If you thought discrimination was the prerogative of those living in the ‘mainland’, think again. Avalok Langer profiles the tortured lives of Shillong’s shrinking band of outsiders
‘We were constantly
reminded that we are
outsiders. There were
unwritten rules for what
we could or couldn’t do’
ABHINAV BHATTACHARYA*, 27
BENGALI
SHE WAS an outsider from the
moment she walked in. A nervous smile crept across her face as she was
greeted by my friend. As we attempted to escape the Delhi winter by a
bonfire, my friend learnt that she was from Nagaland and worked as a
producer with a television channel. In an attempt to probe further, he
enquired with a deadpan stare, “So, how does it work, do you need a work
visa to be here in Delhi?” Dumbfounded, she gave me a quizzical look.
Realising his mistake, my friend tried to ‘correct’ himself: “I’m so
sorry, I was confusing Nagaland with Arunachal.”
‘When something goes wrong, you want to pass the buck. A tribal won’t attack another tribal, he’ll target the weaker section’
ARJUN KRIPLANI*, 31
SINDHI BUSINESSMAN
The Northeast exists outside the conscious
mindspace of the average Indian and “chinki” is how people in the
‘mainland’ often greet visitors from this region. Ignorance, coupled
with racial insensitivity, has created a vicious cycle of racial
discrimination. Made to feel like outsiders in the mainland, many
tribals opt to go back home and then target the non-tribals — ‘dkhars’
in Shillong, ‘mayangs’ in Manipur, ‘bangars’ in the Garo Hills, ‘bhais’
in Mizoram and ‘plain mannu’ in Nagaland.
Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, is where
the good times roll on. But there is a dark and scary side to India’s
rock capital. The ethnic tension that led to the state’s creation out of
Greater Assam in 1972 has been kept alive by vested interests. Tribal
sentiment is periodically rallied around the idea of an outsider
invasion.
“With the three riots (1979, ’87, ’92), the
backbone of the non-tribals was broken and an exodus started,” explains
Manas Chaudhuri, 61, the former editor of The Shillong Times
and the only non-tribal MLA of the Khasi Hills. “Meghalaya is the only
state where in the past 40 years, the population of the minority
(non-tribals) has declined by 2 percent every 10 years. When the state
was formed, non-tribals constituted 20 percent of the state’s
population, but today it has fallen below 10 percent.”
A Khasi lawyer put this discrimination down
to a cycle of power. “Post-independence, outsiders controlled the
bureaucracy and power. They never learnt the local language or tried to
fit in. They would look down on the locals and mistreat them. Now that
the locals have captured power, they are returning the favour,” he says.
Shillong was a Khasi hamlet before the
British established it as the capital of Greater Assam in 1864. Soon, it
was inhabited by British officials, Bengali bureaucrats and Nepali
soldiers. As time passed, a bustling town sprang to life around the
British settlement. However, the Bengalis, Nepalis, Marwaris, Sindhis,
among others who have inhabited Shillong for multiple generations, have
now become the outsiders. Discriminated and made to feel like
second-class citizens, they are moving out.
‘Whether it was oil, coal or
uranium, the idea is to take whatever can be taken, without looking
after the welfare of the people’
WAN SHAN*, 37 KHASI BUSINESSMAN
‘We welcome economic immigration but we don’t want that to happen at the cost of Khasis becoming a minority in our own state’
DANIEL KHYRIEM, 31 PRESIDENT, KSU
‘The Centre has given you a state on a
platter. Over the past 40 years, the Centre has allocated 1 lakh crore.
Is there any parallel?’ MANAS CHAUDHURI, 61 MAWPREM MLA
“I was at my grandparents’
house when news filtered in that our locality would be attacked at
night,” says Abhinav Bhattacharya*. “I must have been in Class III or
IV, but the image of everyone in a state of panic is still vivid. Before
going to bed, we hid chilli powder under our pillows, just in case our
house was attacked.”
Abhinav, 27, is a fifth-generation Bengali
born and brought up in the Northeast. His father Alok moved to Shillong
for higher education before Meghalaya was created. In Shillong, Abhinav
is considered a dkhar; in Assam, he is a Bengali; and in Bengal, he is a
Northeastern. With no place to call home, New Delhi is where he lives
and works as a freelance television producer.
“We were tagged dkhars and constantly
reminded that we are outsiders,” says Abhinav. “There were unwritten
rules for what we could or couldn’t do, rules that were enforced by
violence. We could only live in marked ghettos. I went to a boys’ school
and saw plenty of fights. But they weren’t fair ones. If a non-tribal
boy managed to beat up a Khasi, it was just a matter of time before we
faced a backlash.”
Though both his sons have moved out and have
no desire to return, Alok, a retired professor, has remained in
Shillong. He lives in a rented house because under law, non-tribals are
not allowed to buy land in Shillong, except in a few wards where prices
are exorbitant. “The Constitution allows me to settle anywhere,” says
Alok. “As a good Meghalayan, as a good Indian, I do my duty to society. I
came here when Shillong was part of Assam. But now, they are
questioning my right to stay here.”
Alok says that the government and state
institutions have ganged up to see that non-tribals are prevented from
settling in Shillong. “A situation has been created where lawfully
settled non-tribals are forced to leave,” says the professor. “If you
check the pattern of municipality holdings, you will see that non-tribal
holdings have come down from 80 percent to 20 percent. The issue in
Shillong is not of an influx as the Khasi Students Union (KSU) is
claiming, but of an exodus… forced exodus.”
However, Abhinav feels that he has a lot to
thank Shillong for. “My education has made me who I am. My inclination
towards music comes from there. But I will never go back, Delhi is my
home now. In Delhi, I get work based on my ability, not my ethnicity,”
he says. “The discrimination has reduced from what it used to be in the
1990s, but that is because the non-tribal population has been reduced to
such a minority that there is no one left to fight back.”
Born to a Meghalaya-based Gurkha couple, the
only home Vrinda has known is Shillong. “I have lived my whole life
here,” says the 34-year-old, who makes ends meet as a domestic help.
“When the times are good, we don’t worry. But when there is trouble, I
feel that maybe things would has been better if I had moved to Nepal.”
On 14 May, Vrinda got a reality check of her
status in the Shillong society when the KSU, Hynniewtrep National Youth
Front and Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People enforced a bandh,
protesting against the sanctioning of electoral photo identity cards to
“illegal Bangladeshi immigrants” in the Garo Hills. Two petrol bombs
were thrown at her house. “My kids had just returned from school and
were alone at home. I was scared when it happened. For the next few
weeks, we stayed with our neighbours,” recalls Vrinda.
Though the protest targeted “illegal
immigrants” from Bangladesh, most non-tribals became the victims. “We
don’t condone violence, we always tell our cadres not to use violence
because it takes away from the real issues. But sometimes, miscreants
take advantage of the situation,” says KSU president Daniel Khyriem.
But the underlying fear that non-tribals will
once again be targeted remains. “In the absence of an adequate
mechanism to identify and differentiate permanent non-tribals from
migrants, it is only natural for the issue of tribals vs non-tribals to
remain alive,” says local MLA Paul Lyngdoh.
But Vrinda begs to differ. “We should have
the right to live our lives the way they do — open and free, without
fear or restrictions,” she says. “I have often thought of moving out,
but I’m here for my kids’ education. I will have to wait for them to
finish their schooling.” Incidentally, she has already bought land in
Assam so that her children can have a place to call their own.
KHASI BY blood, Indian by
accident” was the slogan of the KSU in the 1980s and ’90s. At that time,
the bureaucracy was dominated by Bengalis, the business was controlled
by Marwaris and Sindhis, and the politics was dominated by the Assamese.
They filled the intellectual void that existed. In 1993, with the
support of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, the tribal
students movement was organised into an insurgency and the Hynniewtrep
National Liberation Council was created. Their goal was to take back
opportunities meant for tribals.
Today, Khyriem says KSU welcomes economic
migration. “We want economic immigration but we don’t want that to
happen at the cost of our community becoming a minority in our own
state,” he says. “People who come here to work and send money home are
more than welcome. But if they try to become owners or chase us out of
our own state, where will we go?”
But what do the Khasis need protection from?
Today, 55 of the 60 Assembly seats are reserved for tribals. Eighty-five
percent of all government jobs and seats in educational institutions
are reserved for them. Since 1972, there have been only two non-tribal
officers recruited into the state service. Many non-tribal businessmen
have shut shop and moved out.
Many point fingers at the Centre’s faulty
policies for the resentment, but MLA Chaudhuri disagrees. “We have a
population of about 3 million people and the Planning Commission
allocation is Rs 4,000 crore? If you distribute the funds properly, the
people will be better off. Over the past 40 years, the Centre has
allocated Rs 1 lakh crore. Is there any parallel? I don’t think so. The
Centre has given you a state on a platter. What you do with that
statehood is up to you. If you have messed it up, the Centre has nothing
to do with it.”
So, what is the KSU scared of? Though the
influx of Bangladeshis seems to be a cause for concern, non-tribals
aren’t to blame for the erosion of Khasi culture. Over the years, there
has been so much intermixing among the tribals that it has become hard
to find a pure Khasi in Shillong.
Wan Shan, a young Khasi businessman,
explains, “We grew up at a time when there was so much resentment
towards mainland India. There was a disconnect and the general populace
here began to stress on their ethnic identity. It was tough to go
against the general sentiment. Even if you are more educated or have a
broader outlook, you tend to blend in. At that time, we had to be
aggressive and assert our identity, not with just non-tribals, but among
tribals themselves, to show that we belonged.”
Cutting Wan off, his friend Bah Dieng says,
“If we go for a public function in a metro, they play the national
anthem. Being from the Northeast, I don’t want to stand up, not because I
don’t feel Indian, but because we are educated enough to know that the
anthem doesn’t include any part of the Northeast. Everyone talks of
integration, but we don’t feel integrated. The discrimination you talk
of is not because of race but due to resentment.”“When China invaded India, we would have loved the country
to stand by the Northeast and fight, but that didn’t happen. Jawaharlal
Nehru bid us farewell, it created a feeling that the Northeast is not
that important,” says Wan.
“Until recently, there was no development or
infrastructure. There were a lot of educated youth, but no jobs. We have
natural resources but the Centre treats us like a colony. Whether it is
oil extracted from Assam and sent to refineries in Bengal, or our coal
and soon, our uranium, the idea is to take whatever can be taken,
without looking after the welfare of the people. Yes the Centre is
pumping in money, but there is no check nor accountability. The creamy
layer is using this opportunity to play on sentiments for political
gains.”
Before the insurgency, business was dominated
by outsiders. However, the armed movement created a false bubble that
indirectly benefited many Khasi traders. Outsiders were pushed out
allowing tribal businessmen to take up these opportunities. Of course,
at a later stage they were taxed and a lot of small businesses were hit,
but opportunities were created. Surprisingly, tribals continue to
employ non-tribals as managers or in skilled positions. “I’m a
businessman, non-tribals have better skills and work ethics. Our people
haven’t reached that stage. I want to employ tribals, but if I do, I
won’t be able to maximise my potential,” says Wan.
ACCORDING TO an expert who
has been engaged in grassroots work in Meghalaya, this trend could lead
to a revival of insurgency. “The next bout of insurgency will come from
land alienation. Four percent of the land is owned by the government but
people are becoming landless; richer tribals are buying up all the
land. Those who sell their land shift to other towns. The tribals have
to keep targeting outsiders so that the tribals who are getting
alienated and marginalised don’t see what is happening. The reality is
that they are actually getting exploited by their own people.”
Arjun Kriplani*, a Sindhi businessman living
in Shillong, agrees, “When something goes wrong, you want to blame
somebody. A tribal will not attack another tribal, so he will target the
weaker section.”
Unlike other non-tribals, Kriplani feels
Shillong is his home. “What you give is what you get. There is
discrimination all over India. When I go to Mumbai, I’m discriminated
against because I’m not Maharashtrian. It’s the same in Delhi. People
from the Northeast travel outside and they face discrimination and
ignorance. You say I’m from Shillong and people think you are from
Ceylon. When you return to the Northeast, what do you do? You do exactly
the same thing,” explains Kriplani.
For Kriplani, like other big, non-tribal
businessmen, in Shillong if you have money you cannot be taken for
granted, because you have the power to strike back. That sense of
security is fundamental in creating a sense of belonging. Unfortunately,
that is not the same for smaller businessmen, taxi drivers or
labourers. “We have to be careful,” says Lucky Yadav*, a Bihari taxi
driver. “I have been working here since 1986 but I have been targeted
many times. I feel scared to venture out after dark. Bihar is improving,
I’m just waiting for more jobs to crop up and I will head back home.”
Things are changing in Shillong too; the
younger generation has more exposure and a broader perspective. But
until the vested interests move away from perpetuating the idea of an
“outsider problem”, this ethnic clash will continue.
Though Chaudhuri feels that tribals need
protection, he says the Centre had not intended for them to protect
their identity in isolation. “It was an unwritten understanding that the
permanent non-tribal residents will be looked after. This was an
assurance given by the hill leaders to Indira Gandhi before the creation
of Meghalaya, but that is a forgotten chapter now. I fear the situation
is without hope,” he says.
*Names Changed To Protect Identity
Avalok Langer is a Correspondent with Tehelka.
avalok@tehelka.com
