The Formation Of Indian Nation State And The Future Of North East
- Part 2 -

Prof. J.J. Roy Burman *

Map of NE India

In the case of Manipur as well the political state formation is new. Forced merger took place in 1949 and Kabaw Valley was gifted to Burma by Nehru as Prime Minister. Following the Indian model of democracy, while the tribals occupying 90 per cent of the state territory (in the hills) are represented by 20 members in the state Assembly, the Valley comprising of 10 per cent of the territory, predominated by the Meiteis is represented by 40 seats.

Even within the given parameters, the Tangkhuls complain that the average population covered per constituency in the hill is 33,000 while it is 25,000 in the Valley. But even by squaring the figures in the Hills and the Valley there will not be any significant change in the Assembly configuration. Should Manipur agree to adopt a federal structure within the state, much of the ethnic discord will automatically disappear-which will have serious implications for the Naga movement.

The Meitei anxiety about territorial integrity will be staved off. After all the Manipur King in history took military support of the Naga and Kuki tribes when confronting the Burmese. Unfortunately the Manipur state has adopted the same strategy as the Center since its merger with India and this has led to a hegemony over the tribal minority.

Meiteilon has been imposed over them as the State language. Due to a similar language policy in Assam the tribal predominant areas broke off to form new states. It will be important for Meiteis to learn that in a newly formed state like Sikkim where there is 70 per cent Nepalese and 30 per cent tribal people, English is the state language. In Nagaland too Nagamese is the common lingua franca between different tribes but English is the state language. In Manipur though Meiteilon is the common lingua franca between all communities, English should have been adopted as the State language to deter any sense of ethnic hegemony.

It is seriously missed out that the Manipuri King was more of an ethnic manager than being an all powerful monarch. He had a tiny little regular Army and had to a large extent depend on the lallup system during crisis. Lallup system led to voluntary labour provided by men form every household from every village in rotation, to the King. (It may be pointed out that in many of the tribal states of Chota Nagpur, there existed Nordic, non tribal kings balancing the interest of different tribes dwelling in the kingdom. Marrine Carrin, a French anthropologist terms this kind of situation as 'Kings without kingdom' – the kings being ethnicmanagers). The British played a significant role in the conversion of the Manipuri king to paramountcy.

It must be realized that in all multi-ethnic nation-states which which have been formed artificially need charismatic leaders conveying humanistic ethos cutting across the state and the global order as has been the case of Nasser in Egypt, Tito in Yugoslavia, Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya, Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Feudal Castro in Cuba. The alternative has been taken over by the military dictatorship as in Egypt or withering away of the state, as seen in Yugoslavia.

In the case of Pakistan, it is not surprising that it needed Jinnah an outsider to found an artificial nation-state which has three discrete ethnic nationalities, occupying Sindh, Punjab and Baluchistan. In similar vein Bhutto, Banazir and Musharraf- all with antecedence form this side of the border played a neutral role balancing the ethnic dynamics.

Alternative to that has been military dictatorship. The present incumbent Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has yielded much of the political space to Riel Sharif- the Army Chief. In the case of India itself, it started with Ashoka who promoted multi-ethnicity and Buddhism. Buddhism is the greatest trading religion in the world and has been instrumental in laying the foundation of Japan and South Korea, and China (to a lesser extent). Stanley Tambiah, a Sri Lankan anthropologist based in USA has established this conviction with aplomb in his book- World Renouncers and World Conquerors.

Ashoka converted himself to Buddhism and through the principle of renunciation expanded his empire to both east and west – mainly along the ancient trade routes – by sea and by land. Tribals were an important constituent of his army along the trade routes. This understanding has an important bearing for the Northeast states including Manipur. Julian Burger coined the term Frontier Peoples to designate the indigenous peoples.

So as Ashoka established his empire based on the Buddhist principle of renunciation and moral order, we had Akbar, born in Sindh with Central Asian antecedence, who significantly balanced pulls and pushes of the so called Hindu Kings with diverse ethnically form different regions. He evolved the syncretic religion Din Illahi to encompass peoples of all hues.

After the formation of Indian nation state we had Nehru at the helm of political affairs (for 16 years) ruling on the principle of Panchsheel, both internally and externally, both internally and externally, stressing greatest autonomy within and amorphous borders without. He linked this up by reinforcing the global moral order of humanism. After Nehru, Indira Gandhi took up the cudgels to retain the humanist order, but in the face of stiff opposition form political leaders with American leaning, was compelled to turn into a benevolent dictator.

With significant political developments, later we saw Sonia Gandhi, an Italian (an outsider) playing the role of an ethnic manager trying to balance the Congress leaders with diverse background and by projecting Manmohan Singh, who is neither a Hindu nor a Muslim, a minority offering a neutral position, as the Prime Minister. With the penetration of neoliberalism much of the moral elan of humanistic order whithered away and a void was created which necessitated the emergence of BJP, a fascist party to control the centre state rather than the control by a military dictatorship.

I have no complaints against BJP per se. In the political vacuum and economic plunder of tribal areas, any other fascist force would have taken over, if not the military. The existing democratic dispensation promotes regional hegemony rather than any Hindu domination. Even Mayawati as a PM (If it were to be) would become a part of North Indian hegemony. Hindu fanaticism is just an instrument of control. Brahminical hegemony of India is a misplaced notion.

BJP-NPF alliance in Nagaland is nothing but a confluence of fascist forces. NPF has no opposition in the state Assembly and is backed up by NSCN (IM) - a party that brooks no opposition. Dissenters are physically targeted. The Journalist writing the Congress (I) pamphlet admitting the truth about Naga history at the instance of S. C. Jamir, was brutally attacked. S.C Jamir- the then Congress (I), CM narrowly escaped as an attempt on his life was made by the NSCN (IM) cadres in New Delhi.

While BJP sticks to the principle of one nation, one state or Hindi Bhasha, Hindu Rashtra, NSCN (IM) vouches for Nagalim for Christ. Both the parties have western linkages- connection with fascist powers like USA, France and UK. US has the history of eliminating the indigenous peoples within the country, killing millions of peoples at one go by using nuclear weapons in Japan and then maiming the Third World countries globally and liquidating the states in Middle East so as to pilfer oil. UK and France share almost similar antecedence.

While last year the BJP government invited Obama, Hollande was present this year for the Republic Day parade. We will not be surprised to see Cameroon - the British Prime Minister being invited in the coming year. BJP is seeking a permanent membership of the Security Council in the hegemonic United Nations - a privilege shared by the most oppressive countries – US, UK, France, Russia and China. Russia thrives on the export of hydro carbon located in the hinterland predominated by the indigenous peoples or the erstwhile ethnic Soviets. China is the worst history sheeter that thrives on exploitation of resources located in the tribal areas.

To be continued....