Does the North-East Belong in India ?
Does the North-East Belong in India ?
by NE BLOGGER on APRIL 1, 2011
I first discovered that we were seen as different when we moved to Chandigarh. I was 16, and rather surprised when we were visited at lunchtime by Mrs. Khunjoo , who lived in the next apartment. Surprised because we dont generally expect visitors at lunchtime. Certainly not visitors who spring lithely over the balconies as Mrs Khunjoo did.
Will you have lunch my mother , ever hospitable asked her, the first time she manifested.
No no sister, she said. i just want to see.
What do you want to see?,I asked.
No, please , just what you are eating ?
She advanced upon our table. My Mother uncovered our serving dishes. She stared at it like some mystery was to be uncovered.
Arre! said Mrs Khujroo. Rice? Dal?
We do these things. We eat rice and dal but Mrs Khujroo was hoping that she would see something exotic.
Do people from Nagaland really eat dogs? asked my landlady when she first learnt that I was from the North East. She was offended when I walked out of the room. Mrs Vaidya (named changed to protect the innocent, namely me) failed to even realise that what she said could be offensive. Mrs Vaidya represents mainland Indias opinion about the seven states of North East India. But at least she has given me a place to stay. Many other North-Eastern students have been turned away because they dont look like us. The other thing is institutional. Dont believe it? Consider this.
One of Indias proudest moments was at the opening ceremony of the XIX Commonwealth Games. It was one of those moments when one feels proud to be part of such a great Indian Union. The Indian contingent marched in led by Abhinav Bindra proudly carrying our Indian flag. Before him, the signboard holder was wearing the Mizo tradition Puanchei dress. Such a proud moment for the North East to be finally recognised at a event of this scale.
The very next morning the Times of India front page had a photograph of the Indian contingent. All the teams were led out by girls wearing saris in different styles, except for the Indian team, which was heralded by a girl in a Naga dress. So much for a knowledgeable leading daily.
No North Eastern student in a mainland metropolitan city would be surprised by this sheer ignorance. It has become a part of their lives and an accepted fact that they do not belong here. Nor has the mainland made them feel like theyre part of this country. Hundreds of students come every year from the North East to seek admission in Delhi University. The joy of seeking admission is often cut short by the difficulties faced in the capital. Racial discrimination, language barriers, sexual harassment and trouble finding accommodation are only some of the numerous problems.
How do you guys contribute to the economy besides tea and a few bombs to seek attention? says an educated, upper middle class boy in a conversation we had about the various states in India. Of course, it did not matter that just one state, Assam, produces 55 per cent of Indias tea and 60 per cent of its plywood and a substantial part of its crude oil. Of course, he failed to name three out of the seven states. Of course, he didnt even care to know the names of the capitals of the states. His attitude was clear; how did it matter.
With a name like ***-am, what do you guys expect? he says.
Have you ever been to the North-East? I asked.
Are you nuts? he asks, this brave mainlander, always willing to mock the name of a state to a woman. Dude, you guys are like dangerous. I might get killed or abducted or something.
But then I dont expect much better from him. He thinks Muslims should go back where they came from. (I wont go into what it is like to be Muslim and North-Eastern. Not enough room. Not enough time.)
To the mainland, the seven states of the North-East are sisters. This term reeks of paternalism, a patriarchal way of reducing seven independent and diverse states into a single identity. This is why I get really angry when the media talks about the problems of the North-East. Manipur is not Assam. The problems of Meghalaya are different from the problems of Arunachal Pradesh. Trying to work out a single solution that will be inclusive is like trying to find one cure for all ailments.
Lets consider what happens when Shabana Azmi decides to fast for the rights of slum dwellers facing eviction. The media arrive. The politicians make promises. And within a week, Ms Azmi can return to her biriani. Meanwhile Irom Sharmila has entered the eleventh year of her superhuman fast, protesting the indefensible Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that has been imposed in Manipur and most of the Northeast since 1980.The Act allows the army to use force, arrest or shoot anyone on the mere suspicion that someone has committed or was about to commit a cognisable offence. The Act also prohibits any legal or judicial proceedings against army personnel without the sanction of the Central Government. Is this how our own country wants to treat its citizens? When the government imposes such measures, it only speaks of the centres failure as a governing body. Even as the entire country marks the anniversary of Mumbai 26/11, most mainland Indians remain ignorant of the fact that hundreds of their brothers and sisters that die every year of government action.
Some argue that it is the sheer physical isolation that makes it impossible for mainland India to find out about anything about the North-East. States like Tripura and Arunachal and Mizoram arent even connected by the railways let alone any other form of infrastructural and educational development. Nitin Gokhale, an NDTV journalist who has written extensively about the North East and its problems says, Physical isolation from the mainland has aggravated the already existing mental quarantine. So we dont even exist and if we do were not part of India.
What does it take to qualify to be an Indian? When Nehru spoke about our tryst with destiny, was he thinking the North East? When the Jana Gana Mana was adopted as the National Anthem, did anyone think of the North East? Is anyone thinking right now ?
NB : This is post by Leilah Zeenat Hazarika from North East India, living in Mumbai. Her twitter account is :
Like the Song (@Leilah_zeenat) on Twitter. We encourage you to follow her to get updates about North East India.
The original post is found in her Facebook Notes here.
Some interesting comments (I did not include comments from "mainland Indians" except for a few):
Puanthanmei Panmei March 20, 2012 at 1:16 pm
YES , North -East is a direction, with respect to KOLKATA . When th British rule India,Kolkata was the Capital of British India .Those indigenous people living in N-E wrt kolkata are TIBETO- BURMAN, race and are NOT INDIAN for many centuries. When the expansion of British India colonies took placed in late 19 century, the British India rule N-E.
After WW -II the Britisher Gave freedom in 14th August 1947.But The INDIAN GOVT. forcefully merge NE into INDIAN Teritory. AFTER THE BRITISHER LEFT .
P. Elangovan April 2, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Youre right, the NE is meant to have been independent, but the British rule brought it into india which is what happened to Tamil Nadu as well. india is, at its core, just a northern narrow minded pastureland with no room for pluralism, multiculturalism and progressive thinking. The discrimination you mention is identical to what I encountered up in the north, and I am not even different looking from the cowbelt denizens, purely because I speak Tamil and no hindy.
It is time we looked at the future of our own countries and steer clear of india which is clearly destined to an embattled future. indias enemies, i.e., Pakistan and China, are not our enemies. Therein lies the key.
samantha chongmwin April 27, 2011 at 10:12 am
i dont know..i am from nagaland
.i went to mumbai some years before one guy came up to me and asked me from which country do u belong ? what a silly question
.i told of course india
he told from where
i told nagaland
he told that
u are a guest of honour for us
as if i were a foreigner
i told what an idiot u are do we say people coming from mumbai to northeast like that he instantly came up with the question why do u people from northeast look like chinky kind u know ..i instantly walked away disgusted cause he offended me enough to make me angry
.
khasiman May 8, 2011 at 2:38 pm
historically northeast is not a part of india .the indian forcefully annexed it after their independence from the brits ,just like what china did to tibet,we have no indian quality.And now they are colonising us.
khasiman May 11, 2011 at 4:32 pm
a pack of indian ,ugly ,blackie, dirty ,******,indian sucks. i am from northeast i dont consider myself as indian we have our own identity ,we have our own history,nothing related to india. please dont force yourself into being indian . no one like it not even the indian .
Ashamed Indian of how Nagas were treated August 10, 2011 at 2:46 pm
A created identity will never work, they have their own identity that they have carried for hundreds of years. Indian is considered as a multiple personality disorder syndrome. Where will this madness end then ? Keep expanding the definition to cover Afghans, Arabs, Europeans, Burmese, Chinese in the end ? Somewhere the boundaries have to be drawn. Thousands of stars shine bright at night, each one having its own identity and own beauty, to see them the sun has to go away, in the brightness of one sun, all these stars vanish. To impose an Idea on them, of India, thousands and thousands were killed. A country that itself has confusion about its identity before the world and cant even keep peace within itself, what sort of an entity can provide peace to occupied tribes ? Who created these boundaries? Who decides them? Hinduism? Nimrod? who ? How many of them have to die to make Indians feel good about themselves ? Murdering human beings or kidnapping some one and claiming them to be your son or daughter or brother wont work. Let them go, and let them have a referendum to decide wether they want to join with this created super state or stand on their own. As a people they can decide that, just as Indians, or whatever 2000 ethnic groups in it are , dont want europeans to decide for them.
surandash urikhimbam August 13, 2011 at 6:18 am
its better if north east is separated from india
the definer August 28, 2011 at 5:29 am
Keep expanding your definition of Indian to cover Arabs, Europeans, and Latin Americans. People arnt interested in your created multiple personality disorder syndrome , confused of your own identity. A nation is defined by its culture, borders, language, heritage, blood links, ancestral identity, familial ties.
If South East Asians are Indians, then, Indians are Turks , as the Turks and Afghans and Persians had their empire down there. You can take someone elses daughter and kidnap her, and rape her repeatedly, and keep telling her, she is your daughter, wont make it your daughter.
A created nation-state , created in 1947. We all have our own identities, that our forefathers gave us, not New Delhi. This whole Indian thing never existed in the past, forgieners put this name , in reality each nation-kingdom had its own identity , each tribe its own.
Nations keep changing, and its boundaries keep changing, I am sure tomorow, russias boundary can extend south wards and you can become russians. But the blood in you wont change would it ?
Sachet Upadhya October 14, 2011 at 8:25 pm
Chitrakut,
You claim whole Far East Asia was part of indian empire. which indiam empire are you talking about? I agree Far Eatern countires especially Khemers in combodia practised a form of Sanatan Dharma but they still had their own culture. It was not by any means Indian Empire.
During the medival times there was no such thing as india or hindu, these names were given to people of sub-continent by European and Muslim invaders. Before Muslim and European invasion different kinds of Sanatan Dharma was practised by people from central asia to present day combodia.
According to you claim everything from central asia to combodia should be India which is totally bogus. Point is different people and culture can practise same religion it does not mean they are all the same people.
Just my two cents..
Shahid September 1, 2011 at 4:14 am
Hello Chitrakut, I can tell you about many non-arabs who live in Saudi Arabia,mecca,Medina,etc. Just becoz Hinduism doesnt allow Dalits( whom it considers ****** subhuman fouth class animals) into Brahmin temples,doesnt mean an Egalitarian religion like Islam also has that practice. Islamic world from Spain to Indonesia has much more diversity that India has
. Although I respect India,i do not see Hindus respecting Muslim world. Islam is a great religion and some blabbering by you is doing nothing but fooling your own self! Anyways IT WAS MUSLIMS WHO RULED INDIA AND BROUGHT PROSPERITY TO IT,When we ruled,India had 25% share in the world trade and no one could even think of attacking India.It was the traitor Marathas along with Nizams who helped Brits to attack Tipu Sultan who was defending this country.This helped the Brits establish footprints in India.They themselves considered the Tipus ISLAMIC kingdom the Last MAJOR obstacle in their path to Indias complete capture..
As far as NE is concerned, EVEN Aurangzeb couldnt capture it so it must be Given Freedom as INDIA has done INJUSTICE to them.
RUSHIKA October 11, 2011 at 4:22 am
wtf is the prob if we eat dogs
yes we eat silkworms
ants..any prob itz our food
man
.if tis goes on lyk tis we dont want 2 b apart of u
no ones beggin for ur attention or respect
james January 16, 2012 at 4:25 am
aftr reading all the commnts ..i
came at a point tat indians have
treated people of NE v.badly ..n
nw also they do ,may be it has
lessen but but..its v.poor thnkng
of an Indian.
Govt.of india should take care of
every state especialy
Tripura..becoz tat land belongs
to Tripuri tribe..dan how can a
bengali refugee is leading a
state..n those people are
cuming 4m bangladesh..through
them out of country ..As Bengali
leads in WB,Marathi leads
Maharastra,Bihari leads Bihar
etc etc etc dan why a Tripuri or
Dberma is nt leading Tripura??
if indian govt. and indian people
cant treat or except The people
of NE india as a true indian
brother and sister than i think its
better to be seperated.
and that doesnt mean tat NE
should Be added to China,its
true that people looks same.but
Chinese may also treat NE like
Tibet. .better to form a seperate
COUNTRY Or INDIAN
govt.should change the
situation Or Chinese can take NE
giving a surety of proper
Independence.
No nid to fight
What to do is v.simple just take
public votes and comments and
do as what the people of NE
wants.
thats it!
all what i want is do not capture
any1s right.
i m jst talkng the reality.
not with any1 s favour..
Keith April 30, 2012 at 3:35 pm
Subhodip u r wrong about north east states begging to merge with india for protection.maharaj budhachandra of manipur was forced to sign at gun point.
Now we r part of india.
Disruptor May 2, 2012 at 12:12 pm
Oh come on man! North east is not a part of india.just accept it
