Communal Harmony Among the Tribals and Non Tribal Communities of North East India

Abstract

This book is a compilation of the seminar papers presented in the seminar Communal Harmony Among the Tribals and Non Tribal Communities of North East India held on 5th and 6th July, 2002 as a part of the initiatives of National Foundation for Communal Harmony, Ministry of Home Affairs, under the project REACH. The vision of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony was to free India from communal and all other forms of violence, where all citizens especially children & youth lived together in peace & harmony. Every Indian citizen has the fundamental right to freedom of religion Article 25 to 28, which allows them to practice and profess any faith. Communal harmony is the principle of peace and harmony existing amongst various religious communities, free from violence and hatred. In North East India we find the Hindus, Muslim and Christian have been living together for ages without any major conflict till couple of decades ago. Off late the situation has changed a lot and an undercurrent and tense atmosphere can be noticed from the sporadic racial and communal violence occurring in many places. Before this situation worsens, the age old relation among the various communities needs to be restored. As a part of this effort Tribal Research Institute Assam had organized this seminar with the objectives to discuss the role and contribution of all tribal and nontribal groups for development of the North East region. A total of 14 nos of seminar paper were presented in the seminar from Assam and other North Eastern States which have been incorporated in this book. The themes of the papers can be broadly divided into four categories basis of the symbiotic relation between different ethnic groups since time immemorial, communal and racial harmony prevailing in this part of India, to build up the awareness of unity and brotherhood among all ethnic groups, to find out the causes of conflict, to evolve strategy to reduce such conflict and finally to spread the message of communal harmony and national integration.