Diametrical Nationalisms: Rulers, Rebels and Masses in Manipur

Description

Contemporary India is mired in the complex cycle of conflicts generated by different nationalisms that have been diametrical to one another. In the context of Manipur, diametrical nationalisms have preceded the objective form of any projected nationhood. The Indian state’s integration trajectories in regards to Manipur, militarisation by the State and the contentious nationalist forces, insurgency and counter-insurgency, and community consolidations initiatives and ‘ethnic’ conflicts, have been integral to the larger trend of the processes towards creating differently imagined nations such as India, Manipur, Nagalim and Zale’n-gam. In this regards, the book analyses the character of the Indian state and the material objectives of Indian nationalism and counter-insurgency. It studies the dialectics of the growth of insurgency, which have been instrumental in the articulation of anti-colonial discourses, and the civil liberties assertions for democratic rights and security. The book also narrates the chronology of the growth of the diametrical nationalist forces and the complex processes of the coordination and conflict among those forces. The book also enquires if either the rulers or the rebels, rallying on the mass support and operating in the name of the masses, have been able to make any revolutionary breakthrough for the larger chunk of the masses.

Dr Malem Ningthouja(N.M. Meetei) received his BA (Hons) History from Hindu College, Delhi and MA, MPhil, and PhD in History from the University of Delhi. He is currently a member of the Editorial board of the journalRevolutionary Democracy, Founder-cum-Chairperson of Campaign for Peace & Democracy (Manipur), Founder-cum-Managing Trustee of the Labour Research and Organisation Foundation (LAROF), and an alternate member of the International Coordination Committee of the International League of People’s Struggle. He is also a member of the Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisation, the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners, and the Indian History Congress. He is the author of the books, Freedomfrom India: A history of Manipur Nationalism, Spectrum, Guwahati, 2011 andIndia’s War on Democracy: The Debate on AFSPA 1958, Waba Publications, Imphal, 2014. He had also edited Professor Sanajaoba’sRight to Self-determination of Manipur, CPDM, New Delhi, 2013 andComrade Irabot and Capitalism, IRCC and CPDM, Imphal, 2013.