IMPHAL, November 1: Prof Willem Van Schendel of Amsterdam University today delivered a lecture on “Ways of preserving contemporary history of Northeast India” at the conference hall of Department of Anthropology, Manipur University, Canchipur.
The lecture programme was jointly organized by the Centre for Myanmar Studies, Manipur University and Forum for Indigenous Perspective and Action, Imphal.
Dwelling on the political scenario of South Asia, Prof Schendel stated that the partition of India had seriously affected the socio-political scenario of the region. The creation of Bangladesh in 1971 has also changed the political scenario of Northeast India.
The Northeastern states of India cannot be cut off from its neighbouring countries. Northeast people need to look beyond the borders if they want to seek the real history of the region. However, the demand for homeland of every community has been a serious issue in the region, he asserted.
People should also cultivate the habit of preserving documents and other objects which may be of historical importance in the future. The International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam is one such organization which has been working constantly to preserve things of historical importance from all over the world so that today’s history may not be written differently after 50 years, Prof Schendel noted.
South Asia representative of International Institute of Social History, Dr Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff also spoke on the need to preserve things which will help in writing the history more accurately.
