Time to turn North East

                After all the outburst of Mr.Lalthanhawla might be valid, many Indians are really ignorant of the north east. It was reported by the media a few days ago that Mr. Lalthanhawla had said that there exists racism in India and he himself was a victim of it. It was also reported that Mr.Lalthanhawla went on to classify races. “There are 3 races in India ,the Aryan ,the Dravidian and we the north east ,whenever I go to south India they ask me if I am from china /Nepal “he was quoted saying.

              Though the honorable chief Minister of Mizoram Mr. Lalthanhawla denies having made any such remarks or speech about racism in India, I feel there is nothing wrong even if such a speech has been made. True most of us do not know much about the North Eastern part of India. We do not know their culture their traditions, their customs etc. What’s worse most of us(people staying in the North and south regions of India)  cannot  even recollect the names of the seven sisters also correctly.

                People from the north east come with a different look altogether, their facial features are altogether different, they are also extremely comfortable wearing short dresses.These are few things that differentiate them from the rest of the country. This instead of generating curiosity, has resulted in people making mockery of them .I recently read in a Times of India editorial that many Indians particularly people from the northern parts brand phenotypically similar Arunachalis, Assamese, Garos, Manipuris,Nagas ,Tripuris and Khasis as “chinkis”,”chaptas” and Chinese. Isn’t this bad? How can we belittle our own fellow citizens? I think a change of attitude is very very essential in this regard.

                The citizens cannot be entirely blamed for this state of affairs, the government also has got to do some thing about this.It is the responsibility of the government and ministry of cultural affairs to see to it that people are aware of  the diversity in the country . During the days of Doordarshan’s monopoly over the Indian T.V. space, we had programs which were educating  people on various cultures and traditions of various parts of India. I believe DD still has some programs on this aspect.  However in the last decade or so people are more attracted towards other channels. Hence telecasting programs in DD might not be an optimal solution.

               I personally feel organizing festivals for cultural fusion might be an option,the government can probably arrange some youth festivals where teams can be invited from all the seven north eastern states to come and exhibit their culture their traditions in remaining 21 states of India .There could be series of events where people are given chance to portray the most unique things that belong to their state. We can have dance festivals, festivals on art and culture etc all over India. Similarly the government can send teams from the other states to the North East so that they too get to know about the culture and traditions on the rest of India.This should not be a one time event but it should be a continuous process that runs at least for a 5-10 year term. The government can organize festivals across various states during that period. This would help us create an unbreakable cultural and emotional bond with the north east.

               The citizens also must utilize these opportunities to know more about the North East or there is every chance that we might lose our good friends for ever.

You would be interested to know that ……

1. The youngest minister in the current UPA government Agatha Sangma comes from the North east.
2. The torch bearer of Indian Football in the International Arena Mr.Baichung Bhutia comes from the north east. He hails from Sikkim
3. Indira Goswami the famus jnanpith award winnng writer is from the North east.
4. The 12^th election Commissioner of India ,the famous man who bought a lot of aura to the post Election commissioner Mr. J.M.Lyngdoh hails from the northeastern state of Meghalaya.
5. The winners and runners up of Indian Idol- 3 Prakash Tamang and Amit Paul are closely connected to north East ,while Prakash tamang comes from Darjeeling in West Bengal (though WB is not a north eastern state ,Darjeeling is closer to north east) Amit Paul comes Meghalaya.
6. Sourabhee Debbarma   who happens to be the first female Indian Idol winner comes from the north eastern state of Tripura.

 

My appeal is “look towards north east” …..