Blisters on their Feet: Tales of Internally Displaced Persons in India's North East (Sage Studies on India's North East)

India's North East is fast becoming yet another zone of natural and man-made disasters, intercommunity strife, and violent conflicts. This has lead to its accounting for the largest number of people constantly on the move in the country, and hence the analogy in the book title with Blisters on their Feet. This book is a compendium of case studies drawn from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, and Tripura - the four worst-affected states of the region. This book is the first of its kind, weaving the stories of the people of this region with rare insight, sensitivity, and commitment, and without any theoretical pretensions. The editor's introduction serves as a useful key to conceptualizing internal displacement as a research problem and a matter of national concern. The book helps us understand the human tragedy of this region in a wider comparative context. Socio-economic portents of displacement of indigenous peoples / P. K. Mondal & M. C. Behera Proposed Subansiri Hydel project : a case study of potential displacement / Timo Riba Displacement and refugee issue in Arunachal Pradesh / P. K. Panigrahi A case study of the Sulungs (Puroiks) / S. Dutta & T Showren Internally displaced persons of Changlang district / Sebastian K.O Environment-induced IDPs : an appraisal / Nazmin Banu Islam Riverbank erosion affected people in the Kamrup district / Aparna Goswami & Baneswar Das Erosion-induced displacement in Nagaon, Morigaon, Barpeta, Dhubri, and Goalpara districts / Jyotirmay Jana Conflict and displacement : a case study of the election violence in 1983 / Makiko Kimura The displaced Santhals of Western Assam / Biswajit Chakrabarty IDPs of Western Assam : a study of conflict induced displacement / Subhas Barman Nobody's people : Muslim IDPs of Western Assam / Uddipana Goswami The displaced reangs of Hailakandi district / Abdul Mannan Mazumder & Bornali Bhattacharjee Kuki-Naga conflict and its impact on the Zeliangrong people / K. Gailangam A study of ethnic conflicts in the Hills / Ksh. Bimola Devi IDPs of Manipur Hills / Koijam Shethajit A case study of the May 1993 riot victims of Purum Pangaltabi / Senjam Mangi Singh A note on the internally displaced persons / R. K. Ranjan IDPs and the problems of their education / L. Leiren Singh Internally displaced persons in Tripura : past and present / Mahadev Chakravarti Development and development : a case study of the IDPs / Satyadeo Poddar Gumti Hydel project and the displaced persons / Malaya Banerjee Landownership and occupational patterns of IDPs (1999-2001) : a case study / Ruma Sahu & Amitabha Sinha Internal displacement : a man-made tragedy / Sukhendu Debbarma The case of Urabari Mohanpur block / Chandrika Basu Majumdar Birth of a problem / S. K. Singh & S. Dutta Paradigm of development : a critique / Deepak Mishra Waiting for elusive resettlement and rehabilitation? / Monirul Hussain Challenges ahead / Subir Bhaumik Development, displacement and the right to life / Walter Fernandes & Sanjay Barbora. This book is a comprehensive study on India′s North East where violence, development and natural disasters that lead to eviction and displacement of `citizens` within a country produce more Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) than refugees. Dwelling upon this debate, the book discusses the two major sources of displacement, conflict and development, and presents a compendium of case studies drawn from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Tripura—the four worst-affected states of the region. The Introduction to the book highlights the silenced aspects of displacement, drawing upon the implications of the case studies presented and bringing them to the centre of any future theoretical enquiry into the society and politics of the region. Blisters on their Feet: Tales of Internally Displaced Persons in India′s North East provides contrasting perspectives on what is often considered a simple answer to displacement, and views the phenomenon as a logical culmination of a package of policies initiated and undertaken in the region, particularly in the age of globalization. The case studies display rare insight, human rights sensitivity and commitment, sans any theoretical pretensions. The book serves as a useful key in placing the North East in the newly emergent discourse on displacement and brings it to the forefront of the public agenda. It offers important insights for policy makers and analysts, research scholars, human rights activists, lawyers, developmental specialists, students and socially concerned citizens. Proceedings of four workshops organized by the Indian Council of Social Science Research-North Eastern Regional Centre