‘Contested State‐craft’ on the Frontiers of the Indian Nation: ‘Hills–Valley Divide’ and the Genealogy of Kuki Ethnic Nationalism in Manipur

Abstract

Drawing on scholars like Scott and Suan, it can be argued that a ‘hills–valley divide’ has prevailed in Manipur from the colonial period. The Kuki tribes who inhabit Manipur's hilly regions are underdeveloped compared to the politically and economically powerful Meiteis who inhabit its valleys. The postcolonial central and state government policies have failed to respond to local problems, which have created a regional imbalance and have sharpened the hills–valley divide. The Kukis have undergone many resulting economic hardships and have become further alienated and marginalized. To highlight uneven development and Kuki tribal minority marginalization, we refer to key ‘development’ indicators – administration, employment, poverty, health, and infrastructure – and analyse the Kuki quest for tribal identity and demand for an ethnic homeland in postcolonial India, by tracing the genealogy of their identity formation from archives, extant historiography, and ethnographic fieldwork.

The Roads (Not) Taken: The Materiality, Poetics and Politics of Infrastructure in Manipur, India

“…9 Despite policy recognition and political pressure, the infrastructural deficit has not diminished in the hills and is being portrayed as a form of injustice (Ziipao, 2016). Intra-development differences and infrastructural deficit are commonly perceived in terms of a ‘hill-valley divide’ in Manipur and also in other parts of Northeast India (Karlsson, 2011; Kipgen & Choudhury, 2016; Suan, 2011; Ziipao, 2016).…”

Rethinking Hill-Valley Binary: Methodological Nationalism and the Trends of Writing Sociology in India

“…Since colonial times, the hills-valley divide has been a major theme in understanding the ethnic relations in the eastern parts of South Asia and in Southeast Asia (Kipgen & Roy Chowdhury, 2016; Suan, 2009). 4 The seminal work on the production of space ( Zomia ) and the division of hills and valley can be traced in the works of van Schendel (2002) and Scott (2009).…”