Seminar on Ethnic Nation Building: Chin-Kuki-Zo Trail
- Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi -
Date : 5 April 2010

SEMINAR on ETHNIC-NATION BUILDING: CHIN-KUKI-ZO TRAIL

Venue: Seminar Room (Ground Floor), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Date/Time: April 5 (Monday), 2010, at 3:00 PM
Resource Person: L. Keivom

The resource person will survey the westward journey of the Chin-Kuki-Zo peoples from China to the Kabaw Valley and their successive dispersal to their present settlements in Western Myanmar and North-East India. While explaining the Chin Hills settlement, Keivom will enquire into the reasons that turned the North-East India into "one of the biggest ethnic cauldrons on this planet." Keivom believed that the gradual rise of various clan-communities was made possible due mainly to the absence of centralised governance, communication and the vagaries of isolation. Within a short span of time, this process churned out more than 48 different dialect communities within Chin-Kuki-Zo group itself, which have become a stumbling block in the way to nation formation as each dialect group tends to identify as a separate tribe at the expense of the unity of the whole.

The British rule and the arrival of Christianity and its indelible impact on the psyche of Chin-Kuki-Zo ethnic tribes in Myanmar and India, which ultimately ushered in the formation of political parties and a new era, will also be look into. Meanwhile, four experiments of ethnic nation making - The Chin Experiment, The Kuki Experiment, The Mizo Experiment and Other Experiments, their successes and failures and the possible reasons will be stressed. This will inevitably raise many questions: Are we happy with our present situation and why? Are we heading for ethnic survival or extinction? Is armed struggle a solution or aggravation to our multifaceted problems? Is there a way out and an honourable and sustainable solution? These and many other animated issues will provide the fodders for discussions and deliberations in the seminar.

Kuki Research Forum (KRF) and Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO) sincerely invites you to the Seminar, which will be held at the Seminar Room (Ground Floor), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi on April 5 (Monday), 2010, at 3:00 PM. Felicitation of new doctorates will be followed by refreshment.

Organisers:

Kuki Research Forum (KRF):

KRF was formed in May 2009, during the Shillong conference of the Kuki Students' Organisation, to address the societal problems academically. It is a platform for scholars and academicians to share academic informations. It aims at evolving a unified Kuki of Myanmar, Bangladesh and India by promoting democratic pluralism of dialect, culture and tradition through academic discourses. It strongly believes in academic excellency for viable solution of political and economic strains of the Kukis. KRF organises seminars, symposiums and conduct surveys so as to critically examine the social, political and economic, cultural and other key issues confronting the Kuki people. It also seeks to publish books and journals relating to Kukis.

Sinlung Indigenous Peoples Human Rights Organisation (SIPHRO):

SIPHRO was established in the year 2005 with the priorities of putting human rights first in the face of immense human rights violations. In putting human rights first, SIPHRO based its beliefs in "Truth, Justice and Peace" for the diasporic Sinlung indigenous peoples. It works and advocates for the promotion of human rights, democracy and peace, by involving diverse peoples. Besides organising dialogue and conducting social audit on diverse issues, SIPHRO also works with various research institutes and rights based bodies to understand and put the indigenous peoples perspective where it ought to matter. In the course of that, SIPHRO submit its report, register complaints, and proposed recommendation to national and international human rights institutions, State actors as well as various non-State actors. SIPHRO is currently engaged in conducting series of seminar and awareness campaign to educate the grassroots people of their rights in Assam, Manipur, and Mizoram.