A 15-member committee was formed to scan material on history, culture, tradition and geography before authorizing publication
A 15-member committee was formed to scan material on history, culture, tradition and geography before authorizing publication
GUWAHATI
All books on Manipur’s history, culture, tradition and geography must be approved by a state-appointed body before publication, according to an order from the BJP-led government.
University vice-chancellors and college teachers – incumbent and retired – will make up the 15-member committee, which will be chaired by Manipur Education Minister Thounaojam Basanta, as did Secretary of State for Higher and Technical Education Divedita Lairenlakpam on September 15 has enacted.
The director of the university and higher education will be a member and secretary of the body “to authorize the publication of books on these subjects affecting the state”.
“It has come to the Government’s attention that some books published on the above-mentioned subjects contain materials that may either distort facts or disrupt peaceful coexistence among the various communities in the state, or both,” the order reads.
“Therefore, any person/group wishing to publish books on the history, culture, tradition and geography of the state may apply to the director of the university and colleges for publication, together with a copy of the manuscript of the book, before the committee for approval” , it added, warning of punishment under the relevant law if books are published in violation of the order.
Concerned Academics
State academics, who declined to be quoted, said the order would limit academic freedom and stifle government critics.
The catalyst for the order was a thesis by Sushil Kumar Sharma, a brigadier serving in deputation with the Central Reserve Police Force, who claimed that the Kingdom of Manipur was 700 square miles in size at the time of the state’s merger with India in 1949 . The thesis came out as a book entitled The Complexity Called Manipur: Roots, Perceptions & Reality.
The claim sparked controversy in the Meitei-dominated Imphal Valley as it implied that the surrounding hills, inhabited by Naga, Kuki, and Zomi tribes, did not belong to Manipur. The valley-based groups said the “distorted information” may have been intentionally inserted to legitimize the Greater Nagalim concept, which envisages the unification of all Naga-inhabited areas in the northeast, including Nagaland.
