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In a country like Bharat where the idea of patriotism takes no time in blowing shock waves into an all-encompassing Tsunami of nationwide anger and solidarity on events like what happened in Pahalgam and Pulwama in Jammu-Kashmir or the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai, a near total indifference and absence of enthusiasm or even desire to know about less happening places is also a no smaller reality. The most glaring example is the bunch of eight North-Eastern States of Bharat which have yet to get geographically proportionate, space on the mindscape of the ordinary as well as more than extra-ordinary Bharatiyas.
As a journalist, I will never forget the event which happened a few decades ago when a responsible desk officer in a Central Ministry marked a consignment to be ‘urgently’ airlifted and delivered in Guwahati in response to an SOS call from the security establishment in Tripura. For the poor Delhiwalah Baboo, Guwahati meant the entire North East. Even today I can say with sad surety that in spite of the vast enrichment of ordinary Bharatiyas’ general knowledge – thanks to the mobile, social media and Google-baba, more than 80 per cent of Bharatiyas in any instant street survey would fail in listing all the States of NE Bharat. The chunk may cross the 90 per cent figure if asked to name capitals of all NE States.
An Engaging Book
This catastrophic blunder looks far more annoying if you try to count the number of NE faces among nationally revered public icons of Bollywood, the advertising world, sports, literature or any other field. Even best informed Bharatiyas will find themselves at a loss in counting names after Mary Kom and Baichung Bhutia in sports, Danny Denzongpa in cinema and Pema Khandu and Himanta Biswa Sarma in politics. The problem lies in the lack of efforts, both at the Government as well as individual levels, to share information about the NE States with the rest of Bharat. Thankfully, a recently launched book on Arunachal Pradesh by Sonam Chombay looks like a welcome prime mover in this direction. The book, titled In Between The Blurry Lines presents the history of Arunachal Pradesh through 14 prominent and defining moments that shaped the fate of Arunachal Pradesh.
The author,who also happens to be an officer of Commissioner rank in the Arunachal administration, says, “I had two options for writing this book. One was to go chronologically linear and present the history of Arunachal like any other academic or a text book. The other was to pick up most significant milestone events from its history and describe them with related anecdotes to present the story in a lucid and readable style to keep the reader engaged throughout.” The author picked up the second option and the racy text and anecdotal description of events show that his choice was perfect.
Capturing The Essence
At a leading public discussion on this book at a specially organised event by the India Habitat Centre (IHC) and the India Foundation at IHC recently, Pema Khandu, CM of Arunachal Pradesh, was at the best of his style as a story teller. Helping the New Delhi audience in improving their knowledge about the North East, especially his own Arunachal, he surprised many among the audience when he claimed that it is not Assam, as normally believed, but Arunachal which is the largest State among the NE States. He also underlined that his state was the only state among all Indian states which has common border with three countries – namely Myanmar, Bhutan and Tibet. He won a thunderous applause when he declared that, “India has no borders with China. In Arunachal and all along the rest of Himalayas, our neighbour is Tibet which China occupied in early 1950s.” In an outright rejection of China’s attempts to call Arunachal as ‘South Tibet’ or renaming some places of the state, Pema Khandu said, “Every Arunachali citizen is a true Indian to their core of hearts. The new practice of renaming places of Arunachal by China only reflects its leaders’ frustration.”
General JJ Singh, chief guest of the event who has had over two decades of close association with Arunachal as its Governor and also as a senior military officer remarked, “This book is a product of deep research by Sonam and offers profound insights into the historical background, culture and development of this geo-strategically important State. As it brings out the true essence of Arunachal and makes for an interesting reading, this book becomes more monumental because it is written by an Arunachali who understands his own people and the land.”
Gen Singh said that this book has its own historic and reference value because it has covered the history from the 19th century to present day when the State is making its own positive imprint on the story of modern Bharat.
Captain Alok Bansal, Director of India Foundation, who presided over the event, endorsed the book as an authentic source for all those who want to understand the history of Arunachal and its emergence as a front runner in the story of a new emerging Bharat. K G Suresh, the Director of IHC and co-host of the function was among the galaxy of audience which comprised of many senior defence personnel, writers and intellectuals belonging to difference disciplines.
Capturing The sense
For any researcher or student of history, this book becomes a must-read because of the vast expanse of history it covers. The book practically starts with the 1826 Battle of Yandaboo which gave the British a free foothold in the North Eastern Bharat to pursue their commercial interests in tea, oil and coal etc. It also focuses on the British Crown’s “Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873” which, on the face of it, appeared to be for protecting the land rights and culture of the native tribes of this region, renamed as the ‘North Eastern Frontier Agency’ (NEFA), but later turned out to be a smart ploy to exploit the resources of the region and to give a free hand to the proselytising Christian Church to convert the local tribal communities into Christianity.
The book concludes with a matter of fact introduction to the modern progress of Arunachal and the surrounding regions and explains how Arunachal has witnessed an unforeseen campaign of developing infrastructure to ensure Bharat’s security from the Chinese games in occupied Tibet across the borders of this State. A chapter dedicated to a discussion with the Chief Minister Pema Khandu is a reflection of his philosophy behind making Arunachal a model of development while protecting its original cultural personality.
In short, this book is a friendly introduction of Arunachal Pradesh to the rest of Bharat.
