The Eastern Gate

War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India's Far East

Sudeep Chakravarti

• Publisher: S&S India
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9789392099212
• eBook ISBN: 9789392099267
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Civil Rights in Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Traders, Pushers, Soldiers, Spies.A pivot for India's Act-East policy. The gateway to a future of immense possibilities from hydrocarbons to regional trade over land and water that could create a new Silk Route. A bulwark against China. A cradle of climate change dynamics and migration. 'Northeast' India, the appellation with which India's far-east is known, is all this and more.Alongside hope and aspiration, it is also home to immense ethnic and communal tension, and a decades-old Naga conflict and the high-profile peace process that involves four gateway states—Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam—and several million people. It's among the most militarized zones in the world. It's a playground of corruption and engineered violence. Only real peace, and calm in both Myanmar and Bangladesh, will unlock this Eastern gate.A keen observer and frequent chronicler of the region, Sudeep Chakravarti has for several years offered exclusive insights into the Machiavellian—Chanakyan—world of the Naga and other conflicts and various attempts to resolve these. He now melds the skills of a journalist, analyst, historian and ethnographer to offer inside stories and a ringside view to the tortuous, no-holds-barred attempts at resolving conflict.Employing a 'dispatches' style of storytelling, and interviews with rebel leaders, politicians, bureaucrats, policymakers, security specialists and operatives, gunrunners, 'narcos', peace negotiators and community leaders, Chakravarti's narrative provides a definitive guide to the transition from war to peace, even as he keeps a firm gaze on the future. The Eastern Gate is a tour de force that captures this story of our times.

Index

A

abduction 150–51, 169

Abed, Fazle Hasan 339

Aboh, Tirong 272–74, 278, 294, 351; assassination of 272, 274

Act East Policy xx–xx, 136, 182, 227, 331, 335

Adani, L. 30–35, 49–52, 54

Adinno 46

Administrative Reforms Commission 212

Against Corruption and Unabated Taxation (ACAUT) 232–34, 236– 37, 245, 361

Agartala-Dhaka-Kolkata bus service 337

Ahmad, Abdul Matlub 337

Aja, Vilepral 248

All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) 323

All Manipur Anti-Drug Asscn (AMADA) 16

All Manipur United Clubs’ Organisation (AMUCO) 78

All Naga Students’ Association Manipur 28

All Tripura Tiger Force 317

All Zeliangrong Students Union 61

‘Alternative Arrangement’ 22, 27, 31, 35, 51–52, 56, 63, 82, 128, 177

ambush xxviii, 56–57, 92, 272, 354; on Army convoy on Imphal-Ukhrul road xxix

ammunition xxviii– xxix, 5, 7, 118, 156, 161, 207–8, 243, 277–78, 293

Amra Bangali 316

Angami, Chupfuo 251

Angami, Purakhu 248

Anglo-Kuki ‘wars’ 66

Anglo-Manipuri wars xxvii, 18, 62, 200

Animal Farm, Orwell 235

Anita Devi, Thongatabam 168

Anna, Jaley 274

ANSAM 44, 47–48

anti-Bengali massacres 307

anti-India rebels xviii, 127

Antony, A.K. 45

Ao Theological Association, The 252

Archer, W. G. 104

Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act, 1958 1...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Praise for Sudeep Chakravarti
• Other Books by Sudeep Chakravarti
• Title Page
• Dedication
• A Note on Reading The Eastern Gate
• Key
• Introduction
• BOOK ONE: SMOKE
• BOOK TWO: MIRRORS
• BOOK THREE: SMOKE & MIRRORS
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgements
• Select Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright