Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
The great divide
|
The C-NES travelled to Bangalore to raise awareness about the North East, finding common cause with the sizeable student population from that region in the city
|
Jayanta Madhab makes a point at the workshop organized by the C-NES and the National Law School. - Photo: Murali Kumar K.
"LACK OF understanding?" Naphirisa Tesiree, a second-year Khasi student from Shillong, mulls over the question of whether Bangaloreans suffer from a lack of understanding about India's North East. "More like a major misconception," she decides. "The first reaction that most people here have about girls from the North East is that they are "fast". It's a totally generalised impression, which is sad." She points out how tribal customs or even the matrilineal system she has grown up with in Shillong are easily misconstrued in what she calls "mainland India" to be reflective of morality and value systems.
In order to bridge obvious and glaring gaps such as these between India and its seven North Eastern states, 98 per cent of whose borders are shared with other countries, the Centre for North East Studies (C-NES) has been conducting workshops across India over the last two years. Founded in 2000, based in New Delhi and Guwahati, the centre often travels to other cities, like this time, to initiate dialogue about the North East, share information and discuss the challenges ahead.
Facilitated by the National Law School of India, the two-day workshop held in Bangalore comprised a sharing of views by C-NES members Jayanta Madhab (Finance and Economic Adviser to the Assam Chief Minister) and Sanjoy Hazarika (journalist and author) and others, dwelling on the economics, politics, media coverage, and identity politics of the region.
In his book Strangers of the Mist, Hazarika observes of the region that "as the crow flies, it is closer to Hanoi than to New Delhi". As often pointed out during the workshop, this geographical distance contributes to a feeling of alienation from the Indian mainstream.
The workshop began by dwelling on the Act which has thrown the North East back into the media spotlight: the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), widely criticised for being draconian since it invests authority without accountability. But recent protests have shown that such measures only serve to further alienate the region. Dr. Madhab suggested that economic growth and infrastructural projects would lift the region out of its current state of importing even the most basic goods. Unfortunately, militancy makes investors wary unless large profits are guaranteed, and large profits are uncertain in times of such strife, placing the North East in a vicious circle.
But even while efforts are on to improve the region's economics, parallel initiatives need to be undertaken within civil society to destroy misconceptions and build understanding. National Law School student Cyril Darlong Diengdoh suggested that in cities such as Bangalore (where reports place the number of North East students at 25,000), young people could be instrumental in bridging these divides.
Although the North East is often referred to as though it were one contiguous region, "there's a tribal and non-tribal identity," says Cyril. "Then there's also a state identity and a larger North East identity which manifests itself when students come to `India' to study."
Naphirisa Tesiree says: "The impression that I get from people in Bangalore is that they are more interested in the North East as a place, and not so much in its people." Although she says she has never felt different from other students, this may be partly because she is Khasi and from Shillong. "Being Khasi makes me slightly different from people from other states," she explains. "Also in Shillong we have an open culture at home. The new generation is very Westernised, we speak English everywhere... in the shops, outside."
The strong regional identity of Mizos and Nagas could be why they often spend a lot of time together when "outside" such as in Bangalore. "I think an association of young people would help Bangaloreans know more about the North East but this shouldn't be comprised of only students from the region because that would stop the growth of the association," says Naphirisa.
Samuel Sawian, another student from Shillong ("it's in Meghalaya," he adds, wryly) says students from the North East don't necessarily form exclusive cliques. "It all depends on your background," he offers. "If you studied in a multicultural school — C.B.S.E. board — where there were students not just from your race, you become more open and comfortable with who you are." For instance, he has made "friends from everywhere" while studying in Bangalore.
There are two associations from different regions of the North East in Bangalore, he says, but what would really help in integrating students would be to make it compulsory for students to stay in the hostel where they necessarily meet and intermingle. When given the choice, many students stay with people from their home states, who they have known from before, thus maintaining a gap in cultures.
Students from the North East are agreed that knowledge about their states is low, and they are often treated somewhat differently. In a pub for instance, Samuel says, they are viewed with scepticism, there's always the worry that North Easterners might "cause trouble". But student efforts could cover some of the distance between the North East and India, and build on basic knowledge of the region.
HEMANGINI GUPTA
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
