Papers presented at the Seminar on "Ethnicity, Culture, and Nationalism: Problems in the Context of North-East India", held in Sept. 1995 at the North Eastern Hill University.

Communications présentées à une conférence organisée par le North-East India Council for Social Science Research, les 5-6 décembre 1986.

The book is a very detailed work on the relationship between movements for autonomy by indigenous peoples (the so-called ‘tribes’) and violence in Assam, in northeast India. The book addresses some of the reasons for the failure of ethnic conflict management and for the frequent emergence of violence in the region. In particular, the historical description of movements by the Dimasas, Misings and Bodos is well compiled and provides a good summary for the readers. At the same time, the work offers a good understanding of ethnic violence in contemporary India. The volume offers some new research data based on comparative analysis of different trajectories followed by three important movements among Assam’s ethnic minorities. While the pieces of the argument are based on the existing literature on ethnic violence and contentious politics, they are effectively connected to materials drawn from northeast India. Furthermore, the book raises significant concerns on the debates on crafting of decentralised institutions and executive opportunities that may facilitate ethnic accommodation thereby reducing the likelihood of such groups to pursue their goals through channels that are radical or extreme.

With reference to United Khāsi-Jaintia Hills (India).

In an era of failing states and ethnic conflict, violent challenges from dissenting groups in the former Yugoslavia, the former Soviet Union, several African countries, and India give cause for grave concern in much of the world. And it is in India where some of the most turbulent of these clashes have been taking place. One resulted in the creation of Pakistan, and militant separatist movements flourish in Kashmir, Punjab, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Assam. In India Against Itself, Sanjib Baruah focuses on the insurgency in Assam in order to explore the politics of subnationalism. Baruah offers a bold and lucid interpretation of the political and economic history of Assam from the time it became a part of British India and a leading tea-producing region in the nineteenth century. He traces the history of tensions between pan-Indianism and Assamese subnationalism since the early days of Indian nationalism. The region's insurgencies, human rights abuses by government security forces and insurgents, ethnic violence, and a steady slide toward illiberal democracy, he argues, are largely due to India's formally federal, but actually centralized governmental structure. Baruah argues that in multiethnic polities, loose federations not only make better democracies, in the era of globalization they make more economic sense as well. This challenging and accessible work addresses a pressing contemporary problem with broad relevance for the history of nationality while offering an important contribution to the study of ethnic conflict. A native of northeast India, Baruah draws on a combination of scholarly research, political engagement, and an insider's knowledge of Assamese culture and society.

North-East India Has, Over The Years, Become Synonymous With Secessionism, Insurgency, Violence And Turbulence. The Present Study Is About This Crisis And How It Led The Hill Communities To Organize And Equip Themselves, Debate And Decide Their Future Course Of Action And Confront The Colonial And Post-Colonial Indian States And The Process Through Which This Confrontation Led To The Growth Of Secessionism. This Book Details The Entire Process From The Pre-British Period To Date During Which The Movement Itself Underwent Several Crises And Metamorphoses And As A Result Some Struggles Crumpled While Others Still Carry On The Revolt. Although A Number Of Bestsellers Are Available On The Subject, This Is The First Serious Academic Work Written By A Professional Historian.