To restore peace in Manipur, there is a need to ensure accountability and justice. By Thongkholal Haokip in Economic and Political Weekly, 60(11), 15 March 2025, 8-9. Fulltext PDF After being largely left politically unattended by New Delhi for 21 months since the conflict broke out on 3 May 2023, Manipur received its due attention only after N Biren Singh resigned […]
» Read moreEconomic and Political Weekly, 59(46), 16 Nov. 2024, pp. 21-23. Fulltext PDF When the East India Company acquired the Diwani of Bengal in 1765, the present-day Meghalaya state became the immediate frontier of the Company, until Assam was fully annexed over the next century. The inhabitants of this frontier were, describes Alexander Mackenzie (1884: 245), Secretary to the Government of India in the […]
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By Thongkholal Haokip Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 59(31), 2024, pp. 36-40. The politics of othering that has emerged from the war on drugs and the emergent forest policy in Manipur is discussed. While the war on drugs is not only anachronistic in its approach but also selective in its outrage, the forest policy is mainly the re-manifestation of the […]
» Read moreThe Kukis of Northeast India: Politics and Culture, Bookwell, 2013. This book brings together a number of essays dealing with various aspects of Kuki politics and culture. The objectives are to understand and highlight the traditional system of Kuki politics and administration, trace the genesis and evolution of Kuki autonomy movements in Northeast India, and to assess the value […]
» Read moreThe Anglo-Kuki War, 1917–1919: A Frontier Uprising against Imperialism during the First World War (Routledge, 2019) This book explores the Kuki uprising against the British Empire during the First World War in Northeast frontier of India (then Assam-Burma frontier). It underlines how of the three-year war (1917–1919), spanning over 6,000 square miles, is crucial to understanding present-day Northeast India. The […]
» Read moreIndia’s Look East Policy and the Northeast (Sage Publications, 2015) The Why, What and Where of India’s Look East Policy and the Role of Northeast … And then one day a wall in Berlin came down. Bipolar world became multi polar, calling for greater regional integration. Foreign policy choices were reoriented and India was no exception. It had begun to […]
» Read moreBy Thongkholal Haokip Indian Express, 11 October 2023. PDF N. Biren Singh government’s decisions in Manipur have increased hostility among communities, prolonged current impasse. Last month, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh requested the central government to revoke the Free Movement Regime (FMR) agreement with Myanmar in order to curb the influx of the so-called “illegal immigrants”, allegedly responsible for […]
» Read moreThongkholal Haokip Journal of North East India Studies, Vol. 13(2), Jul.-Dec. 2023, pp. 1-7. Fulltext PDF The censorship on academic publications and imposition of CCS (Conduct) rules in Manipur, and the attempts to impose it in other parts of India, is not only an affront to academic freedom, it will hinder the achievement of the goals of India’s new education […]
» Read moreBy Thongkholal Haokip Outlook, June 1, 2023, pp. 28-30. PDF The continued selective targeting and demonisation of the Kukis, and the radicalisation of youths in Imphal valley under the nose of the state government led to the outbreak of the riots. The recent riots in Manipur broke out to the surprise of many. It came amidst the state’s journey towards […]
» Read moreBy Thongkholal Haokip The riots are the outcome of a long build-up of tensions in which the state government is complicit. Fulltext PDF A riot broke out in Manipur on 3 May 2023 after a tribal unity rally in Churachandpur concluded peacefully. The rally was organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur against the demand for the inclusion of […]
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