Shillong, March 13: The ninth annual conference of Oral History Association of India (OHAI) on “Mountain History: At the Intersection of Memory, Politics and Identity,” was formally inaugurated by Minister of Education, Government of Meghalaya, Rakkam A. Sangma, at the auditorium of U Kiang Nongbah (Old) Guest House, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, on Wednesday.
The 3-day annual conference of the Oral History Association of India (OHAI) has been organized in collaboration with the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, and Northeast India AV Archive, St Anthony’s College, Shillong, and supported by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Japan.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Education Minister Rakkam A. Sangma emphasised on the need to be rooted to one’s culture while also sharing concerns over the erosion of one’s age-old oral traditions, highlighting the challenges in preserving the rich oral culture of the tribes of the North East. Further, he also informed about the attempts of the Education Department, Government of Meghalaya to introduce a curriculum where students starting from the elementary level of schooling will be taught about the rich culture of Meghalaya.
Vice Chancellor of NEHU, Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, applauded the organisers for bringing together a galaxy of eminent scholars, academicians, researchers and scientists from all over the country in one room. “It is a testament to ‘unity in diversity’,” he stressed and reminded the participants to “listen with empathy, question with curiosity”.
OHAI President, Vrunda Pathare, shared the history of OHAI and how it came into being during a conference in the year 2013. She shared the challenges faced by oral historians across country. She said, “Everyone was using oral history but there was no structure or methodology”. However, the success of OHAI conferences which is conducted all over the country gives the oral historians the “ownership of their own narratives”, she concluded.
The conference intends to explore India’s rich regional histories and cultures, focusing on the often overlooked narratives from the mountain and mountain communities. The conference seeks to rectify this imbalance by delving into the socio-cultural and political histories of these diverse landscapes that emerge through the oral histories.
The conference, which will continue for two more days, focuses on the intersections of mountain studies, social and cultural histories, indigeneity and politics through oral histories. It encourages questioning of the categories like ‘tribal’ and ‘indigenous’, and unpacking the diverse narratives of and on mountains as well as explore how these constructions are often displaced in larger political articulations of state and administration.
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