Wednesday
20
August 2025
4:30 - 6:00 PM IST
Location
Room 201, School of Arts and Sciences
Central Campus
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Protest by Design: Memory and Honour in a Sarong
Arts and Sciences Research Seminar Series
Sudeep Chakravarti
Professor of Practice
School of Arts and Sciences
Chair, Communications Programme
Speaker
In 1986, Luingamla, a fourteen-year-old Tangkhul girl was shot dead by security forces at her village in Manipur, when she resisted their attempts at molestation and rape. The incident deeply impacted Zamthingla Ruivah, a teenaged neighbour and friend. In time she became a master weaver, but the memory of her friend Luingamla would not leave her. She eventually wove the ‘Luingamla Kashan,’ a sarong and shawl that, at a time of yet unresolved conflict in Northeastern India, emerged as a symbol of protest and dignity among the Tangkhul people. This symbol and unique remembrance endure, even as the search continues for acknowledgement of past wrongs, and a life of dignity and shared prosperity.
Speaker
Sudeep Chakravarti
Sudeep Chakravarti is a Professor of Practice at the School of Arts and Sciences at Ahmedabad University; and Chair of the university’s Communication Programme. He is the author of ten books that encompass history, ethnography, conflict and conflict resolution, geopolitics, geo-economics, and the intersection of business and human rights. These include The Eastern Gate: War and Peace in Nagaland, Manipur and India’s Far East (Simon and Schuster, 2022); Plassey: The Battle that Changed the Course of Indian History (Aleph, 2020); The Bengalis: A Portrait of a Community (Aleph, 2017); Highway 39 (Fourth Estate, 2012); and Red Sun (Viking/Penguin, 2008/2009). His latest book is Fallen City (Aleph, August 2024). An extensively published columnist with wide experience in Indian and global media, he has for long advocated conflict resolution in several geographies of South Asia in general and Northeastern India in particular.
