Reflections on Myanmar

Reshmi Banerjee is a political scientist based in London, UK, and is currently a visiting research fellow in the King’s India Institute (KII), King’s College, London. She is also a visiting research fellow in the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi. She was previously an academic visitor at the Asian Studies Centre (Programme on Modern Burmese Studies) in St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, a research associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, a post- doctoral fellow at the department of international relations, University of Indonesia (UI), and a researcher in the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), Jakarta.She has been a visiting professor in Jamia Millia Islamia and a fellow in the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS) and has taught in Delhi University and in the University of Indonesia. She completed her MA, MPhil., and PhD from the Centre for Political Studies (CPS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. She also has a Masters in Museum Cultures from Birkbeck, University of London, and has volunteered in the London Museum of Water and Steam. Currently, she volunteers in the Royal College of Music (RCM) Museum in London.With a specialisation in food security, agricultural policies, and cross- border studies on the Indo- Myanmar region, she is the author of Land Conflicts across Frontiers: Contested Spaces in Myanmar & North East India (2018) and has co- edited three books: Fixed Borders, Fluid Boundaries – Identity, Resources and Mobility in Northeast India (2020), Gender, Poverty and Livelihood in the Eastern Himalayas (2017), and Climate Change in the Eastern Himalaya: Impact on Livelihoods, Growth and Poverty (2015). In 2022, she published 12 Months (a short memoir) and Potpourri – Yearning and Learning (a collection of essays on travel).

• PrefacePrefaceAcknowledgementsList of Abbreviations Introduction Section 1: Reminiscence 1 A Walk Down Memory Lane 2 The Diary of a Quiet Man3 Memories for a Lifetime – The Return of Indians from Burma: A Tale of Trauma and Tenacity4 Familiarity across Borders5 Eric Arthur Blair’s BurmaSection 2: Restoration6 Rhythms of Folk Traditions 7 Lost Glory: Reviving Arakan Art8 Museums Matter9 The Fading Spotlights10 Sour, Salty and Spicy (chin ngan sat)Section 3: Re-evaluation 11 Climate Change: A Permanent Reality for Myanmar 12 Beneath the Still Waters13 Beyond the Silent Fields14 Feeding the Hungry Souls15 Boats and BalloonsSection 4: Resurrection 16 Justice for All 17 The Smile of the ‘Other’: Chin Refugees in India18 Plea of the Helpless 19 One Step at a Time 20 The Young Collective Conclusion BibliographyGlossaryIndex