Panel Discussion on Citizen Insurgencies

The Centre for Writing and Communication (CWC) research forum opened the new semester with its third Panel Discussion on ‘Citizen Insurgencies: Fictions and Politics in North East India,’ that was organized on 22nd January 2018.

Anderson Glashan began the panel with his views on the history of demands for separation in the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts until today. Mapping the cultural plurality through slides and presenting through a short documentary the emotional investment of people involved in these movements.

Smitana Saikia then took over, highlighting through historical maps of Mizoram and Assam, the construction of a hill-plains divide in the region. She discussed the Mizo rebellion through photographs, using these to show how territorial identities are constructed in the North-east.

Professor Gohain tied the discussion together with insights from her own research in these contested territories and highlighted why more conversations like these are needed.

As the evening descended into night, the conversation went on for almost two hours, with a spellbound and enthusiastic audience that contributed with their queries and views for solutions to the issues experienced in these contested border territories.