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Ethnic Politics, Democracy and Regional Political Parties in North-East India
Ethnic Politics, Democracy and Regional Political Parties in North-East India
Plural character of India’s North East, with diverse socio-cultural communities, is often not taken into consideration when the region is categorised as one homogenous administrative, political and geographical entity. There are differences and differentiations on the basis of race, religion, language, political opinions and geographical features- each state having its own characteristics unique to itself. An interesting manifestation of ethnic politics in this region is the division of the country into administrative units. In spite of these differences, however, most of the states and their inhabitants have nurtured a sense of unity against policies followed by Central Government towards this region. Each ethnic community seems to have its own world-view and have always attempted to be independent from other ethnic communities, and hence urged for autonomy- within or outside the constitutional framework.
The strong urge for autonomy and independent existence has led to the formation of regional political parties for the articulation of their aspirations by a specific ethnic community or group of communities. It is believed that since the national parties have failed to represent the particular needs and aspirations of the people of the region, regional political parties have been formed with ethnic considerations. Ethnic dimension, therefore, has been one of the most important components of regionalism in India’s North-East as almost all regional outfits stand for preservation of ethnic identity of one ethnic community or the other. Formation of the All Party Hill Leaders Conference, which was the outcome of ethnic consideration against the imposition of Asamese language as the official State language, is a pointer towards the trends of ethnicisation of politics in India’s North East. Sajal Nag describes party politics in the North East as “contest for marginal space”. In other words, regional political parties in India’s North East compete within the region with very little scope of extending their scope and ideology beyond ‘regional aspirations’.
Regional parties in Arunachal Pradesh, having their own histories, can also said to have emerged out of ethnic considerations. People’s Party of Arunachal, formed in 1977, was committed to meet aspiration of the indigenous people of Arunachal Pradesh and to preserve distinctive culture of its varied tribes. Arunachal Congress, the second regional political party was a product of the increased ethno-political consciousness of the indigenous people over the issue of the settlement and eviction of refugees. Assam Gana Parishad is a direct product of Assam movement against settlement of foreigners and exploitation of Assam’s natural resources by the ‘outsiders’. To counter the activities of AGP, United Minorities Front was formed. Tribal communities of Tripura are politically united under the banner of Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti, which fights for their rights and justice. Even parties like Federal Party of Manipur and Manipur Peoples’ Party were born out of ethnic considerations. Mizo National Front, which was initially formed as a socio-cultural organisation, Mizo National Famine Front, went on to become an illegal outfit waging war against India. In 1985, after Mizo Accord, the party was fully integrated into mainstream politics, and now the party plays a significant role in the state politics of Mizoram. Recently Nagaland Peoples’ Front got its name changed to Naga Peoples’ Front ostensibly to spread its wings beyond administrative and political boundaries- in ‘Naga’ inhabited areas of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Success of Sikkim Sangram Parishad as a regional party is phenomenal.
Studies have suggested that political parties create democracy by enabling the masses to participate in political life. It is also suggested that democracy in ethnically-diverse societies is likely to be strengthened by the development of broad-based, aggregative and multi-ethnic political parties, rather than fragmented, personalised or ethnically-based party systems. In India’s North East there has been rapid growth of ethnic-based political parties, which may make operation of democracy problematic as each group presses for politicization of identity issues. Scholars would rather be interested to examine whether regionalism in North East, as expressed through political parties, has reached within the range of secessionism or is simply an expression of centrifugal forces, an essential element of federal polity. Mizo National Front entered into mainstream politics and formed a government after twenty years of struggle in support of Mizoram’s independence or separation from India. Assam, a cauldron of ethnic tensions saw an interesting transformation of Hagrama Daimary’s Bodo Peoples’ Front from armed struggle to parliamentary democracy. Will political parties, as democratic instrument, ensure entry of the leaders of National Socialist Council of Nagaland and United Liberation Front of Assam in mainstream politics?
The seminar is an attempt to look into the role, structure and ideology of regional political parties in India’s North-East, including Sikkim and their linkages with ethnicity and democracy. Some possible themes for discussions are:
1. Theories and concepts of ethnicity, democracy, regionalism and political parties.
2. Is ethnic based political parties antithetical to democracy and democratic institutions? 3. What are the social bases of different regional political parties in India’s North-East?
4. What are their ideological foundations?
5. What are their roles in state and national politics?
6. Identification of leadership patterns.
7. Identification of origin, emergence, policies and programmes.
8. Examination of reason(s) for success or failure of regional political parties in NE India.
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