Gayatri Bhattacharyya THE PROTEAN IDENTITY OF THE TAMANGS OF INDIA It is in the frame of reference of the recent nation – , rather, nation- state-centric politics – in patterns of ethnic (caste/tribe/religion-language- cultural practices) strategizing common to greater South-Asia – that the pan- Himalayan Tamang identity begins to be more explicitly asserted. To examine the nature and formation of ethnic identity of the Tamangs is to revisit the debates over the relationship of ethnicity, identity, religion, language and other aspects of culture and politics in defining and redefining the nature of communities, such as the Tamangs, claiming autonomous identity in the South- Asian nation states. In the history of modern India as well as in other parts of greater South-Asia, the concepts and realities of nation, nation-state and ethnicity appear to be salient. It is true of both colonial and post-colonial experience. Alongside, the notions of traditional and traditionalism, modern and modernism, ethnicity as realism and ethnicity as construction have gained renewed importance in consideration of socio-economic realities in today’s world (cf. Bhattacharyya 1998; Bhattacharyya 2012;Heelas, Lash and Morris 1991; Hutchinson and Smith 1996; Weber 1967; Weber 1978). The study of the identity of the Tamangs as an emerging ethnic group that is constantly negotiating with the changing cultural, political and economic circumstances in the wider socio-cultural framework provides an interesting empirical illustration. The story of the Tamangs who trace their origin to Tibeto-Burman category is essayed mainly by the experience of the Tamangs in Nepal. The facts of life of the Tamangs of Nepal have been studied in greater detail and depth than those of the Indian Tamangs. The current presentation is a step, faltering though it is, to fill up the gap. Ethnic Identity or Ethnicity A few observations may be made at the outset about anthropological/ sociological understanding of ethnic identity or ethnicity. Your identity is what GAYATRI BHATTACHARYYA Department of Sociology, University of Calcutta, E-mail: [email protected] 306 THE EASTERN ANTHROPOLOGIST 69: 3-4 (2016) you are. The identity of a person, group or place is the characteristic they have that distinguishes them from others. Ethnicity or ‘peoplehood’ derives from ethnos or ‘people’. It is very difficult to suggest what makes peoplehood or ethnicity. Oftentimes, ethnicity is understood as culture which is in its turn difficult to precisely define. Ethnic identity is associated with a collectivity of men and women. How the collectivity views themselves as internally cohered by a shared sense of homogeneity or commonality overriding the cleavages that may exist among the members, and differentiated at the external plane from the neighbouring collectivities or communities forms the bedrock of ethnicity. It hardly matters whether the perceived bonds of solidarity are putative or real since socio-culturally, as W.I. Thomas suggests, a thing or phenomenon is real in its consequences. In other words, ethnicity refers to the maintenance of a boundary between a community and other communities and there are obviously boundary-markers. Of course, these markers may be invented from time to time, and, even erased at certain points of time. The fact, however, remains that ethnic identity of a collectivity regulates the relations among its members and those between them and members of other communities. This view of ethnicity builds on the understanding that ethnicity is not a natural aspect of humanity but constructed, situational, context-dependent and contested (Barth 1969; Nagel 1994; Schrijver 2013). Though, many a time the leaders and other participants of an ethnic movement may appeal to essentialist or primordial considerations (which view of ethnicity is held by Shils 1957 or Geertz 1967) as authentic. Looked at from the angle of constructivism, an ethnic movement like that of the Indian Tamangs has a pragmatic side. One cannot expect a rectilinear trajectory of a movement like this. Ethnic identity is never a finished product. It is always in the making while all the time guiding the individuals, subscribing to it or encapsulated by it, for the attainment of particular goals or interests. Movements, such as ethnic movements or indigenous movements are often described through reference to what is perceived to be the primary or defining characteristic of their participants’ identities. This feature is presumed to be the source of either a grievance with, or a claim against, the political system which is understood in today’s world as nation-state, in its totality, or a part of it. Nation-state too is a sort of imagined community (Anderson 1991). But once it comes into existence, it assumes the role of final arbiter of the fate of men and women governed by it – numerical and cultural-political majority and minorities alike. The ethnic movements by peoples like Tamangs have, therefore, to engage in constant negotiation with the nation-state or its constituent units and agencies as they have, simultaneously to come to terms with the cooperation or opposition of other collectivities. In this context, different groups who, like the Tamangs, perceive themselves as marginalized THE PROTEAN IDENTITY OF THE TAMANGS OF INDIA 307 and deprived may be forced to compete with each other for political mediation and representation by seeking the extension of mechanisms for their integration within institutional politics. An analysis of the changing nature of Tamangs’ involvement in Gorkhaland Movement across the decade in post- independent India illustrates the point. This is not, however, the place to dilate on it. It is worth noting here that these identities as of the Tamangs are seldom thwarted with success by traditional political frameworks and they often find other means of expression through social or cultural activities (Stephens 1998). These forms of action can be coexistent with and constitutive of social movements. The role of bodies like All India Tamang Buddhist Association and Tamang Youth Association in continuing and extending the movement for buttressing Tamang identity in order to secure the interests of the Tamangs provides a useful illustration of it. What is important here is to make a distinction between the use of a particular characteristic of identity as the basis around which to mobilize, and the work a movement does in constructing and maintaining a collective identity. The latter involves the on- going negotiation of remaining together, the aims, tactics and strategy behind the collective action undertaken. Melucci’s (1996: 187-88) caution against reduction of collective identity into identity politics is sensible though identity politics can be an integral aspect of the social practice of a movement (as in the case of the Tamangs). While it has already been suggested that the Tamang identity is not unidimensional, it is also important not to deny the possibility of the conflict, in the rank of front-runners of the movement, between private interest and public purpose. Method followed in the Study The author has placed in this study greater reliance on words of the Tamangs than on works about them. Works on the Tamangs, particularly on the Indian Tamangs, are very few and their authors or compilers seem uncertain about the factual quality of the data gathered by them or inferences drawn from them. For listening to the words of the Tamangs the author has visited Tamang settlements in Darjeeling and Kalimpong, urban and rural areas and also in the metropolis of Kolkata. In Kalimpong she has visited Pudung, Borbot, Pedong, Munsong and Lolegaon. In Darjeeling, she had been to the Glenburn Tea Estate and Takda along with Darjeeling proper. The author has also been to Sikkim. The Tamangs residing in the southern part of West Bengal, particularly in Kolkata, have been striving hard for constructing a big Buddhist temple there and they have succeeded. The author has met a cross-section of Tamangs, well-off and poor; educated (the author met quite a few Tamang students amongst her pupils whose parents are financially in a decent position) and semi-literate or even illiterate; ‘coolies’ or poor porters and traders and hoteliers; doctors; experts in herbal medicine; service-holders as well as the unemployed youth – boys and girls, in villages and urban centers. Her inability to stay in the field for a long stretch at a time has prolonged her 308 THE EASTERN ANTHROPOLOGIST 69: 3-4 (2016) study over more than half a decade in the past during which she has observed the life-style in Tamang households, the rites and rituals performed by them in their daily life and on ceremonial and festive occasions. For instance, she has observed how several Tamang families have constructed Chortens (memorial stupas) within the courtyards of their houses. She has also observed how several Tamang families show deep interest in the construction and maintenance of Tamang monasteries and Gumpas. She has attended the public celebrations like Loshar (Tamang New Year) and held long and sometimes repeated conversations with the organizers of Loshar. She had talks with TsonaRimpoche (since deceased) on several occasions.She had met His Highness the Karmapa. She has throughout endeavoured to understand the meaning of social actions of the Tamangs in sacred and mundane spheres. In the majority of cases, the Tamangs, particularly the youth, have failed to convey the meaning of the religious practices followed by them. As the author seeks to understand also the ‘identity politics’ of the Tamangs, she has all through kept in touch with the youth wing of the AITBA, a section of which seemed to be interested in the political realm and has succeeded in getting the Tamang Development and Cultural Board (TDCB) from the State Government of West Bengal. A diachronic study of the Tamangs would have been helpful in understanding the evolution of Tamang identity.