I think one of the most confused unsung communities here in India these days are the Arunachalis.
At
one side, there is that situation of the big bad bully China flexing
its muscles and claiming many parts of Arunachal Pradesh to be a part
of its territory, while India tries its diplomatic best to convince the
rest of India (and the World) that Arunachal Pradesh is indeed a part
of India. And thus follows a volley of hard hitting tirades by experts,
politicians, diplomats, patriots, journalists and bloggers, condemning
China and promising never to let go of Arunachal Pradesh.
Feb 8, 2008: Arunachal is ours, PM can go there: India to China
And then at the other side, the average Arunachali comes to this part of the Country, Delhi, the Nation’s proud Capital,
maybe to meet all those people who have warmly supported him and vowed
to protect him from the Chinese aggression. And what does he find here?
People openly mocking him because of his “strange foreign looks”,
racially abusing him as “chinky” and rudely telling him to “go back to
China”.
Feb 17, 2008: Arunachal students beaten up and told to go back to China
Just
how do you think that person would feel? When he goes back to Arunachal
Pradesh, what do you think he will be telling his family, his friends,
his neighbors, his village panchayat raj,
who are all eager to listen to the tales of his journey to Delhi that
they cannot afford? What will be their general mindset about the rest
of India then?
You
can’t blame him for creating a generalization based on that unfortunate
incident alone, because to him, that’s what affects him the most and
that’s what lingers in his memory the deepest. He already felt
alienated enough to be so “different” in Delhi, now he’s being
discriminated because of that difference, with nobody else from the “other side” stepping up to
assure him that that’s not the attitude of every other Indians. Can you
picture the image of Delhi he’ll be painting to the others back home?
What will their reaction be?
Frankly,
I won’t be surprised if they turn against India. And when they do, they
will be branded as terrorists, hunted out like dogs and silenced
forever with nobody ever questioning why he took that path in the first
place. I mean, who cares, right? After all, we’re talking about the
North-East and he was attacking the Indian Constitution and the integrity of our proud Indian Nation, right? To the rest of India, this incident will just be another brick on the troubled NE wall.
Feb 16, 2008. MID-DAY reports:
5 N-E students assaulted after racial abuse
"We
were preparing for the celebrations on February 20. Our friends went to
the market to get their cell phone recharged when the shopkeepers
racially abused them by calling them 'chinkies'. After an altercation,
the local shopkeepers stabbed one of the students. They also used
knife, iron rods and bamboo sticks to beat up the students.
Chanakyapuri is considered to be a high security zone and even then, an
incident like this has happened," Tabataka said.
The Hindu, on the other hand, downplayed the entire incident.
Eleven shopkeepers have been arrested by the Chanakyapuri police here
on charges of assaulting some students from Arunachal Pradesh on Friday
night. The police said the students had gathered at Aruchanal Bhawan
for the State Day celebrations on February 20. They had gone to the
local market for shopping around 9 p.m. As some shopkeepers passed
objectionable comments on them, a brawl ensued in which the students
were assaulted. Some of them were taken to RML Hospital.
On
certain occasions, toning down sensitive incidents is a wise thing to
do, especially when the incident is communal in nature. That’s where
you draw the thin red line between serious journalism and sensational
journalism. But in this case, do you think it is really necessary to
muffle down the incident? Anyone reading “The Hindu” would wonder, what
could be the “objectionable comment” that was uttered. Probably “maa
ki”, à la Harbhajan Singh, without ever knowing how much the word
“chinky” hurts us, that to be jeered a “chinky” when we are silently
minding our own business is nothing but racism.
Racism begets racism.
Take
it from experience and observation. In Mizoram, most of the older
folks, around the age group of 50+ are still skeptical of every
non-Mizo because the memories of the Indian Army “aggression” during
the early 60’s are still fresh in their minds. Bombs raining down
continuously on innocent towns and villages, day in and day out, gory
tales of rape and murder, inhumane treatment at the makeshift prisons,
all of which started because of the hungry little bamboo rat.
And
then comes the next generation. And the next. Such generations are
supposed to heal the scars inflicted through the passage of time. After
all, the past is the past. There is no point in hating somebody for
what one’s ancestors did to another’s ancestors a long time ago.
And so these new generations of Mizos travel around to other parts of the Country. Their Country, according to their history and geography books. The Central
Government seems to welcome such an initiative, encouraging more
exoduses of people, mainly in the name of education. The 7 and a half
percent reservation for ST in the educational and central services
makes it even smoother for Mizos and other people from the North-east
to assimilate with the Mainstream population.
But
once they get here, things aren’t always peaches and pie. Most people
just expect them to let go of their respective cultures, traditions and
heritages and practice only the traditions followed by the majority.
And when the North-east students find it difficult to let go of their
traditions (would you let go of yours if someone asks you to?), then they are labeled as “trying to be different” and branded as outcasts.
So,
almost everywhere, northeast students find it easier to bond with other
northeast students, regardless of whether they are from Mizoram,
Arunachal or Nagaland (which many people STILL think is one entity)
rather than bond with Mainstream Indians because of the way they are
treated.
I love
being in a multi-ethnic group. We once got into a pub-brawl a long time
ago, when one drunken jerk came over to our table and insulted two of
our south-Indian friends as “bloody pandis”. Just like that, with no
reason of any provocation from our side. So we simply retaliated. Ah we
were young, hot-blooded and united, those juvenile years.
But
then, one outgrows that fist-fight stage as one matures. What I have
observed now whenever I am in a single-ethnic group and some asshole
shouts at us in public “chinky” or “ching chong, go back to China” or
sometimes “go back to Chinkistan” (what the heck does “Chinkistan”
mean? Chinky + Hindustan???), I have never had any support from the
others around me. Most of them just stare at me (ME! Not the freaking
guy who said that and is laughing his ass out), while some of them
giggle and walk on.
The
only time somebody ever helped me (and I remember this so well because
it was the ONLY time) was in Mumbai when a nice middle-aged aunty with
a curly bob-cut (the kind of stereotype Catholic Goan aunty that we see
in our Hindi movies with names like Mrs. D’Costa, Mrs. D’Cruz or Mrs.
D’Souza, who is full of compassion and grace) shouted at those four
guys making fun of me in a very rebuking tone: “EXCUZE ME!!!” and they
ran away before she could say anything else. Then she looked at me and
I looked at her and nodded a thank you and both of us walked on. Life
goes on.
The MNS
has been heavily criticized by the Nation for beating up
non-Maharashtrians and forcing them to go back to their respective
“homes”. And so those “immigrants” flee back to UP, Bihar, Orissa and
other Indian States. But when other Indians beat up people from North-east India and tell us to go back to China, oh please, do tell me, how can we do
that? We are NOT from China, we don’t speak the same language, most of
us don’t even follow the same religion (Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya
are Christian majority states).
Just
like how people tell Muslims to go back to Pakistan, taunting a person
from the North-east to go back to China is equally absurd. If the
Government is really interested in creating a better relationship
between people from the North-east and Mainland India, it first needs
to revise its educational system at the root. And it needs to inform
its crooked Delhi cops to stop victimizing people from the North-east,
especially women from the North-east (please, don’t get me started on
this one).
Until then, I will continue fighting for the rights of the North-eastern people. Maybe something similar to the Blank Noise Project can be initiated, which deals with the plight of the North-east student
in your city. You have the power to make the difference, my friend. The
next time you see a North-east girl/guy being racially abused in
public, step up. And when that victim sees somebody from the “other
side” coming to his/her aid, the preconceived notion borne by most
north-east students is bound to change.
Whether
you’re from Tamilnadu or Haryana or Maharashtra or Karnataka or Jammu
& Kashmir, I beseech you not to be a mute spectator the next time
you see somebody from the North-east being treated appallingly. I
always get involve when I see injustice of any form or just to help an
old lady cross the street regardless whether they belong to this
community or that community, not just because of mere good intentions
alone, but also because I believe in karma, so that somewhere out there, someone is returning the favor to somebody from the North-east.
I have to go to Court now, for I’ve just received news of yet another rape attempt by a group of students from Haryana, this time on a Manipuri girl,
after her brother was beaten up and locked up in his room. Just another
normal day for me. Sigh.
Ps. I’m not a lawyer. I’m just going to Court to meet my lawyer friends for more information regarding this incident.
Pps. North-East Support Centre website has not yet updated these two incidents about the Arunachal guys and
Manipuri girl yet, because they are grossly understaffed as of the
moment. You might not be able to get through to most of the numbers
listed on the Support helpline, as most of them are volunteers
(students) who have other important things to do too, like exams and
assignments. Your understanding will be much appreciated. Thank you.
Editorial Message!
The words chink, chinky, cinkies, chinkee, chinkees may mean many things to many people. We at www.northeasterner.in/ are aware of the worldwide serious debate that exists on the denotation and connotation of these words. Not that we are specifically concerned with Etymology, but just to inform our valuable readers that the use of any of these words in the write-up here is not/never intended at hurting the sentiments of a community, an ethnic group, a caste, a tribe etc. We wish to be politically correct while allowing our contributors to express themselves as freely as possible. For those interested in the debate or for those who want more on the topic, listed below are few interesting links.
For more debates on this:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- OfCom Bullets
|
User Articles
