FIFTH WALL - Beyond boundaries : Uddipana Goswami

Uddipana Goswami, Literary Editor

The seven northeastern states comprise a region closely knit in terms of geo-political history, culture and community. Under the ‘post’-colonial dispensation however, it has become a boiling pot of conflicts and political conundrums. Ethnic conflicts are just one aspect of it – the other is the frequently reported inter-state border skirmishes which also sometimes transmute into full-blown ethnic conflicts. The seriousness of the boundary disputes is apparent from recent reports that a new border guarding force is being contemplated to address the issue in the Northeast.

The region was brought under the directional category of the ‘Northeast’ by the British administrators. In ‘post’-colonial times, successive reorganisations of administrative boundaries have created the seven states, now known by the legend of the seven sisters. Despite the breaking up of the region and the formation of smaller states – Tripura and Manipur were of course independent princely states in the colonial times – the entire northeastern region seems to share a common political destiny. This commonality of political experience has often been reinforced by the geographic isolation of the region from what is sometimes fashionably called ‘mainland India’.

This issue of NELit review has been put together to underline the inter-connectedness of the seven sisters. Despite political conflicts, the literature of the region particularly has been able to transcend differences. There are writers who have written about neighbouring states, setting their plot and choosing their characters from various communities. There are others, thinking people and intellectuals, who have been vocal about the need for the people of the region coming closer and have in fact, brought them together through various events. We take a look at some of them. We also bring our readers a selection of poetry from Barak Valley of Assam. These poems touch on different aspects of the Northeast.

The ‘Other Words’ column in this issue is by Amit R Baishya who wrote to us in response to an earlier take on Parag Das’s Sanglot Fenla by Aruni Kashyap. We are glad that our pages have started generating debates and responses of this sort. We hope to inspire more such participation from our readers and contributors.