CENTRE FOR COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES
UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD

Name: Lalfakawmi
Course: CL 803 Research and Publication Ethics
Regn No. 21HCPH03

Book Review on The Northeast Question: Conflicts and Frontiers by Pradip Phanjoubam

This book on the Northeast India by Phanjoubam was first published in 2016 by Routledge as

a part of a research done by the author under IIAS. The book is divided into seven chapters

that eloquently flow into one another. Phanjoubam foregrounds his research in the first

chapter where he lays down the geographical space he will deal with and from this point, he

narrates the complicated issues pertaining within the umbrella term Northeast and gives a

new lens into seeing the region.

In the first chapter of the book ‘Geography of Conflict: rivers, valleys and mountains as

integral regions’, the author lays down the importance of these geographical bodies such as

rivers, valleys and mountains to civilisations and development. they become a space of

conflict with specific political and imperial interests. He cites examples of Nile River Basin

and Mekong Basin to assert his argument and from this point, illustrates example of Kashmir,

a more explored region but nonetheless conflict region, much like that of Northeast’s

Arunachal Pradesh. He argues that tangible barometers such as unemployment rate, literacy,

census, GDP are used to measure out the people, the region’s state, etc. and only these entail

the historical accounts, however, much of the intangible factors weave into the conflicts and

status of a country, state or any region. These intangible features include the significance of

relationship between geography- rivers and mountains and how they shape the people’s
psyche. He outlines the problems pertaining in Kashmir, how the hills and valleys of Kunlun

region, that is almost inhospitable and uninhabitable became a site of conflict between British

India, Pakistan and China and later to barricade the entrance of the Russian. Similarly, he

notes that Arunachal Pradesh has been a site of warzone between India and China, the latter

ceaselessly attempting to take its control for the ease of entrance to the Indian sub-continent.

He further argues that rivers, as they are regions that support life of all kinds become a

contested area as well. The water body emerging in Arunachal Pradesh towards the mighty

Brahmaputra River and its tributaries too then becomes a demand and a conflicted region.

From this chapter, we see how geography plays a crucial role in weaving the conflicts within

Northeast. The space becomes a site of struggle at first, before anything else.

The second chapter ‘History of Militarisation of the Northeast: search for a liberal response

to radical civil unrests’ by and large touches upon two aspects of the militarisation of the

region. One, being the politics of geography mentioned in the former chapter and the attempt

to gain power of the population residing within this region and the second being the search

and ambivalence of identity and nationality between the various ethnic groups in the

Northeast that have initiated many separatist movements. Phanjoubam here asserts the flaunt

of military in the age of building modern nation states which has been seen across the world.

The establishment of AFSPA in 1958 sees a similar trend where the military force was given

control over any conflict presiding over the boundaries of the Northeast with their

neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and China. He also maps

out the genesis of Assam Rifles with the entry of British in Assam that was first established

as a civil militia, and later grew as the British interest grew in the region. The discovery of tea

in Assam piqued interest in the East India Company that opened the gates of the British

towards the region, that included areas of Burma and Bangladesh, at that time called East

Bengal. Further, the discovery of timber, oil and coal necessitated the need for internal
security that moved the presence of militarisation in Northeast. The rise of this militarisation

among many others in the very region became a weapon to shift control and power that is still

evident today.

‘Eastern Frontier of Northeast India: State and Non-State’ is the succeeding chapter that

entails the need to form boundaries towards the East that the British took hold of.

Phanjoubam eloquently flows his argument in discussing the formation of today’s Nagaland,

Manipur and Mizoram. As he terms it ‘hill-valley friction’, the non-state areas of Naga hills

and Lushai hills, present day Nagaland and Mizoram respectively encapsulates the difficulty

in drawing boundaries and containing them, the friction lies in the aspiration for a unique

historical space between communities and ethnic groups. He argues that this internal conflict

between ethnic groups became an inherent problem and this is where the Manipur

protectorate state came into play to control the two regions. Thus then, Manipur located

between Nagaland in the north and Mizoram in the south is very much intentional, and

surmounting to the Treaty signed between Manipur and British in 1833 and 1834 rendered

control to Manipur to aid the British against both Naga Hills and Lushai Hills if ever needed.

The 1881 boundary commission and later the aspiration to form state-ship under Indian

Constitution witnessed the present-day scenarios.

Chapter 4 and Chapter 5, respectively ‘Inner Line as Outer Line- I: Making of the McMahon

Line’ and ‘Inner Line as Outer Line- II: the Empire as its Colony’ can be clubbed together

that interweave narratives with each other. In these two corresponding episodes, the author

explores the disputed borders between the states and how they have been mistaken as

international borders. He argues that the North-eastern frontiers act as a buffer for the newly

acquired Indian territories against the British’s European rivals and so the Burmese did not

further push westward. Another interest that Phanjoubam delineates is of economic. The

Britishers saw the potential of Assam of its tea gardening and later oil, coal, etc., it was
crucial for them to cover and demarcate their control and power over the vast region. Bengal

Eastern Frontier Regulation in 1873 is a highlight here that the author wants to illuminate.

This Inner Line declaration mandated the British subjects to obtain permit for entry of the

‘backward tracts’ of Northeast, nevertheless the existence of Inner Line simultaneously

insists on the existence of Outer Line, which would constitute the international borders.

However, the author notes through Alastair Lamb that this Outer Line may close be identical

to the Inner Line, paralleling close to the McMahon Line that runs through the perimeter of

Arunachal Pradesh, which then ultimately makes an ambiguity that still persists today.

Further, he moves towards the problem with the Northeast story that does not perfectly fit

into the one mainstream Indian narrative, that turns the region as its deviant, the other within

its own nation. He asserts this by echoing the fact that the Northeast regions shares 98 per

cent of its boundaries with foreign countries.

The next chapter ‘Linguistic Nationalism vs Religious Nationalism: partition trauma and the

northeast’ looks at the southern demarcation of the Northeast, i.e., Radcliffe Line in 1947 that

marks the division of the Indian sub-continent on the basis of religion. With the British

occupation of Assam in 1829, it also gave rise to Assam’s modern nationalism on linguistic

terms. This was brought about with Assam coming under the Bengal province of British. It

was later imposed that Bengali be the official language and mode of communication in

education. The agitation on Assam’s side only grew in strength over time with the coloniser’s

decline to remove Bengali language as an official language and later in the 19 th Century, the

author writes, the tables began to turn as Bengali initiated revolt against British rule and the

Assamese peasantry joined their agitation as Bengali Muslims mainly from Sylhet (now in

Bangladesh) shifted towards Assam, in search for land and home. Another aspect of dispute

that emerged during this time was the amalgamation of Sylhet into Assam. While the Bengali

Hindus wished to return to the former state, the Bengali Muslims aspired to be called
Assamese and attain land. These multi-layered conflicts continue to be an issue in present day

Assam.

The concluding chapter ‘Conclusion: In the end is the beginning’ winds up his arguments

about the disputed region of the clubbed Northeast, India. He claims that the present scenario

may not be reflective of the tumultuous past, no matter the amount of persisting conflict. The

states of Nagaland and Mizoram especially that is considered sub-regions of Northeast

witnessed bloodshed and attempt to detach from the nation state, which came to cease, in a

tensed state with treaties with the government in 1997 in Nagaland and Mizo Accord in 1986.

He poetically closes the book saying that the end is only the beginning of this

underrepresented region which is ceaselessly marginalised due to its past. Nevertheless,

writings like his own will continue to expose the lived experience of the people of the region

and the process of rewriting their history will continue.

Rhetorical Analysis:

In this section, I will attempt to analyse the above text using the general three parts of

Rhetorical analysis namely logos, ethos and pathos, striving to place the author, the text, its

purpose, its audience and its context.

It is first interesting to note that the writer is an author and journalist for different eminent

journals and newspapers, both local level and national level, such as The Wire, Indian

Express, Imphal Free Press and has contributed to Economic and Political Weekly as well.

Pradip Phanjoubam hails from Manipur and has attained Fellowship at Indian Institute of

Advanced Study. This is crucial to consider his academic position in writing a theory book on

controversial region like the Northeast India, eloquently in a journalistic style. The book runs

through in a fluid manner connecting the chapters in a way that the readers too may not lose
tracks of what he is trying to convey. This again is very purposeful and as an academician, he

successfully narrates it. The text, as we have witnessed is foregrounded on a conflicted region

of India that may by and large not be wrong to consider it understudied and underrepresented.

In order to place forth its position, Phanjoubam sensibly draws its congruence with Kashmir,

though situated in different parts of India, so as to build the idea around Northeast. He also

lays down his context through elaborating of the geographical confinements within his

chapters so his readers may get a better grasp of its context. It is also lucrative to mark the

importance of this book to the author, who wishes a strong representation of the Northeast

beyond its stereotypical narrative within the mainstream narrative of India. This book,

therefore clearly draws its arguments from historical accounts, treaties, letters, declarations to

pose the deep rootedness of the conflicts we see today and to enlighten us of the intricacies

that emerged long ago. Phanjoubam indeed writes in a journalistic style, maintaining factual

figures and historical narratives he wishes to convey. His purpose too remains stern and

steady, to provide a different lens into seeing the Northeast. It is then perhaps evident that his

audience remain the Indian people and beyond, who needs a fresh perspective as to how the

region incorporates into India. The book in its entirety brings about a change as to how one

may deal with Northeast and adds to the corpus of Indian narratives and Indian historical

account.