Aheli Moitra
In not-so-distant Karbi Anglong in Assam, Nagaland’s neighbourhood, a group of tribes come together to build their respective morungs (traditional houses) every year—Karbi, Rengma, Bodo, Dimasa, Tiwa, Kuki, Garo.
Five days before the Karbi Youth Festival (KYF), held this year from February 15-19, local architects and builders from various villages of numerous tribes gather at Tarlangso in Karbi Anglong to take part in this collective construction of their varied identities. Bamboo, thatch, bathrooms, food and water are shared throughout the collective enterprise. On any afternoon, Rengma architects can be found napping in the neighbouring Kuki morung, or Tiwa bamboo experts sharing a joke with the Dimasa expert on musical instruments.
During the five days of the festival that follows, multiple large open amphitheatres, with open hillocks for seating, entertain thousands of people from Karbi Anglong. They come from all corners of the district to enjoy the annual fiesta, this year in its 42nd edition. The stalls set up at the venue offer traditional food & beverages, arts & crafts (being weaved/crafted at the stall itself), music and dance—both traditional and contemporary—at prices affordable for all classes, entertaining to people of all taste and colour.
The festival is organised every year by the Karbi Cultural Society, a non government body, with a major part of its funds drawn from the one day salary of all employees of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council.
The KYF becomes a lesson in solidarity every year.
Solidarity is unity - entailed in its construction- between people with common interests. In KYF’s case, solidarity manifests itself in coming together and building a contemporary culture through the meeting of various communities of the region—in understanding the exactness of our neighbour’s culture while practicing a dance or building a house. We become aware of the skills of our neighbour we can build a neighbourhood with. This creates a natural empathy towards the other, creating space for effervescent dialogue, growing solidarity and peace.
And this is visible through small efforts that the youth of Karbi Anglong are taking today. In January this year, a group of likeminded young people came together to form the Hill Peoples’ Cultural Forum—breaking away from age old animosity, the Kuki, Dimasa, Karbi and Rengma people have decided to chart out a path that best creates a shared future.
While onlookers (like us) of solidarity movements around the world wait and watch how these regional solidarities rise, activists in Nagaland may want to draw a lesson or two from such moves. Following a long tradition of asserting their identity and rights for the sake of peace, Nagas today are in a precarious position vis-a-vis their neighbouring peoples. A high level of antagonism has set in and relationships have soured over contesting nationalities.
In growing with the times, young Naga people now have the added responsibility to assert peace through solidarity in the region. In both Manipur and Assam, the Naga youth have taken this charge with grace—the All Naga Students’ Association, Manipur and the Rengma Naga Students’ Union, Karbi Anglong, have forged new relationships with peaceful entities of neighbourhood communities. They have pushed the boundaries of imagination, confident in their roles in a community of not-so-commons.
With the JNU and HCU alumni from Nagaland showing yet another form of larger regional solidarity, young Naga people are beginning to take the movement for peace to a whole new level. It can only lead us to roads where debates are open, dissent is understood and arguments varied. Long live these exciting times!
Suggestions to build solidarity may be sent to moitramail@yahoo.com
