Public Sphere and Deliberations for Frontier Nagaland: Reflections on Recognition and Identity

Abstract

To achieve a separate state named ‘Frontier Nagaland’, the civil society of Eastern Nagaland protested against taking part in the Hornbill Festival in 2022, the state festival of the Government of Nagaland, India. Initially, the civil society also decided to boycott the Nagaland Legislative Elections in 2023. Civil society organisations have refrained from participating in the festival after deliberating on the matter through different media platforms. Abstention from the festival, a cultural means of protest, brought the question of identity by highlighting not only the unequal development in the region but also their recognition as a ‘significant other’. This study argues that the protest and deliberation in the public sphere communicated well with the public, state and union government, creating a conducive atmosphere for deliberative democracy.