The South Asianist Journal
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Making dreams, making relations: dreaming in Angami Naga society
Full text linkMany cultures, including the Nagas, give great importance to dreams as sources of divine knowledge, especially knowledge about the future. The anthropological study of dreams, which generally focuses on the interpretive practices that surround dream narration, can elucidate local notions of personhood, cosmology, and the myriad ways communities appeal to the supernatural when navigating everyday social problems. Such practices are especially heightened in contexts of political violence, as individuals and communities negotiate the anxieties of everyday uncertainty and unpredictability. A century ago, British administrator-ethnographer J.H. Hutton remarked that ‘the Angamis have almost a science of dreaming’, and this article considers Hutton’s observations while ethnographically examining dream experience in the same communities a century later.
Re-territorialisation of persecuted identity: Sikh refugee contribution towards ethno-national conflict in Indian Punjab
Full text linkIt has been said that ethno-national identity, despite being ‘psychological’ in constitution, is territorialised in place. Indeed, it is virtually impossible to conceive of any identity, particularly one that is ethno-national in variety, which does not contain a strong territorial underpinning. Yet refugees that are driven out from their homeland on account of their ethno-national identity are typically considered to constitute a de-territorialised group. Halting the analysis there, however, is problematic, since refugees do not necessarily lose a sense of ethno-national identity consciousness on account of being de-territorialised. Nor would it be sensible to assume that ethno-national identity can persist without a territorial basis. Rather what this paper contends is that de-territorialised refugees, upon arrival into their host societies, endeavour to ‘re-territorialise’ their persecuted identity and that such a process will likely prompt the rise of ethno-national conflict. This claim will be demonstrated with reference to the Sikhs of Punjab
Colonial rule, Christianity and sociocultural (dis)continuities among the Sumi Naga
Full text linkIn this paper, I explore contemporary identity construction processes among the Sumi of Nagaland, Northeast India by analysing the continuities and discontinuities in socio-cultural custom that have been effected by a number of agents of social change in the course of the twentieth century. With a particular focus on the history and contemporary significance of Baptist Christianity among the Sumi, the paper demonstrates that even though Christian conversions have entailed certain discontinuities in the socio-cultural traditions of this community, a number of continuities have persisted and come to shape the ways in which contemporary Sumi identity is being reconstituted. The paper argues that as a result, Christianity should not be viewed merely as a major agent of socio-cultural change among the Sumi but as an intrinsic part of their contemporary identity and a vital constitutive part of a ‘new tradition’ that is currently in the making: one, which is creatively embedding Christianity within a solid substratum of cultural reproduction. In so doing, the paper opens up new ways in which we can think about the effects and legacies of missionary activity in Northeast India.
Continuity and change in Hao Naga Festivals
Full text linkFestivals can be approached as sites for examining the relationship between indigeneity and assimilationist modernity, and this chapter explores the ways in which Hao (Tangkhul) Naga festivals index cultural continuity and change in Manipur. Since the new millennium, festivals have become a focal point for state-sponsored tourism, as well as for resurgent, and increasingly self-conscious, indigenous identity performance (Longkumer 2013). Globalising indigeneity, spurred by the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as the growing economic influence of nostalgic indigenous diaspora, have also contributed to shaping and re-shaping local festivals. This chapter looks specifically at the Hao Luira- seed-sewing festival - the largest and most important annual festival for 200,000 Hao Nagas living in Manipur and across the border in Myanmar, and identifies some of the subtle and not-so-subtle ways local communities creatively accept and refuse change
The political as a practice: the sadhus\u27 art of self-fashioning
Full text linkThis paper examines the sadhus’ ways of fashioning the ‘self’ and body, creating ‘a style of existence’ by one’s relation to oneself as a model of life-style politics. The sadhu as non-sovereign subject, constitutes a new power relation in relation to himself, which Foucault calls ‘self-fashioning’ one’s own existence, marking the radical impossibility of domination and control by the coercive institutions of society and state. This paper focuses mainly on questions of life-style politics as concomitant forms of politics, rendering dominant power relations ineffective in ruling over life, as well as how the sadhus’ non-sovereign mode of life ‘becomes resistance to power when power takes life as its object’ (Deleuze 1988)
The Newars of Sikkim: reinventing language, culture, and identity in the diaspora - By Bal Gopal Shrestha
Full text linkSikkim is a tiny Indian state nestled in the lap of the Himalayas. The population mainly comprises the three ethnic communities of Bhutia, Lepcha, and Nepalese. The Nepalese themselves are composed of different ethnic groups, of which the Newars, at 5%, constitute a small, albeit significant, part. Bal Gopal Shrestha’s The Newars of Sikkim is the first attempt at providing readers with insights into the lives of this small community residing in the erstwhile Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim. The ethnography focuses on the ongoing process of reinventing and reinterpreting the language, culture, rituals, and traditions by the Newar diaspora in Sikkim. Through this process, as Shrestha shows, the Newars have been able to construct an ethnic identity that is distinct from their counterparts in Nepal. The content of the book is organised into nine chapters and is supplemented with thirty three colour illustrations and ten black and white ones, including a facsimile of an historical letter addressed to the then King of Sikkim
Unsung melodies from margins - By Antony John Baptist
Full text linkIn modern India of 2016, the question as to whether caste is still a moral issue or a political tactic is fiercely debated. The ruling political party and their supporters insist that caste is no longer a relevant issue today, whereas others say that caste affects every aspect of their lives. Debates about caste in India have been happening for at least a hundred years, but this is a pressing issue today for those that feel they have been downtrodden and discriminated against.Into this backdrop, Dr. A. J. Baptist wrote this book, looking at feminism and “Dalit (“down-trodden”) Feminism,” and advocating for a “Dalit Feminist Biblical Scholarship” to be accepted and championed by the nations. He looks at traditional ways of looking at certain texts, and then, teaching about “subaltern hermeneutics,” looks at the same text from the point of view of oppressed women. He also looks to combat the notion that the Bible is necessarily anti-women, looking again at texts from two different viewpoints. Also included are stories of oppression that modern Dalit women do face.In general, though a few sections do seem to not match the theme of the rest of the book, this work advocates for giving voices to “the voiceless,” and allowing them to thrive. It seems that it would be especially pertinent to Indologists, missiologists, theologians, feminist advocates, and advocates for Dalit rights
Social inequality in the civil service and a review of affirmative action in Nepal
Full text linkThis article is a study of the disadvantaged groups in Nepal, namely Janajatis, Madhesis, Dalits, and women; groups that have experienced exclusion in the state’s apparatus since the mid-18th century unification period. By analysing the representation of caste and minority status in the Ministry of General Administration, the Judicial Service, the Nepal Police, and the Nepal Army personnel, this paper demonstrates recent social inequalities in Nepal. Significantly, the historical ‘People’s Movement of 2006’ paved the way towards a Nepal that is more inclusive, by providing quotas for disadvantaged groups in civil service. However, the issue of reservations is still ardently debated among local communities, academics, government officials, and activists. This paper aims to focus these debates and reviews on the implementation of reservation (quota) seats by analysing empirical data from the personnel records of the Nepal Police and Armed Police Force since 2007. The main argument of this paper is that all qualified candidates should receive equal opportunities in recruitment and promotion in their posts without ethnic, gender, and regional prejudices. By avoiding discriminatory social and cultural values, efforts should be focused on fostering a ‘culture of respect’ in organisations, institutions, and associations. This is achieved through cultural recognition and acknowledgment, while enabling broader public response to vacancy announcements, thus promoting public ownership of the state. Nepal, which is one of the great examples of multiculturalism, is now debating how to address its cultural diversities. Therefore, this research contributes to the efforts among government officials, policy makers, and INGOs toward promoting greater social inclusion in Nepal
Verrier Elwin as the presenter of the Tales of the Tribes films
Full text linkScholars of the indigenous folklore traditions of India invariably encounter the work of Dr Verrier Elwin, who documented a vast number of folktales from across Central and Northeast India. Now Elwin’s published volumes have provided source material for the Tales of the Tribes collection of films. Elwin’s work as advisor to the Government of India was influential for establishing the policies for the integration of the tribal areas of North-East Frontier Agency, present day Arunachal Pradesh and his philosophy was that development must take the strengths of the tribal cultures into account. Now that popular mass media entertainment reaches the more isolated areas, this has also seen the decline of traditional storytelling. Elwin (1960: 259) wrote that: ‘I am not one of those who would keep tribal art “as it is” and would discourage change and development. Our approach to everything in life must be creative and dynamic’. This has inspired the experimentation with the medium of animation as a tool to sustain indigenous narratives and as a way to communicate tribal cultures to wider audiences in the Tales of the Tribes project. Little is known about Verrier Elwin’s contribution to the knowledge about tribal cultures in India outside the discipline of Indian anthropology. A graphic representation of Elwin as the Master-of-Ceremonies for the animation programme provides a cross-cultural link to introduce the films in the Tales of the Tribes collection, and he also invites young audiences to choose their favourite story. This paper reviews Elwin’s approach to the tribal cultures of India to illuminate his role as the presenter of the Tales of the Tribes films.
Rāmakṛṣṇa’s samādhi revisited
Full text linkThe nineteenth-century priest of the Kālī temple at the village of Dakṣiṇeśvar near Calcutta, Rāmakṛṣṇa Paramahaṁsa, has been famous for his frequent bhava [emotional state or mood] or ecstasy, and samādhi or syncope [temporary loss of consciousness], believed to be a fallout of his divine madness [divyonmattata]. This madness is not to be understood as mental derangement but as a respectable erratic behaviour culturally associated with the state of a mystic. The Hindu Bhakti [devotional] movement produced numerous saints who appear, from the standpoint of society, as ‘crazy’, because of their indifference to the phenomenal world. In fact, Rāmakṛṣṇa consciously and forcefully imitated the reported ecstatic (and erratic) behaviour of Śrī Caitanya. This paper offers a critique of the pious and hagiographical accretions of the master’s divine madness and explores the motivations and modalities of his frequent withdrawal from the sensate world in large gatherings or in small groups, there being no clear or attestable account of his samādhi when no onlooker was around. Rāmakṛṣṇa’s reminiscence of his lone attempted suicide in the temple sanctum, thwarted by an epiphany, has been colourfully crafted and carefully circulated by his disciple biographer Svāmī Sāradānanda, but duly debunked by the saint’s famous record-keeper and biographer Mahendranāth Gupta. This paper thus mines the vernacular texts in search of the making of a Hindu mystic