Aheli Moitra
By the rivers of Külia in the Western Rengma Naga areas of Assam, we sat down and had a variety of pomelos. The sour and sweet juicy citrus became the flavour of the sincere winter sun—dipped in salt and chilli, a pomelo has the ability to transform your winter experience into a face twitching delight.
For those of us firmly cushioned in our daily lives in the luxuries of Nagaland State, the sandy banks of the vast river serve as nothing more than a picnic spot. To get to the spot, though, one has to pass through a colony of 10-odd houses that are part of a village named Akhoiphuta-Jongpha. Most of these houses were constructed in the 1980s with minimal additions made, or paint jobs done, over the years.
The colony itself is a grassy lane flanked by the above mentioned houses on two sides, each house with their well trimmed trees in cared-for gardens, wrapped up in neat bamboo fences. On the other side, the houses overlook swathes of paddy fields. As you approach the river Külia, rugged plantations start showing up—tea and oranges—that the village folk have been enterprising enough to plant over the years. The river itself is used to transport bamboo, bunches of them tied together to make a raft, from one part of the village to the other where they are weaved into mats and later sold in the market.
With less than quarter baked roads, it is one of the most well connected villages in the Western Rengma areas.
Akhoiphuta-Jongpha, in Chowkihola block of Karbi Anglong, is home to the Western Rengma Baptist Association’s campus. In 2015, the village saw a flurry of activity. It hosted the centenary jubilation of Christianity having taken root among the Western Rengma people. The harvest festival of the Rengma people, Ngada, was celebrated here. The Rengma Naga Students’ Union’s 54th general conference cum golden jubilee commemoration was observed here. Yet, once the dust settles of people visiting the village, for commemorations and festivals, the people of the village are left with their geographical and political reality.
Without sufficient bureaucrats and any political representation whatsoever, the Western Rengma areas are quickly becoming picnic spots for the rich of Nagaland State and a hub for resource extraction for entrepreneurs from Karbi Anglong. The recognition of the Western Rengmas as a people is becoming a difficult mountain to climb—inconsistencies define the journey both from within the Rengma community as well as outside it.
In these circumstances, the solidarity of communities that inhabit the geographical and political neighbourhoods is essential. The Western Rengma, while being a core Naga entity, cannot afford to isolate from their Karbi neighbours particularly. The two communities will need to work hand-in-hand to weave political realities that facilitate the growth of the Western Rengma people without encroaching on anyone’s rights. The Naga people, in Nagaland, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh or Burma, must support the leadership of the people on the ground to carve out these paths, not shoot idealistic rockets from a distance.
Support and encouragement of local leadership, in terms of persons and ideas, will not only build new realities for the Western Rengmas of Assam but also make them tall citizens of the collective we call the Naga nation. It is then that the banks of river Külia will truly prosper, charting a course as strong as the river itself.
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