11 July 2008

Heart and Soul of United States of Asia(USA)

Football and Music is equivalent to the Heart and Soul of the people in the United States of Asia(USA). Music and Sports have been part of this culturally rich people. It is the land where Polo originated(Manipur). People "eat and play" football. Outside of it's territory, there are many footballers who play for clubs like East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, JCT, etc. in India. Some of them represent the Indian National Football Team. For example-Baichung Bhutia is presently the Indian Captain.

Football is the most famous game in this region. When it comes to mainland India, its Cricket. Therefore, if India needs a strong national team, football needs to be encouraged in this region. As the people are crazy about this game, it has lots of potential for development. But instead of developing the game,the Indian Government is trying to promote Cricket in this region. On the other hand it is trying its level best to develop football in mainland India, pouring out all that is allocated by FIFA(the World governing body of Football) and so on.

Here lies the step-motherly treatment towards the people of "United States of Asia". It shows that the infrastructure for the development of football in this region will only be there,when mainland India knows "How to play?"

India should learn from its recent contest against Bhutan(a component of USA) in SAAF 2008 Edition where Gurmangi (a guy from Manipur in USA)saved it by a last minute goal in the extra-time. It ultimately lost to a small Island nation, Maldives in the final.

United States of Asia(USA)-http://unitedstatesofeast.blogspot.com/

09 July 2008

Sarma, Alpana (2005) “Indian state fights to preserve animist religion”, Dawn, 16 May 2005.

ITANAGAR (India): Tamo Mindo, a slight man with creased eyes, stares intently at the liver of a chicken he has just killed. Mindo, a 58-year-old shaman belonging to the animist Donyi Polo religion, is looking for clues to help him tell which spirit has possessed a woman he has been asked to cure. Mindo is among the few people trying to preserve his religion from the increasing influence of Hinduism and Christianity in the remote northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.Donyi Polo, one of a few surviving centuries-old animist religions in the hilly state home to about 20 major tribes, means sun and moon. The tribes believe the sun and moon are the eyes of god and nothing can ever be hidden from god. While Arunachal Pradesh, or land of the rising sun, is still largely animist unlike India’s other northeastern states which have become heavily Christianised, the number of Christian converts has increased over the years.The number of Christians had increased to about 18 per cent of the sparsely populated state of a little over 1 million in 2001 from 10.3 per cent in 1991. Christians account for barely 2 per cent of India’s total population of more than a billion.“What is alarming is not how many Christians there are, but the pace at which conversions have taken place from the 1990s,” said filmmaker Moji Riba, who has been documenting changes among tribes in Arunachal Pradesh.In the mid-1980s, Arunachal, long isolated from the rest of India to protect the faith of tribes from Christian missionaries, saw a movement to convert Donyi Polo into an organized religion and make it more palatable to the masses.In an effort to combat the threat from Christianity, temples were built, Saturday was set aside as a day for worship and ritual sacrifice was curbed.
ANTI-CONVERSION BILLS: Still, Christianity has become a sensitive issue in this hilly state today.Tony Koyu, a 43-year-old radio artist who has been developing a script to preserve the oral traditions of tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, said “alien religions and alien cultures have very badly affected our traditional faith”.Some Hindu groups in India accuse Christian missionaries of using inducements such as schooling to lure poor people to the faith, and have also launched a movement to reconvert many tribal Christians back to Hinduism.Several states have passed anti-conversion bills aimed primarily at preventing people from converting to Christianity. Arunachal passed such a bill in 1978. The western state of Gujarat, which was torn by India’s worst religious riots in India in a decade in 2002, passed an anti-conversion bill in 2003.The desert state of Rajasthan, which is ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, also plans to introduce a similar bill. The move has met with considerable opposition with the state where Christians form just about 0.1 per cent of the population.“We would bring an anti-conversion bill aimed at containing ‘forceful religious conversion’ by any organisation in the state,” said Rajasthan’s social welfare minister, Madan Dilwar.Last month, a hardline Hindu group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, converted some 3,200 Muslims to Hinduism in a huge ceremony in Rajasthan.“When we have religious freedom in the constitution, I don’t think there is any necessity to bring this bill,” Emmanuel Mission International Chairman M.N. Thomas told Reuters.
STRADDLING: But Arunachal’s animistic traditions are under threat not only from Christianity, but also Hinduism. Although the number of Hindus in the state dropped to 34.6 per cent in 2001 from 37.0 per cent a decade ago, Hinduism does pose a threat to the traditional practices and beliefs of the tribes.“Hindu missionaries are going ahead with the reinvention of the traditional faith with temples being built, the tying of holy thread and even the ringing of bells,” said filmmaker Riba.As the two identities clash in this isolated state flanked by China, Bhutan and Myanmar, Mindo finds himself straddling the diverse worlds of animism and Hinduism. Not only does he head an association of shamans, or nyibos, in the state capital, Itanagar, he is also a member of the Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad.But for Mindo, there is no conflict between the two offices he holds. He believes that Hinduism and Donyi Polo are closely aligned in their basic faith and practices. And Mindo’s house reflects the duality of his religious beliefs. He worships not only Yapom, the Donyi Polo god of the mountains, but also Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. Both jostle for space in his home and both are worshipped with equal devotion.“People tell me to not join the Hindus. Even though they don’t know what it’s about, they say the VHP is bad,” Mindo said.—Reuters


VOICE OF TANILAND-http://tanibrotherhood.blogspot.com/

01 July 2008

Know the Adi tribe of Taniland

Who are the Adi's?
Abor-http://www.everyculture.com/South-Asia/Abor.html
Abor country travels and expeditions:
http://www.aborcountrytravels.com/pemako.htm
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adi_people#Tribes_and_organisation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribe_(TV_series)
Pilot Destination Gude:
http://www.pilotguides.com/destination_guide/asia/india/adi_tribe_of_arunachal_pradesh.php
BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/tribe/tribes/adi/index.shtml

Language: The Adi's belong to the Tanee speaking people which is a part of the Tibeoto-Burman group of languages, descending down from the Sino-Tibetian language.
Ethnologue.com:http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=adi
Resource centre for Indian Language solutions:
http://www.iitg.ernet.in/rcilts/heirarchy.htm
Research Centre for Linguistic Typology:
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/post.htm

The Anglo-Adi War's
Anglo-Adi War of 1894 by Dr.N.Lego
http://arunachalipr.gov.in/Latest_publication/rev_Mar_angloadiwar.pdf


Readings-
In Abor Jungles by A. Hamilton.
A Dictionary of Abor-Miri Language by J.Herbert Lorrain.
The North-East Frontier of India by Alexender Mackenzie.
Wild Races of the Eastern Frontier of India by T.H.Lewin.
The Mishmee Hills: An account of the Journey made in an attempt to penetrate Tibet from Assam to open new routes for commerce by T.T.Copper.
The Frontier Peoples of India by Alexander McLeish.
The Eastern Frontier of India by R.B.Pemberton