By Bhogtoram Mawroh
On Subhash Chandra Bose’s death anniversary an event took place in the streets of Shillong that was both surprising and disturbing. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) took out its maiden ‘Path Sanchalan’ (procession) in the capital of the Christian-majority state of Meghalaya in which many people from the Khasi and Jaintia communities took part. This was surprising because no one thought that a Hindu fundamentalist organization such as the RSS would find traction in the state. Hinduism in the state is mostly identified with the dkhars (non-tribals) who have always been subjected to vitriolic attacks. So the fact that they decided to publicize their presence was a great surprise. It is also disturbing because RSS has been associated with various acts of violence especially against the minorities. Its ideology of an exclusive Hindu nation which does not recognize other belief systems has always been a threat to the idea of a secular and plural India. This is the group that reveres Mahatma Gandhi’s killer as a hero! So why would around 300 Khasi and Janitia people march along and try to identify with them? And is it right for us to blame them for doing so?
It is a well known fact that the followers of the indigenous religion and the Christians in the state have always had a tenuous relationship. Ever since Christianity was introduced, there have been reactions from those who wanted to preserve their religious identity. In many cases, people who accepted the new faith faced social boycott, were treated as outcasts and chased away from the community. Till date, one cannot assume the seat of Syiemship if they convert to another religion. On the other hand, the Christian missionaries also played a part in creating discord by their attempts to demonize the indigenous religion and its followers, a practice that still continues. For example, laudable traditions like sacred groves management were taunted as superstition of unlettered people and ridiculed. Gradually supported by colonial administrators like Major Jenkins, Christianity become dominant and it was the followers of indigenous religion that starting fearing the extinction of their ways. This compelled some people under the leadership of ‘Babu Jeebon Roy’ to establish Seng Khasi on November 23, 1899 to protect and preserve the Khasi-Pnar cultural practices, especially their religion, Niam-Khasi. The people who marched with RSS on the 25th of January were certainly followers of Niam-Tre/Niam-Khasi. In the RSS, the followers of indigenous religion found a nationally strong ally in their fight for survival. But this is not the whole story regarding the link between Niam-Tre/Niam-Khasi and the RSS/Hinduism.
The indigenous religion and Hinduism have a long history of interaction. The land of the Khasi-Pnar is hemmed between the Assamese-dominated Brahmaputra valley in the north and the Bengali-dominated Sylhet plains in the south. This proximity resulted in various interactions and many of their cultural attributes have been imbibed by the Khasi-Pnar; this includes not just words, terms, dress but religion as well. Though the common people didn’t embrace Hinduism, its influence in their traditional practises is clearly seen. The British came into conflict with the Jaintia king Rajendra Singh who was accused of sacrificing some of their subjects to goddess Kali. In Changpung during the house-entering ceremony, the name of Bisokarma (Vishwakarma) is invoked, who in Hindu mythology is regarded as a divine engineer and a god for craftsmen. This does not necessarily mean that the common people became Hindu but that they reacted to a different culture by imbibing certain elements into their own. This is true of all traditions, Hinduism (will be discussed later), and Abrahamic faiths like Judaism, Christianity, Islam as well, who have also incorporated many elements from the cultures that surrounded them. Among the Khasi-Pnar, the knowledge of Hindu culture and its practice was widely common. In fact a version of the Manik Raitong story even links it to the practice of sati. According to it, upon hearing that the queen, Lieng Makaw, had jumped into the pyre of her lover, the Hindu women of India felt shamed and decided that henceforth they would prove their loyalty to their husband by committing sati. I am not suggesting that this how sati originated, but only that the Khasi-Pnar were fully aware of Hindu cultural practices. Institutionally, Seng Khasi had connections with Brahmo Samaj, founded by Hindu reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy. So connections exist between the followers of Niam-Khasi/Niam-Tre and Hinduism. And in their fight to preserve their identity it is quite reasonable for the followers of Niam-Khasi/Niam-Tre to join hands with RSS, an organization that is against religious conversion. But is it a sound strategy? I believe that in associating with a group like RSS they stand to lose more than what they might gain. In fact their very identity as followers of a distinct religion is in danger.
Tribals in India are known as Adivasi which roughly translated means native people. However, there is an attempt by Sangh Parivar and its affiliates like the RSS to bring them to the Hindu fold by changing their term of identification to Van-Vasiwhich roughly translates as ‘forest-dwellers’ thus taking away their indigenous status. Tribals henceforth are no longer a distinct people with their own history but simply Hindus who chose to leave civilization and live in the forests. An example of this is the Hinduisation of tribals in Gujarat. One way in which the process of Hinduisation operates is by volunteers going to tribal villages and convincing the people that there is no difference between their native religion and Hinduism. Soon the images of tribal gods and Hindu gods are kept together for worship. After some time, the images of the tribal gods recede to the background with the Hindu gods brought to the foreground. Hindu rituals are systematically incorporated and slowly the tribal people are declared as Hindus. This process of Hinduisation has been going on for many decades but its antecedent is much older. The millions of gods in Hinduism are the millions of gods that it absorbed as it came in contact with different communities who had inhabited the sub-continent before the arrival of Aryan speaking people. Within Hinduism itself similar process took place. Old gods like Indra receded to the background while gods like Vishnu, Shiva (probably a Harappan god) and Shakti (personification of ancient mother goddesses) became more important. New religions emerged like Buddhism and Jainism, whom many Hindus consider as mere offshoots of Hinduism, but whose adherents vehemently reject. Past knowledge suggests that there will be an attempt to incorporate the Niam-Khasi/Niam-Tre religion into Hinduism (perhaps it has already started). When this happens will the followers of indigenous religion be able to fight back? It is going to be difficult if they are associated with a group that believes in a Hindu identity which subsumes all other identities beneath it.
Niam-Khasi/Niam-Tre is a distinct religion which has its own guiding principles (the three precepts), its own creation myth, its own rituals and festivals and most importantly a people who believe it to be their identity. But today its adherents are caught between the devil and the sea. On the one side, they are being courted by the church that treats their beliefs as a remnant of a savage past, while on the other side, there is the totalitarian Hindu system that will attempt to absorb and take away their identity. One adherent of the indigenous faith confided that sooner or later the people in her village would have to abandon their faith. This was not because they had found the truth in the other faithz, but because they are a small group of people surrounded by stronger powers. All traditions are authentic since they are the product of the genius of people of a particular place over time. Hence, the struggle of the Niam-Khasi/Niam-Tre people is not just about authenticity but it is about the survival of a tradition which has the right to exist like any other tradition, e.g., Christianity, Hinduism, Islam etc. For me it would be a sad day if it disappears as it will be a loss of a part of our history that defines who we were and for some who they are. But aligning with groups like RSS is not going to save their tradition. It will bring about its end.
(The author is a faculty of the Geography Department, NEHU)