Northeast

No journalist worth his or her salt can ever want to see a day without one's paper. But journalists in Manipur, time and again, are pushed so much against the wall, that they are left with no other choice. It's happened once again in the state — this time, it signalling a wrong start to the New Year. Newspapers failed to hit the stands on January 1, and as reports last came in, the stand of the beleaguered scribes has failed to make any impression on the callous rulers of the state. Journalists...

North Cachar Hills always had its share of problems ― from the politics of insurgencies to that of underdevelopment. But these have become increasingly internecine and debilitating since this district of Assam was renamed Dima Hasao earlier this year. For the uninitiated, NC Hills is to Assam what Assam is to India ― a vibrant melting pot of cultures. What the rechristening has decidedly done is make things worse for the people living in the area. They are now caught between Scylla and Charybdis...

A "hidden" language spoken by less than 1,000 people has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh by researchers who at first thought they were documenting a dialect of the Aka culture, a tribal community that subsists on farming and hunting. But they found an entirely different vocabulary and linguistic structure. Even the speakers of the tongue, called Koro, did not realise they had a distinct language, linguist K David Harrison said Tuesday. Culturally, the Koro speakers are part of the Aka...

For a man on a mission of reaching out to his people, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) general secretary has been a busy man. The backdrop of talks with the Indian government makes Thuingaleng Muivah busier still. But he doesn’t keep you waiting. He doesn’t keep you waiting because he is not the kind. The glint in his eyes is unmistakable, as he comes forward to greet me. As he exchanges pleasantries, it is evident he doesn’t forget things. He recollects my interactions with him...

A week ago an unsettling incident occurred in Assam that went largely unnoticed in the Indian media. Over a thousand suspected illegal migrants crossed the Dhansiri river and, with impunity, took over parts of Orang National Park in Darrang district in the early hours of May 6. They came from the innumerable chars (riverine islands) that dot the Brahmaputra river. They did not come empty-handed – they brought along building materials and cattle. They apparently had come to stay. For good. By the...

We have seen two, virtually spontaneous, bandhs in the Northeast in the days just gone by. One was a relatively-short 12-hour Assam bandh called in protest against the letting off of the accused in the botched-up Parag Das murder case. The other was a much more gruelling 48-hour bandh called in Manipur over the cold-blooded, fake encounter of a former militant. Bandhs have been so rampant in the Northeast in the last 20 or so years that people have become inured to them. And bandhs, more often...

With curtains of mist on its blue-green mountains, the land is home to a haunted cliff, a demonic lake and a skully cave. You will actually feel the thrill in your bones as you learn of the ancient lores the tiny landlocked state, Mizoram, is steeped in. They are grandmother’s tales taking you back in time and place. And as you wind your way up the steep and rolling inclines, the zestful gasps of the clean, fresh mountain air remind you of the once pristine earth. But, to reach the loftiest peak...

Subir Ghosh: The issue of issue of unity among the Nagas is one of the most written-about subjects. I have raised the issue of the surrenders in 1973 and 1975. Then there was the Phizo-Sakhrie conflict. Do you think such dissension has affected the Naga cause? Thuingaleng Muivah: The question of unity is everywhere in all struggles. It is unavoidable. We believe in revolutionary philosophy. It is through contradictions that the realities are revealed and straightened out. It is not peculiar to...

Subir Ghosh: The birth of Naga nationalism is seen by many as the submision of a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929. Do you agree that the formation of the Naga Club was the first concrete step towards Naga nationalism? Thuingaleng Muivah: It would be a serious mistake if one thinks that the submission of a memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929 was the birth of Naga nationalism. The Nagas' history did not start with this incident. Alien forces in the past had met with stiff...

Subir Ghosh: The Kuki-Naga clash will never end it seems. What do you think your role is in this context? What is your assessment of this issue? Thuingaleng Muivah: The so-called Kuki-Naga clash is a pure and simple creation of the Indian government. It is an utterly miscalculated venture since the sole motive behind it is to make the Kukis fight against the Nagas. What a proxy war! But, expecting what? And, from whom? However, most of the Indian Press took sides with the Kukis and ran...