A Tribal as the President of India

P. A. Sangma or Pranab Mukherjee. The former is from Meghalaya, a tribal and a Christian; former Speaker of Lok Sabha, former Congressman and former NCP member. The latter is from West Bengal, a seasoned Congressman and Sonia's trusted lieutenant who enjoys the respect of his party members. 

Whom do I favour? 

India is a land of much diversity. Different ethnic groups flock together and sometime even fight one another for space. Sangma is a Garo tribal; and Mukherjee a Bengali brahmin. The former is a Christian and the latter a Hindu. One is of the mongoloid stock and the other an Aryan stock. These differences run so deep in shaping the personality of each individuals and also the communities they belong to. These differences have persisted across centuries and they will continue to remain as they are now for ages to come. As long as human individuals differ, differences in various facets of their lives will continue. This is a reality that we must live with. There are, however, similarities between each individual and social groupings  despite the differences. This is a reality that we must acknowledge. 

Since there are differences between individuals and religious and ethnic communities, is it political feasible to consider as if the differences are virtual? No, as far as my thinking goes. And if we admit that there are genuine differences, then how do we formulate political vision so that each individual and social groupings is given political space to flourish? Well, Sangma rightly underlines the importance of having a tribal President this time since people of different social persuasion has been positioned at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Political merit does not come with number alone. But that were so, a nation like India will collapse -- or should. Justice has to take the social equation into consideration and distribute position and advantages according to the equation. Therefore, in this regard I do consider that we should not pretend as if the 'tribal argument' has no merit at all. The 'tribal argument' underlined by Sangma has a point. 

Having said that I do think that there are tribal leaders who are more deserving that Sangma to be the President of India. I would not want Sangma nor Mukherjee to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Wolterstorff

Calling a Northeastern 'Chinki' Can Land You in Jail for 5 Years. Oh, Really?

The Ministry of Home Affairs recently passed an order which it communicated to all the States and Union Territories that anyone found calling someone from Northeastern part of the country 'chinki' can be jailed upto 5 years. The culprit can be booked under Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The fact of the matter is that the MHA order too is highly flawed. Everybody from the North East does not come under the category of Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe. And when the victim is outside of that category, how can the Law book a culprit under the SC/ST Act. I don't see how this makes sense! Isn't this a case of Ministry of Home Affairs too being ignorant of the kind of composition of people in the North East India? If it is not ignorant then I consider the order to be a bluff. 

However, will this order really solve the problem of prejudices among the Northeastern people? To some extent, I would say. If the government is really serious about solving this problem once and for all, then it needs to introduce some more concrete measure. Since the government has deliberately kept the Northeastern region under 'wrap' for ages, it has to take extra measure to address the problem. And these are some of the measures that I believe will help. 

1. Let the government waive 100% tax on any film producer that includes main actors from the Northeastern region. The government can also take similar step for any film that attempts to highlight the case & story of Northeastern people. 

2. Hire more people from the Northeast in government agencies to carry and highlight the different faces and colours that people in India are made up of. 

3. Include special chapters in the syllabi of schools and high schools about North East. For example, why should study of History be only about Guptas, Mauryas and Mughals or about Gandhi, Nehru and Tilak?

4. Bring in deserving people in significant positions. 

5. Connect the region with proper roads and railway track so that the region too can develop.

Are Maring, Chiru, Thangal... Nagas?

" The Naga tribes in Manipur with whom this volume is concerned, are (1) the Tangkhuls who inhabit the hills immediately to the east and north-east of the valley of Manipur; (2) the Mao and Maram Nagas who inhabit the hills north of the valley and to whom the title quasi-Angami Nagas has been given by some writers on the ground that they are more closely connected with the Angamis than with their fellow subjects the Tangkhuls and the Kabuis; (3) the Kolya, Khoirao or Mayang Khong group in the hills south of Mao and Maram' (4) the Kabuis who inhabit the hills to the west and north-west of the valley and (5,6 and 7) Quorengs, Chirus, Marrings, smaller tribes, who are to be found in the hills bordering the valley."

"The village of Mao, a Meithei name, or Sopvoma as it is called by the Nagas themselves, lies on the western spurs of Kopamedza, on the cart road from Dimapur to Imphal. Close to it and almost contiguous are the villages of Robugnamei and Pudugname who form part of the Mao leaguer. Its kindred villages stretch to the east as far as Jessami ( Phundrak in Meithei), which is build on an apex of land between the Lanier and the river which rises below Mao, and looks towards Melome and Lapvome. Svemi ( Chinjaroy in Meithei), the scene of one of the most bloodthirsty raids...is now inhabited by Mao people and by Tangkhuls with the result that the typical customs of both tribes are here being subjected to modification owing to the syncecism that has taken place. Oinam and Purum belong to the Mao group but are so far removed from the direct influence of Mao that they present many features of interest, enough to differentiate them from Mao. On the west of the Manipur-Kohima road the group extends to Uilong, the village in whose vicinity is a collection of stone monoliths of rare symmetry, and to Yang and Bakema, villages more connected with Mao or Maram than with the Kabui Nagas or with the Katcha Nagas."

"The Kolya Nagas or Khoirao Nagas, or, as I prefer to call them, the Mayan Khong ( a corruption of the name Mayangkhang, a Thangal Naga village), inhabit nine villages in the hills south of Maram and Kairong. They are now almost indistinguishable, in so far as customs and appearances are concerned, from Mao and Maram, and I was informed that they were descended from Maram. "

" The Kabui Nagas are now restricted to the hills immediately north of the Cachar road... There is ample evidence, historical and traditional, to show that their expulsion from the hills to the south is comparatively recent. I have stumbled across ruins of large villages in the jungles south of Nongba, and learnt that they were the ruins of Kabui villages that had been destroyed... in the early part of the last century. "

"The Quorengs now consist of but nine small villages in the country just south of the great Barail range, which forms the north-western boundary of the state."

" The Chirus inhabit some thirteen villages situated on the slopes of the hills on the western side of the Manipur valley, and are not numerous"

" The Marrings have a few villages in the Hirok range of Hills, in the south-west of the valley" 

* From The Naga Tribes of Manipur by T.C. Hudson, (First published in 1911). pp.2,3,4 &5.

Some Pictures

The place where I was born...the place I plan to retire!

Anyone knows the name of this plant?

Delicious vegetables