How a Minority Tribal Group in Nepal Has Reacted to Oppression—A Book Review Essay
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BOOK REVIEW ESSAY How a Minority Tribal Group in Nepal has Reacted to Oppression—A Book Review Essay P. K. VISVESVARAN Mr. P.K. Visvesvaran is Lecturer at the Madras School of Social Work, Chennai. Politics of Culture: A Study of Three Kirata Communities in the Eastern Himalayas by T.B. Subba, 1999, Chennai: Orient Longman, pp. 154, Price: Rs. 160/-. INTRODUCTION Sociologists have observed that minority groups in a society tend to react in a variety of ways to reckon with domination and oppression by the majority. Submissive manipulation, marginal adaptation, with drawal and self-segregation, oppression psychosis, group self-hatred, nativism and movements of reform and revolt are some of these re sponses (Horton and Hunt, 1964). In the book under review namely, the author has given a lucid ac count of the nativistic efforts being made by the Kiratas (a tribal group living mainly in eastern Nepal, parts of Sikkim and Darjeeling in West Bengal) 'to recreate their culture, religion and language'. How ever, the author repeatedly states that this is not going to be an easy or a simple task, the reason being that the Kiratas are not a homogeneous group. There are several subgroups among them, three of which should be deemed major subdivisions, namely the Limbu, Rai (or Khambu) and the Yakkha. The languages they speak also vary. For example, the structure of the Limbu language differs from that of other Kirata tongues in having a fully developed noun declension sys tem, a fully developed verb system, as well as exclusive features such as the glottal stop. Besides, dialectical variations across districts and regions characterise all these languages. Book Review Essay 279 Therefore, the author says, the emergence of a unified Kirata lan guage is an impossible task and if Kiratas of all hues are going to pull together, it will not be on account of a common tongue. Before contin uing the discussion on their nativistic movement of unity, let us con sider who the Kiratas really are. Kiratas of the Distant Past A Sanskrit-English Dictionary gives the meaning of 'Kirat' as a 'de graded, mountainous tribe, a savage and barbarian' (Apte, 1988). Other scholars attribute more respectable meanings to this term and say that it denotes people with the lion's character, or mountain dwell ers. Some even say that the Kiratas originated in Babylon. One thing is certain, namely that they are a Mongoloid group and not Aryan as claimed by some. There are those who say that there were a number of Kirata Kingdoms during the Mahabharata period, though the consen sus of scholars seems to be that the present-day Kirata groups have lit tle to do with them. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, there were modern Kirata Kingdoms which were subjugated in 1641 by the Namgyal dynasty in Sikkim and in 1774 in Nepal by King Prithivinarayan Shah. From those times, persecution, exploitation and discrimination against the Kiratas have continued relentlessly. The main villains of the piece are the Hindu, non-Mongoloid Tagadharis who exercise hegemony over the Kiratas, and the Nepali government which has continually practised a policy of oppression, passing inter alia legislations alienating the Kiratas' agricultural land from them. The Kiratas practise animism but also observe certain Hindu festi vals such as Maghe Sankranti and Tihar (Diwali). The Kiratas are in digenous people whereas both the Tagadharis and other non- Mongoloids are relative newcomers to these areas. The author con tends that this indigenous population has been rendered a minority in Nepal due to the influx of outsiders. He has offered evidence to show that Kiratas have been subjects of State-sponsored ethnocide, which can be translated as cultural genocide—not actually killing of people but applying force to prevent a culture from flourishing. THE STRUCTURE OF THE NARRATION The book consists of nine chapters, each having 15 to 20 pages. There are 5 area maps to begin with, and as many as 21 statistical tables 280 P.K. Visvesvaran intermittently punctuate the narration. In the first and introductory chapter, the author presents his central idea that the (Nepali) State has become intolerant of cultural diversity and has emerged as the un abashed supporter of the dominant groups at the cost of the minorities. The author has also explained the methodology of his study, which consists of a random selection of about 300 families from three differ ent regions. These households belonged to minority communities as well as dominant groups, and the author has collected 'census' infor mation from all of these households. (My own comments on the au thor's methodology will be presented at a later stage.) The second chapter provides a narration regarding the history of the Kiratas and the Kiratas of the yester eras. The chapter concludes with the statement that the available literature provides only limited knowledge about the Kirata dynasty. The reader is sure to find the third chapter specially interesting. Titled 'Delineation of the Kirata World', it is partly an extension of the previous chapter, which provides some additional information on the history of Kiratas. It also explains the Kipat system of communal-cum-individual land ownership. Additionally, it points to the deprivation of adequate politico-economic status to large sec tions of the population. This has resulted in dominant groups, who constitute less than a fourth of the population, occupying nearly 93 per cent of all high status government jobs. The linguistic status of the minorities is the most depressing of all, the Nepali government having used force to discourage schools from teaching minority lan guages. The fourth chapter, a relatively short one, deals with the political and economic organisations of the Kiratas. In the Kirata political set up, the Chumlung (tribal council) played an important role in the mak ing of democratic decisions by the local administrators. Subba was the title allotted to one such administrator. The Kipat system played an important role in the economic organisation of the Kiratas, which has since declined. Today, the Kiratas' economic life is no longer family or clan-centred; it has become broad-based and is presently characterised by a spirit of functional interdependence with other neighbourhood groups. The fifth chapter deals with the Kiratas' social organisation with special emphasis on family life and kinship groupings. Extended fam ilies are a functional necessity especially for mutual assistance as the menfolk are, in many cases, away for reasons of employment. The Book Review Essay 281 women folk make major decisions besides performing customary family duties. The sixth chapter deals with the Kiratas' relationships with the Hindu and relatively high caste Tagadharis, the untouchables,1 who are of course lower in the hierarchy, and other Mongoloid groups that are culturally distinct. Characteristics such as educational attainments and spheres of employment are also compared. Compared to the untouchables, the Kirata literacy rate is higher, and the extent of fal low and unusable land in their possession is also greater. On the other hand, the other Mongoloid groups are more literate and possess more fertile land. The Hindu Tagadharis are, of course, better off than any other group. Their literacy rate is the highest and they possess the most fertile land. In chapter seven, the author goes on to say that the foundations are definitely shaky. The religious and linguistic grounds for Kirata unity have already been dealt with in the opening paragraphs of the review. The author concludes saying that 'the Kirata efforts at imagining (ital ics mine) their nationalism should perhaps concentrate more on emo tional, attitudinal or psychological unity rather than on rebuilding their culture, language and religion'. Chapter eight addresses the core issue, namely the 'politics of Kirata Culture'. The activities of the various Kirata political and cul tural associations are discussed. On the one hand, they are trying to forge unity and alliances among the various Kirata sub-groups and factions, and on the other hand, they are also trying to represent their grievances collectively to the governmental authorities. Groups in Sikkim almost succeeded in bringing some groups under the OBC category, but its implementation has been put on hold. There are, as can be expected in such cases, mutual suspicions, accusations and mud-slinging among the sub-groups. Among the charges traded are that some groups are actually the stooges of the upper caste categories and secret agents of the oppressive government itself! The ninth and last chapter sees the author summing up his observa tions. The Kiratas are trying to 'reinvent' their traditions—that is, re viving cultural practices long forgotten. This may take at least two distinct and related forms: purism and cultural reinterpretation. An example of the Kirata purism is the tendency to give their children purely and exclusively Kirata names, scrupulously avoiding the Hindu and Aryan nomenclature. On the other hand, cultural reinter pretation may consist in persuading the fellow Kiratas to believe that 282 P.K. Visvesvaran Sankranti and Diwali originated among Kiratas in the ancient times rather than among the Hindu groups. The author also points to two other outcomes of the Kiratas' struggle for recognition. The first of these is the tragic possibility of an outbreak of violence resulting in the undermining of human values all around. The second is the reli gious conversion of the Kiratas as some of them have started feeling that staying within the tribal and Hindu fold has only earned them un just treatment and discrimination and it is better to get away from it all by embracing a new faith. IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY AND ITS OUTCOME As a fascinating narration of the myriad reactions of a suppressed and oppressed group, the book under review could serve both academic and practical purposes.