Editor
I am writing to express my gratitude for Patricia Mukhim’s soulful article, “Old wounds reopened .. Old hurts return to haunt.” I found her article touching in its introspective analysis of communalism against Bengali and Nepali populations living in Meghalaya in the seventies and eighties. It was heart-warming for me to see how well Ms. Mukhim, although Khasi, understood from a truly universal, humanistic standpoint, the plight of the dispossessed “other” — whether Bengali or Nepali or the poor. The pain and fear inflicted by pogroms lingers in the hearts of affected outsiders, as Ms. Mukhim reminded us, using a cool, dispassionate, morally clear, evidence-based analysis. The case of Bengalis is truly sad … India is yet to recognize the sacrifices of Bengal at the altar of the Independence movement. Instead, anti-Bengali attitudes continue to be rife all over India.
My heartfelt gratitude once again for Ms. Mukhim’s sensitive article, which proved to me that universalist political movements like feminism succeed in opening our hearts in empathy towards the downtrodden “other” regardless of who this might be. It was touching to see how well Ms. Mukhim understood the pain and fear in the hearts of those who left Meghalaya after such persecution. It was touching as well to read her dispassionate analysis of why the outsider is not to blame for the woes of the tribal.
It is my fervent hope that the Khasi people will understand that it is critical writers like Ms. Mukhim who serve them far better than those who are chauvinistic and blind to the community.
Yours etc.,
Deepa Majumdar,
Via email
Home we once knew
Editor,
Apropos Patricia Mukhim’s piece, “Old wounds reopened …Old hurts return to haunt” (ST dated 13.03.2015), the xenophobia bug is the biggest threat to a country which uses jargons like, “Unity in Diversity”. Often we hear of a person from one or other of the north-eastern states of India being harassed, sexually molested or beaten up in the national capital. For an average Indian, Northeast does not appear anywhere in his mind space. The word ‘Chinki’ has been unofficially conferred on north easterners and this is how people in the mainland address people from this part of the country. Feeling of alienation and insensitivity of the government towards the issue has only aggravated the situation. As I read the above article, the horrific images of the past have sprung to life. I was not born during that tumultuous period of 1979 and 1981 but have seen and faced a lot as I was growing up. If truth be told, I had a lot of Khasi friends during my school days that I still miss. Our bond was rooted on fun and good fellowship. Much of the credit goes to the school and its teachers who taught us to love fellow human beings and the necessity of living harmoniously for prosperity and growth.
Ours was a missionary school and I proudly say, today, I am a product of the institution which was built by the game changers of the 21st century who brought good quality education to the fringes of the mainland. Despite its sad pages of history, Shillong has a special place in my heart and will remain so till eternity. I feel bad when any North easterner is taunted here in Delhi. I use all my might to resist it and to take the person home safe and sound. I do my bit but I am knocked sideways when I go back home and am greeted with words like ‘DKHAR’. I feel pierced to the heart and dejected. This is the scary side of India’s rock capital. Non-tribals have lived in the Northeast’s premier hill resort, Shillong for three to four generations and have contributed their best to the development of the economy of the state. Though my memory of the past is hazy now, but I can recall the riots, curfews, oppression, unfairness and bigotry.
Co-existence is bound to be wobbly and uneasy when it is made by geography, not by history and culture. I don’t think people who have left the State would ever come back. Vested interests have ridden enough on the innocence of the locals, fanned violence and held the state back from development and progress. A thousand others like me might not have any stakes in Meghalaya, but would always rejoice in its glory.
For us, you are not a Chinki but more than a brother as our birthplace is your homeland. The time is now ripe for rising above parochialism and realizing the necessity of co-existence by burying all ill will and working shoulder to shoulder towards the path of country’s development.
Yours etc.,
Subash Deb
Noida