Racism, India & the North East : other side of the coin.

Ever since the Coronavirus crisis has hit India, we have been informed by the “mainstream” media that people from North-East [NE] India have been targetted across Indian cities and have been at the receiving end of racist jibes and in some cases, even physical violence. Apparently lots of ignorant individuals in ‘mainland’ India mistook immigrants from the NE as visitors from People’s Republic of China and hence potential carriers of the deadly virus !

Such events are not new. It is true that people from NE do face harrassment in big Indian cities, because of their appearance and ignorance & prejudice of mainlanders. We have been hearing such stories since the last 15 years, at least.

There have been numerous cases, where boys and girls from NE, working in the metropolitan cities have been denied accommodation. Threats of eviction from prejudiced ‘locals’, actual acts of physical violence against students, not-so-innocent enquiries about nationality, offensive racist jibes and in case of girls, subtle enquiries about ‘profession’ & innuendoes bordering on obscenity are very common. Delhi-NCR has a particularly bad record on this issue. This is what we have been told by the ‘mainstream’ media & intellectuals. Things don’t end here.

A diverse group of people — from political ‘activists’ emerging out of the NE, to regional political parties to National Parties, intellectuals, academia — have even gone a step ahead and informed a guilt ridden audience in the mainland that since India’s independence, the NE as a region has been neglected. The narrative has been that India’s political class & bureaucratic elite dominated by insensitive , parochial, prejudiced, racist, chauvinistic, smug individuals from the Mainland [especially the Hindi speaking north] have given “step motherly” treatment to the NE ; never considered its ‘indigenous’ people as legitimate Indians; exploited its resources via Mainlanders / outsiders [Primarily Bengali Hindus] who dominated NE’s government jobs at the higher echelons, businesses, the professional class for a long time. The half a dozen separatist & secessionist movements in the NE apparently are a direct fallout of Central Government’s ‘discriminatory’ policies. Basically, NE folks are an aggrieved and wronged people.

Physical violence, harrassment faced North Eastern folks in the Mainland are outright criminal act, which must be condemned and the guilty must be punished. Yet, the discourse around racism in India is one sided.

What we don’t see is the other side of the coin. Perhaps because “North or Mainland Indians discriminating against North Easterners because of their race/appearance” makes a convenient, politically correct story. It gives millions of ‘Urban, educated, cosmopolitan’ Indians a chance to prove they are not racists ! What people won’t talk about is the Racism & prejudice faced by Mainlanders [including those who have been living in NE for generations] in NE. Racism, that has nothing to do with & pre-dates discrimination faced by NE folks in the mainland. While some of the allegations of Central government’s indifference or even exploitation might be true, the fact is NE’s lack of development is largely because of the attitudes of the Natives living there. Various insurgent groups, often foreign funded, with a separatist agenda have unleashed extreme brutality, barbarism & savagery on not only mainlanders settled in NE, but also against fellow North-Easterners of different ethnic /linguistic/ religious identity. And in some cases with full support of communities whose interests these militant groups claim to represent.

Discussing Racist attitudes, Xenophobic tendencies, narrow minded tribalism, religous bigotry [of the neo-Christian tribes], obsession with lineage & purity of Blood of NE folks is not politically correct. [Just to remind the readers, Mainlanders living/settled in NE like Bengali Hindus, Biharis, Tribals from Chhotanagpur, Marwaris, small numbers of Sindhis, Gujaratis, Punjabis do NOT count as they have been the ones at the receiving end of Racism in NE. I am writing about the self-proclaimed ‘indigenous’ people of NE]. Because in the predominant narrative, the ‘indigenous’ people of NE are the ‘Victims’ of Mainland’s ‘discrimination’.

Take for instance the separatist movements in the NE. Secessionist movements began in NE in late 1940s in Nagaland & Tripura [right after independence of India].

In Nagaland, the Church backed separatists have been running a secessionist movement for 7 decades. The aim of the movement is to create a separate Greater Nagalim stretching all the way from Arunachal to Manipur. This Nagalim would be a Xtian theocratic state [“Nagalim for Christ” has been their motto], like those in medieval Europe where every aspect of live will be controlled the Church & the Church will rule with the help of a Gun toting militia, a Xtian Taliban perhaps !

In Tripura the seeds of separatism was sowed by the protestant churches. Tripura’s kings since 18th & 19th centuries, have been importing Hindu Bengalis from what is today Bangladesh & giving them lands to settle down in Tripura. Vaishnav preachers, priests, clerks, administrators, traders, artisans, craftsmen — all kinds of Hindus from Bengal were brought in. Bengali was made the official language of Tripura & Bengali script was adapted for the Kokborok language. By 1940s, Bengalis were half of Tripura’s population. After partition, more Hindu Bengalis settled in Tripura from East Pakistan, making local Tripuris a minority. The Church took advantage of this situation & pitted the indigenous people against the Bengali Hindu ‘outsiders’. Section of insecure Tripuri elite too gave support. Ruthless killings of Hindu Bengali political leaders by militant groups happened till the 90s. Throughout the 80s & 90s, thousands of Bengalis, including women and children were killed in brutal attacks perpetrated by the ‘tribals’ & militant groups running insurgency in the state. Many of those Bengalis had been living in Tripura for decades or even centuries.

In Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya [these 3 states were carved out of Assam in 1960s & 70s] & in Manipur too, it was the Church which sowed the seeds of Xenophobia against ‘outsiders’.

In Meghalaya, it started out by attacking Hindu Bengalis, Assamese & Nepali Gurkhas. Hindu Bengalis were the worst affected. After Sylhet [then part of Assam] went to Pakistan during Partition, many Hindu Bengalis from Sylhet settled in what was the Indian side of Assam [including Shillong which then was the capital of Assam before Meghalaya separated]. Throughout 1980s & 90s, there were numerous incidents where Hindu Bengali women were gang raped, molested ,men lynched , killed, shot dead in racist attacks. Thousands of Bengalis fled Shillong at the first opportunity. Organisations like Khasi Students Union were notorious for carrying out racist attacks. Apart from Bengalis, other ‘outsiders’ like Gurkhas, Assamese, Marwari , Sindhi, Gujarati traders too faced threats, harrassment. Many traders were put to death when they refused to fund the notorious militant groups, extorting money. Couple of years back, Dalit Sikhs living in Shillong for decades were attacked. Tribal Councils have even passed diktats that Tribal women who marry ‘Non tribal’ men would not be able to avail benefits of Scheduled Tribe status for their children. Local political leaders have justified such Xenophobia & racism, demanded Inner Line Permit [which will prevent ‘outsiders’ from settling down in the state] as remedy. Such primitive tribalism is rarely condemned. Thugs launching murderous attacks on ‘outsiders’ are rarely arrested. And ofcourse India’s ‘mainstream’ media hardly covers such stories and there is hardly any outrage on Social media.

Similar is the case in Assam. Its first Chief Minister Gopinath Bordoloi on the eve of India’s independence & partition successfully conceded Sylhet to Pakistan, so that Hindu Bengalis living there could be kept out of Assam. But Hindu Bengalis from Sylhet & elsewhere began pouring into Assam right after partition. More Hindu Bengalis cross over to Assam from East Pakistan in 1950s & 1960s.

Attacks began when Bengali Hindus demanded Bengali as the 2nd official language of Assam [especially the Barak valley region, where Bengalis have been living for Centuries]. Though Bengalis were successful in getting their demand fulfilled, ‘Bongal Kheda’ [meaning kick the Bengalis out] did not stop there. Throughout 80s and 90s, the separatist outfit ULFA [operating out of Bangladesh, with support of China, Pakistan & rabid Jamaatis] targetted Bengali Hindus & other ‘migrants’/ ‘outsiders’. There numerous cases of Bihari being burnt alive, Marwari traders shot dead, Tribals from Chhotanagpur physically attacked, Nepali Gorkhas driven out in large numbers. Large scale massacres of Bengali Hindus took place in the 80s, in which hundreds of Bengalis were killed & thousands were displaced. The latest such attack in 2019, when 5 Bengali Hindus were gunned down by ULFA militants.

Mizoram is not far behind. The influence & hegemony of the Churches have turned the entire state into a Xtian enclave within ‘Secular’ India. The Church there controls every aspect of life — from candidates in local elections, political issues, businesses, runs patronage system that rewards ‘believers’ & discriminates against Non-Xtians. For decades the Church backed Political class & militant groups have been trying to evict Buddhist Chakmas [both the natives & refugees from East Pakistan/ Bangladesh] and Non-Xtian Reang /Bru tribe from their state. They have been successful in disenfranchising the Reangs in the 90s who are now living in Tripura as refugees in Camps.

In neighbouring Manipur, its a well known fact that Hindu Manipuris [Meeteis], Xtian Nagas & Kukis can not stand each other. All 3 communities have militant groups representing their ‘interests’ who have been fighting not only the Indian government on a secessionist agenda but have been slaughtering each other too. Numerous ethnic clashes have taken place in past few decades, killing thousands. In early 2020, gangs of Nagas & Kukis were involved in a violent conflict. Nagas burnt down farms & houses, perhaps an entire village, belonging to Kukis. In return Kukis burnt down businesses owned by the Nagas. And such clashes have been happening since decades.

So its quite evident that ‘mainland’ Indians are not the only victims of Racism, xenophobia in NE. Various ‘indigenous’ communities of NE themselves have been at the receiving end of tribalism, ethnic chauvinism , language related riots, religious violence, racist attacks perpetrated by fellow North-Easterners. If one goes by the discourse in social media, then Local political leaders & the local population in many cases have publicly defended, justified such violence and have given legitimacy, support & sympathy to these ruthless murderers. Yet the sanctimonious opinion makers, our intelligentsia, media & even the self proclaimed “Nationalist” parties have peddled the popular myth & the one sided narrative. Very few individuals have the audacity to ask why should the ‘indigenous’ people of the NE, who want an Inner Line Permit in their own states, be allowed to live and work in the mainland. People do not have the courage to callout the bigoted Assamese chauvinists sitting in far away Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru or even Kolkata & running hate campaign against Hindu Bengalis living in Assam.

Even the “Nationalists” of BJP & RSS ruling India right now, will not question the existing status quo & the predominant discourse. They will happily peddle “Congress party’s step motherly treatment alienated the NE” type crap, make unholy alliances with Church funded parties in pursuit of political power.

Sources :

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www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19880215-nepalis-in-meghalaya-face-tribal-wrath-amid-official-apathy-796950-1988-02-15

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en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandai_massacre

www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/mar/17/naga-kuki-clash-puts--manipur-on-edge-2117563.html