Publish Date
8 Sep, 2025
About This Book
The ethnic clashes that broke out in Manipur in May 2023 have brought into focus the complexity of identity politics in the state. What began as an opposition by tribals living in the Hills to the demand of the Valley-based Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe status turned out to be linked to the problem of illegal migrants, refugees from Myanmar, and to the proliferation of poppy cultivation and ‘narcoterrorism’. Conflicts between ethnic groups are not new in Manipur. But the violence in 2023 was shocking for the sheer viciousness on display. Any effort to find explanations to this conflict only throws up more questions. Why is there such immense anger in the people of the state? Is this a religious or an ethnic conflict? How do varying interpretations and perceptions of Manipur’s history affect the present? What role did extremist Meitei organizations and Kuki-Zo militants play in the violence? Why were the police and paramilitary forces—of which huge numbers are deployed in Manipur.......
About The Author
Nandita Haksar is a human rights lawyer, teacher, campaigner and writer. Her engagement with the people of Northeast India began while studying in Jawaharlal Nehru University in the 1970s. She has represented the victims of army atrocities in the Supreme Court and the High Court and campaigned nationally and internationally against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958. In her capacity as a human rights lawyer, Haksar has helped to organize migrant workers to fight for their rights and voice their grievances. In 1983, she became the first person to challenge the infamous Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the Supreme Court. She successfully led the campaign for the acquittal of one of the people framed in the Indian Parliament attack case. She has written innumerable articles in national dailies and journals and is the author of several books, including Nagaland File: A Question of Human Rights (co-edited with Luingam Luithui) (1984); Framing Geelani, Hanging Afzal: Patriotism in the Time of Terror (2009); Who Are the Nagas (2011); ABC of Naga Culture and Civilization: A Resource Book (2011); The Judgement That Never Came: Army Rule in Northeast India (co-authored with Sebastian Hongray) (2011); Across the Chicken Neck: Travels in Northeast India (2013); The Many Faces of Kashmiri Nationalism: From the Cold War to the Present Day (2015); and Kuknalim: Naga Armed Resistance (with Sebastian Hongray, 2019). Haksar lives in Goa, Delhi and sometimes Ukhrul, with her husband, Sebastian Hongray.
Speaking Tiger
One of India's most acclaimed independent publishing companies.
