ABSTRACT
This volume studies the various forms of ethnic autonomy envisioned within and outside the purview of the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. It explores the role of the British Indian administration and the Constituent Assembly of India in the introduction and inclusion of the schedule and the special provisions granted under it. Drawing on case studies from the states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Sikkim in Northeast India and Darjeeling in West Bengal, it examines whether the practice of granting autonomy has been able to fulfil the political aspirations of the ethnic communities and how far autonomy settles or eases conflict. It also discusses sub-state nationalism and if it can be accommodated within autonomy, and studies the views of the central government and state governments towards such autonomy.
An important contribution towards understanding India’s federal structure, the volume will be indispensable to students and researchers of politics, democracy, Indian Constitution, law, self-governance, political theory and South Asian studies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
section Section I|51 pages
Understanding autonomy
chapter Chapter 2|18 pages
Revisiting the Sixth Schedule and the demand for separate states in Northeast India
chapter Chapter 3|14 pages
State within a state
section Section II|61 pages
Autonomy and electoral politics
chapter Chapter 5|15 pages
Challenging predicaments of electoral politics of an autonomous district council
chapter Chapter 6|22 pages
The working of the autonomous district councils in Manipur in theory and practice
section Section III|105 pages
Traditional institutions, autonomy movement and cooperatives