Nationalism in the vernacular : state, tribes, and the politics of peace in northeast India

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1 Introduction 2 The 'tribal question' in India : problem of inclusion 3The emergence of Mizo nationalism : the formative phase 4The Mizo National Front and the vernacularization of nationalism 5 Violence, counter-insurgency, and the transcript of resistance 6 Discord, accord, and the politics for peace. 7 Conclusion

"Nationalism in the Vernacular illuminates the relationship between orality and nationalist politics. In doing so, it provides a new angle to the understanding of nationalism by looking at the popular support and participation of ordinary people in the construction of Mizo nationalism-in short, the vernacularization of nationalism. The book examines this process of vernacularization at two levels: first, the process of creating a vernacular language to express nationalist ideas and, second, the irrepressibility of the oral against the Indian state's violent response to the nationalist movement. Drawing from multiple sources, the book-through the rich oral narratives and archival material, including government and media reports-shows how Mizos have remained active agents in asserting and claiming their rights to define ideas of nationalism in their own terms by making them distinctively Mizo"--