Introduction -- 1 From the 'Rainbow' to 'Saffron': BJP's Changing Electoral Strategies -- 2 Unmaking the Consensus: The NRC Debacle -- 3 Hindutva at the Core: CAB-turned-CAA and Assam's Political Destiny -- 4 Dream Seller's Economy: Promises and Populism -- 5 Conservation, People's Entitlements and National Security -- 6 Pandemic and Politics: BJP's Electoral Prospects -- Epilogue -- References -- About the Author -- Index.
The landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Assam's assembly election in April 2016 provokes diametrically opposite interpretations. While for the rank and file of the Sangh Parivar, the victory reveals a consolidation of Hindutva forces in the state, at the other end of the spectrum, some portions of the intelligentsia, who want to project the BJP as a changed and secular entity, assert that the electoral results do not reflect the rise of Hindutva in the state but rather the advance of indigenous and identity politics. For the latter, the key to BJP's electoral triumph was its alliance with regional-ethnic forces against the backdrop of the growing insecurity among Assam's indigenous people caused by a steady influx from Bangladesh. While Hindu consolidation, through different agencies and institutions, gained momentum in the state, in the present elections, it was the highly emotive campaign for the protection of the rights of the Khilonjiyas (the indigenous) that assured victory for the BJP-led alliance. But it is important to understand the way 'indigenous' was constructed as an exclusionary category to bring in communal divisions in the electoral battle. The theory of 'indigenous' propagated during the elections had nothing do with substantive rights like the 'right to self-determination' or 'rights over resources', emphasised by the International Declarations on Rights of the Indigenous People. The international bidding for the auction of 12 oil fields in Assam by the BJP-led union government immediately after the new state government had assumed power and the collective resistance by nationalist and indigenous groups against this decision exposed the hollowness of the 'indigenous agenda' of the BJP in Assam.
The signing of the 'Framework Agreement' between the Government of India (GOI) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac-Muivah) on 3 August 2015 that pledges to restore 'pride and prestige' of the Nagas takes place after more than six-and-a-half-decades of violence and militarisation of the Naga society. The Agreement has been signed at a moment when the Naga society is marked by enormous fragmentation from within. While, the GOI through the creation of the state of Nagaland in 1963 and other initiatives created a local ruling class opposed to long-cherished Nagas' demand for sovereignty; on the other hand, the tribes-centric proliferation of various insurgent outfits has created hostilities within the Naga society. The continuance of security apparatuses like Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 and that of the top-down development paradigm has been in contrast to the social and cultural dynamics of the Naga society. The recent Accord, which has remained silent on those issues, however, has shifted the Naga national discourse from exclusive sovereignty of the Nagas in Nagaland to that of shared sovereignty of the Nagas within the Union of India. While, there have been celebrations of the Accord among the civil society forces in Nagaland spearheaded by Naga Hoho who for long have endeavoured to sustain ceasefires between GOI and the insurgent outfits in the state, there have, however, been serious reservations in regard to the efficacy of the Accord to restore peace, harmony and national pride among the Nagas.
The signing of the 'Framework Agreement' between the Government of India (GOI) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac-Muivah) on 3 August 2015 that pledges to restore 'pride and prestige' of the Nagas takes place after more than six-and-a-half-decades of violence and militarisation of the Naga society. The Agreement has been signed at a moment when the Naga society is marked by enormous fragmentation from within. While, the GOI through the creation of the state of Nagaland in 1963 and other initiatives created a local ruling class opposed to long-cherished Nagas' demand for sovereignty; on the other hand, the tribes-centric proliferation of various insurgent outfits has created hostilities within the Naga society. The continuance of security apparatuses like Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), 1958 and that of the top-down development paradigm has been in contrast to the social and cultural dynamics of the Naga society. The recent Accord, which has remained silent on those issues, however, has shifted the Naga national discourse from exclusive sovereignty of the Nagas in Nagaland to that of shared sovereignty of the Nagas within the Union of India. While, there have been celebrations of the Accord among the civil society forces in Nagaland spearheaded by Naga Hoho who for long have endeavoured to sustain ceasefires between GOI and the insurgent outfits in the state, there have, however, been serious reservations in regard to the efficacy of the Accord to restore peace, harmony and national pride among the Nagas.
Nani Gopal Mahanta, Confronting the State: ULFA's Quest for Sovereignty, 'SAGE Studies on India's Northeast', New Delhi, SAGE Publications, 2013, pp. 348, ₹750.
The armed struggle launched by United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) since the late 1970s for Swadhin Asom (independent Assam) and its reaction, appreciation, endorsement and critique in the civil society is an interesting case for investigation on how civil society works in India's Northeast. Historically, civil society in Assam has been a domain of manifestations of grievances against the state, particularly, against the Government of India (GoI). As a result, the civil society in Assam has almost been overtaken by the passion of the ULFA, which steered armed struggle for Assam's independence. Although the civil society did not endorse the path of violence pursued by ULFA for its proclaimed goal of Assam's independence, a comprehensive critical voice against the militancy and violence pursued by it, has been almost absent. Only a few individuals consistently maintained a critique on ULFA from its inception. In more than three decades of ULFA–GoI conflict, the civil society has undergone through different experiences—from being overtaken by collective passion for the cause raised by ULFA to complete subjugation and marginalization under coercion both by the Indian state and the ULFA, and to that of gradual revival as a critical domain to question both the state and ULFA. The present article is an attempt to examine this trajectory of the civil society in Assam vis-à-vis ULFA.
Dr Bhupen Hazarika (1926–2011), a musician, lyricist, folklorist, dramatist, film-producer/director, columnist and journalist from the Indian state of Assam will be remembered for his extraordinary contribution to the world of Indian folklore in general and modern Assamese (a trans-ethnic linguistic and cultural community of India) music in particular. In him, the modern Assamese music finds its highest culmination. Dedicated to the wave of left-progressive cultural movement steered by the Indian Peoples' Theatre Association (IPTA) in the early phase of his creative cultural journey, Dr Hazarika was greatly influenced by the wave of the nationalist and regional aspirations in the state of Assam particularly during the long Assam movement (1979–85). Throughout his life, Dr Hazarika cherished the values of modernity, humanity, secularism and composite culture. He remains as the most dominant cultural 'icon' for most of the twentieth century, and also the early part of the twenty-first century Assam. The present article is an attempt to explore the musical journey of Dr Bhupen Hazarika with special focus on his social and philosophical mission.
Jyotiprasad is one of the leading cultural architects of twentieth century Assam. The life span of Jyotiprasad Agarwala (1903–51) corresponds to a historical phase of transition of Assamese and Indian society to a modern era. This phase was marked both by achievements and setbacks. The freedom movement got enriched during this phase and attained intensity through different experiments and achieved the most desired independence amid the tragedies of partition and communal cleansing. This was also a period when both the Assamese and the rest of India attained the consciousness of modern self-entity in all aspects of art, literature, science and culture. In Assam, too, which was the hinterland of colonialism, the creative and vibrant consciousness of the new age awakened the general masses. Jyotiprasad was a true representative of this age of cultural awakening of the Assamese society. The present article is an attempt to explore the revolutionary cultural philosophy of Jyotiprasad Agarwala and its relevance for social transformation.
