The story of neglect

With few books coming out on the Northeast, Avalok Langer’s “In Pursuit of Conflict” is a welcome addition. Dealing with the pertinent issue of what ails the region, it was recently launched in the Capital by Dr. Shashi Tharoor in a function at Oxford Bookstore. This was followed by a discussion between Tharoor, Seema Mustafa, Editor-in-Chief of The Citizen and the author.

Unexplored region

When asked about the reason as to why we do not care about the Northeast, Langer replied, “There is no shared common history, no shared stories and a certain lack of cultural overlap. It is also the way we are taught geography or history in school. I studied the World War II in depth but we never really learnt about the battle of Kohima which was like the turning point of that war.”

Elaborating about his interest, he said, “What peaked my interest was the fact that it is so unexplored. There are so many untold stories, whether it is from conflict point of view, from human point of view or from politics.”

Sharing her thoughts on why the Northeast is treated like a stepchild, Mustafa remarked, “With the Northeast, it is a simple reason, it does not give you enough Members of Parliament.”

Talking about the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Langar explained, “Writing about AFSPA was of course difficult, as I come from a military background. I grew up in this heavily militarised environment where I understood from interacting with soldiers who were there what their everyday reality was like. Over a period of time, I understood why the Army wants and I would say at some level it needs a law like AFSPA to function in these areas. I think it was with this mindset, I went into the Northeast and I started meeting different people, and that really flipped what I knew. When I met people who are the ‘enemies’ and interacted with them and heard their version of AFSPA, and what they had lived through, the law stopped making sense to me. As a citizen trying to tell human interest stories, I didn’t understand how this sustained violence and how not having a legal reproach over decades, could solve a problem within our country where we are fundamentally saying these are our people.”

Rounding off his observations, Langar, said, “I would not say that I know enough. I am still confused, I think it is something we really need to talk about and try and find an alternative.”