Bøger af Sanjoy Hazarika

Northeast India comprises of seven states - Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. This region has been the theatre of insurgency and ethnic-based armed conflicts for more than half a century making the region one of South Asia's most disturbed areas. The instability in Northeast India is characterized by two distinct factors - ethnic clashes among the indigenous groups and political movement against the Union Government. The conflicting dynamics in the Northeast ranges from insurgency for secession to insurgency for autonomy, from terrorism to ethnic clashes, to problems of continuous inflow of migrants and the fight over resources. Moreover, vested interests and inter tribal and inter factional rivalry have led militant groups to continually clash among themselves, plunging the region in a vicious cycle of militancy, social violence and lack of economic growth. These armed conflicts have given impetus to small arms proliferation, narcotics trade and a parallel economy. The democratic deficits and how the Central Government and the states have addressed these concerns are of interest. The location of the region, politically and geographically, has a fundamental bearing on it and its people who aspire for different goals and how they try to reach these goals. The region shares borders with four countries: Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Tibet/China and is connected to the Indian mainland by a narrow stretch of land. This adds to the trans - border ramifications to the conflicts. To address these issues CSA with the help of Centre for Northeast Studies and Policy Research, Guwahati engaged a few experts who have contributed papers which were presented at the Seminar in New Delhi in July 2010 and the same stand published through this book.

Over twenty years ago, Sanjoy Hazarika''s first book on the Northeast, Strangers of the Mist, was published to immediate acclaim. Hailed as an exciting, path-breaking narrative on the region, it has been cited extensively in studies of Northeast India, used as a resource for scholars and journalists and adopted as course material in colleges.Two decades later, in his new book, armed with more stories, interviews and research, and after extensive travels through the region, Hazarika explains how and where things stand in the Northeast today. He examines old and new struggles, contemporary trends and the sweeping changes that have taken place and asks whether the region and its people are still ''different'' to the rest of India, to each other and whether they are destined to remain so. While it may not be possible to overcome lingering hatred, divisions and differences by brute force, economic might or efforts at cultural or political assimilation, there are other ways forward. These include the process of engagement-of accepting, if not embracing, the ''Idea of India'' and working on forging connections between disparate cultures to overcome the mutual suspicions that have existed for decades. Hazarika tells little-known stories, drawn from personal experience and knowledge, of the way in which insurgents operate, of the reality of border towns in the region, the pain of victims, and the courage of fighters on either side of the ideological and physical conflict, in the jungles and in lands awash with rain and swamped by mist. He travels across borders and mountains, listening to tales of the people of the region and those who live in neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. He challenges the stereotype of the ''Northeasterner'', critiques the categorization of the ''Bangladeshi'', deals with issues of ''race and discrimination'', and suggests best practices that could be used to deal with intractable issues and combatants. Critically, he tries to portray the way in which new generations are grappling with old and current issues with an eye to the future. Extensively researched and brilliantly narrated, Strangers No More is arguably the most comprehensive book yet available about India''s Northeast.