Mainstream Weekly

Language Policy Issues in India With Some Reference to Northeast Tribes | J.J. Roy Burman

J.J. Roy Burman — 2021-09-11T04:14:55Z

The language issue has become a highly sensitive agenda in the nation building process all over the globe, India not excluded. According to Khare (2002) language being a channel of communication, it has two major roles in society. It influences distribution of power and wealth, particularly in an under literate society. It also acts as an emotional and culture cement for social bonding. The language issue in India has been a major prickly point of politics since the nation- state was founded (…)

- 2021

The Language of Languages in India

J.J. Roy Burman — 2019-10-20T09:00:00Z

The recent pronouncement by Amit Shah, the Home Minister of India, to impose Hindi as the official state language generated immense heartsore in many parts of the country, mostly the littoral States. It appears that Mr Shah is either ignorant about the genesis of the formation of the Indian nation-state or is oblivious of the basis of formation of nation- states all over the world. In such cases the official state language is the one brought to use by the ethnically predominant (…)

- 2019

Leaves from the Jungle and Anthropological Jigsaw

J.J. Roy Burman — 2019-03-17T20:49:22Z

Introduction
The anthropological method did not exist the way we know today almost a century back. It was established through prolonged field data collection, as was established by Malinowski in the study of the Trobriand Islands in the Western Pacific. Almost a similar trend was followed through by Radcliffe Brown in the study of the Andaman Islands. The method entailed prolonged interaction between the researcher and the studied community—better known as the ‘Participant Observer' method (…)

- 2019

Christianity and Development among the Tribes of North-East India: Pros and Cons

J.J. Roy Burman — 2018-07-09T20:31:58Z

A majority of the tribes in all the States of North-East India, except Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, have embraced Christianity leaving behind their traditional religions. However, their traditional social structure based on exogamous clan systems remained intact. This helped in controlling the lands through custodial rights. The traditional dress codes for attending the church masses, particularly for the women, are still in vogue. The traditional festivals, mainly linked to agricultural (…)

- 2018

Broken Myths and Future Trajectory of the Naga Women in Nagaland

J.J. Roy Burman — 2018-05-05T16:30:33Z

The term Naga is shrouded in mysteries. On the one hand you have Naga—naked sadhus, Hindu mendicants who prefer moving virtually naked, except for the loin that covers the ultimatum. On the other hand we have got the Naga peoples inhabiting mainly the hill areas of Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh. Some of them are even on the western province of erstwhile Burma, now known as Myanmar. Interestingly a few ethnic tribes in Kampuchea call themselves Nagas.
The Nagas trace their (…)

- 2018

The Nature of Naxalite Movement in Naxalbari

J.J. Roy Burman — 2018-02-13T09:57:06Z

In the June 5-11, 2009 issue of Mainstream weekly I had concluded that the Naxalite movement in Naxalbari in 1967 was neither a tribal movement nor a peasant movement; it was an ethnic upsurge in which migrant adivasi tea plantation labourers played an active role in grabbing Rajbangshi lands located next to the plantations. But for the present, I have second thoughts about it. When I look into the constitution of the organisations of the plantation labourers, I find very few of them in the (…)

- 2018

Alexander, the Great Conquerer!

J.J. Roy Burman — 2017-09-29T18:59:21Z

It is astounding to think of Alexander, the Great, as a conquerer. But it is indeed a fact that he is popularly known as a great Greek emperor. However, most do not know the fact that he was not a Greek. He was born in Pella, a tribal pocket of Macedonia, which became a part of Yugoslavia. It can thus be concluded by all means that he was a tribal by birth. He inherited the escalated political position from his father, Philip.
Alexander started his political career under the tutelage of (…)

- 2017

Contours of the Naga Society: Some Important Missing Flakes Unfurled

J.J. Roy Burman — 2016-09-24T20:09:52Z

While dealing about the Naga problem, I wrote in a previous article that one of the most important political parties of the Nagas, the NSCN (IM), is a fascist party by nature. I failed in my efforts as an anthropologist to define the reasons for such a state. The Nagas by themselves are a peaceful society and even during the head-hunting days the raids were negotiated and pre-announced. I have myself received utmost love, care and supreme hospitality even in villages where I was a complete (…)

- 2016

Democratic Disorder in India

J.J. Roy Burman — 2016-04-25T19:23:03Z

For many of us from North-East India, it is a shocking phenomenon that while eight States of the region are represented by only 25 members in the Lok Sabha, Uttar Pradesh alone is done so by 80 members. It is not realised usually that this arrangement leads to a North Indian hegemony automatically. The political party winning a majority of the seats in UP and may-be some more seats in a few other States easily forms the Union Government. This is exactly what the BJP has managed to do in the (…)

- 2016

Formation of the Indian Nation-State and the Future of North-East

J.J. Roy Burman — 2016-03-09T18:30:00Z

Perception about India of Intellectuals and the Colonial Legacy
Almost all the Indian historians and scholars like D.D. Kosambi, Amartya Sen, Sudipto Kaviraj wrote about the idea of India in terms of an ancient civilisation or a political boundary formed after British colonisation. In their writings they prominently mentioned about Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore and Bankimchandra. Bankim's writings do not mention anywhere about India, Bharat, Hindustan or Bengali. He rather wrote about arming the (…)

- 2016