Shillong Dec 11: Much that is required to know about the different races and cultures of the people of north east in relation with the rest of the country has been achieved through anthropology, Governor of Meghalaya RS Mooshahary said.
Addressing the inaugural function of the diamond jubilee celebration of the North East Regional Centre, Anthropology Survey of India, Shillong, the governor said that the ASI deserves credit in clearing the mist of myth and confusion from reality by finding out the antecedents of many of the tribals of the North East.
While expressing concern on the disappearance of languages, the governor said that “There are 279 communities in 163 tribal groups of the North East with diverse languages and I believe that there is so much of similarity in the languages but in due course, some of the languages are disappearing while some of them are on the verge”
Pointing out on reasons behind the migration of human race and the smaller size of north east peoples Mooshahary said that those remain queries yet to be answered by anthropology.
Dwelling on the few queries which still awaits for answers, Mooshahary said the migration of human race and the reason behind the smaller size of north east people as compared to the rest of the country are few of the vexed, curious, complex questions that needs to be answered by anthropology besides other.
Meanwhile, ex-vice chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University-Arunachal Pradesh Prof AC Bhagabati observed that understanding and connecting the north east with the rest of the country can be achieved through proper surveys and researches by anthropologists who have a major role to play in providing answers to the various queries relating to the tribal lifestyles and their diverse cultures
“Till date, we have produced students but contributed nothing to the society. The need of the hour is to lend a helping hand to the government by providing something worth to the society and its people”, Prof AC Bhagabati said.
The ex-vice chancellor further stated that till date, the study of the status of the women in tribal societies has not been conducted in details and by continuing with this trend, “we will never get to the truth and even if we do, we might just get 50 percent of the real fact”, he said.
Prof Bhagabati has called upon the researchers to thoroughly look into such issues and to move out of the context of anthropology through their surveys and the likes.(SP News)
