By Bhogtoram Mawroh
As an indigenous person, the eviction happening in Assam raises very important questions. It is clear that a particular community is being targeted under these evictions, with potential corporate interests also being one factor. At the same time, we cannot ignore the context in which these evictions are taking place—namely, to prevent the demographic marginalisation of indigenous communities by non-indigenous populations, whether from across the international border or from the mainland. This is particularly relevant since examples abound of the discrimination and dispossession of indigenous communities in the past and present. There is some evidence that among the languages spoken in the Indus Valley Civilisation, Dravidian and Munda (an Austro-asiatic language like Khasi) are potential candidates, although there is a lot of work remaining in order to confirm this. But in the mainland today, Munda and other indigenous communities are being peed upon by upper-caste individuals, or tied to a tree and beaten because they have adopted Christianity. Closer to home in Tripura, my indigenous friends recounted stories of the humiliation they faced at the hands of settlers from East Pakistan, who today form the majority population. So, there is no way I, or any indigenous person, would allow that to be repeated on us. At the same time, there are minorities within indigenous communities as well, who have nothing to do with the injustices committed elsewhere. They are also victims, and there is a human story that is equally tragic, important, and worth telling.
A few weeks ago, Amit Mahatani, a noted documentary filmmaker with roots in Shillong, invited me for a private screening of his film ‘Inside Out’ – on the 2024 Parliamentary elections in Shillong.’ The film looked at the political campaigning for the Shillong Lok Sabha seat which saw a three-way contest between the incumbent MP from Congress, Vincent Pala, Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare of Meghalaya and NPP (National Peoples Party) candidate, Ampareen Lyngdoh, and the General Secretary of the newly formed party VPP (Voice of People Party), Ricky Syngkong. This was a very unprecedented election. Normally, during national elections, it is the candidate from the national parties or the ruling state government which usually hold the edge. However, this time around, it was the newcomers VPP who were aggressive and bullish about their hopes. Amit had initially wanted to cover all three parties, but he could cover only the campaigning of Ampareen Lyngdoh and Ricky Syngkon. The film revolved around the campaigning strategies of the two candidates and the issues that emerged.
Having roots in Shillong, Amit has a very close affinity to the city and the state. But like many other members of the various non-indigenous communities that had made it their home, there is also a bitterness that haunts these connections. Indeed, Amit began the film by talking about the violence that erupted in the late 1970s and the ones thereafter whose repercussions are still being felt today. Since then, there has been a steady decline in the non-indigenous population of the state, falling from almost 20% to just over 10%. Threat of violence, limited rights and restricted economic opportunities has been pushing away many long-time non-indigenous residents in search of a safer and more secure life. This includes many, like Amit, who have gone and done very well for themselves in various fields, but still feel deeply connected to the place. There is still hope that maybe they can somehow rebuild those broken bonds, but the elections showed such prospects are still a distant dream.
As everyone would know by now that it was the VPP that won the election, and it won by a very handsome margin, garnering more than half of the votes polled. This election victory has been made possible by the proliferation and consolidation of the ‘Jaidbynreiw Politics’ of which VPP is the latest manifestation. This is a regular feature of Khasi politics. Every decade, a political party will emerge which will denounce everyone that came before them and promise to fight in the name of the ‘jaidbynriew’, a term which means ‘people who share the same cultural bonds’. Put very simply, it is ‘Khasi First’ politics, built on a number of false ideas (e.g., rampant illegal immigration, which is not backed by data) and a good deal of ‘Khasi victimhood’—the belief that the majority community (the Khasis) are being persecuted while minority, non-indigenous communities are being patronised, even though the reality is quite the opposite. This time around, VPP emerged as the party that embodied the most vitriolic form of ‘Jaidbynriew Politics’. The speeches recorded in the film, showing party leaders engaging in the usual trope of harping on the threat of outsiders taking away the rights of the Khasis, served as a good example of this.
Amit had become quite close to both the candidates who were campaigning, but he must have felt some discomfort while shooting some of the political rallies of the VPP. After all, the ‘outsiders’ who were being vilified in the speeches were a subtle reference to people like him, even though having been born and brought up in Shillong, he was as much an insider as any Khasi. The NPP, for its part, tried to distance itself from such divisive politics and even publicly questioned the legitimacy of the ‘Jaidbynriew Politics’ in the way it is being used to spread hatred against the non-indigenous population of the state. This is in keeping with the image of the party, which it tries to project in order to build a pan-regional appeal, and in the long run, a pan-India appeal.
During campaigning in one locality in Shillong, Conrad Sangma, the NPP President and Chief Minister of Meghalaya, stopped his speech upon hearing the azaan (call for Muslim prayer). He is the sombre version of Sanbor Shullai, the maverick MLA from Laban, whose non-communal credentials are well known. Some commentators are of the opinion that VPP and its ‘Jaidbynriew Politics’ are an ephemeral phenomenon and that the party will have to become moderate if it ever wants to rule the state. I am not very confident about this prediction. Immediately after winning the KHADC election, the VPP announced that it would stop issuing new trading licenses to members of the non-indigenous community. So, moderation is not something I expect—at least not until the party has reaped the full electoral benefits of ‘jaidbynriew politics,’ which is likely to become more appealing as Hindutva attempts to extend its tentacles into Meghalaya’s politics and society. The backlash—and the bulwark—will, unfortunately, be ‘jaidbynriew politics.’ So, unless there is a change at the national level, I can only see the VPP becoming more parochial—and more successful.
But all of this politicking leaves people like Amit (with no links to Hindutva or the oppression of the indigenous peoples in the mainland and elsewhere) with a lot of sadness and pain. While he can articulate his heart’s yearnings by externalizing them as art (i.e., documentary films) not everyone can do the same. This leaves many feeling distraught and powerless in their position. Brought by the British to cater to the needs of a growing city, Shillong, and in search of a livelihood, they did what humans have done for thousands of years, migrate in search for a better life. It was this same need, the search for agricultural land that brought the Khasis 5000 years ago from South China to present-day Meghalaya. Because they colonised these lands first, we consider them indigenous, and those who came much later as non-indigenous. But one cannot deny that both groups have made this city and the state their home. Both have a legitimate claim to this place, albeit the latter has limited rights than the former (e.g., inability to buy land outside the European Ward). However, to make a living through honest means and live a life of dignity is the right of every human being, whether or not one is indigenous.
The concept of Indigenous people’s rights is the product of the fight against the discrimination and dispossession that indigenous peoples experienced at the hands of colonialists. To engage in the same actions — i.e., discrimination, harassment — is a betrayal of the values that underpin those struggles. Indigenous communities of Meghalaya must do better in how they treat the non-indigenous population. Hate and fear have a habit of consuming those who constantly define their lives by them. We have to do better, and we must do better.
By the way, Amit will soon be screening his film for the general audience in Shillong. Please go and watch it.
(The views expressed in the article are those of the author and do not reflect in any way his affiliation to any organisation or institution)
