Books on NE need proper review : MU VC

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Feb 23: Many publications on North East India need proper review and assessment to check propagation of false information, said Manipur University Vice Chancellor Professor N Lokendra today.
He said there has emerged a trend where many institutions are accepting these publications on North East regions' culture, history and identity without any critical analysis, causing confusion among the masses.
The Vice Chancellor was speaking at a National seminar, "Culture, identity & society in North East India", kicked off at the University's Court Hall today.
Many publications on North East India's history, culture, identity and societies have been published in the last two decades. When these publications have been allowed on a liberal ground, many of them contain wrongful information and arguments that manifest a lack of critical analysis, N Lokendra said.
Uncritical acceptance of these writeups and publications on the history and culture of the NE, by institutions have caused confusion among the people, he added.
Further, the ethnographic and historical accounts on NE given by colonial administrators during the 19th century also need to be thoroughly assessed to check if their interpretations were right or wrong, N Lokendra said.
Writers and researchers accepting these accounts of the colonial administrators without critical analysis and contextual sources have caused difficulties in studying and understanding the culture, identity and societal composition of the NE.
Colonial penetration to the NE in the 4th decade of the 19th century brought Christian missionaries which later successfully propagated Christianity among the locals.
The colonial administrators, after the 2nd World War, tried to control Hukong Valley, Patkai Hills, Khasi Hills and Lushai Hills as 'Crown colonies', but didn't succeed.
While the Christian missionaries converted communities into Christians, it abolished the communities' indigenous rights and rituals, customary practices and their way of life, and brought about a socio-economic and political evolution.
As a result, the medieval history of most communities of the North East are projected to start from the time of their colonial masters, said N Lokendra.
On the other hand, Lokendra said Manipur, Assam and Tripura kingdom have very authentic historical sources.
Manipur has Cheitharol Kumbaba and other manuscripts while Assam has Buranjis and Tripura-Rajmala.
The 2-day seminar is being organised by the Department of Sociology, Manipur University and Special Centre for the Study of North East India (SCSNEI), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
MU Head of Department of Sociology Professor Ksh Rajendra, Dean of School of Social Sciences Professor Thoidingjam Purnima Devi and Department of Philosophy & SCSNEI, JNU Chairperson Professor Bhagat Oinam attended the seminar.