For Northeast, Acts Of Protest Are Not Always A Matter Of Choice

On a balmy summer afternoon in 2004—it was July 15—a dozen mothers of Imphal stripped naked in front of a stunned world to protest the alleged rape and killing of a 32-year-old woman by security forces. ‘Indian Army Rape Us’, read one of the banners carried by the women who had staged the protest in front of the historic Kangla Fort, then the headquarters of the Assam Rifles. Even in a state like Manipur—and indeed, the entire Northeast—where civilian protests are almost daily affairs and multiple insurgencies keep the pot boiling, the 12 women had accomplished something incredible. A daring and powerful show of dissent.

For a region that has largely remained on the periphery of the nation’s imagination, understanding and priorities, acts of defiance by the people are not always a matter of choice but of necessity. Many people in the mainland India think protest is a way of life in the Northeast. But there is a method to the madness.

Immediately after independence, the Nagas under the leadership of Z.A. Phizo raised the banner of revolt against inclusion of Naga-inhabited areas in the Indian Union without consulting the Naga tribes. The moot point was that the Nagas were, till then, leading an almost independent existence under the British crown. They wanted to be left like that and not be forcibly made a part of India without their consent. That protest led to a long guerrilla war for independence that has not yet ended.

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The next significant civil protest was in Assam. People came out into the streets demanding recognition of Assamese as the sole official language in the state. The people in the Brahmaputra Valley rose as one but people in Barak Valley raised a counter-protest, demanding recognition of Bengali as official language there. Many lives were lost, properties destroyed and permanent damage was done to the trust and unity among the various ethnic and linguistic communities living in the then undivided Assam. Subsequently, this resulted in creation of separate states of Nagaland and Meghalaya out of Assam in 1960 and 1972. That process is still continuing with the creation of a number of autonomous districts and a territory within the existing boundary of the state.

The famine of 1958-59 in the then Lushai Hills district and failure of the then state government to give succour to the people there, led to the creation of a separate Union Territory of Mizoram in 1972. Thereafter, in 1978, the illegal migrants issue rocked the entire Brahmaputra Valley. The six-year-long Assam agitation started after names of thousands of suspected illegal migrants were detected in the voter list of a Lok Sabha constituency going to a by-election. The protesters demanded detection and deportation of all illegal immigrants, most of whom had their origin in Bangladesh. The long agitation paved the way for more agitations by other ethnic communities and tribes, namely the Bodos, Karbis, Dimasas, and to a lesser extent the Tiwas, Mishings and Adivasis. Many groups and leaders emerged during these agitations—some of them went on to demand independence from India. Notable among these groups, besides the Nagas, are the ULFA of Assam, the Prepak of Manipur, and few other smaller outfits like NDFB in Bodo-dominated areas. In the other northeast states too, like, Meghalaya and Tripura, some outfits took to arms on similar demands.

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Beside the extremist groups, civil societies of these states too are spearheading protests on various issues that are affecting the lives of the people living in the region. These are emotive issues, like recognition of mother tongue as official language, economic issues like establishment of refineries, easing of transport and communication bottlenecks, creation of jobs. The passage of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) almost resulted in another agitation similar to the anti-foreigner stir. Issues like inter-state border disputes, updating of the national register of citizens (NRC), closure and sale of public sector undertakings, lack of employment opportunities, ill treatment of people from the Northeast in mainland cities, including the national capital Delhi, are all potential agitation points for civil society groups active in the region.

It can be easily said that none of the protests is without some genuine grievances and issues that are adversely affecting the even tenor of the people’s lives. It is also to be noted that after independence, various communities and tribes living here have become aware of their distinct ethnicity and identity. They, like all other communities of the mainland, want to live with dignity, their distinct identity, culture, language and way of life protected. Our Constitution too, has given them this right. If the already entrenched, numerous and advanced communities and groups do not want to accept these small and peripheral communities’ right of self-determination, protest is the only way to make their voices heard.

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Another reason for some protests in the Northeast is the excessive use of force by the government of India in dealing with civil society unrests. Use of draconian laws like the AFSPA to counter extremist activities in Manipur led to the 16-year-long hunger-strike by Irom Sharmila, demanding repeal of the Act. Blatant misuse of other dark laws, like UAPA, also raises ire of the civil society groups, as these are contrary to the spirit of a true and functioning democracy. But what causes suspicion in the minds of people from outside the region is the monopolisation of the leadership of protests by few groups, claiming exclusive rights to represent one or the other ethnic community or tribal group of the region.

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) is a case in point. From the language movement of 1960s to the protests against CAA, the AASU has played the lead role. Its leaders, from the time of the Assam movement, realised that by playing the card of Assam’s and Assamese people’s backwardness, they can easily bring students and a large section of the common people to the streets and make them jump into any protests that they organise and lead against the government of the day. These boys—some of them have long since become men—then get into various trades and businesses, take cuts from businesses and also amass wealth through threat and extortion and then, at an opportune moment, jump into the political bandwagon of the ruling party to become part of the ruling elite. Seeing the economic and political success of these lumpen elements, student and youth organisations of other states too, are taking recourse to same technique and tactics and have become rich and powerful in their respective states. This is the reason why most protests of the Northeast people have failed to bear fruit.

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However, one must say that Northeast’s peoples have many genuine grievances which need to be addressed seriously and quickly by all concerned. The loss of Chittagong port due to Partition had tremendous adverse impact on the region’s economy. China’s demand for chunks of the region’s territory and influx of people from Bangladesh and Nepal have made the small groups of indigenous people extremely jittery.

So, if not protest, what other avenue is open to these people to draw attention of the rest of the country to their plight? People want to see the authorities take concrete steps to ameliorate their grievances. The people responsible for the well-being of the Northeast must realise this fast. Otherwise, things might go from bad to worse.

(This appeared in the print edition as "A Million Mutinies Now")

(Views expressed are personal)

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For Northeast, Acts Of Protest Are Not Always A Matter Of Choice

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