Kuknalim in Nagaland; chinky in Delhi: Who am I?

Dr Kamei Samson *

It seemed almost impossible to believe some of the News reported on the maiden visit of our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to the North-East region of India. While he was in Nagaland, I wondered, how could an Indian Prime Minister be so benevolent in courtesy towards the Nagas? I asked this question as I recollect the minutes of Moraji Desai's meeting with Naga elders in the late 1970s in Kohima, about which I read in Economic and Political Weekly (Are you an Indian? Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 13, No. 46 (Nov. 18, 1978), pp. 1871-1872).

Moraji Desai asked an interpreter about one of the Naga elders who expressed his desire to speak to the Indian Prime Minister: "Does he [the Naga elder] consider himself an Indian citizen?" The Naga elder with a strong feeling of Naga nationalism, replied, "I am a Naga". The Prime Minister with full authority, but with no courtesy told the interpreter "If he [the Naga elder] is not an Indian citizen, I will not talk to him". The Prime Minister, Moraji Desai, did not talk to the Naga elder directly. The attitude of the Prime Minister may also be understood in the context of the Naga movement for independence which they declared on 14th August, 1947 and which the Indian government was not ready to accept. The response of the Naga elder reflected a strong and indomitable spirit of Naga nationalism in those days.

In the recently concluded political rendezvous in the North-East region, our present Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's courtesy and authority might have bewildered some Nagas. Kuknalim, the slogan that kindles the spirit of Naga nationalism, heard in the form of a resounding living voice of an Indian Prime Minster in Nagaland, the hotbed of Naga nationalism, certainly marked an unimaginable difference between Moraji Desai and Narendra Modi. Kuknalim means "victory to our people [Nagas] and land [Nagalim]".

Narendra Modi did not enquire about the Naga identity. He certainly took them as Indians. A Naga is not a chinky or a Chinese for the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. He did not need clarification from the Nagas despite the ongoing political talk between the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) and the Government of India which is often labeled as the 'Indo-Naga' talk and which seems to mean that the Nagas enjoy a distinct nationality.

His courtesy certainly enlivens the identity of the Nagas as he wore traditional Naga warrior attires and greeted the Nagas with Kuknalim instead of the conventional Jai Hind. He, in his speech, avoided identity politics fraught with attempt to subjugate the identity of smaller ethnic group in the interest of a dominant identity. He spoke in English and not in Hindi. He also charmed the Nagas with some Nagamese terms.

Accusing the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) of compromising Nagas sovereignty, the Naga National Council (NNC) General Secretary Vizosielhou Nagi in 2005 stated, "It is a total capitulation. It is a volte-face; it is a complete fall from the sublime to the ridiculous, from the kuknalim to the Jai Hind". Here, for the Naga National Council, 'Jai Hind' is not a mere insignia of courtesy or greetings. It is perhaps taken as a representation of Indian identity.

For some Nagas, the use of Indian passport by Thuingaleng Muivah, the General Secretary of NSCN (I-M), was interpreted as acceptance of Indian citizenship and relinquishing of Naga sovereignty or external right to self-determination. For Narendra Modi, Kuknalim is certainly not a part of a political bargain in which Nagas are granted their long cherished right to self-determination in the form of independence. He has not even met the Naga leaders so far despite their presence in New Delhi. It does not signal any political acquiescence from the Indian Government to accept the terms of the group talking with them.

Kuknalim is certainly a courtesy to the hosts, the Nagas in the Indian state Nagaland, whose culture and identity he respects as the Prime Minister of a multicultural nation. The Prime Minister did not promise sovereignty to the Nagas. He accepts the Nagas as they are and as Indians. Modi's Kuknalim must be strictly contextualised within the Indian state of Nagaland and it must not be understood in the context of Nagalim.

Will this gesture of the Indian Prime Minister be reflected among the larger Indian mass in other parts of India where people from the North-East region are attacked because they are different in terms of culture and biological features or because some of them could not speak Kannada? I experienced the stifling racist treatments because of my biological features and culture. I am not making up. Will our Prime Minister take a similar stand as taken by the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, who recently claimed that experiences of racism by African American in America are not made up?

Obama acknowledged prevalence of racism in America as he spoke in the context of an African American killed in Ferguson in August, 2014 by a white policeman. Is our Prime Minister strong enough to admit the prevalence of racism in India in the context of North-East people being attacked rather than defending the supposedly mistake made by BJP in Delhi in its election manifesto about the "Immigrants" status accorded to people of North-East India?

Neither 'Chakde! India', with two young girls from the North-East region of India, nor 'Mary Kom', a movie on five time world champion Indian boxer, Mary Kom, helped in accepting some Indians with Mongoloid features as Indians. Certainly the Bollywood movies were not intended to fight against racism. How many more dead bodies are needed to be moved from the Kargil and Indian cities to the North-East region to prove the Indian identity of the North-East people? Does India need another invasion by the Chinese soldiers so that the Indians with Mongoloid features fight against the Chinese forces wearing their traditional war attires, shouting Bharat Mata Ki Jai! and thus proves their Indian identity and no longer be abused as chinky or chinese?

While speaking to Naga students on NSUD Nite organised by Naga Students' Union, Delhi (NSUD) on 11th October, 2014, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs (Government of India) who was invited as the Chief Guest stated2

"If somebody doesn't know you, it doesn't mean that he doesn't respect you. Now in many of the cases we keep complaining that rest of the country, they don't know North-East India. That's a general complaint which I keep hearing most of the time. But at the same time we can't blame anybody. Simply because this country is not actually in strict sense, not that boundary covered country…We are proudly celebrating our freedom being Indian. Yet we strive with our identity for own purposes…Sometime I feel that in Northeastern region we are too much engrossed with our fight for or our struggle for our identity…If somebody is not able to understand us, it may be the case, I am not able to tell my own story.

If you can express yourself, if you can tell your stories in correct perspective, if you are vocal enough, you wouldn't be hurt. If you are not able to explain yourself and put across your thoughts to the people, nobody will understand you. So knowing the case, it is up to the person, up to the self how to expose yourself. That is why there is no reason for any of my brothers and sisters from Northeastern region to belittle ourselves. We must be completely confident…Don't feel far away…We must celebrate our identity, at the same time we must be proud Indian…But on our own part, let us ensure that we are not exposed to wrong thing. Let us not find any young Naga brothers and sisters or anybody from Northeast subject to any criticism. (To be contd)

We should not, you know, expose ourselves so as to become subject of, you know, discussion amongst the people with related to our character, with regard to our conduct. We must be firm, we must be respectful. People will respect us, if we are worth. Nobody respects anybody who doesn't deserve the respect."

The speech of the Chief Guest who is a Union Minister of State for Home Affairs in Government of India is discouraging. Interestingly, the Minister did not speak of the acts of the attackers. He rather emphasised on the attitudes and behaviour of the people from the North-East region. The North-East people or the students do not need to get themselves exposed to be known or accepted as Indians. We are already Indians! Are we Indians? If we are Indians why do we need special or extra efforts to convince or tell our stories to others that we are Indians? It is the attitudes of the attackers that need reorientation.

It is not the fault of the victims of racism that needs check and balance. Inability to speak Kannada or Hindi does not amount to disrespect for Indian nationalism or Indian languages. The dressing style of North-East girls wearing jeans, shorts and sleeveless shirts is not "to become subject of…discussion amongst the people with related to [their] character, with regard to [their] conduct." The Minister also needs to respond why the people from the North-East region do not deserve respect as they are not respected in Indian cities.

With his unmatched oratory skill our Prime Minister threw open a new perspective on economic prospects in the North-East region when he coined Natural Economic Zone (NEZ) moving away from the conventional Special Economic Zone (SEZ). It is both gratifying and worrying to hear the newly coined term. It is gratifying as it promises development of the region by exploiting the dormant resources. It is worrying because the inevitable impacts of development in the form of displacement and marginalisation await the people of the region.

This displacement and marginalisation will increase the number of North-East people who migrate to other parts of Indian cities. Increase in instances of exploitation, discrimination and violence cannot be ruled out seeing the current trend of discrimination and violence faced by them. We can only hope that Natural Economic Zone is created with the essence of Nature being conserved and do not become Special Exploitative Zone for industrialists, militants and politicians.

The Indian politicians need to tread cautiously on the path of development of North-East region. Development in this region is entangled with the question of national identity of the people of this region. The wave of development which is gradually gathering its momentum must not be allowed to wash away the people from the region to Indian cities where their identity and means of livelihood are exposed to perpetual discrimination and attack. With growing voices across North-East ethnic groups, students' organisations and even armed groups against racist attacks in Indian cities the pace of development in the region needs to consider the attitudes of some Indians who do not accept the North-East people or the Indians with Mongoloid features as Indians.