Chapter 3: Review of Literature
This Chapter is subdivided into two sections. The 1st section explores key terms used for this study. Besides this, the researcher has analyzed multiple conceptual approaches to the study of identity whereby highlighting the imperative understanding of identity as a social construct in the process of debunking the notion that formation of identity is based on cognitive self construction thereby subsequently opening up a new forum of consciousness on the dialectics between ‘self’ and ‘others’. From Freud’s psychoanalysis (1921) to Saussure’s language representation (1949) to Goffman’s dramaturgical representation (1959) of identity as social construct, this section attempts to delve closely with useful conceptual framework as well as to trace the development of identity scholarship from available literatures. The study has also identified different locations where identities are being exercised such as culture, literature, gender, religion, sports, economy, politics, emotions, outward and inward remittance and language. These different locations have become important ‘social markers’ for the study of identity reconstruction especially in a globalizing world in general and India in particular. Literatures available on these ‘social markers’ will be reviewed. In other words, identity reconstruction will be looked at in relations to different intervening variables; how these variables contribute in determining the sustainability of tribal migrants and their identity.
We will also uncover various academic texts, journals, web pages and reports of political and non-governmental agencies on the dialectics between ‘indigenous’ and ‘tribe’, who is ‘indigenous’ or ‘tribe’ or who is an ‘indigenous tribe’?. In order to unravel the conceptual definition of ‘indigenous tribe’, this study analyzed the writings of scholars such as Béteille (1981), Xaxa (1999), Risley and Gait, G.S. Ghurye (1963), Sinha(1958); Bose (1941); Roy- Burman (1972); Kosambi (1975) Sanders (1999) Corry (2011), to name a few. For concepts on social networks, the study has evaluated academic texts by Manuel Castells, a Spanish sociologist who has introduced the concept ‘network society’ within the framework of an information society, communication and globalization. This section tried to analyze terms such as ‘social reconstruction’ and ‘migration’ from a social dynamic perspective; terms conventionally viewed as being influenced by pedagogical philosophy (Brameld 1956) and economical shift respectively. The term ‘native’ is also a loosely constructed term and appears to be limited in defining the true essence of migrating tribes and their history. Therefore, the study seeks to delve with the categorical notion of who is a ‘native’ in the context of a changing socio- cultural scenario of the tribal world. Lastly, the term ‘Hmar’ is a nomenclature of indigenous tribes of North East India. This study highlights different cultural symbols and enquiry is made whether such symbols play role(s) in reconstructing a particular identity within the backdrop of Indian national identity. In other words, the study evaluated the existence of a Hmar nation within the larger framework of an Indian nation. This research has also examined academic texts by scholars (Dena (2008), Zama (2012) Baruah (2005) and unpublished works of indigenous writers (Keivom (2010), Dailo (2015), Pudaite (1963) in order to have an analytical understanding of the historical evolution of Hmar tribes and their future socio-cultural set-up.
The 2 nd section delves with key concepts related to this study. The process of social segregation and the categorization of ‘us’ and ‘them’ in India is not a new phenomenon; it has been in existence from time immemorial. Therefore, this research has examined various academic literatures relating to the growth of inter-communal, inter-regional and inter-group rivalries, lives beyond the periphery and questions relating to the formation of nations within a nation have been examined through academic writings of Subhir Bhaumik (2009), Guha, Margaret Zama (2012), Kailash C Baral et.al. on Northeast India. Also, various concepts such as ‘stretched identity’ (Bucholtz and Hall: 1995) and ‘imagined community’ (Anderson 1983; Appadurai 1997) where tribal migrants have become a part of within the complex socio-political scenario of a ‘globalizing India’ has been highlighted. Lastly, this section also points out indigenous tribal people search for the assertion of a unique and distinct identity and in the process, the eventual growth of religious and social organizations in the form of Fellowships and Associations respectively.
Key words use for secondary sources are identity, positioning, global scapes, migration, diaspora, globalization, imagined community, super diversity, indigenous tribes
Section 1
3.1: Review of Key Terms 3.1.1 - Identity
Tracing the evolution to the study of identity, many academic scholarships are critical of the exclusive nature of theorizing identity. The term ‘identity’ has a long history. However, it was not until the 20 th Century that studies on identity became a subject matter of discipline. In the 1950s, the concepts of identity began to gain its ground in social sciences and humanities. A single concept of defining ‘identity’ is a hard task which will have no end and instead prove to be even more in contestation in terms of definition, measurement and testing. The inception of identity theory in the academic world can be traced to structural symbolic interactions theory (Stryker:1980) and later followed by social identity theory through the study of social categorization of people (Tejfel: 1978). It is noteworthy, however, that though both identity and social identity theory centred on the socio-cognitive approach, the process of their approaches to socio-cognitive means can differ. In social identity scholarship, membership is an important criterion of identifying oneself into a group or community and that members of such group accepts and enacts roles as normative arrangement to their group membership (Turner: 1994, Burke: 2009, Stets:1996). Also, when a member is more involved with the activity of a group or community, the feeling of ‘belongingness’ tends to grow stronger (Ethier & Deaux: 1994)
For the process of conceptualizing identity, this study has also included analytical framework of socio-relational, cognitive as well as formal and informal norms within the constitutive tribal socio-legal set-up which largely allows different disciplines to integrate within the social realm of identity scholarship. According to Roger Smith (2002:302), identities are “among the most normatively significant and behaviorally consequential aspects of politics” 1. Amartya Sen rightly pointed out: “History and background is not the only ways of seeing ourselves and the group to which we belong” . We try and place our perception of differences under one big umbrella without trying to identify the many intricate frames which hold the umbrella together. However, Sen’s argument is that “A sense of identity can be a source not merely of pride and joy, but also of strength and confidence”. Yet, he also acknowledges that “ identity can also kill…”
1 Also in Abdelal, R. Herrera Y M, et.al (eds) (2009) page 17 in Measuring Identity: A Guide for Social Scientists. Cambridge University Press. New York. pp 428
Therefore, locating such identity related issue is an impending tasks for social scientists and policy makers to look into the fundamental principle of locating the core issue of how participatory actions–social, economy, political and emotional - as well as social security be achieved and maintained. In the context of India, locating one’s identity within the framework of a so called ‘nation’ is a complicated task with no shared history of its citizens. Then again, a question arises as to the time span required for the nativization of a people in a country. If there is a collective understanding of an Indian identity starting from 1947, then all people living within the geographical boundary from independence are considered legal citizens. However, historical past does not allow such lines to be drawn.
Within the critical juncture of Indian nation formation, the legal, religion, culture, tradition, and accepted uniform civil code both at socio-political level continues to remain in contestation, the meaning of collective identity continues to be the epicenter in public discourses. Here, borrowing from Freud’s interpretation of social relationships and discourses (Freud: 1921), identification, introjections and projection plays a very crucial role in the cognitive interpretation of identity of an individual and society. On the other hand, the introjections and projection from the id, ego and super ego of Freud’s psychoanalysis, leaves a wide gap between the self as a person and the self as a social being, capable of constructing his/her own reality through interdependence. However, Freud’s identity scholarship paved way for other disciplines especially subaltern studies such as feminist to interpret civilization based on the existence of patriarchy (Mitchell 1975; Chodorow 1978) 2.
Discussions on identity can be emphasized broadly on two major traditions – psychodynamics and sociological – which are “the invented and constructed character of identity" 3. The psychodynamic tradition evolves primarily through Sigmund Freud. Based on the Freudian belief, in spite of the many conflicts within the process of socialization, the psychic structure of an individual survives and sustains itself. Furthermore, in the psychodynamic realm, individual and community share some core values and cultures. Subsequently, it may highlight the loss of boundaries between self and culture, psychic structure in the form of narcissistic personality survives and grows. In the same way, from a sociological perspective, modern or contemporary
2 Juliet Mitchell in Psychoanalysis and Feminism, 1975 and Nancy Chodorow in Reproduction of Mothering, 1978
3 Oxford Dictionary of Sociology: 2009 societies witness fragmentation, homelessness and meaninglessness’ due to the rise in individualism, self-absorption and selfishness.
Unlike Freud, Sociologists Erving Goffman (1959) and Peter Berger (1966) believe that identity is purely a social construct. While looking at the cross-cultural differences and similarities between tribal migrants from North East India and their host communities, it is through their interactions and various role plays that ultimately led to the construction and reconstruction of identities at both ends. Goffman’s dramaturgical framework suggests that social life and identity develops through human interaction which is confined to role play by different actors in different settings. From a micro-social perspective, so argues Goffman, facilitates an understanding of the minute face-to-face details of human interaction and the self viz-z-viz the social world, through everyday life experience. Similarly, for Berger identity is “socially bestowed, socially sustained and socially transformed”. (Berger: 1959). There are some who gives absolute importance to economic and political development for nation formation whereby giving little emphasis to the everyday life situation - interactions of diverse citizens – who deems Goffman’s dramaturgical interest as trivial and cynical. However, the researcher is more cynical to such proposal as, like Goffman and Berger, that it is through the minutest details of interactions that social realities get structured and formed. This ultimately allows for a better understanding of human relationship especially in the context of such diverse nation like India which may culminate into a conducive stage of transformation.
Stuart Hall 4 (1990:222-223) is of the opinion that, “Identity is not as transparent or unproblematic as we think”. To Hall, identity is a dynamic process which never ceases to exist with subjective ‘representation’ from within and not outside human inter-relationship. Hall’s understanding of diasporic community is interesting in as sense that diaspora does not necessary subsume those scattered communities whose identities can only be secured in relations to some sacred homeland where the migrants must return. In fact, this study is of the opinion that Hmar migrant communities are constantly producing and reproducing new identities through transformation and differences (Hall 1996). It is also from this new location that diasporic
4 Hall, Stuart in Jonathan Rutherford.1990. (ed.) IDENTITY: Community, Culture, Difference. Lawrence & Wishart, London. 1990. P.222-223 communities created a desire to return to their homeland where they imagined as well as narrated about their origin which there is disconnected with geographically. For Hall, cultural identity production is never complete and continues to change, always in process and is constituted with representation.
Locating the transfiguration of cultural boundaries and the reconstruction of new cultural representation of identity among social groups and meaningful accounts of their past history (Rayaprol:1997) and their new milieu is an important task which all social scientists needs to take into consideration. As the present civilization witnessed an abrupt change due to confrontation with multiple folds of change and development (and which intersects with one another), society too tries to derive its own meaning through identity discourses. Such new discourses, fragmented it may appear at times, culminated into a process of redefining meaning of particular collective identities. It should be noted that self identity may be defined in relation to other individual or collective identities through comparisons and references (Goffman:1959;Berger:1966). In other words, an ‘identity’ can be regarded to as what it is not where the ‘self’ and the ‘social’ world are dialectical in nature. Michael Barnett (1999:9) defines this type of relational identity as “the understanding of oneself in relationship to others”. Identities, in short, are not personal or psychological, they are fundamentally social and relational; dependent on other the actor’s interaction with others and can be placed within an institutional context.
In understanding a sense of participation or consciousness of belongingness to a group, in other words, the act of inclusiveness, W.E.B Du Bois (1969) spoke of “Double Consciousness” while studying racial status and power relations between Black and Whites. In a diverse nation like that of India, can there be such “Double Consciousness” amongst its citizens? According to Du Bois, “Double Consciousness” would be characterized by (1) looking at one self through the eyes of the others; (2) a person’s longing to attain self-conscious manhood to merge his double self into a better and true self. Here, he does not want his self merging process to get rid of his older self. Here, there is a possibility of a synthesis of the two opposing forces suggesting the unity which could emerge from the great disunity (better self could emerge out of opposing forces).
Du Bois also mentioned the existence of identity crisis where there are irreconcilable emotional, psychological, philosophical and ideological splits within individual and groups. In other words, the disintegrating society is fragmented beyond repair and thus leading to exclusive identity. Secondly, Du Bois presents his dialectic approach where those excluded will have to maintain their own special socio-cultural world while simultaneously participating in the larger political, economic, legal society. Du Bois’ Theory of Double Consciousness is only a ‘social dialectic’ with competing ideas. From the perspective of India’s diversity study, the double consciousness could simply be to present a list of binary opposites such as mainstream and minority Indian communities (Krishan 2007; Singh 2007; Shingmila 2007; Chyrmang 2010).
Amongst the indigenous tribes, language and representation are important identifying variables for identity formation. Language is important not just as a medium of communication but also paved way for the formation of cultural subjectivity. Indigenous narratives, oral traditions, life stories and most recently media discourses deploys sameness and differences which further captures the power relations by offering complimentary perspectives on identity formation. (Hall;Bucholtz:1995:371). Some have used language as yardstick for social classification and membership. However, the study has argues that deploying membership in linguistic term would only enmesh the whole identity scholarship; variations can be found from equally relevant social, cultural, political, economic and historical criteria (ibid:1995; Silverstein:1996). While studying identity construction among women in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, Swati Shirwadkar (2012) has observed that “language, particularly the mother tongue becomes important for formation of particular identity". Mary Bucholts and Kira Hall further argues thus: “although identity work frequently involves obscuring differences among those with a common identity, it may also serve to manufacture or underscore differences between in-group members and those outside the group”.
The foremost essence of language is the way meaning are imparted or (re)produced. Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1949) claims that all social and cultural meanings are produced within language systems of representation. Therefore, who we really are “is shaped by the meaning attached to particular attributes, capacities and forms of conduct” (Scott; Marshall: 2009). Saussure in his traditional representation theory deploys two sets of oppositions – ‘signifier’ and ‘signifies’ which invariably produces ‘signs’. The interplay of ‘signs’ produces meaning in language and not through the intentions of the speaking or writing subjects. This is somewhat true for indigenous tribes who, through generations rely on oral narrations, are subjected to customary norms, values and ethos and not vice versa. Tribal language or dialects has, for generations, become one of the foremost means of locating indigenous history. In other words, social and cultural meanings of identity narratives are produced through language.
From the whole discourse on identity and representation discussed above, agency and change also plays a crucial role in studying identity. Foucault has also argued, in his analysis of positioning agency and identity where individuals inhibit multiple identities. Discourses related to the study of identifying variables such as cultural practices, religion, politics, sports, organizations/associations, food and so on can also produce divergent positions for agencies. Therefore, the ‘self’ can be identified as part of collective entity, capable of performing and belonging to an action, according to its own capacities such as that of a social worker, tribal women, Scheduled Tribe reservation beneficiary, etc. On the other hand, multiple identities acquire through a range of social practices are somehow linked to larger structures of identity such as ethnicity, class, race, gender and so on.
3.1.2 - Situating Indigenous Tribes:
The term ‘tribe’ and ‘indigenous’ is often used interchangeably to denote people or community who are the original inhabitant of a particular region or area. This study has intentionally combined the two words ‘tribe’ and ‘indigenous’ together. Reason being that the term ‘tribe’ alone is used in common parlance to denote a homogeneous group of people who are geographically, politically and emotionally isolated from the rest of the world. Therefore, as a working definition, the term ‘indigenous tribe’ has been used to mean communities, people, group having historical continuity, considered as having distinct identities, protected in international or national legislation with rights based on their historical ties with a particular territory. As per the report of Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations’ Workshop on Data Collection and Disaggregation For Indigenous Peoples (New York, 19-21 January 2004), there has not been any clear concepts and definition given to the term ‘indigenous people’. The concluding remark of the report states thus:
In the sixty-year history of developing International Law within the United Nations system, various terms have not been formally defined, the most vivid examples being the notions of “peoples” and of “minorities”. Yet, the United Nations has recognized the right of peoples to self-determination and has adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. The lack of formal definition of “peoples” or “minorities” has not been crucial to the Organization’s successes or failures in those domains nor to the promotion, protection or monitoring of the rights recognized for these entities. 5
Furthermore, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues states that considering the diversity of indigenous peoples, an official definition of “indigenous” has not been adopted by any UN-system body. Instead the system has developed a modern understanding of this term based on the following:
• Self- identification as indigenous peoples at the individual level and accepted by the community as their member.
• Historical continuity with pre-col;onial and/or pre-settler societies
• Strong link to territorial and surrounding to natural resources
• Distinct social, economic and political systems
• Distinct language, culture and Beliefs
• From non-dominant group of society
• Resolve to maintain and reproduce their ancestral environments and systems as distinctive peoples and communities.
From the three hundred and seventy million indigenous individual amounting to six percent of the world’s population, tribals occupy a totally different cultural and political space in the public imagination within the indigenous world. Stephan Corry has precisely opined thus: “ There is little that an un-contacted tribe in New Guinea has in common with millionaire casino-owning Indians in New England, although both are indigenous …While the number of indigenous individuals on the planet is growing, that of tribal individuals is shrinking and some people today face total disappearanc e” (Corry: 2011:29). Therefore, it is arbitrary to think that ‘tribe’
5 http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/5session_factsheet1.pdf and ‘indigenous’ are two distinct concepts. Instead, ‘tribe’ or ‘tribal’ here denotes a group of people sharing common political economy, with culture and lifestyles and are ‘indigenous’ to a particular area or region. This study further discuss the conceptual understanding of tribe and indigenous in order to situate an indigenous tribal identity especially in the context of India.
‘Tribe’ is a popular nomenclature given to a group of people or community who share common territory, culture, religion, tradition, economy, speaking a common language or dialect and with a single political organization. ‘Adivasi’ is another word for ‘tribe’ in Hindi which means original settlers. The British administrators and anthropologists first used the term ‘tribe’ in India solely for administrative convenience. In 1951, the Royal Anthropological Institute defines the term tribe as a “ politically or socially coherent and autonomous group occupying or claiming a particular territory ” (1951:66). According to Survival International 6, the term ‘tribe’ or ‘tribal’ is used to denote “ a distinct people, dependent on their land for their livelihood, largely self- sufficient, and not integrated into the national society ” However, the question of ‘tribals’ not integrating with the ‘national society’ is a contested one wherein a country like that of India, many tribes form part of the diverse nation with distinct identity of their own. Therefore, ‘tribe’ is an ambiguous term and is at best an ‘anthropological imagination’ (Béteille: 1981) which will continue to occupy a contentious space in the public discourse.
The categorizing of people into Scheduled Tribe is hence seen as a colonial construction (Beteille: 1995; Singh: 1993). The Census report of 1881 used the term ‘forest tribe’ but that too as a sub-heading within the broader category of agricultural and pastoral castes. Risley and Gait, in charge of the 1901 and 1911 censuses respectively, added ‘so-called animists’ in the table of caste and others. J.T.Marten in 1921 census followed the same pattern but changed the heading from ‘animism’ to ‘tribal religion (Banes: 1924:595). Keeping these observations in mind, G.S. Ghurye (1963) has used the expression of ‘so called aborigines’ who form the bulk of schedule tribes and who have been designated in the censuses as animists and are best describes as ‘backward Hindus’.
6Survival International website accessed on 02.05.2012 & 30.04.20115 at 5:45p.m. http://www.survivalinternational.org/info/terminology
Thus, looking at the various conceptual frameworks rendered by anthropologists and other social scientists alike, the concept of tribe has undergone numerous contentions. This conceptual transition has become a challenge to researchers who seeks an in-depth understanding of issues related to tribes. In light of the many contentious definition and understanding of the concept of tribe, Virginiux Xaxa is of the opinion that the term ‘schedule tribe’ is a politico-administrative category (Xaxa: 1999). Article 342 of the Indian Constitution provides for listings of the above category of groups in a Schedule so that certain administrative and political concessions could be extended to them. However, there is a possibility of a group treated as Schedule Tribe in one state, may not be treated as such in another.
The total population of Scheduled Tribes is 84,326,240 as per the Census 2001 as against the total population of country which stood at 1.21 billion as per Census 2011 7. According to 2001 Census, States with largest number of Scheduled Tribes are Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Orissa, Gujrat, Rajsthan, Jharkhand, Chhatishgarh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka. These states account for 83.2% of the total Scheduled Tribe population of the country. Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, Mizoram, Bihar, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, account for another 15.3% of the total Scheduled Tribe population. Majority of the Scheduled tribe population live in rural areas and their population is 10.4 % of the total rural population of the country.
The Anthropological Survey of India under the ‘People of India Project’ 8 identifies 460 tribal groups in India. These groups of communities have been designated as Schedule Tribe by the Constitution of India. At first, the conventional understanding of anthropologist and social scientists has been that when a tribe (who generally live in isolation) begins to interact with the outside world, the genesis of change and transformation sets in (Xaxa 2004; 2006). The point of reference of this change can be observed through loss of isolation where tribal land, culture, tradition, language, religion and the various aesthetics of their everyday life have began to
7 Only provisional total population of Census of India 2011 has been released (exact figure: 1,210,193,422). Rest of population total is based on Census of India 2001.For more information, go to http://censusindia.gov.in
8 The Anthropological Survey of India (A.S.I) was established in 1945. A.S.I launched the People of India Project on 2nd October 1985 “to generate a brief, descriptive anthropological profile of all the communities of India, the impact on them of change and development processes and the links that bring them together”. submerged with cultures of wider societies. Therefore, one of the dominant modes in which transformation of tribal society has been conceived is in terms of a tribe getting absorbed into a society that represents the so called ‘civilization’. For this reason, majority of the Indian tribes have become assimilated with larger cultures, with unfailing regularity, they ultimately adopted the caste culture (Sinha 1958; Bose 1941; Roy-Burman 1972; Kosambi 1975).
Xaxa is of the opinion that international agencies especially have used the term and concepts of ‘indigenous’ in their deliberation to discuss their own agendas. Two important concepts of ‘need right’ and ‘power right’ have become important means of categorizing indigenous tribal people all over the world. People in this category are progressively being marginalized and dispossessed from their source of livelihood and are vulnerable to cultural shock and decimation of their collective identity. Therefore, in this study, we have used the term indigenous as an accepted term of description and designation of certain category of people. They neither fall under the caste structure nor are peasants whose social structure in characterized by the class model of dependence on means of production.
For many of the indigenous tribes of North East India, the search for identity within the framework of India as a nation has been in contestation for a long period of time and in some cases leading to violent outcome especially endorsed by ‘underground militants’ of that region. Though the concept of nationalism is linked closely with nation-state, there has also been an attempt to understand nationalism outside the ambit of nation-state. Cultural nationalism, religious nationalism and ethno-nationalism are three common types of nationalism which normally occupy an important place in the North East identity discourse. At times, all three types of nationalism can function as a distinct whole while at other times, cultural and religious nationalism can fall under the domain of ethno-nationalism. The latter is the case with North East tribes where assertion of an ethnic identity, different from the rest of ‘mainland’ India is a common feature especially from post-independence India. Lalsangkima Pachhau 9 is also of the same opinion. He wrote thus:
“Ethno-nationalism’ best define the self-understanding of the ethnic groups in Northeast India in the various forms of their struggle for identity. Furthermore, other notions of
9 Pachhau, Lalsangkma. 2005. Tribal Identity And Ethnic Conflicts In North-East India: A Christian Response Posted by Editor on Saturday, December 24, 2005 10:48 pm nationalism outside the nation-state concept we have mentioned above, in the context of Northeast India, can be included within the framework of ethno-nationalism” . According to Stanley Tambiah, ethno-nationalism is “Ethnic groups claiming to be [or to possess] nations and states in the past or that have the potential of becoming [nations or states and] are now demanding and asserting these claims as (historic) rights to self determination for local autonomy or independence.”
3.1.3 - Historical Background of the Hmars
The Hmars are small group of tribal community residing in the Northeastern part of India. They speak the Hmar language which, according to G.A. Grierson, is under the Tibeto-Burman linguistic group. The origin of the word ‘ Hmar’ is sharply divided where some claims that ‘Hmar’ literally means ‘ North’ as some believed that it was the Lushais who gave the name ‘Hmar’ because the Hmars lived north from them. Another opinion is that the term “ Hmar’ is derived from the word 'Marh' or 'Mhar' that means tying of one's hair in a knot on the back. Tradition tells us that the ancestor of the Hmars, Tukbemsawm tied his hair in a knot on his back, and since then, he and his progenies came to be known as the Hmars. Yet another opinion contends that the term 'Hmar' arises from the Chin language 'Mar'. Lt. Col. J. Shakespeare wrote that the Chins called them ‘Mar’. As no concrete conclusion can be attained for the origin of the term ‘ Hmar’ , historian Lal Dena writes, “ Whatever may be the truth, this much is clear to us that the term (Hmar) had not yet gained popularity when the Hmars first came into contact with the British".
The Hmars, like other tribes of the Northeast are nomadic community. Opinion on their origin is also sharply divided. Some of the theories and views of origin and locations of the Hmars are as follows:
a. Sinlung must be somewhere in South West China, possibly in the present Tailing or Silung of Yunan Province of today's China.
b. It might have been Sining in central China.
c. It might have been derived from the Chin Dynasty of 221-207 B.C. d. It might have been a derivative of the Chinese king Chieulung who ruled during 1711 A.D.
e. It might have been a cave, and because it was sealed with a huge stone, it was called Sin (seal, close) Lung (stone, rock).
f. Sinlung was located at Retzawl village in North Cachar Hills of Assam and was named after the rock fortress there.
g. Sinlung was located at Aopatong in the border of Burma and China. The town was named after the chief Silung during the erection of the Great Wall of China.
h. It might be the present Sinlung, located near the Yulung River in Szechuan Province of China.
Some are of the opinion that the Hmars lived in Sinlung in search for greener pastures while another ascribes it to the oppressive rule of the Chinese rulers and the Hmars' inability to repulse their enemies in Sinlung. One of their songs is highly suggestive of them living in Sinlung which thus says:
Khaw Sinlung ah Kawt siel ang ka zuongsuok a; Mi le nel lo tam a e, Hriemi hrai a.
(English Translation)
Out of city Sinlung I jumped out like a siel; Innumerable were the encounters, With the children of men. The suggestive interpretation is that the Hmars may have 'jump out like a siel' because of the cruelty of the Chinese rulers or because of the famine there.
This concept of headhunting practice by the Hmars has been questioned but not refuted in totality by Lal Dena (2004) and Lalthlamuong Keivom10 (2004) 11 . In the words of Keivom:
“If there are people amongst us who still love to claim the notorious title of a headhunter for a price, what can we do? The only thing we can do is to pray for the headhunters provided we still have believers in God who ought to supplicate on their behalf. When can we learn to read the writings on the wall penned in bold letters and try to reform our lives. There were indeed primitive tribes who practiced some form of headhunting at certain stages of their march into civilization. If we examine what prompted them to become headhunters, the underlying cause was always religion: to propitiate gods and spirits and to gain respectable position in the next world after death”. He also claimed that mankind are all headhunters as “ the bigger sharks still go out hunting the weaker ones. ‘Might is Right’ remains the rule of the game. We shoot out civilized words from our lips but we also shoot barbarously from our hips ”. Dena made a comment of this particular article stating thus, “ when we critically examine our Hmar History, it is believed that there were some who with no good reason hunted others’ head. Nevertheless, just for these mere incidents, to call ourselves as Head-Hunters is something that a historian cannot at all subscribe or accept”.
The Hmars are sub-divided on the basis of their sub-clan Pahnam. Hmar villages were predominantly comprises of member of the same clan, with the Chief Lal as the head of the village. Though the Hmars have no written criminal or civil laws of their own, they also have rigid customary laws executed by the Chief and his Council members. The practice of Khawtlang Ensan 12 is also a common practice rendered to those who disobeyed the village court. Lal Dena (2008) is of the opinion that since Khawtlang Ensan is such a harsh punishment, “everyone tried to obey the orders of the village court”. When chieftainship was abolished after the amalgamation of the north-eastern states into a fully legal and political territory of India, Village Authority came into existence. Many of the traditional institutions and practices faded away in due course.
10 Lalthlamuong Keivom is one of the first Hmars Indian Foreign Services (IFS) officers. He is also an author and researcher. 11 This article was originally written in Hmar and published in Delhi Thurawn, June 4, 2004 entitled Headhunting . It was later translated in English and webcasted at e-pao.net on Jan 21, 2005 12 A type of social boycott or being ostracize by the whole village community. The epicenter of social life amongst the Hmar youth was Buonzawl (youth dormitory) , an important socio-educational agency that imparts strict disciplines and a dynamic training ground for tribal warfare and other social responsibilities before the introduction of formal education. Buonzawl is also commonly known as Zawlbuk by the Lushai speaking Mizos. Buonzawl is located at the centre of the village near the Chief’s house. It has a single entrance with an open space for wrestling matches and dances. There is also sleeping quarters for bachelors and night- watchers that protect their village from intruders. However, with social change brought forth by the coming of British and Christian missionaries in the Hmar inhabited areas, Buonzawl disappeared gradually. This was invariably due to the introduction of formal education which inevitably replaced the traditional informal kind of education. Therein, traditional musical instruments Khuong (drum), dance form Hnam Lam , cultural activities such as Sikpui-Ruoi 13 , brewing of rice beer Zupui , and various other cultural practices and lifestyles were abolished as they believe that such activities would remind them of their old pagan traditions.
From a socio-cultural sphere, the Hmars are traditionally nomadic tribe unknown by most of the ‘outside’ world, representing specific interests of their own people, have now participate in the national as well as transnational global exchange of people whereby transfiguring cultural boundaries and at the same time recreating new representation of their ‘tribal-self’ identity, their past history and their new milieu. The major reason behind this socio-cultural and economic transformation of the Hmars is the arrival of a European missionary Watkin R Roberts, fondly called by the Hmars as Sap Tlangval (Mr.Young Man) in 1910 at Senvon village in the south west Manipur. On the arrival of Roberts, Rochunga Pudaite (1963) wrote thus:
“To the Hmar it was more than just the mere newness that appealed to their heart. It was the amazing transforming power of the Gospel that had captivated their hearts and imaginations. They had been headhunters but now were heart hunters. They had been savage and 'uncivilized' people but now they were counted among the (rank and file of) civilized society of the earth. They had once been filled with fear and with frustration but now with friendliness and assurance of life."
The arrival of Christianity, however, brought forth both cultural and group conflicts amongst the
13 Winter or Harvest Festival of the Hmars. Hmars. Firstly, the missionaries undermine traditional practices and beliefs whereby labeling the old values as ‘evil’ while anything ‘western’ were considered ‘civilized’ and ‘good’. However, there are members of the Hmar community who values the process of indigenizing Christianity amongst their own people. Ruolneikhum Pakhuongte 14 (1983:67) has opined thus: “ Christianity does not have to destroy unnecessarily people’s cultures and traditions….experience among the Hmar people shows that Christianity grows faster if it flows along the cultural pattern and traditions of the people ”. Secondly, the Hmars were engulfed by unwanted division within the church. This was primarily due to clash of denominational supremacy over the other as well as race for leadership. This has far reaching implications upon the Hmars as each denominations pursuit to establish new churches in all villages and cities in the name of ‘urban ministry’.
Watkin R. Roberts named the Mission he founded North East India General Mission (NEIGM) to include more tribal communities of the north east. However, in 1929 15 (Keivom 2010), fractions within North East India General Mission (NEIGM) under Watkin R Roberts on one side and H. H. Coleman on the other took place. As a consequence to this, Watkin Roberts started the Indo-Pioneer Mission (IBPM) while NEIGM was managed by Coleman. By then, majority of the Hmars comes under the church banner of Independent Church of India (ICI). However, the fight for leadership and church properties continues and in 1968, ICI was divided into two rival factions. Therein, the Evangelical Free Church of India (EFCI) was established in 1972. In 1979, faction within Evangelical Assembly Church (EAC) NEIGM gave birth to Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPC) of North East India. The year 1989 again saw the establishment of Wesleyan Methodist Church of East India, a faction from EFCI. Besides these different denominations, due to doctrinal issues, Assemblies of God (AG) and United Pentecostal Church (UPC) was created. Within the AG Church, Lalsuongkuo (Unity Church) was formed in 1983. With a population of less than 600,000, the unity of the Hmars are thus marred by denominational division whereby there are at present 14 denominational churches. Besides the above ‘mainstream’ denominations, there are others such as Douglas, Four Square, Manna Full
14 Ruolneikhum Pakhuongte is a former President of the Evangelical Free Church of India, one of the largest church organization amongst the Hmar community.
15 According to Dr.John Pulamte, fractions within NEIGM took place in 1928 ( Hmar Kohran , Delhi Thurawn, February 26, 2013) Gospel and Local Church within the Hmar community (Pulamte 2013).
Denominational division led to an “irreparable injuries” (Sanate 2013) amongst the Hmar community. Today, the above mentioned church division has far reaching consequences to the socio-cultural representation of the Hmars within their newly constructed spaces, than any of the older generations could ever imagine. It not only brought forth intra-community rivalry; the scar is deeply embedded in the minds of the future generations that it has become difficult to contemplate on integrating the Hmar people. There have been many debates and writings on ways of negotiating disunity amongst the Hmar people themselves through public discourses (Zote 2007) 16 . However, there has been no significant change in the mindset of the people.
Therefore, on looking at the contemporary Hmar world and the many contradictory changes brought forth by Christian missionaries, one cannot place an acute conceptual narrative to the disintegration of these tribes within the identity scholarship. Therefore, one cannot put an end to the cause of integrating a small set of people, a speck of that important particle, having distinct history and social trajectory, which inversely defines ethnic as well as national boundaries. Locating historical and cultural specificities of small communities like that of Hmar community becomes an important criterion for nation formation.
The process of social reconstruction of diasporic Hmars identity in contemporary world firstly, has a direct linkage with the arrival of a European Christian missionary Watkin R. Roberts at Senvon 17 in 1910. Secondly, the continuous negotiation of identities and the subsequent restructuring of such identity by diasporic Hmars through the establishment of Hmar Christian Fellowships (HCF) in different parts of India and abroad led to the refinement of ‘culture and territorial rootedness’ where the notion of ‘native’ is reconstructed through ‘stretched identity’ 18 .
16 Hnam Damna (Cultural Survival) written by prominent Hmar writers and edited by Timothy Zote.
17 Senvon village is often referred to as the ‘capital city’ of the Hmars ( Hmar Khawpui) and is located in Churachandpur district of Manipur state. It is 260 kms. away from Churachandpur town.
18 A socio-cultural process whereby identity gets elongated or extended beyond the geo-political border, creating imaginary spaces where native cultures get reconstructed within borderless borders. The fluidity of human movement with the onset of globalization and technological advancement facilitated this site of socio-cultural development. 3.1.4 - Native, Social Networks, Social Reconstruction, Migration
The concept of ‘native’ is an important base in the migration fellowship; the fluidity of people’s movement (geographical and emotional) has become a phenomenal process especially in a globalizing world. Similarly, the socio-cultural identity disposition of the migrants, based on different identity scholarships, may either disintegrate within the pretext of influence by larger or stronger cultures or remains the same. Further still, identity may also get re-enacted into a whole new socio-cultural dimension (Homi Babha: 1994) or that it gets ‘stretched’ beyond geo-physical boundaries. In the meantime the essence of socio-cultural identity undergoes the process of renegotiation and reconstruction alongside the movement of people from one geographical region to another (Appadurai:1997, Rayaprol:1997, Hall and; Bucholtz:2004). Therefore, one cannot do away with comparative analysis between the ‘native’ and the present social-cultural circumstances of a given time and place. However, how does one understand the concept of the ‘native’? Is there a possibility of locating the ‘native’ especially in the context of North East tribes whose history is solely based on oral narratives and folklores?
What is then referred to as ‘native’? According to Cambridge Dictionary Online, ‘native’ is “the town or city or area that a person is from, especially the one in which they were born and lived while young ”19 . Based on this definition, ‘birth’ and ‘residence’ is the identifying criterion for person belonging to the ‘native’. Furthermore, Merriam-Webster online used the term ‘indigenous’ whereby defining ‘native’ thus: “One born or reared in a particular place or original or indigenous inhabitant; something indigenous to a particular locality or a local resident; especially: a person who has always lived in a place as distinguished from a visitor or a temporary resident” 20 . The terms given by these glossaries appear to be limited in defining the true essence of nomadic tribal people and their history. Especially in the context of indigenous tribes, empirical evidence of originality of the ‘native’ cannot be measured by a single yardstick such as by birth or residence. In the context of the Hmars also, like most of the other tribes of North East India, their ‘origin’ or ‘native’ identity is commonly traced back to Sinlung in Central China. In course of time, the Hmars are believed to gradually inhibit the virgin lands of Lushai
19 Cambridge Dictionary Online. Access on 29 April. 2013 at 12:32pm http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/native-place 20 Merriam-Webster: Merriam-Webster: An Encyclopaedia Britannica Company online access on 29.4.2013 at 12: 27pm http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/native Hills under the British to Tripura, Chittagong Hills Tracks, Cachar, Manipur and North Cachar Hills (Dena:2010) 21 .
This research acknowledges the importance of ancestral native in the identity scholarship of tribes. However, it limits the study from a particular time frame in order to seek evidence of identity reconstruction of tribal migrants within a globalizing India. As such, this study situated the indigenous ‘native’ more from the contemporary tribal world i.e. from the late 1970s where actual geographical movements, complimented by upward economic and socio-political mobility of Hmar tribes. So also, it was during this time that the geo-political scenario of most of the tribal inhibited areas of the North East restructured under The North-Eastern Areas (Reorganization) Act, 1971 wherein the once British India region or provinces namely Assam and the princely states of Manipur and Tripura began to attain full-fledged statehood, on linguistic line. Nagaland attained statehood in 1963, Meghalaya in 1972, Arunachal Pradesh in 1987, Mizoram in 1987, Manipur in 1972, Tripura in 1972 and Sikkim in 2002. The Hmars are scattered in different parts of these North East states. Manipur, Assam and Mizoram have, however, more concentration of Hmar population.
With the onset of globalization, economic and technological advancement, the wide spaces between human evolution, in some sense, narrows down; borderless borders evolves whereby restructuring the different forms of identities. Such restructuring led to the condition where communities once in isolation began to merge with a more ‘advance’ ones whereby, in such a process of change, confrontation and negotiation of identities occur. Furthermore, the fluidity of cultures and civilizations led to a hybrid stage where cultures get re-created into something new (Homi Babha: 1994; Appadurai 1997, Sen: 2007) 22 . The merging or movements of communities and cultures does not imply assimilation of one culture to another. Instead, a different mode of cultural traffic emerges whereby social practices and the larger cultural structures of social identities become interwoven and at the same time dissect with one another. Stephen Castles (2000) stated that in the age of migration, a major problem arises: “if a citizen is a person who belongs both culturally and politically to one specific nation state, what of migrants who settle in
21 Dena, Lal. 2010. Access on 2.11.2012 at 11.35pm. http://laldena.blogspot.in/2010/06/traditional-institutions-of- hmars.html
22 Babha, Homi.1994.The Location of Cultures one country without abandoning their cultural belonging in another” . Aparna Rayaprol (1997) has also spoken of the newly constructed identities arising out of transnational migrants which are based on ‘diverse, selective and particular’. In other words, new identities will be constructed based on one’s past and accompanies migrants to their new destination.
Female Migration: Migration and diaspora expert such as Aparna Rayaprol (1997) have mentioned the important role of women in the process of reconstructing identity from their migrated location. These women retained their traditional culture through strong memories of their historical past. And women migration within this globalizing era has been on the rise. According to 2001 Census, there are 221 million female migrants which are about 70% of the total migrants in India. Female accounts for 73% of the total intra-state migrants and 54% for inter-state migrants which clearly outnumbered men in migration (Prabha 2011). V. Thadani and M. Todaro (1984) have identified for variants of female migration.
a. Married women in search of urban employment and induced to migrate by perceived urban/rural differentials. b. Unmarried women in search of urban employment and induced to migrate for economic or marital reason. c. Unmarried to migrate by perceived urban / rural differentiation. d. Married women engaged in occasional migration with no thoughts of employment.
Earlier studies on migration have often treated female migration in India as ‘secondary phenomena’. Also, as female migration usually constituted on the basis of marriage it is also considered a social phenomenon, while male migrate for economic reason which was considered as a ‘primary phenomena’. Table 3.1 indicates the percentage of reason for female migration.
Table 3.1 - Percentage of Reasons for Female Migration
Reasons for leaving the last usual place of residence Total Intra-state Interstate
In search of employment 0.3 0.3 0.8 In search of better employment 0.5 0.4 1.0 To take up employment/better employment 0.2 0.2 0.6 Transfer of service/contract 0.4 0.4 0.5 Proximity to place of work 0.0 0.0 0.0 Total (employment related) 1.4 1.3 2.9 Studies 0.6 0.3 0.4 Acquisition of own house/flat 0.6 0.5 0.4 Housing problems 0.5 0.4 0.4 Social/political problems 0.6 0.4 1.4 Health 0.1 0.0 0.2 Marriage 81.4 86.4 67.4 Migration of parent/earning member of the family 12.3 8.8 23.1 Others 2.4 1.8 3.3 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 Source: S. Irudaya Rajan based on NSSO (2001);
Section 2
3.2: Review of Key Concepts
3.2.1 - An Enticement of Perplex Identity: “Us” and “Them”, Nation within a Nation, Living Beyond the Periphery and the idea of Representation
The first section explores multiple conceptual approaches to the study of identity. The process of social segregation and the categorization of ‘us’ and ‘them’ in India is not a new phenomenon; it has been in existence from time immemorial. The arrival of Colonial rule in the year 1756 23 paved way for segregating Indian people – Hindus against Muslims, caste against castes, provinces against provinces and princes against people and their kingdom. With the consolidation of their power in 1858, the Colonial authorities adopted ‘Laissez-faire’ system of rule whereby paying no heed to the internal conflicts which has existed in India. Furthermore,
23 Latasinha’s Weblog. ‘Divide and rule policy’ in India before and after the independence. https://latasinha.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/2479/ accessed on 22.6.2013 and 10.08.2015 at 2:30pm. the ‘divide and rule’ policy further segregated the people and on October 16, 1905, Bengal was divided by the British on religious basis; between Hindus and Muslims. Prior to this also, an offshoot of the British annexation of Assam in 1873 led to the introduction of certain policies such as the Inner Line Regulation Act of 1873 and declared the contiguous hill areas as "Excluded Areas" under the Government of India Act of 1935. This process of segregation did not end with the departure of the Colonial rule and the subsequent India’s independence from British. In fact, it was only the beginning of a long-drawn conflict amongst Indians. The State Reorganization Act, 1965 substantiated the social divides; boundaries of India’s states and territories were reformed along linguistic lines and further reinstated by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956 under the provision of Articles 3 & 4 of the Constitution.
Looking at the geo-political history of North East India, the State Reorganisation Act of 1956 was practically the first exclusive ethnic contention to homogenise tribal of North East from basically heterogeneous landscape. B.G Verghese (1996:208) considers the North East regions as “another India, the most diverse part of a most diverse country, very different, relatively little known and certainly not too well understood, once a coy but now turbulent and in transition within the Indian transition.” Therefore, the main issue is not primarily political in nature; deep rooted historical circumstances appropriate from this ‘self determination’ situation. It is also about indigenous tribal rights over their land, language, culture, religion and ethos – rights unconstrained to all citizens under the very foundation of all democratic establishments.
It is not ‘unnatural’ to thrive to return to the beginning. But where is the beginning? Can man re- write their own history? Many a nation evolves by accident with desolate point of reference. So is the case with the Hmars of north east India. As Professor Dena has pointed out, “ It is purely by an accident in history that North East formed a part of India”. The event of socio-political consciousness of Indian nationalism amongst different ethnic groups did not transpire at the same time. For mainland India, such consciousness emerged prior to the colonial conquest and further reinforced with colonialization. The process of sanskritization 24 and the ultimate recasting of India as caste based society incur a sense of collective national identity amongst ‘mainland’ Indians. However, as for the peripheral north east regions of India, the colonial rule introduced
24 Sanskritization means the process of cultural mobility whereby people of lower castes collectively try to imbibe the various caste rituals, beliefs and practices in order to move up the caste hierarchy. the policy of segregation whereby, the process of national consciousness and integration with ‘mainland India became inconceivable. The geo-political boundaries between the so called ‘frontier people’ and ‘mainland’ Indians widens especially with the introduction of Inner Line Permit 25 (ILP) which was passed under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation of 1873. Subsequently, to meet the political aspirations of the marginalized north east region, the Government of India renders an autonomous administrative division under the 6 th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. This further widens the socio-political and cultural gap between mainland and north east India.
An attempt to map India as a ‘single categorical heterogeneous whole’ cannot be a definitive elucidation of the Indian nation state. It is through India’s diversities within diversity and in the words of Aparna Rayaprol 26 , “ heterogeneous blooming of distinctive identities independent of one another ” that sustains India as a nation which is unique and at the same time plays vital role in reconfiguring Indian nation formation. The complexities of ‘little communities’ (Redfield: 1960) is a socially evolves reality which can be seen in the works of Simmel (1950). For Georg Simmel, the composition of social structure can be more complex and intertwined at the micro level than the massive superstructure of the macro level (as in Wolff 1959). The diverse character of contemporary Indian nation represents the metaphoric ‘salad bowl’ concept where multi-cultural groups come together, endorse their own cultural identity in their everyday life situation but in the end comes together as one single entity.
From historical evidences, we can see that the Hmars are no stranger to migration. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, as a consequence to the arrival of the ‘outside’ world, western religion, culture and everyday lifestyles has spearheaded rapid transformation amongst these isolated tribes; shared histories of the different clans within the Hmar community are being tested. The impact of education introduced by Christian missionaries coupled with the present economic change in India has broken down, in some ways, geo-political and regional barriers wherein
25 Inner Line Permit is an official travel permit document issued by the Government of India for its citizens to travel into protected/restricted regions of India. Many of the tribal inhibited areas of north east India fell under the protected/restricted regions.
26 Aparna Rayaprol in Surender S Jodhka’s edited book Communities and Identities: Contemporary Discourses on Culture and Politics in India, Sage Publication, New Delhi, 2001, pp 164 borderless borders are being created. The influence of the ‘outside’ world and the subsequent challenges inculcated upon the indigenous community has facilitated a new language of cultural representation. As such, there is a growing awareness especially amongst the educated Hmar elite to interrogate this paradigm shift especially in the context of citizenship and identity scholarship. In the framework of nation formation in India, there is also the need to conceive the cultural diversity of India (especially when dealing with indigenous tribes such as the Hmars) with an ‘open-ended view’ (Jodhka 2001:27); a community identity not only from a substantivist perspective but more so from ‘mobilization of cultural differences’ (Appadurai 1997:15). The implications of the state policies on cultural diversity becomes all the more contentious when specific historical context are the criterion for defining citizenship.
The geo-political set of the India is such that it has encapsulated a sense of ‘alienation’ or ‘in- betweenness’ amongst some minorities within the minority. The celebrated slogan such as ‘Unity in Diversity’ has been in contestation for over a long period of time. Since independence, there has been a struggle to find an integrative force which can rightly facilitated to the process of nation formation (Pachuau 2008, Baruah 2005, Dena 2010). Baruah (2005) is also of the opinion that when religious nationalism by the ‘mainstream’ society is regarded highly imperative to nation building than that of secularism, citizenship of cultural minority communities is in question. Consequently, this situation leads to identity crises within the Indian sub-continent which is further confronted with a quest for a distinct identity.
As a researcher, it is important to recognize problems and contestations encountered within the identity scholarship. India, a land of diversity has had many confrontations with violence broadly due to its heterogeneous nature. However, it should also be noted that such confrontations of violence and contestation inculcate the notions of collective consciousness and reformation for a stronger and better nation state. Amartya Sen (2007:174), however, seems to be skeptical about this argument by opining thus: “Sectarian violence across the world is not less crude, nor less reductionist, today than it was sixty years ago. Underlying the course brutality, there is also a big conceptual confusion about people’s identities, which turns multidimensional human beings into one-dimensional creatures”. This confrontation also becomes a reality more importantly so when it comes to the study of marginalized sections of the society, in this case Northeast tribes of India. Subsequently, Abdelal et.al 27 in, 2009 has identified two sets of problems i.e. conceptual issues and coordination gap. I also argue that the crux of the problem calls for the location of various identifying variables, which will be discussed further under methodology chapter.
This study highlights two important contemporary writers on India’s north east whose analytical reasoning may perhaps play an important part in this study. Firstly, Sanjib Baruah (2005) characterizes the socio-political situation in India’s north east as ‘durable disorder’. He opines that India’s north east, in recent history, is a reminder of its “remote, underdeveloped and troubled hinterland is neither inevitable nor unchangeable”. According to him, historical evidence such as colonial and post-colonial geo-politics towards the north east gave rise to the marginalization of that region. The emergence of British India and the international political boundaries drawn during colonial rule provided the foundation for post colonial political order of nation state. The Partition of 1947 and the state of diplomatic relations between India and its neighbors turned India into as ‘sensitive border region’ requiring special attention based on national security concerns. This condition has not been conducive to the region’s economic and political well-being. Baruah also mentioned of the pressure built upon the geo-political governance due to globalization. He spoke of the phenomenon of de-territorialization and re- territorialization brought about at the onset of globalization.
Secondly, Subir Bhaumik (2009) identifies the crises of development and the crises of government in India’s north east as a challenge to nation building. According to him, the ‘North Eastern’ identity is a “top-down flow from the country’s power center”. Reason for this, he believe, is due to Delhi’s intention of placing the region as ‘directional category’. His book Troubled Periphery: Crisis of India’s North East talks of the situation in north east as beyond durable disorder.
It has been generally said that the categories of religion, language, region and caste have become deeply rooted in the consciousness and the social relations of the people at large which have been a long drawn phenomenon from time immemorial. Where exactly can we position such change and transformation? Here, we see basically two broad categories of tribal conglomeration. One is
27 Abdelal, Rawi, Yoshiko M.Herrera, Alastair Iain Johnston and Rose Mc Dermott(eds.):Identity as a Variable in Measuring Identity: A Guide to Social Scientists, 2009 and Identity as a Variable in Perspectives on Politics published online on Nov.28, 2006. Pp.695-711 that of tribes of ‘mainland’ India while the other is that of North East tribes. Though certain traits and traditions (such as the existence of youth dormitory, modes of occupation) are similar, this geographical variation does play a very important role in the analysis of change and development. As the major point of reference to this study is on the North East tribes, we will not delve with tribes of other regions, its history, cultures and so on. Most importantly, it should be noted that though Hinduism gain its ground in some parts of North East India whereby several indigenous cultures got imbibed into the caste culture, such has not been the case with many of the other tribes.
The identity of a group being forced upon from outside and has been mentioned by social scientists such as Singh (1982), Roy-Burman (1972) and Kosambi (1975), as a comparison between little tradition with great tradition (Redfield: 1956). It has marked out differences from the dominant community, has now been internalized by the people themselves. Not only has it become important mark in social differentiation and identity assertion but also an important tool of articulation for empowerment.
Question of identity is ever expanding in this globalizing world while simultaneously also in the process of re-negotiating and re-defining itself immensely in its concepts and characteristics especially at the social science level. Purposive claims of identity have all the more become well delineated within a globalizing socio-political world scenario as can be seen from the ‘imagined communities’ of Benedict Anderson (1991). However, Abedelal, Herrerra, et al (2009:17) are of the opinion that although globalization brings forth a ‘flurry of activity’ “…the social sciences have not yet witnessed a commensurate rise in definitional consensus on the concept of identity”. Looking at the geo-political scenario of our world today, borderless borders have been created not just within trans-national boundaries but have also altered both inter-state and intra-state relations. Meanwhile, the influx of migration has become a common phenomenon especially from the dawn of the new millennia. This fluidity of people’s movement has reached the remotest corners of the world, with regions such as that of the indigenous tribal inhabited North East India, which has opened up to the ‘outside world’. This new social phenomenon redefines the world’s economy, geo-political relationship between bordered nations and communities as well as facilitate towards the process of identity formation of individuals and groups. Furthermore, this new trend can also implicate human relationship with an even more ambiguous condition.
Because identity is intrinsic to culture, the formation and representation of tribal identity within the ambit of the northeast requires a relook. 'Representation' becomes a keyword here for it is linked to power practices of ideological domination and of course, selective marginalisation, and because identity is a construct through the process of negotiations and discourses, power again, is the catalyst here. Furthermore, power is encapsulated by dominating capitalist centres in regulating economic and political power to peripheral and semi-peripheral parts of the world. Therefore, this study has also drawn insights from Immanuel Wallerstein (1974) wherein there is only one world (rejecting the existence of third worlds) which is connected by a complex networks of economic exchange. The network is run by competing agents, the capitalist world economy. For Wallerstein, there are three stages of a world system, - Core, Semi-periphery and Periphery. Those outside the world system eventually enter the periphery in course of time. Such is the case with indigenous tribes, who were once outside the economic exchange system and have now taken part in the exchange; how they have entered the work force in major Indian cities, their determination to transform themselves while at the same time negotiate their identities upon their interaction with the ‘outside’ world
Prior to colonization tribal communities of the region who came in waves of migration at different periods of time to settle in the region, survived and functioned well enough within their own local governance of chieftainships or village headships/councils and social institutions. They also had their own inbuilt sustainable indigenous knowledge systems, indigenous faith and rich oral traditions that cemented their communities. With the passing of time, except for the very remote interiors of the hilly regions, there was interaction of people in trade and commerce, particularly in the regions inhabited by the Khasis and Garos, parts of the Naga Hills bordering the plains, and of course, Tripura and Assam. Such movements were said to have extended to the Bengal regions as well. The use of Bengali script for communication by the Garos and Khasis prior to their conversion to Christianity may be cited as an example of the fluidity of inter- communal, inter-regional exchange. This scenario changed once the British annexed Assam in 1826 and introduced certain policies such as the Inner Line Regulation Act (ILRA) of 1873 and declared the contiguous hill areas as "Excluded Areas" under the Government of India Act of 1935. Such measures, though considered 'protectionist' by some, in reality served to cut off and isolate the tribal communities to a great extent, from the political and social developments taking place in the rest of the country 28 . This isolation also resulted in creating for them an identity other than the one they had always known. Each community/ethnic group with the passing of time thus formulated a certain degree of rigidity in demarcations of their regions and identities, also accentuating the differences between the tribal and the non-tribal or 'outsider' as mentioned earlier. The policy framers of Independent India took up the cudgels of 'welfare of tribals' in right earnest by introducing policies of development and integration with a view to ushering in social change, modernization and 'uplift' of the various tribal groups.
Recent history has shown all too soon that such measures have brought along the baggage of unwanted attendant complications, chief amongst which was and still is, the fear of socio- economic assimilation of more dominant cultures, a concept that is often perceived as a necessary evil of integration and therefore difficult to accept by minority groups. This fear has fed and continues to feed the upsurge of regional identities along social and ethnic lines, causing havoc to the peace and unity of the region till date. Again, the invention of identities legitimized under the political-administrative construct of the Indian Constitution categorizing them as 'Scheduled Tribes', has now morphed into a legal right and political privilege. Whether this bodes well for the nation and stakeholders is a debatable point.
The above observations can be further put this way: those tribes are colonized and then constructed as an identity that is primitive, vulnerable and in need of protection. This is followed by policies on how to preserve the tribe's unique culture without inviting critical input from the tribal themselves, then the tribal is perceived to lose their purity and innocence because of the 'outsider' who is negatively stereotyped as an agent of contamination and the cause of most ills of tribal communities. A key factor that had contributed to the dilemma of tribal identity was the conversion to Christianity that condemned and encouraged the rejection of many traditional and cultural practices of their old way of life, labeling them 'unchristian' and evil. For example, the local brew of the Hmar called 'zu' was condemned as the source of all evil by the early
28 Zama, Margaret.2012.Zo Woodpecker: The Politics of Identity Formation and Culture in the Northeast. May 21, 2012 at 15:48. The North-East Blog.
missionaries despite the fact that it was a vital component of their rituals and festivals at the time. Then again, the use of traditional drums to accompany church singing was banned as it was considered pagan and primitive (though later reinstalled as it were). This dehistoricizing and dispossession of their old way of life, of what was the chain of networks of their identity, unhappily served to develop a low self-esteem and confusion in the tribal psyche that has proved detrimental in many ways.
The complex dynamics that have gone into identity formations of the tribals of the Northeast have thus given rise to the cultural and identity politics of the region today, which appears to center on two aspects. They are, first, that of the move to re-historise and revive identities along ethnic differences and second, continuing with the colonial policy of exclusion of the 'other'. Then again, the empowered agents of culture in this context are the State government, the militant organizations (which function as parallel governments), and the powerful social NGOs and Church bodies all of whom play a significant and powerful role in the lives of the people of the region. These are the agents or structures which have their competing and contrary pulls in the context of identity formation and cultural representation. For instance, we know that most cultural displays are now sanitized and modernized as it were, and have morphed into tokenism for many; they also cater to the sensibilities of the general public, (sensibilities formed and influenced by the church in the context of Mizoram), who have developed an ambivalent attitude towards their own traditions and cultural practices.
In-built in culture as we know, are power structures that work their strategies of inclusion and exclusion so that certain identities, norms, values, modes of thinking and knowledge are marginalised, and such strategies conceal a repressive, marginalizing politics beneath the (sometimes) benign surface. Thus culture explores and creates narratives to 'naturalise' dominant ideologies and hegemonic discourses)
Looking at the past history post Independence, ethnic or racial clashes are an inevitable phenomenon. However, when it comes to outside invasion groups come together as one with common geographical, linguistic, cultural, religious entity. From the larger picture of India as a nation, it was only after the arrival of the British colonial rule and the subsequent partition of the sub-continent that unequal access of different segments of the population to public space and institution became more eminent. As a consequence to this, the idea of nationhood came to occupy an important place both in the public and individual space. Dipankar Gupta (1991), looking broadly from the political angle, opines that the Partition of 1947 constructed a foundation for the idea of an Indian nation state. He emphasized the existence of a “centripetal force” that held India together. This study also tries to examine whether this idea of “centripetal force” exists in the context of the socio-political relations with mainland India.
Sanjib Baruah (2005) characterizes the socio-political situation in India’s north east as ‘durable disorder’. He opines that India’s North East, in recent history, is a reminder of its “remote, underdeveloped and troubled hinterland is neither inevitable nor unchangeable”. According to him, historical evidence such as colonial and post-colonial geo-politics towards the north east gave rise to the marginalization of that region. The emergence of British India and the international political boundaries drawn during colonial rule provided the foundation for post colonial political order of nation state. The Partition of 1947 and the state of diplomatic relations between India and its neighbors turned India into as ‘sensitive border region’ requiring special attention based on national security concerns. This condition has not been conducive to the region’s economic and political well-being. Baruah also mentioned of the pressure built upon the geo-political governance due to globalization. He spoke of the phenomenon of de- territorialization and re-territorialization brought about at the onset of globalization. Secondly, Subir Bhaumik (2009) identifies the crises of development and the crises of government in India’s north east as a challenge to nation building. According to him, the ‘North Eastern’ identity is a “top-down flow from the country’s power center”. Reason for this, he believe, is due to Delhi’s intention of placing the region as ‘directional category’. His book Troubled Periphery: Crisis of India’s North East attempts to situate the long drawn political, emotional and cultural troubles prevailing in the North East.
Since the inception of India as a sovereign state from the British imperial power, geographical and cultural difference between land-locked Northeast and ‘mainland’ India has potentially become a complex phenomenon which underpins the question of identity and its related issues. The celebrated cultural plurality of India is inclined to a paradigm shift from nationhood to a state of ‘in-between-ness’ (Pachhau 2008). This notion of ‘in-between-ness’, is a cognitive and politico-administrative production and reproduction of dominant forces viz-a-viz British and Center-state. Baral (2006) has rightly suggests, “The in-betweenness as a frame of reference has to take into account general assumptions often invoked around constructs such as “Northeast” and “tribe”(s) and specific examples of particularity in the context of a particular identity and culture” .
3.2.2 - Imagined Community, Stretched Identity, Super Diversity and the Global Cultural Scapes:
The study of indigenous tribal diasporas and their identity is closely related to the study of power relations with ‘host’ communities. It is not only the distinct culture and lifestyles between the host and migrant community that situate the differences and in the process inscribes power relations between people. The economy and judiciary system also has its role in the representation of values, beliefs and norms of people. In explaining immigrant experiences of cultural conflicts with their host community, Shirwadkar (2013) analysed the case if an Indian Norweigian couple whose child was snatched away by the Norweigian government mainly due to “lack of parenting skills”. According to Shirwadkar, “The values, feelings and cultural context inscribed on the body and the mind together is usually forgotten or neglected by the host country.” (ibid 2013).
However, Bucholtz and Hall (1995:370) are of the opinion that “…identity would be most salient when people are most similar”. Similarly, Amartya Sen is also of the opinion that “… cultural liberty could be hampered when a society does not allow a particular community to pursue traditional lifestyles that members of that community would freely choose to follow…cultural diversity may be enhanced if individuals are allowed and encourage to live as they would value living” (Sen: 2007:115). They further cautioned researchers looking at the relationships whereby “it is not easy for an observer to determine when a group of people should be classified as ‘alike’, nor it is obvious on what grounds such a classification should be made, given the infinitude of ways in which individuals vary from one another” (Bucholtz and Hall:1995:370).
On looking at the enormous number of North East tribal migrants to other parts of India (especially from the dawn of IT revolution and improvement in infrastructure), the movement of cultures and identity is basically streamlined into three categories: Firstly, the assimilation of smaller cultures from larger cultures; Secondly, the hybrid notion of reinventing new cultures through fusion and creolization 29 . Robin Cohen 30 (1997) states that creolization is a condition in which “the formation of new identities and inherited culture evolve to become different from those they possessed in the original cultures”. This ultimately led to the creation of new varieties of identities that replaces the old form. Thirdly, there exist stretched identities whereby old and new culture and traditions flow along with the migrants. Here, in spite of identity having a new location, the original form(s) remains the same.
In validating the extent migration has on indigenous tribal identity within the backdrop of an existing dialectical phenomenon of multiple ethnicity and change, the term of my argument lies in the importance of locating identity narratives in relations to the deployment and arrival of identity theory and concepts. For the study of indigenous tribes with no written history of their past, narratives ethnography plays a crucial role in discovering their culture, tradition and lifestyle. Furthermore, it is important to identify how subjective meanings (active as well as passive) are interpreted (Weber: (1922) 1978) or analyzed by the corresponding tribes as well as with those whom they are in contact with. Thus, role played by actors in rationalizing and evaluating other’s actions and behaviours; cognitive and emotional responsibility as well as actions based on traditional expectation and memories are important in understanding the subjective meanings underlying group relations and behaviours. Weber (ibid) classifies these types of actions as rational action, evaluative action, emotional action and traditional action. Nandana Dutta (2012:1-47) describes memories of the Assam Movement and the “implication in the local, about absorption by and immersion in the condition of a location”. In this also explores that fundamental socio-relational paradigm of interpretations lies not just within the objective realm of ‘political and cultural discourse’ (ibid:10) but from a stretched reality of identity location based on a deep rooted history which remains unperturbed by elements of modern capitalist nor Socialist notion of identity scholarship.
29 Creolization is the process in which African American ccultures emerge in the New World. As a result of colonization, there was a mixture of people between indigenous African and European descent who came to be later understood as Creolization. The word Creolization is traditionally used to refer to the Caribbean. It came to be further extended to represent other Afro diasporic individuals. The mizing of people brought a cultural mizing which ultimately led to the formation of new identities. Creolization is also the mixing of the ‘old’ and ‘traditional’ with the ‘new’ and ‘modern’. Furthermore, Creolization occurs when participants actively select cultural elements that may become part of or inherited culture.
30 Cohen, Robin.1997. Global Diaspora Notions of ‘singular affiliation’ produce inevitable social difference triggering destruction within existing social solidarity. We see, especially among older generations, anxiety upon seeing the newer generations supposedly being consumed by other societies. Such consciousness can be constructive so long as it is not ‘reductionist’ in nature. Reason being that one is able to value his/her shared history which is imperative to assessing important socio-cultural identity of the group. Sen (2006:20), however, argues that one must not be too engrossed with the past and that “history and background is not the only way of seeing ourselves and the group in which we belong”. On the other hand, Sen (ibid: 5) further states that “the freedom to determine our loyalties and priorities…is a peculiarly important liberty which we have reasons to recognize value and defend”. It can encompass sub-nationalism of violence and socio-political breakdown to a stage where citizens acknowledge and cherish the rich diversity or distinct identities within a diverse, if not common national identity.
Bucholtz and Hall (1995:731) have rightfully claimed that when members of a society decide to organize themselves into groups, ‘pre-existing and recognizable’ similarities are not the driving force but instead it is the agency and power. In other words, collective consciousness of groups is not merely defined by language, history, religion, customs and traditions; it is the invention of similarities with your fellow human beings and downplaying the existing differences. A nation such as India with its citizens holding diverse social background would come to a consensus decision unless there is a force, in this regard, the downplaying of differences and celebrating such a difference. The presence of a ‘stretched identity’ in all regions and in different community is what sustains our nation state in spite of the many political, religious and ethnic confrontations both from with and outside.
With the turn of the new millennia, with technological advancement and improvement in global market economy, efforts have been made towards building bridges between the long social, regional and ethnic divide within the Indian subcontinent; borderless borders are being reconstructed from the most remote corners of North East India to the political and economic nerve centres of Delhi, Mumbai and other metropolis India. On the other hand, the blurring of socio-economic and geographical divide also leads to a contentious period where absorption or assimilation of indigenous tribes with the ‘mainstream’ society transpires. But also, borderless relations could reinvent into another form of ‘othering’ where, perhaps, cultural boundaries could be stretched beyond ones origin. In spite of it all, when we compare Europe and India, diversity or boundary markers is still more visible in India. Perhaps this may be the reason why one’s ethnicity, language, religion, culture, region, etc, is still considerably a strong decisive factor for affiliation of people on the basis of such background.
Steven Vertovec (2007), who has coined the term super-diversity in his working paper on The Emergence of Super Diversity in Britain, states that political and public frameworks of Britain have not caught up with the recent trend in demographic and social model. He has characterized Britain as a super-diverse nation which “intended to underline a level and kind of complexity” that exceed way beyond Britain has ever experienced. This complex condition is distinguished by “dynamic interplay of variables among an increased number of new, small and scattered, multiple-origin” (ibid 2007) with transnational connecttion of socio-economically differentiated and legally stratified immigrants who have arrived in Britain over the last decade.
Such strong affiliations are important in keeping one’s historical past, identity and integrity alive. Therefore, it is an imperatively important task of balancing the dialectical phenomenon of transition – one that is susceptible to change and one that is apprehensive to change. There can be a stage where collective understanding of distinct identities gets structured in ways that entails true pluralistic state of being. Here, state or ‘mainstream’ society need not act as “shephard” (Chacko: 17) towards indigenous tribes through policies on integration and coercive administrative set-up as it impaired the development of trivial values, religion and lifestyles. On the other hand, expression of tribal’s self-determination will enable them to articulate and choose the kind of social relationship they would like to maintain viz-a-viz larger group within the nation state.
This study has been greatly influenced by Appadurai’s concept of ethnoscapes . Besides the four other scapes i.e. technoscape, finanscape, mediascape and ideoscape, the concept of ethnoscape explicate the notion of redefining cultural imagination through ‘imagined worlds’ within a globalizing worlds. Appadurai defines ethnoscapes as “the landscapes of persons who constitute the shifting world in which we live: tourists, immigrants, refugees, exiles, guest workers and other moving groups and persons [who] constitute and essential feature of the world, and appear to affect the politics of and between nations to a hitherto unprecedented degree” 31 . (Appadurai:1990). Within this realm of a fluid world, this cultural imagination encompasses the breaking down of geo-political and cultural boundaries and opening new opportunities for the remotest corners of the worlds to participate in the national and global financial and cultural exchange.
For Stuart Hall (Hall:223), cultural identity is “shared culture, a sort of collective ‘one true self’, hiding inside many other, more superficial or artificially imposed ‘selves’ which people with a shared history and ancestors hold in common”. In cultural identity, “there are also critical points of deep and significant difference which constitute ‘what we really are’; or rather since history has intervened – ‘what we have became’ (ibid). Identity is neither a static phenomenon nor does it gets frozen with time or reaches maturity. Even if it reaches discontinuity, either a new form of identity is reconstructed or goes through constant transformation. Hall’s analysis, therefore, considers identity as part of positioning, “a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of ‘being’.
3.2.3 - Positioning Identity through the Church in Globalizing India: Hmar Christian Fellowship
The main purpose of this study is to map identity through the new forms of social and economic dynamics of an indigenous tribe of North East India in the era of globalization. As discussed earlier, we will not delve much on the traditional past of the Hmars prior to their settlement in the North East states of India. It has also been mentioned before that the Hmars are scattered all over the North East states of India. Therefore, focus will be more on the exchange of information, cultural, economic, political and emotional network flows not only from within a specific political boundary but from the location of all regions where Hmars identify a region as their ‘native’ (throughout the North East). These exchanges of networks within the Hmar community as well as networks with the ‘outside world’ break down political as well as ethnocentric barrier between citizens of a common geo-political boundary).
There is a tendency for majority of the migrants to permanently settle in their adopted new cities.
31 Arjun Appadurai in ‘Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy’ (1990)
While globalization and modernity nurture what it once considered an impediment to modern civilization by ‘unintentionally’ re-constructing one of the most basic form of tribal social institution Buonzawl through the Hmar Christian Fellowships (HCF), in cities like Kolkota, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Guwahati, Pune and Mumbai. Also noteworthy is that HCFs makes the best use of information technology which encapsulates information otherwise inaccessible to many tribal people. News about white collar job openings, higher learning opportunities, community service, etc. are being circulated amongst members during their Sunday worship service as well as Cell Group meetings during weekdays. Also, all Fellowships have telephone directories and HCF Facebook Groups where members pass on important information to other members. Therefore, the strength of community identities correlates to the strength of organisational members (Granovelter 1973).
The presence of Hmar Christian Fellowships is an important landmark in bridging the gaps between the ‘native’ world and the ‘new world’. It is important to note that this new process of cultural representation by the Hmars is marred by Church denominational division amongst the Hmar. This denominational division and the notion of ‘othering of the other’ encumber the new cultural integrating networks especially amongst diasporic Hmars. The study reiterate by emphasizing that HCF acts as an important intervening tool of unity and survival for the disintegrating Hmar community. Also the establishment of Hmar HCF in various urban cities of India is a significant event or conjuncture in the development and negotiation of the diminishing identity of the Hmars.