This past one week, the only topic people ever discussed about in any group that has at least one person originating from India’s North East, is the “controversial” book published by IPS Robin Hibu, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Delhi).

Splashed across various National newspapers in the front page, the synopsis of the booklet basically stated that “People from India’s North East shouldn’t eat their “smelly” cultural delicacies in Delhi, and that they should not wear revealing clothes”.

The reaction of the Vox Populi was obvious: Sacrilegious outcry and protests from all sections of the North eastern society settling in Delhi demanding a public apology from Mr.Hibu (a person from NE himself) for stereotyping the NE people and the immediate withdrawal of every booklet already published and distributed.

Even my closest Mizo friends living near my house here in Delhi were infuriated. However, having learnt from my past mistakes, I decided not to comment anything about it until I see the infamous booklet with my very own eyes.

It is most advisable to refrain from reacting to whatever one reads in the newspaper, giving some of their record for over-sensationalizing certain issues. Once bitten, twice shy. I kept mum.

And then on Thursday, opportunity finally knocked. My friend and I were invited over to a Mizo Officer’s apartment for tea. He had just received the booklet from his superiors. We took an auto to his apartment immediately.

The first thing that struck me when I read the first few lines of the book was errors. Quite a few errors. Grammatical, lexical, semantics, you name it. The tone of his English was a bit amateurish to a certain degree.

My friend joked, “Maybe he wrote it that way because he’s afraid we poor uneducated people from the tribal North East don’t understand English”. He laughed at his own sarcasm. I laughed too, but I swear it was a very uncomfortable laughter.

It took me less than 5 minutes to go through the entire booklet.

As I kept the booklet down on the table, my friend and our Mizo Officer host both looked and me and asked… “Well?”

Well… frankly speaking, I may not share the exact sentiments of many of my North eastern brothers and sisters. I am of course offended by some of the contents in the booklet, but a part of me feels that this entire issue is blown way out of proportion.

Forgive me for saying that, but that’s just the kind of vibe I seem to be getting from the booklet. Why? Simply because I don’t think Mr. Robin Hibu ever intended to purposely stereotype the entire NE population like how some of the Mainland Indians are currently doing.

He made a mistake. A horrible mistake. And he’s paying for that everyday ever since he published that booklet. All he tried to do was to prevent the NE students of today from facing the same unfortunate racial abuses he probably experienced when he was in Delhi during his hey days. He did that out of love.

Unfortunately, he failed to realize that the Delhi NE students of today are already facing such racial abuses and stereotyping already. Hence his “brotherly advice” only added more fuel to the racial fire already burning.

He came. He saw. He spoke. He blundered.

The internet is full of prominent newspapers and illustrious NE writers expressing their views on this whole Hibu incident. Most of the writers and people who took part in the discussion were out crying for Hibu’s blood, screaming for a crucifixion of sort.

I am of course appalled by such a publication too, but I also know what it’s like to be misunderstood. It’s not easy being the advocate for the minority and the down trodden who are extremely insecure due to the incessant racial abuses faced everyday.

We must be exceedingly cautious in whatever we say or do, especially when the entire issue is highly sensitive as that of the North Eastern people of India. Last year, one of my most popular posts Chinky – What me insult? appeared in many National magazines and newspapers.

In the post, I mentioned about the psychology of racial abuses, and tried to probe deeper into such phenomenon as to why we don’t feel insulted if somebody of the same race utters a racial slur at us, whereas it is extremely offensive if another person from a different race does the same. It was a logical statement.

But I was suddenly misquoted (at a popular discussion forum which will not be named) that “Sandman says it’s OK to be called Chinky!”. Gosh you have no idea how much damage control I had to do, all because of that narrow-minded brain-the-size-of-a-pea commenter.

Anyway, that’s just my personal opinion, that Mr. Robin Hibu never intended to hurt the sentiments of the NE people to this degree.

Prominent NE writers like David M. Thangliana (dmt), David Buhril, Donald Tsang etc have stated their opinions about this whole issue, for which I highly recommend you go to the above mentioned links. My opinions are nothing but a mere speck in a vast sea of desert when compared to theirs.

Hence, I on the other hand, will try to look at what this booklet has actually achieved among the NE population of this great Nation that we call India.

1. The booklet, instead of informing the NE people of India about the various security measures and attempting to bring them closer to the main fold through means of assimilation, has definitely alienated them further away from the rest of India. A commoner from the NE is definitely going to think “Now it’s not just the average Delhi Joe who racially profiles, segregates and abuses us, but also the Delhi Police who are supposed to protect us from such racism. If that is the mentality of the Law maker in the National Capital, it is pretty obvious what the rest of India is thinking…”
2. Racial abuses rose in alarming proportions, with “one side” claiming that there should be a set of rules for Mainland Indians too like prohibiting them from using “smelly” masalas in their dishes, making sure they take bath everyday to minimize the stink etc etc, while the “other side” hit back saying NE people should stop eating dog’s meat, be less promiscuous in their sex life etc etc. One only needs to read some of the discussion forums to know what I’m talking about. If stereotyping was basic, we are definitely back to basics. This is the sole reason why I have enabled comment moderation on this post. No racial abuses please!
3. Not just NE women, but Indian women in general, lashed out at this booklet for reviving the age-old myth that a woman is raped because she wears clothes that does not cover her entire body properly (even though tons and tons of researches have proved that at least more than 80% of women raped in India are raped when they are dressed in the most socially acceptable attire). Remember that famous statement, “If you leave meat out in the open, dogs will come to eat it?” by a certain he-who-shall-not-be-named?
4. This booklet also distanced NE women further away from Mainland Indians, because it stereotyped them as people who dress provocatively all the time. Use your common sense. In a crowd of Mainland Indians (Aryans and Dravidians origin), a girl of the same Race wearing a tube or spaghetti may be noticed but the memory of it does not linger for a long time in the subconscious. Whereas one single girl from the NE (Mongoloid origin) wearing such a dress will have a long-term effect in the subconscious simply because she is different (Just like how a foreigner is more noticeable in a crowd of locals). Hence the stereotype that all NE women dress provocatively. That stigma is exactly what every NE girl in India is trying to remove, and this booklet does nothing but put a knife right through the struggle.
5. This booklet has definitely united everybody from the NE like never before. The Great Divide between NE and Mainland Indians grows stronger and stronger. NE people want recognition, for which they feel most of the Mainland Indians don’t give a rat’s ass. NE people have been identified as ONE single entity, when in fact each of us have our own particular customs, traditions, languages etc all different from each other, just like how Tamilnadu is different from Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal etc. Yet, this booklet seemed to pass on a message that the 7 sister States of India’s NE are just one entire singular community.
6. The reaction from back home was also quite expected, with some prominent leaders with a “separatist agenda from India” using this as an opportunity to spread further propaganda to the masses. Some even spoke about the denial of basic Fundamental Rights to the NE population in the National Capital! Yes, they definitely blew this way out of proportion. First of all, there’s a difference between a Law and an Advice. Secondly, Mr.Hibu is an IPS Officer. He is well aware of the proceedings of The Constitution of India, and he’s not going to do anything that foolish (Even I’m appearing for the UPSC exams and I know how mandatory it is to study Political Science). Not only will he not do it, he cannot do it. Period.

• First and foremost, Mr. Robin Hibu failed to understand the level of rift that has already existed between the NE and Mainland Indians. Only an actual personal experience can bring somebody from both sides close to each other (like how I have experienced) because no amount of such “advices” and booklets will ever remove the preconceived notion either side already has about each other.
• If Mr.Hibu really wanted to give such advices, he should have done so at various NE Student Functions in Delhi, orally. By putting it down on paper for everybody to read (especially after the National newspapers promulgated it), he passed on a wrong message about the image of the NE people to the general public. Mainland Indians who don’t know much about NE people are now going to say, “So these people eat smelly food huh? That’s disgusting.” Remember Maneka Gandhi’s insensitive public allegation that the NE people thrive on dog’s meat? First of all, not all NE people eat dog’s meat. Not even most. And even if some enjoy such meat, it’s their wish. Mocking a different culture’s delicacy only displays the insensitivity and narrowness of certain xenophobic individuals.
• Mr.Hibu should have chosen his words and sentences more carefully. The tone of his Introduction where he mentioned about NE guys in Delhi doing drugs and being sent back home in a coffin, NE girls dressing provocatively and getting raped, etc all sounded as if that’s what every NE students here in Delhi are doing. As mentioned before, being of a different race altogether, it is much easier to be noticed. That is why NE people don’t like to see NE girls flirting openly with barely enough tissues covering their entire bodies at Pubs and Discs in Delhi. And that is why certain NE Student Organizations in Delhi send such people back home to NE (sometimes forcibly), however unconstitutional that may sound, because one promiscuous NE girl at a pub or one drunk NE guy at a Pub Brawl can spoil the entire North eastern image.
• The social evils that he mentioned is present across every society on the face of this planet. Yet the book sounded as if he singled out the NE students alone. Once again, he should have chosen his words more carefully. After reading some of the grammatical errors in the booklet, it was obvious nobody proofread it before publication. Had he given it to a good Publication House, they would have not only corrected some of his mistakes but also toyed around a bit with his sentences in order to reduce the tone a bit. A little more subtle title would help.
• Anything dealing with the societal status of minorities is extremely sensitive. If the majority tries to impose certain cultural diktats on the minority in the name of assimilation and acculturation, the minority will only look at that as an extermination, an ethnocide, and a cultural imperialism. When black and white mix, gray is formed. Gray has the property of both black and white, yet this booklet seem to suggest that gray must be formed with just black as its property. Do you think white would ever want to mix with black then, even if gray is the color of Nationalism?

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