Kahuto Chishi Sumi
G.B. Hevishe Village, Khaghaboto Range, Dimapur
In the Nagaland of today, where half-truths and misinformation sprout up on a daily basis; where propaganda and outright lies are accepted as the truth; where cherry-picking of historical facts to bolster shaky claims to legitimacy are expounded; and events which depict one in a bad light are either avoided or distorted to strengthen those claims. Where the identities of those putting forth their different claims shift with chameleon like ease, from layman to theologian to politician to freedom fighter; where political fossils are dug up to shore up and plead on behalf of those shaky claims; where the speakers of truth are pilloried by the masters of obfuscation; the ordinary citizen finds himself bewildered and befuddled, reeling like a punch-drunk boxer, under the buffet of so many statements from so many angles. If I, as a Naga of Nagaland, am so puzzled by all this, I can understand how our indigenous Non-Naga Tribes of Nagaland must be feeling completely lost at sea and threatened from all sides.
But I request all the Indigenous Kacharis, Garos, Mikirs/Karbis and Kukis of Nagaland to bear with me for a while as I explain to you and all who read this what indigeneity means:-
1. When a person explores a new territory, all that he discovers, whether it be plants, animals or human beings are considered indigenous to that territory. All that matters is that they have adapted to the environment of that territory by the time others arrive.
2. In my first article ever to the papers, I stated that, “An Indigenous person of a particular geographical area is one who can show later arrivals the jungles he hunted in, the streams, rivers and lakes he fished in, the wells he drank from, and the forests he cleared to till the land and plant his crops on.”This is the way that humans adapt to our environment, and adaptation to our environment grants us indigeneity. Governments can neither grant you indigeneity nor take away your indigeneity. It is nature that has already decided whether you are fit to be indigenous to a particular territory.
The classic example is the Israeli Jew. The Jews came from all over the world to settle in Israel. They came from different environments of the world to Israel; a hot in summer, cold in winter clime, with deserts in some places and swamps in the others. Many found it too harsh a place to live in and returned to their places of origin. But those who stayed adapted to the environment. They drained the marshes and watered the deserts; they endured the heat and cold to adapt to the land and adapt the land to them; and thus were born the “Sabra”.Israelis born of Jews who had adapted to Israel and its environment, and became indigenous to Israel. A Jew from the U.S.A. or Europe or anywhere else cannot claim Indigeneity to Israel just because he happens to be from the same race and shares the same religion.
So never ever fear that your status as an Indigenous Non-Naga Tribe can be taken away from you by anyone or any authority. What nature has granted you in the past cannot be taken away from you today. Just because the modern world has developed means for humans to survive in nearly any environment in the world, a person cannot arrive and claim indigeneity in a place where people have settled and adapted before him.
3. That you, all, are Tribals can never be disputed either. When you have been identified as tribals through your culture, customs, mores and way of life, through the course of history and across the entire geographical region of the North-East of India and Myanmar (in the case of the Kukis); which idiot would try to classify you as Non-Tribals is beyond my imagination. I have heard that the Government of Nagaland has re-classified the Kukis of Nagaland from, “An indigenous Non-Naga Tribe of Nagaland” to an, “Indigenous Inhabitant of Nagaland”. If I have been misinformed, I apologise in advance; but if it is true, I request the Kukis of Nagaland not to be alarmed. The Government of Nagaland is always under pressure from the various interest groups with whom they make Unholy Alliances; and being the spineless jellyfish that it is, it trembles and is swayed by every ripple; but immutable facts can never be changed, so no matter what semantics they use, you will always be Tribals. I have said it before, “A diamond is still a diamond even if you call it a stone; and a stone will remain a stone even if you call it a diamond.”
The weeds of lies may grow alongside the tree of truth, but the light of day will see the weeds of lies wither and die while the tree of truth will flourish. So I request you to love and cherish the land that your ancestors claimed. For you may count it a misfortune that you are a minority in Nagaland, separated from your kinsmen in other states, but whether it is The Will of God or Destiny, we find ourselves floating in the cesspool that is present day Nagaland; and we sink or swim together. So let us work together to build a better Nagaland for our children than the one we find ourselves in. GOD SAVE OUR NAGALAND
