Manipur

The educational status of the Pangal minority community in Manipur is not portrayed sufficiently in the available literature. Why are their educational levels lagging behind the Meitei community? Does the community’s religion obstruct their social upliftment? This article attempts to explore the educational status of the Pangal community in Manipur based on different reports on their education and socio-economic backwardness.

It is argued that it would be naïve to explain the Bharatiya Janata Party’s success as a wholehearted endorsement of its Hindutva agenda as there are substantial local reservations on this. Unlike Uttar Pradesh or other parts of North India where it aggressively pushed its Hindutva agenda, the BJP knows the limitation of this agenda and has instead used a combination of strategies like the promise of development and peaceful settlement of armed conflicts. These electoral strategies intersect with and are driven by a set of factors that, in turn, determine the BJP’s success: first, the increasing electoral insignificance of the Congress, and second, the continuing salience of complex and cross-cutting social cleavages.

.

The article notes that the north-eastern states have taken many initiatives to implement and localise the Sustainable Development Goals. But achieving the targets require a multipronged approach, concerted and coordinated efforts, and focus on sectors where the region has inherent advantages. Unfortunately, the pandemic has cast some doubts on the feasibility of achieving the goals as per the original timelines.

Infrastructure of Injustice: State and Politics in Manipur and Northeast India by Raile Rocky Ziipao, London and New York: Routledge, 2020; pp 202, ₹995 (hardcover).