4 - Nagaland Opening Up

Summary

Abstract

Chapter 4, ‘Nagaland Opening Up’, discusses the complex connections and networks in Nagaland that have emerged and changed since ceasefire, including accelerating economic ties to India alongside efforts to define and protect a distinct Naga identity. The state's opening up, in various forms, has encouraged new conflicts and contestations, over jobs and resources, representation, and over fears of demographic changes in Nagaland. Gender and men's traditional and often self-assumed roles as guardians of Naga territory, culture, and society are central in these conflicts and contestations.

Keywords: Liberalization, cosmopolitanism, marginalization, masculinity

Urbanization

The unofficial ‘centre’ of Dimapur is, arguably, City Tower. City Tower sits atop a roundabout at the corner of National Highway 129A and Circular Rd. To the east of the Tower are Asian Highway Road (‘AH Road’) and Eros Line, where the city's only two movie theatres sit within reach of several rifle and ammunition shops, Tibetan and Naga restaurants, and the Muslim cemetery. Further east is 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th mile, three large suburbs extending to the edge of the town Chumoukedima, the last point of the foothills before the geography gets steeper and the ‘highlands’ that define the rest of the state begin. To the west of City Tower is Circular Rd, extending into Dimapur's suburbs, past the city's largest church – Dimapur Ao Baptist Church, and breaking off at the perpetually half-constructed Nagaland State Stadium. North of the Tower is Gollaghat Rd., a long flat highway extending into Assam, bounded by truck mechanics, tyre recyclers and courier offices, also a main route for alcohol being smuggled into Nagaland from Assam. To the south is Dimapur's central business district and Marwari Patti, a densely packed maze of streets and alleys and home to the city's largest market – ‘Hongkong’ Market. The central business district also houses a stretch of trader and importer offices and storage shops adjacent to Dimapur's train station, several mosques and a Jain temple, and several more restaurants, poorly disguised liquor shops and bars. Budget hotels in the area cater to travelling businesspeople and people on short stays before moving to other parts of the state or taking a train outside the state.