Over twenty years ago, Sanjoy Hazarika's first book on the Northeast,
Strangers of the Mist, was published to immediate acclaim. Hailed as an
exciting, path-breaking narrative on the region, it has been cited
extensively in studies of Northeast India, used as a resource for
scholars and journalists and adopted as course material in colleges. Two
decades later, in his new book, armed with more stories, interviews and
research, and after extensive travels through the region, Hazarika
explains how and where things stand in the Northeast today. He examines
old and new struggles, contemporary trends and the sweeping changes that
have taken place and asks whether the region and its people are still
'different' to the rest of India, to each other and whether they are
destined to remain so. While it may not be possible to overcome
lingering hatred, divisions and differences by brute force, economic
might or efforts at cultural or political assimilation, there are other
ways forward. These include the process of engagement-of accepting, if
not embracing, the 'Idea of India' and working on forging connections
between disparate cultures to overcome the mutual suspicions that have
existed for decades. Hazarika tells little-known stories, drawn from
personal experience and knowledge, of the way in which insurgents
operate, of the reality of border towns in the region, the pain of
victims, and the courage of fighters on either side of the ideological
and physical conflict, in the jungles and in lands awash with rain and
swamped by mist. He travels across borders and mountains, listening to
tales of the people of the region and those who live in neighbouring
countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. He challenges the
stereotype of the 'Northeasterner', critiques the categorization of the
'Bangladeshi', deals with issues of 'race and discrimination', and
suggests best practices that could be used to deal with intractable
issues and combatants. Critically, he tries to portray the way in which
new generations are grappling with old and current issues with an eye to
the future. Extensively researched and brilliantly narrated, Strangers
No More is arguably the most comprehensive book yet available about
India's Northeast.
