Dimapur, Feb. 13 (EMN): History department of Tetso College, in collaboration with Sacred Heart College, Vellore, organised an ICSSR sponsored two-day online national seminar on the theme ‘The quest for emancipation: Intellectual traditions among the dalits and tribes in India’ on February 10 and 11.
An update from the college stated that professor Y Chinna Rao, chairperson of Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, delivered the keynote address. He stressed on how dalits and Adivasis were largely invisible in narratives as most of their information came from missionary travel records and census reports.
He mentioned how the rewriting of intellectual reconstruction of dalit identity began with Dr. Ambedkar, who played key roles in forming a new identity for the dalits in the late 19th century. He also spoke on the dalit literary movement that began in the 1960s and opined that the process of reconstruction of identity of the marginalised group happened through education.
It stated that a host of scholars and academicians from across India and abroad presented their research papers on the topics pertaining to dalit writers, dalit women, intellectual traditions among the tribals, dalit politics, dalit protests in Tamil Nadu, analysing historical writings of Naga society with interdisciplinary approach, politics of knowing and not knowing Northeast India and
many more.
The seminar concluded with a valedictory session, where the participants shared their experiences and gave feedback. Dr. Tatongkala, convenor of the seminar, delivered the closing remarks and distributed certificates to the participants.