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Strangers of the Mist: Tales of War and Peace from India's Northeast. Revised Edition
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387 pages, Paperback
First published October 14, 2000
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March 3, 2017
This book had been penned by veteran Indian journalist Sanjoy Hazarika, who hails from the Northeastern state of Assam, and chronicles the factors that led to the development of militancy in Northeast India. The book was published in 1990s.
The Northeast of India consists of the following eight states: Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghlaya, Mizoram (collectively called the Seven Sisters) and Sikkim.
The state of Assam had been mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata and other religious texts such as the Puranas. There had been contacts and cultural and religious exchange between the people of Assam with the peoples of rest of India. The Assamese kings had formed military and matrimonial alliances with their counterparts from the mainland. Moreover, the said kings were mostly devotees of the Hindu deities and extended patronage to the study of the Sanskrit language.
Historically, these states had never been conquered by any ruler from the Indian mainland, the Mughals, the Turks and some others did invade Assam numerous times but were never able to conquer the state. However, the Northeast did become victim of the British imperialism esp. Assam and though the British did send expeditions eastward they only exercised a loose control over the various tribes who inhabited the beautiful region.
The people of Northeast have Mongoloid features unlike the various ethnic groups of the Indian subcontinent.
The first section of the book has been aptly named The Bangladesh Syndrome because mass immigration of people from Bangladesh was one of the major reasons that triggered militancy in the Northeast. The author has done a good job of explaining the geographic, economic and religious reasons behind the mass immigration.
This problem had started during the British period. At that time Bangladesh was still a part of India and the people would flock to the sparsely populated Northeastern states, illegally grab the highly fertile land and settle down. As their numbers grew, the demography of the Northeastern states saw a marked change. The discovery of oil and tea in Assam would mean that the Brits would keep sending laborers (many of whom had been kidnapped by agents paid by the Brits and lived like slaves) and other people from outside to the state, thereby changing the demography even more.The locals were distrustful of the immigrants and feared that they would loose their own land, language, culture and identity.
Many of the Bangladeshi immigrants were Muslims and as usual political parties, both Congress and the Muslim League used this to indulge in dirty vote bank politics using religion. The sections detailing these were very informative.
Anyways, India achieved independence and the region now called Bangladesh became a part of Pakistan. However, this did not stop the influx of millions of people into the Northeast and the Indian subcontinent. Political turmoil, penury and religious persecution of the Hindus led to many more people coming to India.
Hazarika explains in his book, that the Central Govt. of India turned a deaf ear to the genuine pleas of help from Assam and the illegal land grabbing became epidemic. As usual, it was the politicians who created the mess. The arrogant politicians and bureaucrats of the Central Govt. had scant sensitivity towards the people of Northeast and also the various state governments were more interested in scoring political goals than doing anything useful. Many tribal groups were apprehensive that their culture and language would be suppressed by the Indian subcontinent -this fear was baseless as the people of the Indian subcontinent are not a homogeneous entity,they speak in multiple languages and each region has its own distinct culture, festivals and cuisine. This diversity in my humble opinion makes the country so fascinating. Thus began the militancy which ravaged the beautiful Northeast, where various groups based on ethnic identities, religion, language declared war against the Government of India which retaliated by deploying the Armed Forces.
The militants would launch guerrilla attacks on the numerically superior Indian Army and then flee into the dense forests. The real victim of the militants were the helpless people whom they called outsiders. The militants carried out massacres on these defenseless people. To demonstrate the brutality of the militants I am quoting the author about an attack carried out against a small village of Bengalis in Tripura: "It was the first time that I saw a senior army officer break down as he surveyed the carnage. The hatred of the attackers was clear: a two-year-old-child had been split in two and laid on the either side of its (dead) mother. The only living creature in that village that day was a dog, .... (I debated putting the brutality in my review, but I felt that this describes the brutality inflicted by the militants and show what they were)
The author clearly demonstrates how the common man of the Northeast - the indigenous population, who had nothing to do with any militancy became the ultimate victim being stuck between the militants on one hand and the security forces on the other. Unfortunately some soldiers tortured the common people as well.
Many of the militants later turned on the people on whose behalf they claimed to be fighting -- they turned extortionists, kidnappers and started killing people on mere suspicions of being government collaborators. The groups saw brutal infighting as well. Some of them seeing the hopelessness of taking on the might of the Indian Army and fed up with the hardships of life in the forests, surrendered and became politicians -- but some hardliners carried on.
The geo-politics of that time is also detailed out -- the militants received help in the form of money, training and arms from India's neighbors - China, Pakistan and ironically Bangladesh. They used this opportunity to try to destabilize India and keep her forces bogged down in a domestic war. The author also informs us that some Britishers, who could not accepted loosing the "jewel" in their empire's crown, also instigated militancy in the Northeast.
Politicians played their games but it is always the common man who suffers. The loss of lives of all the people involved was meaningless - the common man, the soldier is somebody's son and father too, the young person brainwashed to become a militant who could have had better life as an honest citizen. The funds spent by the Govt. of India and the respective state governments in fighting militancy could have been better spent in developing the region. Despite having a highly educated populace, the Northeast is yet to reach its full potential.
The author has also given his views as to how the situation can be improved in the Northeast - some of them looked nice on paper but seemed like wishful thinking coming from an experienced journalist like him.
As I have mentioned before, the book was published in the early 1990s and a lot has changed since then. The militancy in the Northeast, though not obliterated, is not so dangerous as before. The problem of illegal immigrants in the Northeast continues and the spread of jihadi radicalization among them as well as crimes committed by them against the locals makes the situation volatile still.
Writing a book about such a sensitive and controversial topic is not easy.I appreciate the effort made by the author in writing this book and he has done a good job indeed. He himself interviewed many dreaded militant leaders, army officers, intelligence agents, senior politicians and bureaucrats as well as the common man to depict the truth. He has presented a balanced and unbiased account of the events and one can learn something about the region and its problems. Initially I was apprehensive that this book might be a propaganda piece but was glad to discover that it was not. You know, parts of the books about militants, soldiers, spies, terrorist training camps, covert evacuation of executives of an international firm from their quarters by the Indian security forces -- make it read like a thriller, but it was no fiction and real blood had been spilled.
I don't know if it is the best book to learn about the Northeast but I found it to be good and definitely worthy of being read.
The Northeast of India consists of the following eight states: Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghlaya, Mizoram (collectively called the Seven Sisters) and Sikkim.
The state of Assam had been mentioned in the ancient Indian epic Mahabharata and other religious texts such as the Puranas. There had been contacts and cultural and religious exchange between the people of Assam with the peoples of rest of India. The Assamese kings had formed military and matrimonial alliances with their counterparts from the mainland. Moreover, the said kings were mostly devotees of the Hindu deities and extended patronage to the study of the Sanskrit language.
Historically, these states had never been conquered by any ruler from the Indian mainland, the Mughals, the Turks and some others did invade Assam numerous times but were never able to conquer the state. However, the Northeast did become victim of the British imperialism esp. Assam and though the British did send expeditions eastward they only exercised a loose control over the various tribes who inhabited the beautiful region.
The people of Northeast have Mongoloid features unlike the various ethnic groups of the Indian subcontinent.
The first section of the book has been aptly named The Bangladesh Syndrome because mass immigration of people from Bangladesh was one of the major reasons that triggered militancy in the Northeast. The author has done a good job of explaining the geographic, economic and religious reasons behind the mass immigration.
This problem had started during the British period. At that time Bangladesh was still a part of India and the people would flock to the sparsely populated Northeastern states, illegally grab the highly fertile land and settle down. As their numbers grew, the demography of the Northeastern states saw a marked change. The discovery of oil and tea in Assam would mean that the Brits would keep sending laborers (many of whom had been kidnapped by agents paid by the Brits and lived like slaves) and other people from outside to the state, thereby changing the demography even more.The locals were distrustful of the immigrants and feared that they would loose their own land, language, culture and identity.
Many of the Bangladeshi immigrants were Muslims and as usual political parties, both Congress and the Muslim League used this to indulge in dirty vote bank politics using religion. The sections detailing these were very informative.
Anyways, India achieved independence and the region now called Bangladesh became a part of Pakistan. However, this did not stop the influx of millions of people into the Northeast and the Indian subcontinent. Political turmoil, penury and religious persecution of the Hindus led to many more people coming to India.
Hazarika explains in his book, that the Central Govt. of India turned a deaf ear to the genuine pleas of help from Assam and the illegal land grabbing became epidemic. As usual, it was the politicians who created the mess. The arrogant politicians and bureaucrats of the Central Govt. had scant sensitivity towards the people of Northeast and also the various state governments were more interested in scoring political goals than doing anything useful. Many tribal groups were apprehensive that their culture and language would be suppressed by the Indian subcontinent -this fear was baseless as the people of the Indian subcontinent are not a homogeneous entity,they speak in multiple languages and each region has its own distinct culture, festivals and cuisine. This diversity in my humble opinion makes the country so fascinating. Thus began the militancy which ravaged the beautiful Northeast, where various groups based on ethnic identities, religion, language declared war against the Government of India which retaliated by deploying the Armed Forces.
The militants would launch guerrilla attacks on the numerically superior Indian Army and then flee into the dense forests. The real victim of the militants were the helpless people whom they called outsiders. The militants carried out massacres on these defenseless people. To demonstrate the brutality of the militants I am quoting the author about an attack carried out against a small village of Bengalis in Tripura: "It was the first time that I saw a senior army officer break down as he surveyed the carnage. The hatred of the attackers was clear: a two-year-old-child had been split in two and laid on the either side of its (dead) mother. The only living creature in that village that day was a dog, .... (I debated putting the brutality in my review, but I felt that this describes the brutality inflicted by the militants and show what they were)
The author clearly demonstrates how the common man of the Northeast - the indigenous population, who had nothing to do with any militancy became the ultimate victim being stuck between the militants on one hand and the security forces on the other. Unfortunately some soldiers tortured the common people as well.
Many of the militants later turned on the people on whose behalf they claimed to be fighting -- they turned extortionists, kidnappers and started killing people on mere suspicions of being government collaborators. The groups saw brutal infighting as well. Some of them seeing the hopelessness of taking on the might of the Indian Army and fed up with the hardships of life in the forests, surrendered and became politicians -- but some hardliners carried on.
The geo-politics of that time is also detailed out -- the militants received help in the form of money, training and arms from India's neighbors - China, Pakistan and ironically Bangladesh. They used this opportunity to try to destabilize India and keep her forces bogged down in a domestic war. The author also informs us that some Britishers, who could not accepted loosing the "jewel" in their empire's crown, also instigated militancy in the Northeast.
Politicians played their games but it is always the common man who suffers. The loss of lives of all the people involved was meaningless - the common man, the soldier is somebody's son and father too, the young person brainwashed to become a militant who could have had better life as an honest citizen. The funds spent by the Govt. of India and the respective state governments in fighting militancy could have been better spent in developing the region. Despite having a highly educated populace, the Northeast is yet to reach its full potential.
The author has also given his views as to how the situation can be improved in the Northeast - some of them looked nice on paper but seemed like wishful thinking coming from an experienced journalist like him.
As I have mentioned before, the book was published in the early 1990s and a lot has changed since then. The militancy in the Northeast, though not obliterated, is not so dangerous as before. The problem of illegal immigrants in the Northeast continues and the spread of jihadi radicalization among them as well as crimes committed by them against the locals makes the situation volatile still.
Writing a book about such a sensitive and controversial topic is not easy.I appreciate the effort made by the author in writing this book and he has done a good job indeed. He himself interviewed many dreaded militant leaders, army officers, intelligence agents, senior politicians and bureaucrats as well as the common man to depict the truth. He has presented a balanced and unbiased account of the events and one can learn something about the region and its problems. Initially I was apprehensive that this book might be a propaganda piece but was glad to discover that it was not. You know, parts of the books about militants, soldiers, spies, terrorist training camps, covert evacuation of executives of an international firm from their quarters by the Indian security forces -- make it read like a thriller, but it was no fiction and real blood had been spilled.
I don't know if it is the best book to learn about the Northeast but I found it to be good and definitely worthy of being read.
November 5, 2017
The cliche is unavoidable. This book is an epic - although the period it is concerned with is broadly that after the political independence of India, the landscape it explores is vast. Hazarika explains the conflicts in the Himalayan regions between Nepal in the west to Mizoram in the east, conflicts not just between the many peoples and the nation-state of India but also conflicts between these peoples, within the ethnic groups and even those within individuals. In doing these he unravels the various facets that make this region incomparably complex: the problems in East Bengal, Indo-Pak partition, the diverse cultural geographies that inhabit these hills and valleys, and of course, the magnificent scale of neglect that the Indian state has shown. All in all, this book makes for an exciting and at times, acute read. So, it is a must read for all Indians, and definitely for those who are or view themselves as being politically-sensitive.
August 20, 2022
A condensed history of the north-East region. The book also covers relevant histories of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar. It's an unbiased description of the facts. Some of the predictions in the book already came true so maybe it's time for an updated chapter
June 12, 2024
One of the most moving books on a region I’ve read in a while! The book starts out slow, the author is trying to cover the history of the North East from 1830-1947 in a few chapters so the first part can feel a little bit rushed and confusing.
However, once the stage is set, the author systematically teases out the dynamics influencing North east India between the neglectful central government, the hopelessly corrupt and incompetent local governments, the insurgents and caught in the middle of it all, the vulnerable locals.
He examines in turn the states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam and Tripura, and looks at how government neglect led to the emergence of various insurgencies, which often started with the support of the local population with the goal of liberating the area but devolved into the insurgents enriching themselves and abandoning the people.
Reading the chapter on the history of Nagaland and its fall from a beautiful self sufficient society to eventually a corrupt mafia state with the local government and the NSCN in cahoots almost brought me to tears.
The author also does an incredible job documenting the history of the ULFA in Assam from 1979-1991 and the various twists and turns the organization took in its quest for Assamese independence.
What I like most about this book is that the author keeps the plight of the people of the area, both indigenous and immigrants in focus, and criticizes everyone involved in making their lives worse. Obviously he recognizes that most of the blame lies with the central government, but he doesn’t shy away from addressing the pain that a prolonged insurgency can cause to the people of the area, and how their support for the insurgents can change over time.
It’s basically a book about a bunch of broken promises to the north east, from the central government, from local politicians and from the guerrilla leaders. By the time you reach the end, and you’re left with how things are right now, it’s hard to stomach just how badly the north east has been treated
Also there’s really cool anecdotes like the one about how these assamese villagers were just playing football and some guy came and turned out to be amazing and they later found out he was the head of ULFA?? he played with police officers lol
However, once the stage is set, the author systematically teases out the dynamics influencing North east India between the neglectful central government, the hopelessly corrupt and incompetent local governments, the insurgents and caught in the middle of it all, the vulnerable locals.
He examines in turn the states of Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Assam and Tripura, and looks at how government neglect led to the emergence of various insurgencies, which often started with the support of the local population with the goal of liberating the area but devolved into the insurgents enriching themselves and abandoning the people.
Reading the chapter on the history of Nagaland and its fall from a beautiful self sufficient society to eventually a corrupt mafia state with the local government and the NSCN in cahoots almost brought me to tears.
The author also does an incredible job documenting the history of the ULFA in Assam from 1979-1991 and the various twists and turns the organization took in its quest for Assamese independence.
What I like most about this book is that the author keeps the plight of the people of the area, both indigenous and immigrants in focus, and criticizes everyone involved in making their lives worse. Obviously he recognizes that most of the blame lies with the central government, but he doesn’t shy away from addressing the pain that a prolonged insurgency can cause to the people of the area, and how their support for the insurgents can change over time.
It’s basically a book about a bunch of broken promises to the north east, from the central government, from local politicians and from the guerrilla leaders. By the time you reach the end, and you’re left with how things are right now, it’s hard to stomach just how badly the north east has been treated
Also there’s really cool anecdotes like the one about how these assamese villagers were just playing football and some guy came and turned out to be amazing and they later found out he was the head of ULFA?? he played with police officers lol
September 12, 2019
This book is an opening to an entire course of history which we (majority of India) are usually comfortable with ignoring completely. It is very difficult to bring such a complicated history of ethnic to international rivalries, resource wars to national/political agenda conflicts, so clearly in such a rich text. I call it text because (to be honest), at points, I was too much overloaded with information. But I understand the reason - there was just too much to be told, and that's why there were events after events thrown at you. Finishing this book is an experience unlike any other : it makes you feel sick, imagining the amount of injustices against the minorities done in the entire north-east and the continuing lack of inaction.
July 1, 2019
01/07/2019 - I am only halfway through the book, but I know it would remain a 5-star read for me throughout. Extremely well-researched and well-written, this book is the ultimate knowledge bank on the remarkable (post-independence) history of Northeast India. After every second paragraph I think 'Woah! Why is this not a movie yet?'.
Currently reading
April 8, 2013Undeniably one of the most well researched books on the north-east of India.
August 25, 2018
Stangers of The Mist -
Tales of War and Peace from India's NorthEast.
Sanjoy Hazarika
@penguinindia @penguinukbooks
Rating : 5/5
Stangers of The Mist is a pathbreaking piece by Sanjoy Hazarika, India's best author and journalist on North-East India through his intense study and travel stories.
This book, first published in 1994 takes you through the detailed and comprehensive history of North East India and it's neighbours.
Hailing from the North-East himself, Hazarika understands the pulse of this region and plates in front of you detailed analysis of the challenges that this region faces ranging from insurgency, identity crisis, drug abuse/trade, floods, illegal immigration, cross-border, infiltration, environmental problems and of course the foreign policy towards eastern neighbours.
The author has dealt with each state of the north east India separately in different chapters.
From ULFA to NSCN and MNF to KIA. He deals with all the problems of all the states differently along with its history and the way forward to it.
Assam, Nagaland and Bangladesh borders form a major part of this study due to obvious geographical and political reasons that persist in the region.
Hazarika walks us through little known intricacies of this majestic region which is so complex and recluse to understand and work upon.
The sad part? Much of the problems discussed in this book have been long standing till now which shows us the perpetuity and intensity of these problems but also the incapability and inadequacy of the govts and policymakers concerned.
Although, such a complex region is not enough to be understood by just one book or just by reading books but from my experience from a long visit to the region and some reading about it gives me a hint that this book has enough to satiate your thirst as a starter to know more about a fascinating yet troubled part of India.
The key to take from this book is that North East India should not be treated as a problem, but as a challenge.
I wish every educated and literate Indian should read this one.
Happy Reading!
Tales of War and Peace from India's NorthEast.
Sanjoy Hazarika
@penguinindia @penguinukbooks
Rating : 5/5
Stangers of The Mist is a pathbreaking piece by Sanjoy Hazarika, India's best author and journalist on North-East India through his intense study and travel stories.
This book, first published in 1994 takes you through the detailed and comprehensive history of North East India and it's neighbours.
Hailing from the North-East himself, Hazarika understands the pulse of this region and plates in front of you detailed analysis of the challenges that this region faces ranging from insurgency, identity crisis, drug abuse/trade, floods, illegal immigration, cross-border, infiltration, environmental problems and of course the foreign policy towards eastern neighbours.
The author has dealt with each state of the north east India separately in different chapters.
From ULFA to NSCN and MNF to KIA. He deals with all the problems of all the states differently along with its history and the way forward to it.
Assam, Nagaland and Bangladesh borders form a major part of this study due to obvious geographical and political reasons that persist in the region.
Hazarika walks us through little known intricacies of this majestic region which is so complex and recluse to understand and work upon.
The sad part? Much of the problems discussed in this book have been long standing till now which shows us the perpetuity and intensity of these problems but also the incapability and inadequacy of the govts and policymakers concerned.
Although, such a complex region is not enough to be understood by just one book or just by reading books but from my experience from a long visit to the region and some reading about it gives me a hint that this book has enough to satiate your thirst as a starter to know more about a fascinating yet troubled part of India.
The key to take from this book is that North East India should not be treated as a problem, but as a challenge.
I wish every educated and literate Indian should read this one.
Happy Reading!
December 28, 2017
India's northeast does not have a lot of literature documenting its journey. Whatever is there is usually written by the natives of that regions and usually lacks the objectivity of a third person.
This book is also written by someone who is from this place , but unlike the other literature that I have glanced through, this book exudes an unbiased perspective of the entire issues assailing that region.
This I believe is the biggest positive of this book. I am not saying you will agree with the writer's analysis completely. I have not been able to palate a lot of his opinions but that does not in any way undermine his unbiased approach.
Another positive of this book is he digs into history to get the root cause. He did not limit himself to the north eastern states of India but instead went to all the neighboring countries , tried explaining their scenario and also concluded as to how the current status of those countries are effecting our states. Also he actively explains the role the neighboring countries and even our center has played or is playing on stabilizing and destabilizing this region.
However, there are certain things that work against this book.
One of the primary being the skewed weightage given to different topics and states. For instance , Assam and its condition was explained in depth whereas a lot of states were just glossed over. I personally was looking forward to the writer's interpretation of the politics of all the states and not just facts. Also certain topics were hardly analysed, I was disappointed when the heroin factories that is causing havoc through out the north east was mentioned for the first time in the end of the book.
The book also seemed chaotic towards the end. The topics were not neatly sewn together and seemed clunky in conjugation .
Overall it is a good book due to lack of any other book or literature in this area.
This book is also written by someone who is from this place , but unlike the other literature that I have glanced through, this book exudes an unbiased perspective of the entire issues assailing that region.
This I believe is the biggest positive of this book. I am not saying you will agree with the writer's analysis completely. I have not been able to palate a lot of his opinions but that does not in any way undermine his unbiased approach.
Another positive of this book is he digs into history to get the root cause. He did not limit himself to the north eastern states of India but instead went to all the neighboring countries , tried explaining their scenario and also concluded as to how the current status of those countries are effecting our states. Also he actively explains the role the neighboring countries and even our center has played or is playing on stabilizing and destabilizing this region.
However, there are certain things that work against this book.
One of the primary being the skewed weightage given to different topics and states. For instance , Assam and its condition was explained in depth whereas a lot of states were just glossed over. I personally was looking forward to the writer's interpretation of the politics of all the states and not just facts. Also certain topics were hardly analysed, I was disappointed when the heroin factories that is causing havoc through out the north east was mentioned for the first time in the end of the book.
The book also seemed chaotic towards the end. The topics were not neatly sewn together and seemed clunky in conjugation .
Overall it is a good book due to lack of any other book or literature in this area.
February 25, 2019
An authoritative account concerning the issues of northeastern states from migration to insurgency which were never covered by the mainstream media. Hazarika clearly shows how the lives of the little men never bothered the policy makers of Delhi and neither the central government and the bureaucrats tried to understand the root cause of the problems plaguing the region. What they adopted was a strategy of one size fits all which failed severely and alienated the people of northeast from mainland India. A definitely must read to understand the geopolitics of northeast and neighbouring Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
May 10, 2018
it's a very well researched and the writing style kept me hooked on..as Sanjoy Hazarika keeps you entertained giving economics, environment and political perspective of north east
all the men and groups that popped up before and after independence. their rise and fall is very well covered.
it's a 300 page book sometimes the topic goes too much in detail that I could handle but the subject is handled well by the author.
all the men and groups that popped up before and after independence. their rise and fall is very well covered.
it's a 300 page book sometimes the topic goes too much in detail that I could handle but the subject is handled well by the author.
March 19, 2021
A well-researched and documented narrative of the political turbulence in the NE, invisible to the most of India. The author discusses not only the problems at the NE but also of India's eastern and western neighbours and how interference have accelerated the crisis with its impacts stretching inlands even today.
Definitely a must read for anyone trying to understand the political unfolding of the land.
Definitely a must read for anyone trying to understand the political unfolding of the land.
May 16, 2017
This was a very informative book and provided insight into the conflicts that had risen in the northeastern parts of India. It was interesting to see the relationship between escalating tension between different ethnic groups and governmental intervention. However, the book was a little difficult to follow since it jumped from one event to another and didn't seem to be sequential.
July 5, 2024
Analytical, in-depth and well-researched book with troves of information. Just needed a good editorial check with some small flurry of mistakes like "Khasi... indigenous people follow a patrilineal..." instead of matrilineal which is an editorial oversight. There are others like this and grammatical mistakes that could have been avoided by the editor.
February 1, 2019
This book has brilliance written on every page. Every paragraph has useful nuggets of information on the history and reasons for conflicts in the north east of india. This book is unputdownable.. Anyone interested in the northeast India, this is your primer.
January 28, 2018
Background
Gud to know bout various insurgency background as to how it started. The title is apt in strangers of the mist.
Gud to know bout various insurgency background as to how it started. The title is apt in strangers of the mist.
April 6, 2018
One of the best books to understand origins of insurgency in north eastern part of India
September 16, 2018
A must read for those who want to understand northeast and its problems
March 19, 2019
An eye opener, even for an Assamese like myself.
April 13, 2024
Explains so much about the turbulence in North-East India.
September 23, 2020
The writing is a bit dull i.e. he did not write it like telling a story. But holds lots of information about the northeast and the roots of its insurgency issues.
May 31, 2014
A topic that must be read about, but probably not the best book. Well researched, Hazarika presents a detailed chronicle of the history of the insurgency in the North-East, the chronic issue of illegal immigration, economic neglect and exploitation of resources while throwing ample light on the diverse culture, geography and the abundance of natural resources in the region. However, the writing style is incoherent and mundane - it keeps moving back and front in time and the same arguments get repeated again and again. In certain sections, the author is just in a complaining mood rather than giving an unbiased account of the happenings. Also, highlighting the problems in Bangladesh and it's role in the decades of violence is important, but too much of real estate is spent on the same. What clearly stands out is the Centre's incompetency and impotence in handling the situation through the years, and empathy for the causes of the ULFA, NSCN and other anti-establishment organisations instead of the pure contempt and hatred that the rest of country has had for them.
February 26, 2020
Veteran journalist Sanjoy Hazarika chronicles the history of the north east (including bhutan) starting from the pre-independence era. It gives a much needed historical context to the identity and sub identity politics of the region. The focus is on the multiple insurgencies prevalent in the region like those instigated by ULFA, NSCN, Laldenga etc.
My favorite parts of the book were the pre-independence struggles for Assam to be included in India as opposed to Pakistan during the partition. Gopinath Bardoloi made the most important contributions even defying the lines of Nehru, Patel and Azad to make the voice of the people of Assam heard in the distant durbars of the Congress of the time.
The book's chronology stops in mid 90's. There seems to be a bit of reductionism in the book about solving the problems of the North east.
There needs to be updated versions of this book which includes the events after the mid 90s.
My favorite parts of the book were the pre-independence struggles for Assam to be included in India as opposed to Pakistan during the partition. Gopinath Bardoloi made the most important contributions even defying the lines of Nehru, Patel and Azad to make the voice of the people of Assam heard in the distant durbars of the Congress of the time.
The book's chronology stops in mid 90's. There seems to be a bit of reductionism in the book about solving the problems of the North east.
There needs to be updated versions of this book which includes the events after the mid 90s.
January 12, 2016
One of the first books I read on North-east India which opened my eyes to the contemporary issues affecting the region, insightful and analytical, a great book on the issues that continue to afflict this region.
August 27, 2015
Left in between.There's so much of it that I already knew and it was getting kind of repetitive and mundane
May 5, 2013
One of the best Researched Books about North East Insurgency
February 12, 2016
very elaborate, creates a movie like experience with the mixing of timelines, fascinating as based on facts, some depictions can become repetitive..
October 26, 2017
great insight into the complexities of North East India
Displaying 1 - 28 of 29 reviews