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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So why change it.?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>RB</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=jaipurschool@yahoo.com href="mailto:jaipurschool@yahoo.com">umesh
sharma</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=barua25@hotmail.com
href="mailto:barua25@hotmail.com">Barua25</A> ; <A title=assamrs@gmail.com
href="mailto:assamrs@gmail.com">Ram Sarangapani</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=baruah@bard.edu
href="mailto:baruah@bard.edu">baruah@bard.edu</A> ; <A
title=assam@assamnet.org
href="mailto:assam@assamnet.org">assam@assamnet.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, March 04, 2006 12:34
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Assam] A new politics of
race: India and its Northeast</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Whats in a name -- India or Bharat or Hindustan --or for that matter
Assam or Asom or Oxom?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Umesh<BR><BR><B><I>Barua25 <<A
href="mailto:barua25@hotmail.com">barua25@hotmail.com</A>></I></B>
wrote:</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2>>Didn't Assamese also
originate from Sanskrit?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000080><FONT face=Georgia size=2>No. This is the common
ignorance. Sanaskrit is a dead languiage. A dead language cannot have
any child. Assamese is a language like Pali with its own separate sound
system which is quite different than the Sanaskrit. Assamese donot have the
cerebrals, and Assamese has retained, unlike Sanaksrit, the X sound which
was there in pre vedic language. </FONT><FONT face=Georgia size=2>In fact it
only in the modern times that Assamese language has been diluted by
Sankrstisation.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>etc etc</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>RB</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=assamrs@gmail.com href="mailto:assamrs@gmail.com">Ram
Sarangapani</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=barua25@hotmail.com
href="mailto:barua25@hotmail.com">Barua25</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=cmahanta@charter.net
href="mailto:cmahanta@charter.net">Chan Mahanta</A> ; <A
title=malabikabrahma@yahoo.co.uk
href="mailto:malabikabrahma@yahoo.co.uk">Malabika Brahma</A> ; <A
title=assam@assamnet.org
href="mailto:assam@assamnet.org">assam@assamnet.org</A> ; <A
title=baruah@bard.edu href="mailto:baruah@bard.edu">baruah@bard.edu</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, March 04, 2006 9:01
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Assam] A new politics
of race: India and its Northeast</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Dear Barua,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#3333ff size=1>>Please use some common
sense</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2>I will try :)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#3333ff size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#3333ff size=1>>Mind it, Assam is the
second state who is tryintg to do that. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="" color=#333333 size=2>I think Assam is the 3rd
<STRONG>state</STRONG>. Madras state changed to Tamil Nadu, Mysore state
to Karnataka.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#3333ff size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#3333ff size=1>>But the Assamese caste
Hindus will have to do it to show to their Indian >brothers
that we are Indians and we can take a Sanskritised name</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2>First, Assamese being
Indians, I do not see the problem of them "behaving" like other
Indians.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2>Second,
Sanskritization is very common in Assamese and few Assamese see the
difference. Didn't Assamese also originate from Sanskrit?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>"<FONT color=#3333ff size=1>Through the Assamese literature of last
one thousand years also that <FONT color=#660000>Indian spirit</FONT> has
been flowing without break. From <FONT color=#333333>Sankaradeva
</FONT>onward the poets of different ages have been <FONT
color=#333333>singing the glory of India</FONT>. <FONT
color=#333333>Madhavadeva</FONT> sings.</FONT><EM> "</EM>
<DIV><FONT color=#3333ff size=1><EM>Dhanya Dhanya Kalikal Dhanya Naratanu
Bhal<BR>Dhanya Dhanya Bharatvarisha<BR>Kaliyuga is to be praised, human
life is to be praised <BR>and Bharatavarsha is to be
praised.<BR>(<FONT color=#333333> Dr. Nagen Saikia, President of Assam
Sahitya Sabha delivered this speech in a seminar on Assamese Literature at
IIC in Delhi)</FONT></EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#333333 size=2>So, the question is why only caste Hindus
are being singled out?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#333333 size=2>While, I do agree with you that the name
change to Asom is NOT in the right direction, I think the reasons you cite
are not correct.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#333333 size=2>They probably changed the name to Asom -
becuase they don't agree with the "X" to begin with. This has very little
to do with following or bending backward to please "India" (I think).
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#333333 size=1></FONT> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#3333ff size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#333333 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#3333ff size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 3/3/06, <B
class=gmail_sendername>Barua25</B> <<A
href="mailto:barua25@hotmail.com">barua25@hotmail.com</A>>
wrote:</SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>R/-</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>Please use some common
sense.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>Although we all are
Indians, we all have our regional local cultural identity in dress,
language, food and everything. Karnataka, Rajsthani, Bengali, Assamese
and all others. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>In case of Assamese, we are
trying to dilute our cultural identity by trying to bend over back and
be one with pan India.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>Let us take the case of
changing the name Assam to a Sanskritsed name ASOM. Mind it, Assam is
the second state who is tryintg to do that. West Bengal is not changing
its name, nor is India changing its name to Hindustan. But the
Assamese caste Hindus will have to do it to show to their Indian
brothers that we are Indians and we can take a Sanskritised name.
Mind it they are doing it against the opposition of the Tai Ahoms in
Assam. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>This is culrural case #
1:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>Do you see any other reason
why Chandra Prasad Saikia is suggesting the name change to
ASOM?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>I have couple of other
cultural cases.</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN class=sg>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=2>RB</FONT></DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN class=q>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial"><B>From:</B> <A
title=assamrs@gmail.com
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:assamrs@gmail.com" target=_blank>Ram Sarangapani</A>
</DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN class=e id=q_109c36add882f1ab_4>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=barua25@hotmail.com
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:barua25@hotmail.com" target=_blank>Rajen Barua</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=cmahanta@charter.net
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:cmahanta@charter.net" target=_blank>Chan Mahanta</A> ; <A
title=malabikabrahma@yahoo.co.uk
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:malabikabrahma@yahoo.co.uk" target=_blank>Malabika
Brahma</A> ; <A title=assam@assamnet.org
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:assam@assamnet.org" target=_blank>assam@assamnet.org</A> ;
<A title=baruah@bard.edu
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:baruah@bard.edu" target=_blank>baruah@bard.edu</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, March 03, 2006 1:26
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Assam] A new politics
of race: India and its Northeast</DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV>Barua,</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1><FONT color=#000099><FONT face=Georgia>>The ethnic
Hindu Assamese must stop this trend of trying to litikai with their
>big brother Indians alienating themselves from the rest of the North
Easterns. >There is no point blaming the rest of Indians. First let
us blame the ethnich >Hindu Assamese who are bending over backwards
to be an Indian </FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000099 size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=+0><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2>What does it
mean Assamese bending... to be an Indian?</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2>The last time I checked,
Assamese were still Indians. i believe they still are. So, the
question of imitating Indians does not arise.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2>And why are the 'rest of
the Indians' referred to as big brother? Is it possible that the Gov't
of Maharastra (or people) has a power or control over GOA or its people?
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#333333 size=2>If your answer is just
Delhi and GOI, then do the rest of the states also consider Delhi
as the big brother or is it just the NE states that do
that?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1><FONT color=#000099><FONT face="" color=#333333
size=2></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1><FONT color=#000099><FONT face="" color=#333333
size=2>Lastly, are only the ethinic Hindus who alienate the tribal and
regional groups. What about the tribal and regional groups themselves?
Are they trying very hard to assimilate with the ethinic Hindus in
Assam. </FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1><FONT color=#000099><FONT color=#333333 size=2>Just
questions.</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1><FONT color=#000099><FONT color=#333333
size=2></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1><FONT color=#000099><FONT color=#333333
size=2>--Ram</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 3/3/06, <B class=gmail_sendername>Rajen
Barua</B> <<A onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:barua25@hotmail.com" target=_blank>barua25@hotmail.com</A>
> wrote:</SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>I think the root of the
problem is the so called ethnic Hindu Assamese in the North East who
would like to stamp the rest of NE as Ahomtw, Nogatw, Garotw,
Khiasiatw, Miritw etc. </FONT><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=2>We simply cannot tell that the rest of India is the
enemy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>Today these ethnic
Assamese are alienating themselves more and more from the tribal and
regional groups by trying to be more an Indian than and North
Eastern. The recent name change to a Snakrtised name ASOM as
opposed to OXOM by ethnic Hindu Assamese like Chandra Prasad Saikia is
a case in point. I was told by the President of Tai Ahom Xahitya Xabha
that they oppose the change of from ASSAM to ASOM exactly on
this ground. The name Assam, according to him, is a secular name which
represent all the people of Assam. According to him, the name
ASOM will represent only the ethnic Hindu Assamese who are India lover
Sanskrit lover Hindu Assamese. That name does not represent the Tai
Ahoms. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>The ethnic Hindu Assamese
must stop this trend of trying to litikai with their big brother
Indians alienating themselves from the rest of the North Easterns.
There is no point blaming the rest of Indians. First let us blame the
ethnich Hindu Assamese who are bending over backwards to be an Indian.
I hope Baruah understand this. We simply cannot win the Nagas
trying to say that India is our common enemy. Nagas and all the rest
of NE see it very clearly what exactly is happening. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=2>We must see things in
right reality.</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=2>RB</FONT></DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial"><B>From:</B> <A
title=assamrs@gmail.com
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:assamrs@gmail.com" target=_blank>Ram Sarangapani</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=cmahanta@charter.net
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:cmahanta@charter.net" target=_blank>Chan Mahanta</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A
title=barua25@hotmail.com
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:barua25@hotmail.com" target=_blank>Rajen Barua</A> ; <A
title=malabikabrahma@yahoo.co.uk
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:malabikabrahma@yahoo.co.uk" target=_blank>Malabika
Brahma</A> ; <A title=assam@assamnet.org
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:assam@assamnet.org"
target=_blank>assam@assamnet.org</A> ; <A title=baruah@bard.edu
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:baruah@bard.edu" target=_blank>baruah@bard.edu</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, March 03, 2006
11:46 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Assam] A new
politics of race: India and its Northeast</DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<DIV><FONT color=#000099 size=1>>*** I don't see this as Baruah's
recommendation for removing Indians' prejudices >and ignorance,
but as EMPOWERING the people of the region. Such >empowerment
would lead to:</FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=1><BR><FONT color=#000099></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000099
size=1>> * Their
ability to stand up to Indians' prejudicial attitudes.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000099
size=1>> * Those who
are exposed to an empowered people would begin to
discard</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000099
size=1>> their own
prejudices.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000099
size=1>> * Empowered
people can deal with others' bigotries better.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000099 size=1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#333333 size=2>One question, why does Baruah need
to empower the NE people by using prejudice as a crutch? Is that all
thats left? In any event, his whole write-up was based on Indian
Prejudices and how the simple people of the NE are on the receiving
end of the entire country. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000099 size=1></FONT> </DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN>
<DIV><BR> </DIV></SPAN></DIV><BR><BR>
<DIV><SPAN class=gmail_quote>On 3/3/06, <B
class=gmail_sendername>Chan Mahanta</B> <<A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:cmahanta@charter.net"
target=_blank>cmahanta@charter.net </A>> wrote:</SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote
style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=-1>Two comments:</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080 size=-1>1) First this type
of of 'ethnic stereotyping' is quite typical of any country I
would say. Couple of years ago, I read a report how a Senator from
Hawaii who happens to be ethnic Japanese were harrased and checked
by Security personal till the Senator produced his Passport etc.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<DIV>*** I didn't read that Baruah indicated it to be unique to
Indians. But just because others do it, does not make it either
right or dilutes its corrosive effects. It has to be looked at in
the contexts of what is going on in the region and the corrosive
Indian policies that have been instrumental to v creating those
conditions. </DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=-1>2) So let us face it. North East has been the subject
of 'ethnic sterotypiing' by the rest of Indians. That is a
fact. The question what the North eastern should do? That should
be the question and that should be the discussion. I
failed to see how the suggestions made by Baruah will
solve the real problem for which a Naga student had to feel half
Indian in Pune? Any suiggestions from any quarters?
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><BR><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<DIV>**** WHY is it the responsibility of the Naga student to DO
SOMETHING about it?</DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV>Have plastic surgery?</DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV>Let himself be treated that way? Grin and bear it?</DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV>Get the heck-out of Pune'?</DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV> >-- opening up the region on the east and the north,
and encouraging close >cross-border interaction -- can
slowly change perceptions. The region seen as >a gateway
to a friendly transnational neighbourhood will evoke very
different >emotions than those of a frontier or an "enemy
territory" -- </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<DIV>*** I don't see this as Baruah's recommendation for removing
Indians' prejudices and ignorance, but as EMPOWERING the people of
the region. Such empowerment would lead to:</DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV> * Their ability to
stand up to Indians' prejudicial attitudes.</DIV>
<DIV> * Those who are
exposed to an empowered people would begin to discard</DIV>
<DIV> their own
prejudices.</DIV>
<DIV> * Empowered people
can deal with others' bigotries better.</DIV></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV><BR> </DIV>
<DIV>At 11:10 AM -0600 3/3/06, Rajen Barua wrote:</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=-1>Two comments:</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=-1>1) First this type of of 'ethnic stereotyping' is
quite typical of any country I would say. Couple of years ago, I
read a report how a Senator from Hawaii who happens to be ethnic
Japanese were harrased and checked by Security personal till the
Senator produced his Passport etc. </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=-1>2) So let us face it. North East has been the subject
of 'ethnic sterotypiing' by the rest of Indians. That is a
fact. The question what the North eastern should do? That should
be the question and that should be the discussion. I
failed to see how the suggestions made by Baruah will
solve the real problem for which a Naga student had to feel half
Indian in Pune? Any suiggestions from any quarters?
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> </BLOCKQUOTE></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN><FONT face=Georgia color=#000080
size=-1>RB</FONT><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE>----- Original Message -----</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><B>From:</B> <A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:malabikabrahma@yahoo.co.uk" target=_blank>Malabika
Brahma</A></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><B>To:</B> <A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:cmahanta@charter.net" target=_blank>Chan
Mahanta</A> ; <A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:assam@assamnet.org"
target=_blank>assam@assamnet.org</A></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><B>Cc:</B> <A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:baruah@bard.edu"
target=_blank>baruah@bard.edu</A></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><B>Sent:</B> Friday, March 03, 2006 10:39
AM</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Assam] A new politics of race:
India and its Northeast</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>Interesting article.</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE> </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>Once I was a guest at my cousins place at an Indian
Navy base where he was the Commander ( INS Shivaji at Lonawala
to be precise). I had stepped out and while on the way
back was stopped by the sentry. When I told him where I was
headed to and that I was a guest of their Commander. After he
checked the papers and records, he mentioned to another " Yeh
Chini Commander Ka Mehmaan Hein' ( He is a guest of the Chinese
Commander) </BLOCKQUOTE></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
<BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN><BR><BR><I><B>Chan Mahanta
<</B></I><A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:cmahanta@charter.net"
target=_blank><I><B>cmahanta@charter.net</B>
</I></A><I><B>></B></I> wrote:<BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr">
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<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr"><SPAN>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>Dear Netters:</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>The following is a very interesting and enlightening
article by Sanjib Baruah. He was hesitant to post it to assamnet
because of its length. But I felt it something we cannot afford
to miss.So here it comes.</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>The emphasis on<B> bell hooks'</B> name is mine, so
people don't miss it. I did.</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>cm</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>IIC Quarterly (New Delhi: India International
Centre)<BR>Vol. 32 (2& 3) Winter, 2005) pp.
165-76</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>A new politics of race: India and its
Northeast<BR>Sanjib Baruah<BR>There was a time when peoples of
Northeast India were described as belonging to the Mongoloid
race. Today Mongoloid and other racial categories such as
Negroid or Caucasoid -- and indeed, the very idea of race as a
biological category -- have no standing in scientific circles.
For there is more diversity of gene types within what was once
thought of as a single 'race' than between 'races.' <BR><BR>But
while race may no longer be accepted as a scientific category,
it does not mean that human beings would stop making
distinctions based on stereotypical phenotypes or skin colour.
Arunachalis, Assamese, Garos, Khasis, Manipuris, Mizos, Nagas
and Tripuris may indeed have some phenotypical similarities
related to genetics. Thus one may be able to say that someone is
from Northeast India based on looks, though he or she may not
always get it right. For "human populations . . possess a wide
genetic potential which increases in variation through chance
mutations or new generic combinations in each generation. . . .
Completely stabilized breeding isolates. . are exceedingly
rare" (Bowles 1977, cited in Keyes, 2002: 1166). And
of course, most of us realise that what we think of as the
'Northeastern looks' are not unique to peoples from the
region. For instance, peoples from the western Himalayas
-- those from Nepal or the Uttaranchal -- might share features
similar to those found among peoples in the eastern
Himalayas. <BR><BR>Race as a social category is the
product of practices. There are visual regimes of labeling, and
individuals encountering those labels from childhood may
internalise characteristics associated with those labels and
learn to adapt to the socially constructed racial order.
<BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>African American intellectuals have long recognised
the role of visuality in the politics of race. The writer<B>
bell hooks</B> -- even her way of writing her name without
capital letters is an intervention in the regime of visuality --
describes her project as one of 'resisting representation' and
of constructing an 'oppositional gaze.' "We experience our
collective crisis as African-American people," she writes,
"within the realm of the image" (hooks, 1992). The project
of black liberation, for her, is thus a battle over images.
<BR>The Indian image of the troubled Northeast is increasingly
mediated by a visual regime constructed by popular films,
television, pictures in magazines and newspapers, and limited
contacts with people from the region. Thanks to improved
communications, Indians today are quite mobile, and
Northeasterners travel to other parts of the country more than
ever before. There are a large number of students from the
region in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and other
cities. They are now a 'visible minority' in a number of
university campuses. A disturbingly large number of them
tell stories about their experiences of being racially labeled
as 'Chapta' (flat nosed), 'Oriental' or 'Chinky'. <BR>A
large number of Northeast Indian young women are employed in
upscale restaurants and shops in Delhi - their 'Oriental' looks
and English language skills being considered desirable for those
positions. Many of them live in ethnic ghettos, for
instance, renting rooms and apartments in 'lal dora' areas: the
urban villages of Delhi. Apart from rents being affordable, they
feel physically safer than in upscale neighbourhoods. Compared
to landlords in elite neighbourhoods, these landlords of more
modest means are tolerant of Northeast Indian eating habits --
fermented dry fish, beef chutney and pork -- and less inclined
to impose restrictions on the lifestyles of their tenants.
However, racially marked niches in the labour market or in
settlement patterns have the danger of reinforcing racial
thinking. Incidents of violence against Northeast Indian women
in the country's capital may partly reflect the racialisation of
the divide between the mainland and the Northeast. </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>While many Northeasterners travel to the mainland,
thousands of Indian soldiers and members of the various
paramilitary organisations make the reverse journey to the
region to fight external threats as well as on
counter-insurgency duties. In the streets and paddy fields
of the region security forces stop and interrogate
Northeasterners every day. The soldier himself faces an
unenviable situation: the most peaceful of surroundings can
quickly turn hostile and he has to be alert against possible
offensives by militants. Some sort of racial profiling
becomes inevitable under these conditions, especially since we
have no laws prohibiting it. As Indian soldiers return
home, their stories of 'treacherous' rebels hiding behind bamboo
groves and jungles spread through friends and relatives. The
shared visual regime provides ways of putting those stories and
faces together. <BR>Northeast India's fractured relation with
the mainland has been described as a cultural gap, an economic
gap, a psychological gap and an emotional gap. The shared visual
regime now carries the danger of this fault-line becoming
racialised. <BR>II<BR>Mani Ratnam's film of 1998 Dil Se is a
love story between a woman militant from the Northeast and an
All India Radio journalist. The male protagonist Amar, played by
Shah Rukh Khan, travels to the Northeast to speak to fellow
citizens for a radio programme to celebrate the fiftieth
anniversary of India's independence. He develops a
relationship with a local woman Meghna, played by the
Nepalese-born Manisha Koirala. <BR>If Bollywood gossip is to be
believed, Manisha Koirala was chosen for the role partly because
of her 'small eyes.' Director Mani Ratnam, according to
Aishwarya Rai, "definitely wanted a small-eyed girl in Dil Se.
She had to have that kind of physical features as she was
supposed to be from Assam" (Rai, 2000). The caste of Dil
Se also included a number of Assamese actors, among them
filmmaker Gautam Bora, who played the role of the chief of a
militant group. <BR>The film's story unfolds between the
fiftieth anniversary in of Indian independence on August 15th
1997 and the Republic Day on January 26th. While All India
Radio reporter Amar embodies the Indian nation, Meghna
represents the horrors of life in the Northeast torn apart by
insurgencies and counter-insurgency operations. Amar
defends the nation against rebels bent on tearing it apart.
<BR>The Northeast of Dil Se is a dangerous place where women are
raped and families are destroyed. Life in Delhi could not be
more different: the film portrays it as a middle class city
where tranquil family life and traditional family values
prevail. Meghna in the nation's capital is a danger to
both nation and family. She is on a suicide mission to
blow herself up at the Republic day parade. As a guest at
Amar's home she is an awkward presence at a time when the family
prepares for his arranged marriage. "Had it not been for
the army, the nation would have been torn to shreds," says Amar
to Meghna. It is "your nation, not mine," says Meghna in
defiance. <BR>III<BR>Am I making too much out of a film?
Perhaps. But what if we are beginning to look at people from the
Northeast through the prism of a visual regime exemplified by
films like Dil Se? What if after nearly half a century of
counter-insurgency, the counter-insurgent gaze is framing our
way of seeing peoples from the Northeast? <BR>Films like
Dil Se and pictures in newspapers and magazines enable people to
put together a mental picture of the Northeast and its
people. The gaze of the Indian army patrol, reinforced by
films like Dil Se, gives meaning to what is fast becoming a
racial divide. <BR>There are signs that we are slowly beginning
to recognise this new politics of race, though we seem to be as
yet unsure whether to use the 'r' word. A Manipuri
journalist wrote in a national daily that, "physically the
people of the North-east are closer to Southeast Asia and
China." However, "this racial divide," he said, is not
appreciated "in a sensitive manner" (Singh, 2004). The
journalist told me that the 'r' word was edited out at one place
in the printed version. He had actually written, "racially the
people of the Northeast are closer to South-east Asia and
China." Apparently the editors substituted the term 'physical'
for 'racial.' However, his second usage of the 'r' word --
in racial divide - remained in the published text. </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>Let me turn to a small sample of writings by
Northeasterners who have been students in mainland India,
recalling their experience of being seen as different and
encountering racial labels. "I did my schooling in a
boarding school in India," recalls a Manipuri living in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia. He was the only student from the Northeast in
that school. He posted the following on an email
discussion group: <BR>Being the only minority I was subjected to
many racist comments . . . The one that I still remember clearly
was my being called "Chapta" (flat nose - for those fortunate
ones that never heard the term) by my Hindi teacher. The word
"chinki" . . . is peddled around with not even a little thought
of whether the term could offend someone, by even my closest
friends. I came in contact with some Mayangs (the Manipuri term
for other Indians) here and it shocked me that despite my being
there amongst them they refer to the other Asians as chaptas
still with no consideration that I could find it offensive. Even
on my bringing up the issue they just laughed it off saying they
saw nothing offensive in it. So I have now resorted to referring
them as "Pakis" and that really seems to anger them. For those
who don't know about it, "Pakis" is a racist term used in
Britain to refer to people with the sub continent features
(Pakistan, Indian, Srilankan etc.) So the next time you hear any
mayang using the word chinki or chapta, call them a "Paki". I
think once this word gets common usage as a term to refer to
them by all the people of the north east they will finally
realize what it is like to be referred by a racist term (Manipur
Diaspora, 2004; cited in Ray 2005). <BR>In Kuala Lumpur,
he wrote, because of his features he had a hard time convincing
people that he was an Indian. He got tired of explaining that he
was from India since he "didn't look like the Indians they
knew." On the other hand, he said, he was "able to melt
into the crowd and it was easier making friends with the Chinese
and Malays" (Manipur Diaspora, 2004; cited in Ray 2005).
<BR><BR>At a seminar in Pune a Naga student joked that after
coming to Pune he became "half Naga, and half Indian", while he
was "a complete Indian" before. He elaborated that in Pune,
shopkeepers, doctors, teachers and government officials,
everybody treated him as Japanese or Chinese because of his
features. He was asked to show his passport when applying for
admission to college (cited in Das, 2004). While doing
fieldwork in Manipur, anthropologist Sohini Ray asked a young
student about his first visit to Mumbai. He told her that "the
first thing he and his companions found difficult was that every
other person asked them where they were from, and stared at
them." When they said Manipur, people asked where it was and if
it was really in India. To avoid such uncomfortable encounters
after a few days they started saying that they were from
Thailand, because "it was more convenient" (cited in Ray, 2005).
<BR><BR>An Assamese woman describes her first year as a student
in Delhi University (1996-97), as follows: "I didn't look
'Oriental' - the politically correct term they'd devised in lieu
of the derogatory sounding 'chinky'. So I didn't have to face
some of the stupider questions. My friend from Mizoram was asked
if she needed a passport to come to India." The 'Oriental'
looking among us," did not have to go through hazing, she
recalled since "Indians are always nice to foreigners" (Goswami,
2004). <BR><BR>IV<BR><BR>The emergence of a racial label to
include all 'indigenous' Northeasterners fits nicely with the
category 'the Northeast' that since 1971, in the words of a
retired senior civil servant who played a key role in designing
this political order, has "emerged as a significant
administrative concept . . . replacing the hitherto more
familiar unit of public imagination, Assam" (Singh, 1987a:
8). In 1971 a number of the new states were created
(though not all of them were states at the beginning), and
another piece of legislation gave birth to the North Eastern
Council (NEC). These two laws were 'twins born out of a
new vision for the Northeast' (Singh, 1987a: 117). </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Unlike the distinction between tribal and
non-tribal that is an important part of our vocabulary in
discussing the Northeast, the racial label has the advantage of
including all those who belong to the troubled region, and, is
perceived as being connected to the troubles. For
instance, a majority of the plains people of Manipur and Assam
are not "tribal" which, after all, is an arbitrary governmental
category. However, the Assamese and Manipuri insurgencies are
among the most potent in the region. Thus the distinction
between tribal and non-tribal is not very useful when it comes
to discussing insurgent Northeast India. Since tribal and
non-tribal Northeasterners share certain stereotypical
phenotypes in common, the racial label has become more
functional. <BR><BR>The racial label incorporates meanings that
predate the era of insurgency and counter-insurgency.
Willem van Schendel, writing mainly with Bangladesh and the
Chittagong Hill Tracts in mind, comments on the "remarkably
stagnant view of the hill people" that has prevailed in South
Asia. The classic nineteenth century Western assumptions
about social evolution from a state of savagery to civilisation
were superimposed on the ancient South Asian distinction between
civilised society and nature. The later distinction, indicated
in the categories grama (village) and aranya
(forest), implies a relationship that is complementary but
always unequal. These two traditions, writes van Schendel,
combined to generate a dominant view that considers the tribal
peoples as remnants of some "hoary past who have preserved their
culture unchanged from time immemorial. Backward and childlike,
they need to be protected, educated and disciplined by those who
are more advanced socially" (van Schendel, 1995: 128). The
visual label of race that transcends the colonial categories of
tribal and non-tribal and reaches out to pre-colonial categories
such as the Kirata people -- used to describe the people of the
periphery - may now give a new lease of life some old Indian
prejudices. <BR><BR>Responsible Indian officials have from time
to time used the metaphor of children to describe the peoples of
Northeast India. In February 2004 the Mizoram Governor
A.R. Kohli described the entire region as a spoilt child.
Contrary to the charge that the Northeast is "the most neglected
region," he said it is "in fact, the most spoilt child in the
country." The central government, he said, "showers funds and
other goodies" liberally on the region. But the funds are not
properly utilized or they do not reach the intended
beneficiaries. A news report paraphrased the Governor as
comparing the region "to a petulant child who is showered with
goodies but does not know what to do with them" (Telegraph
2004). <BR><BR>Such sentiments are also found in the
language used by B.P. Singh - the former civil servant who
played a key role in the creating the Northeast as an
administrative category. In an article published in 1987, he
concluded: <BR><BR>There is no tangible threat to the
national integration ethos in the region despite the operation
of certain disgruntled elements within the region and outside
the country. But in the context of a history of limited
socialization and ethnic conflicts, and rapid modernization
after 1947 the unruly class-room scenario is likely to continue
in the region for years to come (Singh, 1987b: 281-82).
<BR><BR> "Unruly class-room" is a telling metaphor.
In the Northeast, Singh seems to imply, what is needed is a
paternalistic and disciplinarian teacher - someone who knows
what is good for children and, occasionally uses the stick for
their own good, the role that he probably sees the coercive
apparatus of the Indian state playing in the region.
<BR><BR>These passages smack of attitudes and habits of mind
that long predate the politics of counter-insurgency. But
while these prejudices are old, they have acquired new meaning
in the context of India's failed policies in the Northeast.
While Singh's metaphor of an "unruly class-room" rationalises
the coercive response to insurgency, Kohli's description of the
region as a "spoilt child" expresses the frustration with the
failures of a policy of nation-building through corruption or
what Jairam Ramesh calls "using corruption as a mode of
cohesion" (Ramesh, 2005: 18). </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>V<BR>What are the some of the consequences of the
racialisation of the divide between India and its
Northeast? <BR>1, Motivation for militancy: According to
Manipuri intellectual and politician Gangmumei Kamei, a major
motivation for joining insurgent groups in Manipur is the social
discrimination that young Manipuris face in different parts of
India because of their appearance (cited in Ray 2005).
Race has been a factor in the Meitei religious revival movement
of the 1940s as well. Some revivalists converted to the newly
formed faith "only after returning from pilgrimages to Mathura
and Brindavan, where their Southeast Asian features raised
curiosity and animosity among the local population." The racial
divide, according to anthropologist Sohini Ray, is central to
understanding the Meitei urge for constructing an alternative
history. A constituency for an alternative geneology
emerged when "the whole idea of sharing a common ancestry with
the people who are hostile to them for their looks" became
unacceptable (Ray 2005). <BR>2. Perpetuating a divide:
While official narratives about counter-insurgency view each
Northeastern insurgency as distinct; the racial label disrupts
this narrative. As a result the differences between
political conditions in different parts of the Northeast have no
effect on popular perceptions about the 'disturbed' region,
since racial thinking do not allow for such distinctions. For
instance, the Mizo insurgency that ended with a peace accord in
1986 is usually portrayed as a success story. Yet that
does not mean that Mizo relations with mainland India are any
different from that with other parts of the Northeast.
Even today Mizos such as Laltluangliana Khiangte complain about
mainstream India not understanding their culture and traditions,
and about Mizos being mistaken as South-east Asian tourists in
the national capital (cited in Singh, 2004). After nearly two
decades of a peaceful Mizoram, as Manipuri journalist Khogen
Singh puts it, Mizos "still don't feel fully at home outside the
North-east" (Singh, 2004). <BR>3. Hijacking of
counter-insurgency: There is evidence that the racial divide
sometimes subverts counter-insurgency operations and they get
hijacked for other purposes. For instance, it was reported that
in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam, Indian security forces,
ostensibly there to deal with the security threat posed by
insurgencies, became partisans in local land conflicts between
tribal Karbi and Hindi-speaking settlers. The settlers
whom Karbis refer to as Biharis had over time acquired informal
control over what is formally designated as public lands and had
consolidated a "considerable amount of economic and political
power." They now seek formal change in the status of those
lands and formal land titles (MASS 2002, 11-13). In Karbi
Anglong's ethnic configuration and the growth of insurgency, the
loss of land by Karbis to "Biharis" is a factor. Many Karbi
young people have come under the influence of the United
People's Democratic Solidarity (UPDS). But in local armed
land conflicts, because of racial solidarity, "Bihari" settlers
have occasionally secured the informal backing of Indian
security personnel stationed in the area to fight the UPDS
(MASS, 2002: 21). <BR>4. Facilitating militarisation: The racial
divide facilitates the relentless militarisation of the
region. Consider for instance, the recommendation to
strengthen Indian military presence in Manipur made by E.N.
Rammohan -- a senior Indian police official, who was Advisor to
the Governor of Manipur. In order to stop the penetration
of the government departments by militants, Rammohan recommended
that battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
should guard all government offices and the residential
neighborhoods housing central and state government officials in
the state. Furthermore, he recommended that ten battalions
of the Central Para-Military Force (CPMF) be deployed in the
Manipur Valley in a "counter-insurgency grid", and six to eight
battalions be deployed in each hills district, where roads are
few, with "helicopter support to effectively dominate them"
(Rammohan, 2002: 15). Were it not for the racial fault-line it
is unlikely that such policy options would have been seriously
considered. </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE><BR>5. Legitimisation of corruption: The leakage of
funds allocated for Northeast India's development can be best
described as insurgency dividend. The figures are
staggering. Jairam Ramesh estimates that the annual expenditure
of the Government of India on the eight states of Northeast
India, including Sikkim, is about 30, 000 crores a year. With
the region's population at about 32 million, he estimates that
the Government annually spends about 10,000 rupees per person in
the Northeast. This money is not going for development. In
Ramesh's words, it is going to <BR><BR>ensure cohesiveness
of this society with the rest of India through a series of
interlocutors who happen to be politicians, expatriate
contractors, extortionists, anybody but people working to
deliver benefits to the people for whom these expenditures are
intended. <BR><BR>A surer way of improving the economic
conditions of the intended beneficiaries, he suggests, might be
for the Indian government to open bank accounts and deposit an
annual cheque of Rs. 10,000 for every poor family in the
Northeast (Ramesh, 2005: 18-19). <BR><BR>The racial divide
facilitates the sharing of the insurgency dividend between local
political and bureaucratic elites and outside contractors and
suppliers. Not unlike western businessmen who justify
bribing politicians and bureaucrats in the Third World in terms
of local norms, the image of the Northeast and its people in
this new visual regime is that of a modern frontier where
corruption is just a part of the natural landscape. Even
the "chinky" students from the Northeast in Delhi, after all,
appear more "modern," "westernized" and affluent than many of
their mainland peers apparently confirming the
corruption-friendly image of the region. It is hardly surprising
that when it comes to doing business in the region 'make a fast
buck and run' appears to have become accepted practice.
Even today's much-lowered levels of inhibition and moral
compunctions do not apply to India's modern but wild Northeast
Frontier. <BR>VI<BR>Things did not have to turn out this way. As
an Arunachali minister once said at a meeting in Mumbai, "Why
can't you think that in a big country like ours a few people may
even look Chinese? Come to Arunachal Pradesh, he said, people in
areas bordering China will greet you by saying Jai Hind" (cited
in Das, 2004). <BR>In everyday conversations Northeasterners
resist mainland India's representation of the region. But
intellectuals, artists and activists will have to develop what
bell hooks calls an oppositional gaze. Khasi commentator
Patricia Mukhim believes that because of its geographical
location policy makers in Delhi think of the Northeast primarily
in terms of its "strategic importance." The region, she
suggests, is treated as "enemy territory, which needs to be
subdued by force." But "you cannot buy allegiance with
force," she warns and calls for 'an entirely new approach' to
the region (Mukhim, 2004). </BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>A new approach must start with the domain of
representation. Our policies have an impact on the way the
Northeast and its people are represented. For instance,
softening our international borders -- opening up the region on
the east and the north, and encouraging close cross-border
interaction -- can slowly change perceptions. The
region seen as a gateway to a friendly transnational
neighbourhood will evoke very different emotions than those of a
frontier or an "enemy territory" -- a danger zone where
foreign and domestic enemies conspire against the Indian nation.
Policies could transform the Southeast Asia within India into a
dynamic gateway to the Southeast Asia of world political maps.
This could be the foundation for a new social contract between
India and its Northeast. This could radically change what it
means to look Northeastern in India. The battle for the future
of Northeast India is also a battle over images.
<BR>References:<BR>Bowles, Gordon 1977. The People of Asia. New
York: Scribner.<BR><BR>Das, Arup Jyoti. 2004. "The
Half-Indians" (Unpublished essay)<BR>Goswami, Uddipana 2004
"Misrecognition" (Unpublished essay) <BR>hooks, bell 1992.
Black Looks: Race and Representation. Cambridge, MA: South End
Press</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE>Keyes, Charles 2002 "Presidential Address: "The
Peoples of Asia" - Science and Politics in the Classification of
Ethnic Groups in Thailand, China and Vietnam," Journal of Asian
Studies 61 (4) November, pp. 1163-1203. <BR><BR>Leshin,
Len 2003 "What's in a name The "Mongol" Debate," Down
Syndrome: Health Issues (website) <A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://www.ds-health.com/name.htm"
target=_blank>http://www.ds-health.com/name.htm</A> (Accessed
September 16th 2005)<BR>Manipur Diaspora. 2004. <A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="mailto:Manipur_Diaspora@yahoo-groups.com"
target=_blank>Manipur_Diaspora@yahoo-groups.com </A>Archives,
E-mail No. 367.<BR>MASS (Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti).
2002. And Quiet Flows the Kopili [A Fact-finding Report on
Human Rights Violation in the Karbi Anglong District of Assam]
Guwahati: Manab Adhikar Sangram Samiti. <BR>Mukhim,
Patricia. 2004. "Life under Martial Law," [Shillong
Notes]; The Telegraph (Guwahati edition) September
21.<BR><BR>Rai, Aishwarya. 2000. 'I've not come here looking for
fame,' Interview by Kanchana Suggu, <A
onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"
href="http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2000/mar/29ash.htm"
target=_blank>http://www.rediff.com/entertai/2000/mar/29ash.htm</A>
(Accessed September 16th 2005).<BR>Ramesh, Jairam 2005.
"Northeast India in a New Asia," Seminar (550) June, pp. 17-21.
<BR>Rammohan, E.N. 2002. "Manipur: A Degenerated Insurgency," in
K.P.S. Gill and Ajai Sahni (eds.), Faultlines. Vol. 11, New
Delhi: Bulwark Books and the Institute of Conflict Management:
1-15.<BR>Ray, Sohini. 2005. "Boundary blurred?
Folklore/Mythology, History and the Quest for an Alternative
Geneology in Northeast India" (Unpublished manuscript).
<BR>Singh, B.P. (1987a) The Problem of Change: A Study of
Northeast India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.<BR>Singh,
B.P.1987b. "North-East India: Demography, Culture and Identity
Crisis," Modern Asian Studies 21 (2): April: 257-82. <BR>Singh,
M. Khogen. 2004. "As Indian as You and I," Hindustan Times,
September 10th 2004.<BR>Telegraph 2004. "Governor Slaps
Spoilt-child Tag on Northeast," The Telegraph (Guwahati edition)
14 February. </BLOCKQUOTE>
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