The North East- a negative perception

By syed nazimur rahman
Even after six decades of our country’s independence the approach and attitude of the government of India towards north east has been lackadaisical which is perhaps because north east occupies a unique geopolitical location. The very many promises made by the successive central governments since independence have failed to assimilate and the proverbial ‘big brotherly’ attitude has not diminished.

The perception and the treatment of the north eastern region has always been a security risks not only because of the insurgency but also the role of the national media whose projection of the north eastern states in a negative manner have diminished the great and tremendous opportunities it has as one of the most diverse mosaic of cultures coupled with its being a socio-economic zone in generating wealth of immense prosperity for the nation. In closer perspective, north east has become a victim of perception of the central government and the media as well. Thus begun a feeling of alienation.

Amidst the strident chorus of self-governance much before India achieved Independence, north eastern region has evolved in to a most colourful place with an astounding multiplicity of languages and dialects, culture, sublime climate, undulating topography and mighty rivers. In fact, due to its remoteness from mainland India, information about this region has not been sufficiently analysed leading to distorted opinions and views. North east is also endowed with huge natural resources like, oil, tea, coal, hydropower etc which are being exploited as national resources for the benefit of the nation. Yet wanton exploitation has been termed by local communities as internal colonialism.

North east, as it has been christened, is also known as “seven sisters” comprising of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura. For the convenience of the Indian government at the Centre and for administrative purpose, Sikkim got tagged along with the rest of the north eastern states to become the eight state by an Act and became a member of the North Eastern Council in 2003.
Interestingly, north east is connected to the rest of India by a 22km corridor known popularly as the “chicken neck” having approximately 5000 kms of international boundary with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal and China with cultural linkages with trans-Himalayan societies.
This region is considered as a cultural corridor between India and South East Asia and has an equal strategic importance because of its close geographic locations, history, demography and culture.

Since ancient times, this region is home to a huge ethnic affiliation having different social structures, cultural heritages and linkages across international borders. What is more interesting is that international borders accounts for 98 percent of north east’s total borders,
Having more than 140 major tribal groups with a good number of sub tribes, north east is indeed a melting pot of different religion, art, history and culture.

Politically, north east shot into prominence because of a multitude of ethno-cultural movements which at times became threatening even to our country’s national integration. For most of the people outside the eight north eastern states, there seem to be a hazy picture. It is deemed to be a far-flung area where some kind of trouble is always brewing. This is perhaps because of its geographical and historical factors. Communication from mainland India is not at par as far as connectivity is concerned. The perennial natural calamities such as floods cuts off north east from the rest of India for some good number of weeks or even months together.

The drawing of the international boundaries in this corner of the country with utmost rigidity, the existence of a huge number of culturally as well as ethnically different communities coupled with unwelcome interests shown by our “friendly” neighbours have created socio-politico-economic tensions which perhaps led to have a negative impact towards nation building. And these are fodder for disgruntled and dissatisfied communities. There seem to be also a lack of proper physical, cultural and emotional links between the people of north east with that of the other areas of our country. This has led to a feeling of alienation which at times let to confrontation, very often a violent struggle for liberation and independence. Here, perhaps, the national mass media played its negative role in projecting the north east scenario in terms of insurgency which in turn led to a fear psychosis....forgetting that north east has tremendous potential in generating wealth for the nation.

In fact, development efforts of the Government of India have often been made by the use of military forces, as in the case of Nagaland, Assam, Manipur and Tripura. Further, the promulgation of the dreaded Armed Forces Special Powers Act,(AFSPA) 1958 has also become a tool of convenience for the armed forces to use the trigger of the gun at the slightest pretext. Moreover, the economic packages announced for the region never reached the common people; the beneficiaries were the ruling elites. The extortion demands of the insurgent outfits are nothing but their share of the loot. Furthermore, the security forces deployed in these troubled-torn states failed to live upto their expectation as the local people/ civilians reported various kind of allegations against them.
This is unbecoming of a manner befitting a democracy.

The writer is freelance journalist based in Shillong.