Nagaland University organises one-day international symposium

DIMAPUR — The Sociology department of Nagaland University organised a one-day international symposium on May 8 in the conference hall of Geography department with Professor JK Patnaik, vice chancellor of Nagaland University, as the chief guest on the theme “Pathways to peace.”

An update from the university stated that the resource persons were Prof. Yasmin Saikia, chair professor of Peace Studies at Arizona State University, USA; Dr. Chad Haines, associate professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University; and Dr. Madhumita Sengupta, IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The inaugural session was chaired by Dr. Nazimuddin Siddique, assistant professor of Sociology, NU, while felicitation of the chief guest and the resource persons was led by Dr. Pitheli K Jimo, assistant professor of Sociology, and the welcome address was delivered by Professor Athungo Ovung, HoD Sociology department.

In his inaugural speech, Patnaik called for a collaborative peace study of Nagaland University with the Arizona State University by signing a MoU.

The second session on “Avenues of peace: roads, globalisation and the politics of movement” was chaired by Dr. Suraj Beri, assistant professor at Nagaland University. The resource person was Dr. Chad Haines, associate professor of religious studies at Arizona State University, USA.

Dr. Chad Haines said many people are living in peace with conflict lying dormant. He explained that many people don’t live in a conflict- ridden society but live in a repressive society, where there is socio-economic inequality.

The third session on “the cultural resonances of partition: revisiting the partition and its memories” was led by Dr. Srikanth Yamsani, assistant professor, Nagaland University. The resource person Dr. Madhumita Sengupta, assistant professor of Humanities and Social sciences at IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat, focused on two themes- one on the religious cult called “Asan Bibi” practiced in Bengal. On the second part, she spoke about the oral narratives of partition to show violence and communal bitterness was not the only residues.

In all the three sessions, the speakers engaged the attendees from different perspectives and contexts theoretically as well through their experiences and research studies.