence and strife. Often knowledge of one’s ignorance is the beginning of awareness, as the essay, Dimasa Conflict Management reiterates: “Perhaps they (people of the community) do not understand the reasons or factors that have led to the outbreak of conflicts.”

SUMEELA ADHIKARIYUM

Published on July 15, 2011