Northeast sisterhood

Nirmala Sitharaman, Deccan Chronicle, 17 October 2013: Special status, inter-regional disparity, incentivise grassroot institutions, participatory democracy — this terminology is increasingly occupying our political discourse. If it is true that within states there are some regions which are more, or less, backward than the others, issues of rights and equity as principles of governance are raised. Throwing money to address an issue is inadequate. The North-eastern states — the seven sisters, plus Sikkim — stand out as a case to elaborate on this debate. 

Even as great tourism destinations, we have not done justice to any one of these states. We’d rather go through the visa, currency and other toil to go a Phuket or a Hong Kong, than explore our own Tawang or Shillong. River-rafting in the Teesta, or crossing the mighty Brahmaputra fr­om an ever-changing boa­rding point, watching the fastest growing bamboo, tasting exotic fruits and biting into the hottest chillies — one can have it all in the Northeast. 

The region is vast and varied. No two states are similar, but one feature is common to all these states — joyful and vibrant people. As do the rest of us in this country, they too have aspirations, prio­rities and concerns. 

But they don’t wear it on their sleeves. And when they travel to other parts of the country, they adjust and adapt with great ease. For years now, the Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University have re­c­eived students from the Northeast. 

And today we find students from the Northeast in several other universities across the country — assimilated and yet distinct. Incr­ea­s­i­n­gly, youth from the Northeast are staying ba­ck to take up jobs in different states. Due to their fluency in English, they are very visible in the hospitality sector. 

Unfortunately, we as a nation woke up to this reality under trying times recently. Unexpectedly, post the Rohingya issue in Myanmar and the Kok­r­ajahar tragedy, we witnessed targeted attacks on citizens from the Northeastern states in several parts of India. 

This sent shock waves because, till then, though a sizable nu­mber was living am­o­n­gst us, we had not even taken notice. It was natural phenomenon. Just like people from the south — Kerala or Tamil Nadu, for example — had been livi­ng for decades in Delhi, Mumbai, Jamshedpur, Ko­l­k­ata or Surat, so were people from the seven sisters.

Ideally, this mobility, ev­en in trickles, could have, in fact, should have taken place earlier. But in the 65-year history of free India, it is only in the last decade that we’ve seen a noticea­ble presence of youth from the Northeast in places as far south as Bengaluru, Hyderabad and even in Coimbatore and Thiru­va­n­anthapuram. 

All states should think “out of the box” to benefit from the special skill set that the youth from the Northeast bring. In this context, the recent reference of the Chief Minister of Gujarat was unique and well-thou­g­ht out. He said, “It is my conviction that terrorism di­vides, tou­r­ism unites.” Two years ago, as prop­o­s­ed by the National Sec­ur­i­ty Cou­ncil, Modi had written to the Chief Ministers of Northeastern sta­t­es, inviting 200 women police personnel from ea­ch state to come to Guj­a­rat, on deputation. 

He felt that their knowledge and fluency in English could help in capacity building among the women police personnel of Gujarat. They could benefit from exposure to specialised institutes such as the Forensic University and the Raksha Shakti University set up exclusively for training and qualifying security personnel. For the itinerant Gujarati, such trained personnel may eventually serve as “tourism police”. 

Similar initiatives may be worked out for entrepreneurs from AP who are setting up hydropower plants in the Northeast. 

Training the local youth in engineering colleges located in the southern state will help create a skilled force that could contribute in maintaining and servicing these plants, helping the parent and the adoptive state, and thereby strengthening the nation. 

There is a great potential for expanding the markets for products from the Northeast. Oranges, kinos, chow chow, chillies and ginger are abundant here. The yellow silk is coloured so by the worm itself. Handwoven wool is unique to each community. 

The colours and patterns of their clothes and jewellery are like signatures of a community, of a culture. Bamboo-based crafts are an inspiration in themselves. 

Getting back to tourism, did you know that one of Vishnu’s dashavatar, Parasurama, had to go to a point in the flowing Brahmaputra to wash off his “matru hatya dosha”. The Tripura Sundari temple in Udaipur, 55 kilometres from Agartala, is one of the 51 Shakti Peetas. 

Did you know that after taking away Rukmini, Krishna went to Malinithan, in Arunachal Pradesh, to marry her in the presence of Malini a.k.a. Parvati? Did you know that the state with the highest number of primates is Tripura? 

Have you seen Manipur’s “Phumdi”, the floating islands? The raas nritya of Manipur is gorgeous and the version of Vaishnavism as propagated by Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is distinct there. The brave Nagas fought the Japanese during the last days of World War II and in Kohima stands a memorial marking this historical event. It is also of interest to know that the youth of Nagaland excel in Sepaktakraw or kick volley ball, which is native to the Malay-Thai peninsula. The state has produced 12 international players in the game. 

The exotic beauty of Majuli, the largest riverine island in the world in the Brah­ma­putra, is breathtaking. It’s meditative to sit quietly by the banks of Lake Guru Dongmar, situated at a height of over 5,000 metres in Sikkim. This is a sacred lake as it is believed that Guru Padma Sambava had touched it. 

How much do we know about this part of India where Buddhism, Christianity, Animism, Islam, Hinduism are practised? Have we tried to learn about this region’s people and their culture where urban areas are more organised, rural are cleaner, and people are proud of their traditions? There is a great deal of mutual learning we can benefit from and the nation would be all the better for it. 

The writer is spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The views expressed in this column are her own.