By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 7: Veteran journalist, columnist and Editor of The Shillong Times, Patricia Mukhim held a panel discussion at the India International Centre (IIC) in New Delhi on her book – a two-part volume titled From Isolation to Integration: Navigating the Geopolitics of India’s Northeast (1990-2023).
The panellists at the discussion, held on Saturday, were the likes of Shyam Saran, president IIC, GK Pillai, former Union Home Secretary, Vrinda Grover, senior advocate, Tiplut Nongbri, former professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Shekhar Gupta, Editor of The Print and Patricia Mukhim, Padma Shri awardee and the author of the book.
Senior advocate Vrinda Grover underscored the frailties behind the Northeast and why it always gets left behind from dialogue while pinpointing the burning issue of the state of Manipur. She also stressed that the marker of racism is parallel to any discussion on the Northeast.
Former JNU professor Tiplut Nongbri said that the book had a deep understanding of reality as Mukhim ‘experienced it’ where she covered a vast canvas of issues from insurgency, militarism, businessman-politician nexus and also the pain and aspirations of the people. She said that the only place of lacking with mainstream India was that of an absence of “emotional integration”.
Shekhar Gupta, editor of The Print, stated that Mukhim, in her mammoth volumes on the fault-lines of the Northeast, brings a ‘non-partisan’ approach in viewing the politics of the region. He mentioned the paucity in the absence of literature emerging from the Northeast.
“Northeast has always been viewed only from the prism of security”, Gupta said while talking about Mukhim’s seminal effort to bring together two volumes on the region. His summation included, “Meghalaya is the only state in NE that has never had an insurgency.”
The august dicussants highlighted Mukhim’s forays into the troubled and violence-ridden areas of the Northeast while exemplifying her candour and courage in bringing together her hard-hitting writings over the last few decades.