Virginia Review of
Asian Studies
Volume 17 (2015) 269-272
(ISSN 2169-6306)
Book Review Section
“Journalism can never be silent:
That is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak
immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of
horror are still in the air.”
–
Henry Anatole Grunwald
Along
the Red River: A Memoir by Sabita Goswami, translated by Triveni Goswami Mathur. New Delhi: Zubaan, 2013. 320 pp Pbk, ISBN 9789381017012.
Reviewed by R.
Radhakrishnan
Symbiosis International University, India
A memoir is usually an outlet to tell an untold tale, where the writer
usually talks of his/her achievements and their relentless struggle to attain
their objectives apart from confronting the usual vagaries of life and the
challenges in negotiating with the world around them. Along
the Red River by Sabita Goswami is more
than a memoir and it comes at a time
when the world is infested with memoirs written by some people which are merely
a “tell all tales,” collection of anecdotes about movers and shakers and their
tryst with destiny.
A memoir as
one’s personal account and commentary is also an arduous task of not gravitating
towards partisanship, for its presence in the public domain, also renders
personal getting transformed into political. Hence a memoir by this logic has
an inbuilt idiosyncrasy, of presenting an account of agony as well as ecstasy.
Along the Red River is a memoir
written by a person with a multilayered identity – a woman, a mother, a
journalist, an observer and commentator covering one of the regions with a
turbulent history, a chronicler of our times, who was witness to the traumatic
encounters of the nation building exercise, experimented in India’s northeast
region.
Since
independence, the northeast region of India has been confronted by a series of
problems ranging from uneven development, ethnic and cultural minority syndrome
and influx of illegal migrants have shaped the politicization of ethnic
identities and the separatist movements in the Northeast. While many policy analysts’ have written
about this region and called for resolving the crisis which continue to even
baffle many scholars of the Indian constitution, since the federal state with
unitary features have, over the years, given adequate space for a kind of
consociational democracy, as propounded by political scientists like Arend
Lijphart.
The political
representation of various groups and the exercise of veto by minority groups
are hallmarks of consociational politics, which are seen in nations to address
the fears about majoritarianism. Sabita Goswami precisely highlights these
issues with much more finesse, through her perceptive accounts of the state of
Assam in India, the failure of party politics in evolving an inclusive and
stable socio-political order.
The narrative
and the dissection of the conflicts in the northeast of India, with special
reference to the volatile situation in Assam have been very vividly
documented. The commentary is further enhanced at various points, substantiated
by the rich details that transcend a mere firsthand account of a journalist
working in a disturbed region in terms of the ethnographic details about the
region, insightful comments and feedback, on to the public policy and the role
of the state government under various leaders, towards ethno politics.
The author
rather takes a holistic view of the issues concerning the genesis of the
conflict which lies in the demographic changes that have occurred in the region
since independence. With massive influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh,
almost made Assam into a ‘refugee’ state in the first three decades since
independence. Large-scale transfer of cultivable land to the settlers/refugees
was followed by the economic exploitation and alienation generating a strong
sense of intra-tribal identity and militancy. Hereafter, political parties were
competing with each other for getting these refugee votes, which played a
significant role in electoral victories.
This scenario is
not only very complicated to comprehend but a rather daunting task for a
journalist and a social commentator to give an authentic and unbiased account,
which is the hallmark of this book. The book offers an insightful and evocative
note on the transformation of the society; break down of the state and the
subsequent militarization of the region.
While the
narrative is a firsthand account of a journalist, the detailed analysis of the
role of the Indian state in a heterogeneous society has been very vividly
described through her visits to the sites of contestation and frequent
interaction with the power centres. The author’s memoir clearly hints that
India is passing through a critical phase of its post-independence history and
that its polity has come under severe pressure due to the collapse of political
institutions followed by erosion of democratic norms, prevalence of social
unrest and increasing corruption. Assam according to her has been witness
to the rising demand for power by more social groups on the one hand, and
limited resources on the other, which had flared up political and social
turmoil.
Moreover, apart
from its own diversity what has accentuated the crisis in Assam has been the
widening economic disparities and increasing unemployment which posed a major
challenge to its stability as a federal unit of the Indian nation. The author
highlights the role of communalism; caste prejudices and politicization of
ethnicity continue in endangering the social fabric and harmony in Assam. She
strongly emphasizes that these conflicts had led to an erosion of state
authority and its ability to usher in social transformation within the society.
The author’s
commentary on the rise of various insurgent groups provides an insider view and
perspective on regions affected by ethno-politics, which the author attributes
to the militarization of the region and the shrinking of democratic space
leading to the aggrieved groups resorting to extra constitutional means. This
is also marked by rank opportunism, corruption and nepotism which is marked by
the steady decline in the mediatory role played by the governing elite and the
party system.
The analysis of
events including the infamous Nellie massacre and various terror strikes, by
the author brings forth an important aspect which must be noted by any scholar
of social science, is that of the role of the state, which remains significant
in a heterogeneous society. Its complicity especially during sectarian
conflicts, robs it of its neutrality and legitimacy, resulting in communities
seeking to settle their disputes outside the constitutional domain, resulting in the State becoming an
epicenter of conflict.
While democracy
and federal polity in India have by and large taken care of its plurality,
through constitutional safeguards, it must be noted that the ethnic movements
are forms of mobilization, mainly concerned with seeking parity in an uneven
social order or competing for power with other groups. They are not necessarily
divisive and that the groups can transform themselves into a larger aggregate
or split into smaller units during the various mobilizations, as suggested by
the author.
The
nation-building exercise in India also involves safeguarding the autonomy and
interests of the state from the quagmire of ethno-politics, which revolves
around distribution of official positions, legislative representation and
control over political agendas. The
author elucidates this argument and also conveys the futility of the political
agendas of various contending groups, since the state remains intact as an
institution, with the new rulers’/players only continuing with their old game
in terms of perpetuating their domination.
So the author clearly suggests that State in Assam has either acquiesced
with the politics of mobilization or has tried to deal with it by repression,
at different points of time.
The author is
very categorical in reading the challenges to the region and has called for
utilizing the ethnic identities in a constructive manner to promote nation
building and for strengthening democracy.
The publication
of this book by Zubaan is a welcome intervention but at the same time it
shouldn’t be perceived as yet another addition through the prism of feminist
discourse, as has been the case with some other works. It is an account
provided by a senior journalist and a social commentator who happens to be an
Indian woman and who continues to live life on her own terms whilst being
confronted by the male patriarchal order. So in terms of negotiating with an
unequal order and saving oneself from the inherent subjugation, the author has
displayed tremendous courage and conviction, even to the extent of sacrificing
and suffering within the institution of marriage. Yet her equanimity as an
individual is commendable since her memoirs doesn’t give an inkling of
victimhood, it rather expresses her determination to confront such inequality
against women.
In other words
one may conclude that Along the Red River
is an account of an upright
person with self respect and without an iota of self righteousness. Her
comments on journalism as a career having a glamour quotient, where women like
her were meted out an unequal treatment in the male centric social order, is
very pertinent in understanding the underlying discourse in the South Asian
societies.
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