The Great Divide: Why the Diaspora Needs to Talk about the North-East?

Syed Shakeel Imdad:

"Assam is mentally a distant horizon like Bolivia or Peru. Less known and more fancied", said Assam Parliamentarien Hem Barua. Decades after these hard-hitting words were penned by Mr. Barua, Assam (and the North East Region in addendum) still reels under borderline anonymity and rampant is understanding from the rest of the nation, which can be termed as "the great divide". It does not take thousands of miles and an ocean or two in between for a land and its people to be ostracized or worse, ignored: sometimes a narrow land strip colloquially referred to as the “chicken-neck” is distance enough.

Such is the case of Northeast (NE) India.

It is the third decade of the 21 st century and the NE is still ensnared in a diabolical limbo affected by rigid degrees of separation from mainland India.

The prominent counter-argument to this is that things have improved – people know that Dispur and not Guwahati is the capital of Assam (some are still stuck in Shillong though) and that campaigns such as Awesome Assam and events like the Ziro Music Festival, The Hornbill festival have helped bridge historical divides. It is however partially true at best, and rather superficial at its worst. Technological advancement and advent of “levelers” such as the internet as a repository of information on anything and everything has led to an abundance of resources to break molds and the old drivers of dissonance have been

quelled to a great extent.

However, as history also tells us, like a mutating virus, continuity of oppression and

ostracism can morph into shapes and colors that are difficult to even ascertain let alone curb with a legislation or a political movement. What was once blatant discrimination might have been obliterated, but it has been replaced by delicate micro-aggression. From racist slandering of Mongoloid features of the NE people to brazen sarcasm as to their food habits, the issues still persist despite the amplification of tourism in the recent decades.

THE BIG DIVIDE

Much has been said and written about the forms of this gaping divide between NE and mainland India with some untoward incident of note hitting the decks from time to time. During those times, there is a proliferation of censure from varied sources and mouthpieces – but in time, the din subsides, life hits the well-trodden road and the separation regains momentum invariably and it seems, inevitably.

Detailed analyses of the same can be found in abundance on the same old “internet” with brilliant cataloguing for starters, and most of the times elucidation of factors converging to engender such scenarios. But very few attempts are made to correct course at a grassroot

level, at best what has been observed in the form of movements to develop a discourse around the future in conjunction with a dissection of the past have mostly been disappointing efforts at gaslighting. The question is not on the intention but the execution and the impact that any such effort carries.

Despite sustained efforts, there is little to no information on something as rudimentary as events of the Indian Freedom Struggle in the NE and the leaders of the region are woefully absent from national curricula – be it CBSE or ICSE.

A fair argument can be made that even the discourse itself gets “lost in translation” periodically and the leftover rhetoric is one that oftentimes vilifies the victim rather than emancipating it. Some go even further - highlighting an apparent unwillingness of NE

natives to nurture associations with their culture and region once they have left its shores. These arguments might be corroborated through anecdotal evidence but need to be squarely rejected if at all any attempts are made at  generalization. But is rejection enough? What does the rejection even entail?

WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT

Attesting from the author’s personal experience, one way to bring about change in perceptions and eventually (and hopefully) attitudes is “to talk”. Talk about your state, your culture, your history, your uniqueness, your struggles, your quirks and your sparks and keep talking – on how despite all of it you stand as one with the rest of

the country and are sharing the same cup of coffee in the same office space.

The idea is to highlight differences voluntarily without espousing differentiation. There is reluctance among many creeping up due to the lack of scholarly erudition or absence of recall as far as specifics are concerned – dates, names, socio-economic landscapes through ages, etc. But it must be kept in mind that such specifics are already available in written/printed form and it is only a matter of willingness to refer to and understand them.

As an individual who is a part of multiple social and professional circles, what one can and must do is instead of concentrating on trivia alone (it does help), one must start with anecdotes. And there is not a prerequisite of one being a raconteur, the only necessary action is to speak and speak up. There are a million and a more things to talk about - How’s life back in Assam, how sunsets feel like in Arunachal Pradesh, what festivals are celebrated by the numerous tribes that constitute the Naga community, why and how insurgency had (in some parts has) originated, evolved and waned, etc. Talk about festivals, rituals, food, and how we also enjoy the same movies and the same poems and the same songs as everyone in this country. But in addition, highlight how we too have our own music, own movies and plays.

COURSE OF ACTION

This serves a distinct two-prong purpose: first, in recounting of these stories we draw a composite picture that incorporates elements of all the subjects we are reluctant to speak of as mentioned earlier – geography, demography, society, culture, history – an assortment of anecdotes is nothing short of a smorgasbord for the willing listener ready to taste the NE from bottom-up. Second, hearing a friend/colleague/acquaintance say something in person has a distinctly better impact than reading an article or watching a movie.

Yes, there is the menacing caveat of “impact vs accuracy” but the idea of this storytelling is not to limit horizons but to expand it – from the hinterland to the heartland. Additionally, what is often discussed in native circles as to the ignorance and the lack of understanding or willingness to know among non-NE Indians is an exercise in futility at best – if our

coterie of friends from college or departmental colleagues in office are in the dark riddled with assumptions and post-truths about our region and our people, we need to speak and speak up – with them and others like them. With confidence and love and respect. Only then shall we be accorded with the same love and respect; only then shall we be defeating the “Us vs Them” narrative and foster healthy understanding.

GOING FORWARD

People might be ignorant or may be referring to wrong sources. They might even know some things better than we do. We encounter people with varying degrees of willingness and knowledge – that should not be a marker for segmentation as to our audience.

The audience must be taken as a unified mass that is listening to us – there will be questions – some banal, some critical, some that might not have an immediate answer. There will be opinions, there will criticisms, there will be acceptance, there will be rejection. But we need to keep talking and that will categorically improve our own base and help us fortify our walls better. Walls to the castle that we have built and are dear to us – has been dear to us for centuries. But a castle that has its doors wide open for one and all, a castle

that is devoid of any inherent hatred or xenophobia at any measure for anyone – whatever be his/her race, caste, creed or color. It is a classic give and take. But we must be willing to give as we always have.

Like the Brahmaputra carrying the waters of a hundred tributaries, the NE people and their culture is a microcosm in itself with different streams of migration – from the Ahoms to Muslim preachers from Persia to the Bengalis later post-merger with British India – history is rich is with such details of assimilation and accommodation into one great current. It

cannot be argued that it is our responsibility as we are the marginalized in this case, but it definitely is a positive first step and a potent one at that, with a promise to be sustainable. Or else we shall always remain a fancied people and land with equal measures of the exotic and the esoteric on offer, akin to a Peru or a Bolivia or a Papua New Guinea. The choice, as they say, is ours and ours alone. And the time is now!

Support Inside Northeast (InsideNE), an independent media platform that focuses on Citizen-centric stories from Northeast India that are surprising, inspiring, cinematic and emotionally relevant.