Frontier travails: Northeast, the politics of a mess

by Subir Ghosh

Northeast is not just a Common Noun denoting a direction, it is a Proper Noun that must be accorded the dignity and understanding that it deserves. This book looks at the Northeast with a detached perspective, and the treatment is essentially journalistic.Opinions always differ, as do perceptions. And when the opinions and perceptions in question are related to the Northeast, they are as many as there can be. Given the enormous diversity of the region itself and varied subjective convictions and viewpoints about these Frontier States (also addressed as the Seven Sisters), both of the people who live there as well as experts who have an interest in this turbulent region, the average Indian does not know where to begin, or whom to believe.This very impetus permeates the ‘raison d’etre’ of the book, which has been compiled and stitched together to review and assess the situation in the Northeast—be it political, social, economic, or cultural—for, the present militancy and chaos in the region is not something that has dropped from the skies. The current flux is an outcome of both the recent and the not-so-recent past. It is foolhardy to make sweeping statements without a contextual reference to the backdrop. Hence, these travails of the Frontier dwell on issues from both the micro and macro standpoints, in a bid to disentangle the threads the make the Northeast an apparently incomprehensible conundrum.Given these parameters, the book looks at the Northeast—the result of a political mess that it has been perforce made to be. Issues and subjects naturally overlap—but have still been discussed threadbare under the fewest head possible. If the secessionist movements and the autonomy outcries were to be even just looked at, the region would be a politico-cartographer’s nightmare. The ethno-political equations are too intricate and sensitive to be left to the politicians alone. But it is these very Neroesque politicians, both far away at the

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Subir Ghosh is a Bengaluru-based independent journalist-researcher who writes about the environment, corruption, crony capitalism, conflict, wildlife and cinema. He started his career as a sales professional, before switching over to journalism in October 1991. His first job as a journalist was with the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency in Kolkata. He joined the Telegraph in January 1995, where he developed a keen interest in Northeast affairs and reported extensively from the region, besides being a prolific op-ed writer on the subject. He shifted base to New Delhi in mid-1998, and handled publications and communications for a number of organisations. Subir’s last stint in the mainstream media was with the Bengaluru edition of DNA newspaper.

His last non-fiction work was 'Sue the Messenger: How legal harassment by corporates is shackling reportage and undermining democracy in India', published in May 2016. Subir was the lead author of the book, and senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta its co-author. In 2014, they had collaborated on 'Gas Wars: Crony Capitalism and the Ambanis', with Paranjoy as lead author and Subir and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri the co-authors. His collection of poems, On the 'Face of it: Chronicle of a Self-Imposed Exile' was published in February 2017. His first book was 'Frontier travails: Northeast - The Politics of a Mess' (2001).

At present, Subir writes more about sustainable fashion and policy issues related to the textiles and apparel industry. Besides his writing interests, he works as a political and environmental risk analyst and editorial consultant.

Now that mainstream journalism is out of the way, Subir plans to devote more time to writing books: both narrative non-fiction as well as fiction.

Subir's official website is http://www.subirghosh.in/ and he archives his writings on http://www.write2kill.in/.