By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 13: The ninth annual conference of Oral History Association of India (OHAI) on ‘Mountain History: At the Intersection of Memory, Politics and Identity’ kick-started on Wednesday at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong.
According to a statement here, the three-day annual conference has been organised in collaboration with the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, NEHU, Shillong, and Northeast India AV Archive, St Anthony’s College, Shillong, and supported by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan.
The conference intends to explore India’s rich regional histories and cultures, focusing on the often overlooked narratives from the mountain and mountain communities and seeks to rectify the imbalance.
“The conference focuses on the intersections of mountain studies, social and cultural histories, indigeneity and politics through oral histories. It encourages questioning of the categories like ‘tribal’ and ‘indigenous’, and unpacking the diverse narratives of and on mountains as well as exploring how these constructions are often displaced in larger political articulations of state and administration,” the statement said.
Education Minister Rakkam A. Sangma, who inaugurated the conference, highlighted the challenges in preserving the rich oral culture of the tribes of the Northeast and emphasised the need to be rooted to one’s culture.
In his address, Sangma also informed about the attempts of the Education department to introduce a curriculum where students, starting from the elementary level of schooling, will be taught about the rich culture of Meghalaya.
Others who spoke during the inaugural programme were NEHU Vice Chancellor Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, OHAI president Vrunda Pathare, among others.