Northeast India-A Political History

Title-  Northeast India-A Political History
Author- Samrat Choudhury
Published by Harper Collins India
Publication date- 26 July 2023
Length- 538 pages, Price-699

Author and journalist Samrat Choudhury portrays a detailed narrative  of the region in his book Northeast India – A Political Theory of the Northeast. The Northeast is surrounded by  Tibet (the autonomous region of China), the mountain kingdom of Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra, river has been at the heart of the region’s politics.  The book traces the journey through time by which each of these states entered modern India and acquired their present shape. Naturally, relations between these diverse communities, jostling for space and power, have not always been friendly. There are long, complicated and contested histories of ethnic, linguistic, and religious tensions and conflicts between several of the region’s communities, which also play an active part in the contemporary politics of this region.

Samrat Choudhury narrates the history, geopolitics, and chronology  of the space in  nine chapters.  The roller coaster ride of 200 years, in which it is an administrative construct rather than a historical region with a shared past. The author cites  how Burmese forces invaded Assam in the early 19^th century to restore king Chandrakanta Singha to his throne even as the Burmese tried to conquer Assam three times. The story of the decline of the Ahom kingdom, and the birth of modern Northeast India, begins with Assam. The Ahoms arrived in Assam in 1228, they spoke a language related to Thai and Lao. Hindu culture had begun to enter the Ahom court during the reign of King Sudangpha. In 1784-85 Burmese rebel and British forces had a clash over the territory and power of Assam. The fighting ended with the Treaty of Yandabo in February 1826, Assam, Manipur, Cachar, and the rest of Northeast India with them entered the era of British over lordship.

Northeastern politics has also taken shape by the Company Raj power in India.Assam tea was a serious rival to Chinese tea. From 1934-35 onwards the tea cultivation in Assam which had not been found outside China was huge. Tea estate was a huge business, it gave a great opportunity to the vast unemployed population of the Northeastern people of India. The Company Raj in India had meanwhile become more welcoming of missionaries. The Christian Missionaries, as an agent of change, brought societal reform along with mass adoption of Christianity and education.
Colonial officers and missionaries introduced written scripts of previously oral cultures.
Since independence, the Northeast has seen numerous insurgencies fighting for independence, protest movements and political discontent, in the desire for regional and ethnic autonomy. The immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar during the 1970s play a huge role in Northeastern regions’ autonomy.

The number of languages spoken in the region is around 220. Assam and Tripura have a Hindu majority, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, have roughly equal numbers of Hindus and Christians. While three Nagaland, Mizoram, and Meghalaya- have Christian majorities. About a third of the population of Assam, the most populous state in the region, is Muslim. Buddhist population can be seen in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. The Nagaland Hill district area remained under British administration until 1947. Independent India held its first general election from October 1951 to March 1952. The NNC called for a boycott of the first election for the Naga Hills District Council. From the 1950s itself Nagas were against the state government, and they did not join the Indian Union. In March 1956, under the leadership, a Naga federal government was formed with Khriesanisa Angami as president. It adopted a constitution called the Yehzabo and formed a parliament called Tatar Hoho. NNC was to be the only recognised political institution in Nagaland, which was to be the name of the new independent Naga country.

In Manipur, the  epicentre of an intense ethnic /civil war, at the moment, the  majority of the population is  divided into the Meitei, Naga, Kuki tribes. Evidence of religious tension begins to emerge around 1701, December. In 1704, king of Manipur Charairongpa converted to Hinduism, the first Meitei king to formally adopt Hinduism. The repeated Burmese invasion completely devastated the Manipur kingdom. After 1971 war Northeast India saw Manipur elevated status of a full-fledged state. In 1978 , under   N. Bisheshwar’s  leadership  an underground leftist  militant group called  the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)- also the name of China’s military was formed. The goal was to get independence of Manipur by armed struggle. The author also described how the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), in 1958 saw opposition from Manipur and Nagaland. In Manipur protest by an organization of elderly Manipuri Mothers, the Meira Paibis. One Manipuri woman protester, Irom Sharmila Chanu, went on an epic hunger strike of sixteen years in protest against the AFSPA.

The  author illustrates Tripura’s slow journey to the periphery,beginning with the kings of Tripura, citing “Rajmala” a book which traces  the origins of the dynasty. During the reign of Manikya king, the Mughals and kukis invaded Tripura.  In 1941, the first constitution of Tripura, drawn up under the leadership of the Maharaja’s Dewan and chief minister came, into existence. In 1947 after the demise of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, his wife Kanchan Prava Devi took charge of the administration. In 1947, the Maharani announced ‘The Accession of this state to the domination of India’. As a result of this, in the 1950s, along with Manipur, Tripura became the chief commissioner’s province, administered by an officer of the Government of India. In the 1970s, during the Indo-Pak war, there was a considerable  increase in population as refugees from Bangladesh came to Tripura,

Mizoram which was part of Assam, became Union Territory on 21^st January 1972, the first political party was formed in April 1946, named Mizo Common People’s Union. The Mizo National Front, threatened direct action, demanding a separate hill state  which was met by the end of 1964.  On 30 October 1965, the MNF, which had been contesting elections since its formation, released a  memorandum  that stated “ During the fifteen years of close contact and association with India, The Mizo people have not been able to feel that their joys and sorrows have really ever been shared by India”. The Mizo National Front was preparing secretly for an armed struggle, therein they launched operation Jericho, as a result ofwhich they captured eleven towns in the Mizo Hills at one stroke. Laldenga was the face of MNF who became elected chief minister of Mizoram in 1987. The MNF, is now a constituent of the North East Democratic Alliance led by BJP government.

The state of Meghalaya comprises Khasi, Garo and Jaintia hills. The Garos inhabit western Meghalaya, the Khasis, central Meghalaya and the Jaintias, eastern Meghalaya. On 9^th August 1947, the khasi states signed the “Standstill Agreement”, with Independent India. In the same year, on  15^thAugust, India celebrated its 1^st Independence day. The Khasi states signed the Instrument of Accession, later in December,  thus joining the Indian Union. The Bordoloi Committee, had submitted its report of universal adult franchise to the Garo, Mirik, Naga, Lushai and North Cachar Hills. The Khasi and Jaintia Hills already had electoral politics and representation in the Assam Assembly, in British-administered area. The Bordoloi Committee proposed continuing with a seat from the Khasi, and Jaintia Hills, including Shillong. The District Council was to be set up in the hill district with considerable powers over the occupation and use of land. Autonomous regions with their own regional councils such as the Eastern India Tribal Union were formed to press for the demand for a hill state assembly and parliamentary election. Both Khasi and Garo Hills favoured independence from India.

In Arunachal Pradesh , the border dispute between India and China was already occupying the minds of the leadership in both countries. In 1960, Nehru invited Chou Enlai to Delhi, after the Dalai Lama fled from Lhasa in 1959. In early September 1962, trouble between the two countries began at the Thagla Ridge. In 1964, a committee was constituted which proclaimed  the extension of local self-government in NEFA (North-East Frontier Areas). Arunachal Pradesh in 1974 acquired  a capital of its own, Itanagar.  Upgraded into provisional Legislative Assembly, a council of ministers was constituted from among the members. Voting rights were extended to the citizens of Arunachal Pradesh. In 1986,  the parliament of India passed the Arunachal Pradesh Act.

The Namgyal dynasty ruled Sikkim until 1975, Sikkim became a protectorate of India in 1950 and an Indian state in 1975. Sikkim Krantikari Morcha is at present, the ruling party of Sikkim. Northeast India has been a traditional  Congress bastion, however, since 2014,an alliance led by the BJP has came into power .

The book thus  provides a  detailed and engaging history of  the Northeast along with an understanding of power, autonomy, boundary disputes between people of different ethnic groups, and also a brief understanding of the intricate political divisions. Keeping in mind the complex and sensitive polity of the region, an understanding of the regions’ past,  could be of great use and interest for both academics and policy makers.

Ananya Datta

Intern, Asia in Global Affairs