One of the myths of ‘development’ that has gained great currency in the last two decades is that of ‘development’ as primarily an expansion in the total production and consumption capacity of a given economy. Thus, the relentless neo-liberal emphasis on ‘growth’. In the Brahmaputra valley, in an utter match of irony, the expansion in [...]

Mamang Dai
The Stilwell Road: “Too much Rain.  Too much mud.  Too much malaria” :General Lewis. A. Pick.
More than half a century later the words of the general still rings true. In this part of the world in India’s extreme north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh that Pick was talking about there is enough rain [...]

The problematic relationship between the nation state of India and its north east frontier (bordering Tibet, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh) can also be seen in the literature of the north east frontier. In this article, only literature in the Assamese language is discussed. If one tries to understand what lies at the core of the historically difficult relationship between the nation state of India and its north east frontier, one needs to return to the colonial period