Photo: R.V. Moorthy
In light of the recent attacks on people from the northeast, here are a few guidelines.
Quite a bit has been focused on the whys and whats of
this curious beast called Indian racism that we have started to
acknowledge only in recent years. But increasingly, because of the
shrill cacophony of people who don’t want to accept that we are racists,
it has become impossible to talk about it. Indians are not racists, are
we white? There is no racism towards people from the northeast; even
people from ‘Madras’ were targeted years ago! For better, healthier,
safer conversations, we need to have some guidelines.
First,
apologise on behalf of militants and xenophobic groups for targeting
‘outsiders’ in Meghalaya, in Assam, in Arunachal or any other places
that “sound northeastern”. Only after that, you will earn the right to
talk about the racism towards northeasterns. Otherwise, no one will
listen to you. Don’t try to drive home the point that Reverse Racism is a
myth, and is a term that has always been used by privileged groups to
deflect conversation about racism.
If you are a
person from Arunachal or Manipur or any other state beyond Bengal,
always carry a map with you. Nowadays there are smartphones where you
can download Map-apps. If you look closely in the markets of Chawri
Bazar or Connaught Place, you will also find pocket atlases. You will
need those, because when you explain racism, you will have to first
locate for your audience where the northeast is.
Aside:
Never dye your hair. You might get beaten to death. Even if you do, and
if someone makes a comment about your hair, you should remain quiet.
Don’t vindicate their suspicion that you are the beast from the jungles
of the northeast by speaking up. In fact, by the time you even start
talking about how raced communities have always been viewed as
Submissive Children and are put to place (by beating to death) when that
role is violated, you might have at least a broken arm or a leg if you
are lucky. In modern India, it is difficult to sport blonde, red, or
brown hair if you are from the northeast.
When people call you chinki,
you should smile and try not to react; because if you do, you will be
branded as an “oversensitive northeastern”. After all, there are jokes
on Punjabis too, why should you feel offended? Don’t try to debate with
them that cracking a joke about the funny, jolly, Punjabi and the
fish-loving, Marxist Bengali is not the same as cracking a joke about
the dog-eating, rhino-rearing, sexually-promiscuous, drug-addicted
northeastern. Clearly show that you are also guilty of racism. Never
even try to prove that racist slurs against a historically marginalised
and raced group of people used by the racist group and the epithets and
stereotypes used by the raced group are racially unequal.
Do
not try to remind anyone that ‘even you are racist towards outsiders in
Assam and Meghalaya’. These are Conversation Blockers. If you do, you
will be reminded that you are anti-Indian and that is why you deserve to
be governed with laws such as AFSPA that allows your lovely sainik bhaiyon to
shoot at sight, rape at will, arrest without warrant. Never try to tell
anyone that those laws are undemocratic and turns you into unequal
citizens with lesser civil rights because then you will be reminded how
we have always been the (non-submissive) Problem Child of Mother India
and the cane called AFSPA is required to keep us in a straight line like
schoolchildren attending morning assembly.
Lastly,
always remember to use words such as “remote”, “far-flung”, “new heart
of darkness” and “conflict-ridden” when you start talking about
Northeast India or racism towards it. If you don’t start the
conversation that way, no one will understand you. They will think you
are talking about China. Or Vietnam. And yes, always carry your passport
around. If you don’t have one, apply for one ASAP.
Aruni Kashyap is the author of The House with a Thousand Stories.
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