Rakhal Purkayastha, Visiting Fulbright Scholar Professor of History, presented a history of Northeast India to the campus community on Tuesday.
Considered to be one of the most politically divided areas of South Asia, Purkayastha kept students, faculty, and staff eager to learn more about a region of the world that is not often publicized.
ìIt is very difficult for these regions to find coverage in the press or in the media,” said Purkayastha.† ìAt the best, we know about India, but we donít know about Northeast India.”
Wedged between Burma and China, Northeast India is a collection of eight states, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, that connect to Indiaís 20 other states through a 25 mile-long strip of land known as the Siliguri Corridor.† Although the states account for only eight percent of Indiaís territorial area, they are tremendously important to their countryís culture. A third of Indiaís native tribes reside in the Northeast, most of which speak entirely different languages; some 420 different languages and dialects are spoken in the Northeast altogether.
ìI think nowhere can you find more diversity in India than in the northeast of India,” Purkayastha told his audience.† ìThey say it is a place where the yellow and brown races mix and intermingle. You find people from every race of the world in the Northeast.”
During the 18th and 19th centuries, abundant tea fields and oil reserves in the Northeast caught British colonial interests, risking Western European interference with ancient Indian culture.† But the areaís landscape of rolling hills and some of the wettest areas on the planet made colonization particularly difficult. Because of these limitations, the Northeast was always regarded as a frontier and never a controlled region of the British Raj.† Today, those natural resources have been developed ó Assam is one of Indiaís largest oil producing regions and is now the worldís largest producer of tea.
Apart from its natural resources, the Northeast has been subject to local insurgency in past decades.† Over thirty groups have been involved with the unrest for reasons that hold mainland India accountable.
Among others, Purkayastha cited mainland Indiaís poor governance, cultural assimilation, ineffective border management, and insensitive media as reasons for the unrest.† The Northeast has repeatedly threatened succession from the mainland, but has never followed through on these threats.
ìWe have to make a difference between terrorism and insurgency,” said Purkayastha.† ìTerrorism is something new to India, but insurgency is not.”
Born in Tuensang, a small town in Nagaland, and now a faculty member at St. Anthonyís College, located in neighboring Meghalaya, Purkayastha is no stranger to Northeast India.† To share his experience and knowledge of the region, Purkayastha received the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to teach in the United States.† He selected Wooster based on its personal and engaging academic environment.
ìThe College has not hosted a Fulbright Scholar for over 20 years,” said Jill Munro, Assistant Dean for Academic Administration.† ìWe have a wonderful opportunity in Dr. Purkayastha to expand our horizons and learn about another country’s history and political environment directly from an expert from that area of the world.”
At St. Anthonyís, Purkayastha specializes in Indian government and politics, as well as Ancient Western political thought.† This spring at Wooster, he is teaching History of Indian Politics Since 1948.† Purkayastha has also edited a book and written several articles on Northeast India, including ìParadoxes of Industrialization in Meghlaya” and ìRoots of Nada Insurgency.”
With a thriving economy and a progressive education rate in recent years, India has been gathering significant attention on the world stage.
Audience members found Purkayasthaís presentation particularly pertinent to learning more about a country that is becoming of increased importance to the prosperity of the United States and the world. Students were particularly impressed by how much they gained from the speech.
ìI knew very little on the topic, so the lecture was quite eye opening,” said Andrew Charlton í10.† ìDue to Indiaís growth in all facets, I believe the world, and America in particular, should take an increased interest in the country.”
Purkayasthaís presentation on Northeast India enforced Indiaís global predominance, bringing attention to an essential part of the country that might otherwise be overlooked.
ìIt is very important and strategic to India,” said Purkayastha.† ìYou cannot talk about India in isolation ó each part of the country is as important as the other.”