The Formation Of Indian Nation State And The Future Of North East
- Part 3 -

Prof. J.J. Roy Burman *

Map of NE India

While tribes form six per cent of the total population of China, they occupy 60 per cent of the state territory. Tibet is an added largesse. Along with internal colonisation, China has now stepped into the realms of external colonisation in the Third World countries of Asia and Africa. They will ultimately beat all others in the coming years. BJP strongly intends to join this ring of collective loot and plunder. 'Make In India' slogan manifests best the strategy of internal and external colonisation.

Modi's call to the Indian corporates to operate in Myanmar is not beyond the pail of its avowed strategy. Just imagine what would be the plight of the tribals and minority peoples concentrated in the resource rich areas of Myanmar where our corporates would be mostly operating. (China has already entered into the fray in a very big manner). Their marginalization will only accentuate ethnic discord on both sides of the border. Many of the Kuki tribes have already fled to Manipur and Mizoram, threatening the future of the indigenous peoples in these states.

Inner Line Permit issue as raised by the Meiteis of Manipur therefore needs a proper and wider scrutiny. In Nagaland and Manipur, ILP could not deter influx of outsiders. Between 1991-2001 Nagaland witnessed the largest population growth among all the states of India, followed by Mizoram. In Arunachal Pradesh which has ILP, tribal population is just 68 per cent and Nepalese are the single largest ethnic entity.

In Mizoram during militancy, MNA cadres opposed the state administration from deportation of Nepalis woodcutters engaged by Mizo contractors since they received foreigners tax from them. Nobody looks into the factors that lead to influx of outsiders. The Nepalese, Hajongs and Chakmas were encouraged to settle in Arunachal as a part of security strategy (Rightly or wrongly – Arunachalis are presently raising vociferous opposition against these settlers). Similarly the Nepalese and Adivasis were encouraged to settle in the forests bordering Assam and Nagaland to offer a buffer between the two states. Arunachal is now facing ethnic deluge due to the construction of several hydel projects.

Most worrying is the entry of outsiders to Maram in Senapati district of Manipur where an iron ore mine has been started, severely affecting the lives of the local Maos – a small Naga tribe. Modi's public propaganda for opening large industries in North East as a part of Look East Policy without looking into the need for a federal political order is therefore to be accepted with a pinch of salt. Even issues regarding agriculture like banning jhum by settled cultivation and horticulture as encouraged by North East Council has led to illegal immigration in the tribal areas.

However, I still for see that it will be the indigenous peoples of the North East who would be the torch bearers of humanist ethos indispensable for the stability of a nation-state formed on the principle of Moral Order and not coercive power. After all, the Nagas, Khasis and sundry tribes of Assam offered military support to Lachit Borphukan, the Assamese General to halt the Mughal onslaught.

We should also not forget that the Ahom King Piyali Phukan sent his emissaries in 1830 to the Nagas, Manipuris, Khamtis, Singphos, Mishings, Miris, Khasis and Jainitias to form a confederation to oust the British. Most significantly, not known to many in India Zapu Angami Phizo, the father of Naga Nation, had joined INA ( India National Army formed by Subhas Chandra Bose) for a while to fight the British.

On their part, the people of the north east, particularly the elites should not be carried away by the so-called increased attention to the region by the center. BJP has arbitrarily removed the Congress party in Arunachal Pradesh knowing very well that it is one of the most resource rich regions of North East. The Marwaris - who are its biggest supporters along with the corporates and multinationals will gain easy access to loot and plunder under the aegis of Look East Policy and 'Make In India' slogan.

The corruption of Congress party signifies the existence of some resistance within the system which has to be overcome; this amounts to operational inefficiency. BJP politics leads to direct control over the system. Sunderlal Patwa, the former BJP Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and the biggest Tendu leaf contractor on assuming power denationalised the Tendu leaf market and lowered the procurement rate to what it was two years earlier. We cannot avoid noticing Adnani and Mukesh Ambani, the biggest industrialists of India flying together with Narendra Modi to USA. This amounts to systemic inefficiency. BJP needs no corruption.

To begin with, the Meiteis should join hands with the Nagas to fight for a just confederation with the Indian nation state- not an impossible thing. The Meitei king in history took support of the Nagas when confronting the Burmese as mentioned earlier. The confederational arrangement need not necessarily persist forever. The nation state formed on the principle of moral order for the time being will offer cushion to the sundry communities all over against the onslaught of hegemonic powers and global financial institutions who are attempting to gain direct access to the grassroots (in the name of decentralization- as in the case of Village Development Boards in Nagaland) not out of love but for lust.

Unfortunately, the District Councils in Meghalaya are vying for direct dealing with global financial institutions like ADB and World Bank bypassing the State. Muivah's idea of Greater Nagalim may be sharing similar dreams. But he may take the lead in the opposite direction as well in a just confederation of states formed on the principles of moral order.

We may not forget the illustration of Balmiki on record. (Pu Laldenga, the former Mizo underground leader and CM offered to be an interlocutor between the Nagas and India, but could not do much as his life was cut short by Cancer.) Subir Bhowmick, a journalist specialized on North East, briefly hinted at Muivah's desire for federal relations but did not elaborate what it means. But federalism of Nagas cannot be done in isolation as there would be opposition or similar demands by other states of the region and the country as a whole.

Manipur enjoys the maximum possibility to begin with the federal relations with the Nagas and show the way to Indian future. Nagas and Meiteis can combine together to evolve as a force to reckon with. They had combined together in history to confront the adversaries in all directions. Even in the recent times, Rishang Kishing, a Tangkhul was chosen as a Chief Minister to strike balance between feuding factions with diverse ethnicity within the ruling Congress Party. He ruled for eight years as the CM.

Even as of now, the Deputy Chief Minister of the state happens to be a Rongmei Naga. We should not ignore the treaty signed between the Naga chief and the Meitei king at Hundung, a Tangkhul village near Ukhrul. The event is commemorated every year at the village where a stone memorial marked with foot prints of the two leaders have been engraved.

Importantly even now during the Lai Haraoba festival celebrated every year at Segmai – a Loi village 16 kms from Imphal, the presence of a Tankhul man in traditional attires is indispensable on a particular day. Lai Haraoba is celebrated in a big way every year in over 400 Meitei villages. Where there is no Tangkhul presence, a local man robed in Tangkhul costume participates in the ceremony.

I have heard of many such instances of Meitei – Naga confluence in different parts of Manipur, particularly in the foot hills which demarcate the Meitei-Naga borders. The colonial construct of nation-state forced upon Manipur has obliterated many such lived inter community politico-cultural anarchic arrangements from the minds of the minds of both Meiteis and Nagas leading to fear psychosis.

In the theoretical realms, Redfield's formulation of 'Cultural Syndicalism' appears most appropriate to analyse the Manipur ethno-political dynamics. There is going on a constant tussle like the hare and the hound between the technical order represented by the state and the moral order symbolised by the anarchic communities (As thought of by Tolstoy, an Anarchist, who was vehemently opposed to the idea of nationalism – that restricts the tenets of humanism).

I must remind that the state of Manipur thrives in spite of the government on the platform of Marup system that is deeply entrenched into the lives of the people in both rural and urban areas. They control a parallel economy along with the state government. The government is bankrupt and survives largely due to the Central doles.

It is globally evident that the moral order is vanquished again and again by the technical order only to re emerge from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix to renew. I am optimistic that though under the current global political dispensation the moral order will find it difficult to be sustained but ultimately it will prevail with the long history of symbiotic relations between the hills and valley peoples to form multi community anarchic polities across states and international borders.

This corresponds to the state of Zomia people inhabiting the hills and valleys inhabiting several Southeast Asian countries and the North East as explained by James Scott in his book, 'The Art of Not Being Governed'. This may enable even the conversion of the Indian nation-state into a moral order based on its commitment to confront the current hegemonic world order through concerted struggles and not co-option. A wide dissemination of these ideas by public articulation through simple language is need of the hour.

Concluded...