The inaugural of the Three-Day Indian Council of Social Science Research, N. Delhi International Seminar on Movements in recent past and present Northeast India with special reference to Manipur (27-29 November 2015) orgd. by Centre for Manipur Studies, Manipur University will be held at the venue of Conference Hall, Anthropology Dept., Manipur University on 27 November 2015 from 10.30 am onwards. The Chief Guest and the President is respectively Dr. RK Nimai, Consultant to Government of India and also the member of Executive Council of Manipur University and the Prof. Elangbam Bijoykumar, Dean of School of Social Sciences, Manipur University. A book titled, “Claims and Refutations: A Compilation on Naga Political Movement” compiled and co-edited by Aheibam Koireng, Dr. H. Shukhdeba and Dr. Home Thangjam will also be released.
Concept of the seminar: The region of Northeast India (NEI) is characterized by a pronounced ethnic, cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity. Movements witnessed in its recent past as well as in contemporary times could be categorized as reformist, reactionary, radical and revolutionary. Movement basing on primordial mobilization and ethnic nationalism had resulted to the dismemberment of Assam. Manipur came under British colonialism in 1891. Onwards from the First Women’s War of 1904, Manipur witnessed movement in some form or the other every decade. Subsequent to leaving of the Indian subcontinent by the British in 1947, Manipur had a short spell of democratic government which the Government of India had abruptly sabotaged, after becoming a part of India on 15 October 1949 consequent upon signing the Merger Agreement, and its political status downgraded to a ‘Part C State in India’. Since then, Manipur have experienced sustained democratic and peaceful movement for restoration of full-fledged assembly and fully responsible government. In the late sixties of the twentieth century, Manipur had witnessed the sprouting of armed self determination movements. Manipur, then, was granted statehood on 21 January 1972, just a short spell after statehood, insurgency movement started gaining ground and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) came into force in the whole of Manipur. The cycle of violence that followed led to the rampant human rights violation and abuses thereby engendering civil rights movement in the state. In the fag end of the 1970s, the swarming in of illegal immigrants had casted a demographic slur in the entire region of NEI that the natives in the region would soon be marginalized. At such milieu, Anti Foreign National Movement started off from Assam in 1979 was also replicated in Manipur. Manipur, in its soil, in the last decade of the passing twentieth century witnessed violent ethnic clashes. At such anxious times, the movement launched by a coalition of civil society organizations for the holistic improvement of inter-community relationships promises some hope. In the interim, ethnic ideology movements which could potentially create division and mistrust in multi-ethnic situation have also found its protagonists among some sections in every community. Against the backdrop of a perceptive threat to the territorial integrity of Manipur on account of the Govt. of India entering into a ceasefire agreement with a faction of the Naga rebel group in 1997, the state had witnessed a mass movement for protecting her territorial integrity which later grew in scale and intensity as having no parallels in its history. Alongside, there was also an over ground movement guided by the agenda of expansionist and exclusivist ethnic homeland politics and vice versa. The Meetei religious revivalist movement started from across the border in 1930 too found its ready enthusiasts in Manipur and its legacy still enduringly continues till this day. Against such backdrop, the proposed Three-Day Seminar intends to address the following themes: Anti Colonial Movement; Socio-Religious Reform Movement; Diaspora Movement; Statehood Movement; Anti-Foreign National Movement; Human Rights Movement; Movement for Territorial Integrity; Movement against alcoholism and substance abuse; Movement based on Identity, Language, Region and Cultural Renaissance; Insurgency Movements for secession/autonomy/ethnic homeland; Civil Society Movements for Conflict Resolution/ Peaceful Co-existence and harmony
The Resource persons include eminent personalities from various walks of life ranging from academia, activism, journalism and those in responsible government positions. More than 50 papers will be discussed and deliberated and the proceedings will be published as books by a reputed internationally accredited publisher
