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05/12/2005: "Announcing the publication of The Forbidden Land, The Quest for Nagalim"

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www.PublishAmerica.com
ENTER THE FORBIDDEN LAND The Quest for Nagalim Frans Welman
nter the Forbidden Land tells the story of three attempts by Frans
Welman and his companions to enter Nagaland, the land of more than
forty Naga tribes. Although all three efforts ended in failure, the
attempts demonstrate how India and the lesser-known Burma, now known
as Myanmar, have been successful in keeping foreigners out. Neither
country wants outsiders to observe the raging war that started shortly after
independence from colonial Britain. The Nagas, who time and again have
made it known to both former colonizer Britain and newly emerging India
that they wanted to be left alone, were invaded by India in 1954. Now 50
years later the war is still on, although for the second time in its history peace
talks are taking place. This war, forgotten by the international community,
was the challenge for Welman and his companions. Their goal was to check
on the rare yet compelling accounts of the land and people that told of beauty
and democracy among the Nagas and their tenacity to not give in to a
powerful alien master.
The three journeys enlighten the reader to how fifty years of domination
make a people believe that what has been done, including genocide, is
genuinely defined in true terms. These journeys open eyes to see the beauty
and the beast within. They will lead to the fascinating Nagas, who are in dire
need to be assisted in their quest to be free.
Frans Welman is a photojournalist and docu-mentary
filmmaker from Amsterdam, The Neth-erlands.
He started out as a clinical psychologist
with a preference for cross-cultural psychology.
Armed with that inclination, he went on a
journey that carried him from West Papua to
Peru, and eventually to the doorstep of Nagaland.
Working in the prominent Dutch anthropologi-cal
Royal Tropical Museum education depart-ment
for many years brought the conviction to
stand by those indigenous peoples who, due to
post-colonial effects, have yet to attain their right
to self-determination. Frans Welman brings
these peoples and environments they live in to
light as his never-ending journey continues.
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