- NET Web Desk
Naga Author, Dr. Arkotong Longkumer has been longlisted for fourth edition of the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay New India Foundation (NIF) Book Prize 2021 for his book ‘The Greater India Experiment: Hindutva and the Northeast’.
Published by the Stanford University Press, the book highlights the different facets of Hindutva, thereby exploring protracted Naga issues.
However, it is pertinent to note that ‘The Greater India Experiment: Hindutva and the Northeast’ is the only book from northeast India, that found its place in the list.
Longkumer in an interview with Morung Express stated that, ‘The Greater India Experiment: Hindutva and the Northeast’ underlines grassroot activities initiated by Sangh Parivaar in NE since Indian Independence.
“In the last ten years or so, it also looks at how they have carved the space for the ideology of Hindu nationalism to flourish and how we might situate the rise of Hindu nationalism in the Northeast.” – Longkumer further added.
Dr Arkotong Longkumer is Senior Lecturer in Modern Asia at the University of Edinburgh, and Senior Research Fellow at the Kohima Institute, Nagaland.
Besides, Longkumer is also the co-author of Indigenous Religion(s): Local Grounds, Global Networks (2020), and co-editor of Neo-Hindutva (2019).
The book has been longlisted along with 12 other books from the nation, including – Muscular India: Masculinity, Mobility & the New Middle Class by Michiel Baas; The Death Script: Dreams and Delusions in Naxal Country by Ashutosh Bhardwaj; India’s First Dictatorship: The Emergency, 1975-77 by Christophe Jaffrelot & Pratinav Anil; Brand New Nation: Capitalist Dreams and Nationalist Designs in Twenty-First-Century India by Ravinder Kaur; India’s Founding Moment: The Constitution of a Most Surprising Democracy by Madhav Khosla; Sebastian & Sons: A Brief History of Mrdangam Makers by T.M. Krishna; The Greater India Experiment: Hindutva and the Northeast by Arkotong Longkumer; I Could Not Be Hindu: The Story of a Dalit in the RSS by Bhanwar Meghwanshi; Naoroji: Pioneer of Indian Nationalism by Dinyar Patel; Gandhi in the Gallery: The Art of Disobedience by Sumathi Ramaswamy; The Coolie’s Great War: Indian Labour in a Global Conflict 1914-1921 by Radhika Singha; Jugalbandi: The BJP Before Modi by Vinay Sitapati.
This year’s longlist was selected by an eminent jury including political scientist Niraja Gopal Jayal, entrepreneur Nandan Nilekani; historian Nayanjot Lahiri; entrepreneur Manish Sabharwal; and historian Srinath Raghavan.
Instituted in 2018, the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize carries a cash award of Rs 15 lakh and a citation.
The prize celebrates excellence in non-fiction writings on modern and contemporary India. It builds on the New India Foundation’s mission of sponsoring high-quality research and writing on all aspects of India.
