From the blurb
Arunachal Pradesh — The Hidden Land: Mamang Dai; Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11, Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110017. Rs. 1800.
Called the land of ‘unknown savages’ by early explorers, the region that was once known as the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and now goes by the name Arunachal Pradesh has undergone huge transformation since Independence; it became the 24th State of India in 1987.
The process of transition from an unknown frontier to a modern state has been sharp and rapid, throwing up a whole range of complex and sensitive issues. As modernisation sweeps through the land, the imperative of protecting and preserving the State’s tribal culture and vast green forests is increasingly felt.
As Mamang Dai says in the preface, there are “specialised niches in our tribal heritage that may be erased forever if change is not assessed and negotiated carefully.”
Beautifully illustrated, this book brings out the stunning hues of the region’s magical landscape and reveals how the people have lived in complete harmony with their pristine environment.
It attempts to document the rich oral tradition of the various tribes inhabiting this fascinating land. Beyond the image of a rugged landscape, the author says, there is a highly ordered and organised system of functioning in the villages and “solemn reconciliation with the environment and a deeply ingrained respect for human values evident in all tribal systems.”
Legal Grounds — Natural Resources, Identity, and the Law in Jharkhand: Edited by Nandini Sundar; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 650.
The right to use or exploit natural resources is at the core of social unrest and many a struggle witnessed across the country in recent times. A collection of eight essays, this book explores the ways in which the law structures identities and access to resources, and how people use it to stake claims about citizenship.
Basing itself on a study of Jharkhand, considered as an “ideal site in many ways”, it raises larger questions about colonialism, globalisation, and the rule of law in a postcolonial society, divided by class, ethnicity and gender. It shows how subsistence needs force people to negotiate the blurred lines between legality and illegality, and how people, even as they fight for their rights, yearn for the state to honour its own laws.
To quote Nalini Sundar, who has edited the volume, the essays are “not just about struggles over interpretation and implementation, but also about the substantive rationality of the law, and who gets to make laws and through what process.”
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