Nupur Chawla
Various parts of Northeast India have witnessed conflict that seems to have had a decisive impact on life in the region. Broadly speaking, issues defining this conflict include demand for an independent nation, feeling of alienation, lack of belongingness to the Indian mainland, the Central Government’s apathy and a differential status of opportunities in the region as compared to the mainland. A crucial outcome of this situation in the region has been an atmosphere of unrest, apprehension, and violence due to armed conflict.
Literary expressions from the region represent this situation imaginatively, while also intervening in the state of affairs in its own unique way. These writings address issues like violation of peace, freedom, justice, and humanity in general. And in this paper I will explore how there is an assertion of human potential in literature from the Northeast and a denunciation of reality wherein values of love, harmony, happy coexistence and freedom are constantly sacrificed at the altar of conflict. This anti-exploitation stance and being pro-people is what I broadly refer to as ‘Humanism’. And this position in itself carries a strong message that any situation working against the interest of the common people is to be condemned. Herein lies the resistance to all such forces that curb a certain people from realizing their true potential.
It is not to deny that each region in the Northeast India has had its own dynamics of conflict and cannot be clubbed together, however, what is being focused in the discussion of these select voices from the region is the common experience of conflict on human grounds and the responses it elicits from people that converge in their refusal to accept such reality and an assertion of that which makes people come together in an attempt to confront it.
Defining Humanism Meaning of the word ‘Humanism’, as a life-stance underwent various changes through various epochs and geographies, giving rise to various allied terms. Jean Paul Sartre provides one of the definitions of Humanism in his 1946 lecture titled “Existentialism is a Humanism”. In the lecture he says,
Although it is impossible to find in each and every man a universal essence that can be called human nature, there is nevertheless a human universality of condition…every purpose, however individual it may be, is of universal value. Every purpose, even that of a Chinese, an Indian or a Negro, can be understood by a European…man is thus self-surpassing…This is humanism, because we remind man that there is no legislator but himself; that he himself, thus abandoned, must decide for himself; also because we show that it is not by turning back upon himself, but always by seeking, beyond himself, an aim which is one of liberation or of some particular realization, that man can realize himself as truly human.
Sartre here talks of “a human universality of condition”. He also states that every purpose is also universal. Here words ‘condition’ and ‘purpose’ can be understood vis-à-vis certain values and aspirations that come to define human experience or existence. And because of the common factors shaping humanity, Sartre elaborates, issues of a Chinese are comprehensible to a person living in Africa and other parts of the world. What are these common factors, one may wonder. The values of coexistence, freedom, harmony, justice, love, security, happiness are common human pursuits. To this, Sartre adds, that man is his own legislator, shaping himself and striving to realize himself. This faith in human potential is crucial to an understanding of the humanist stance.
Toni Davies furnishes a more recent definition of the phenomenon in his book Humanism. He charts how understanding of the word Humanism kept changing through the time, its meaning having no fixity. However, he makes a significant statement while summing up his discussion on the subject. He says:
The freedom to speak and write, to organize and campaign in defense of individual or collective interests, to protest and disobey: all these, and the prospect of a world in which they will be secured, can only be articulated in humanist terms. (Davies 132).
This statement makes clear the interventionist potential of a humanist stance. It comprises freedom to express freely, to protest and disobey and defend certain interests. Securing of these aspects of experience comprises humanist articulation. Here one can then locate the element of resistance that can be said to be an important aspect of this position. Affirming certain ideas and protesting against those forces that go against collective interest comprises Humanism. Hence he adds, “The meanings of ‘humanism’ have operated most powerfully precisely at those moments when they have been most contested, and thus most elusive or opaque to definition.” (Davies 125). These aspects will be located in the writings from Northeast India.
Violence Denounced: Expressing the Pain of Conflict in Poetry
Violence is a constant theme in both poems and short stories from the region. There are references to death, fear and bullets. However, the expression of this painful reality is in terms that make readers look critically at those who perpetuate it. The resultant anger and a complete refusal to accept this state of affairs comes across well. Violence, a reality that has coloured many a lives in the region, is the primary target of the humanist position, because inherent in such circumstance is the violation of values that humans hold dear - freedom, spontaneity and harmony.
Monalisa Changkija, a poet from Nagaland, questions this reality in no uncertain terms. Her anger and impatience with the atmosphere perpetuated by conflict is evident. In her poem “Child of Cain”, she says, “No one has this right to make anyone live with the stench of burnt human flesh/in our hearts and minds for the rest of our days/…no one has the right to burn human flesh- body, mind and soul.” (Changkija 27). Words “burnt human flesh” is a stark reminder of what armed conflict often entails - loss of life and in a really brutal manner. The poet’s choice of words conveys the pain of a sensitive soul who observes the gory reality around. And as the quotation suggests, it is not just a physical violation but also that of the mind and soul. This further deepens the gravity of the matter as expressed by the poet. The words “No one has this right” have a powerful impact on the reader as they convey a strong sense of questioning the wrong.
Her poem “One of these Decades” juxtaposes the difficult reality surrounding people with the faith in people’s potential to overcome this damage by restoring the harmony and bonhomie they had experienced before their land was ravaged by conflict. Poet Changkija says,
One of these decades when our dreams become as real as the nightmare now we will gather around the fire on moonlit nights as did our forefathers and silence the gunfire with our songs loud and clear across our green hills in rhythm with all humanity… (Changkija 11)
The phrase “in rhythm with all humanity” is a clear humanist stance evident in her poems. The poet emphasizes that the songs will not be sung by individuals separately but keeping in tune with all those who witness conflict. This further extends the scope of her imagination, not restricting to those suffering around her but also elsewhere in the world. Words “all humanity” surpass all divisions along lines of nation, ethnicity, or religion and gather everyone in the common struggle with conflict. The juxtaposition of “dreams” and “nightmares”, “gunfire” and “songs” brings alive the contrast inherent in the situation whereby people, as the poet, refuse to give in to exigencies of a violent circumstance.
In her poems is also evident a parallel discourse of domestic violence. During conflict, pressures from the outside often trickle into the space of the homes thereby creating another reality that needs to be equally condemned. In her collection titled Weapons of Words on Pages of Pain, Monalisa Changkija paints an extremely evocative picture detailing the experience of the victim. The candid tone adopted here leaves a deep impact on the reader, making them visualize the predicament of the one exploited. Personal and political are deftly interwoven by the poet as experience of women from behind the close doors of her home joins with the larger question of exploitation in society.
Violence, in this case, is both visible and hidden. She refers to “bodies battered, bruised and bent” (Changkija 5), “violence induced miscarriages,/black-eyes and bloodied lips/blue bruises and broken ribs” (Changkija 7). In the same vein, she refers to “unwritten Pages of Pain” (Changkija 7). Perhaps this refers to stories of such violence that never found expression. In this case violence always remained invisible, unknown to the world outside. And she reiterates “but I must write against unseen chains, on these Pages of Pain or pay more in silence.” (Changkija 14). This making public, an issue that needs attention, is how the poet fulfills her responsibility of spreading the requisite message through her writings.
Robin S Ngangom is another prolific poet who grapples with the issue of violence in his poems. There is a wistful flavor to his poems, with references to his land and how he has had to move away from her. There is a deep connection with his place of birth and in many poems the place is even personified. This deep connection with the land is also evident in his understanding of the ravages of conflict witnessed by it. And the pain in articulating this reality is clearly evident.
In the poem “The First Rain”, Ngangom highlights how writing from the region reflects the reality that has coloured their everyday life. A violent reality needs equally violent modes of expression and an instance of this is evident in the following lines from the poem:
We’ve drawn our borders with blood Even to write in our mother tongue We cut open veins and our tongues Lick parchments with blood. (Ngangom 46-46)
Cutting “open the veins and tongue” signifies the extreme passion with which people from the region have articulated their thoughts. The uninhibited expression of reality in the region is a means to make the truth of their times available to those outside the region and for generations to come. “Blood” signifying struggle is an aspect of experience that must be preserved in imaginative narratives, thus enriching region’s history.
In Ngangom’s poems, violence due to conflict, inspires not just anger and criticsm but also a deep pain for the long drawn suffering of people. This being able to recognize the common pain of people is a crucial feature of a Humanist stance. In the poem “The First Rain”, the poet says, “If I told you how babies have been shot down/from their mothers’ breasts/ you would put it down to a poet’s overworked heart.” (Nagangom 44). Babies being forcefully taken away from mothers come across as a powerful symbol of common people being wrenched away from their places of security by ravages of violence. And the poet acknowledges that this scenario is so disturbing that many might consider it merely an imaginative sweep. Another aspect of pain is evident in the poem Everywhere I Go. Here the poet tries to rationalize the extreme sadness he experiences, lest sadness should give way to despair. He says, ‘I know I must stop agonizing” (Ngangom 47)
Assertion of Faith in People’s Courage
Having fulfilled the first aspect of resistance, denouncing values that work against interests of the common masses, next crucial step is having a hope and vision to overturn the existing circumstance that is exploitative in nature. Robin Ngangom in the poem First Rain says, They can stop us but not our thoughts From coming out into the streets, They can shoot us but cannot kill the air Which carries our voices. (Ngangom 45)
Here one realizes the power of thoughts and ideas during a conflict situation. Violence inflicted at the physical level also has an ideological aspect. Truth, which may often be manipulated, is put in perspective by means of such creative expressions. While on the one hand the line “they can stop us but not our thoughts” highlights the extreme resilience of spirit of people to confront the enemy, at the same time it alerts us to the shaping potential of culture, as it helps form new or parallel discourses to contend with the already existing ones. And herein lies the interventionist potential of culture, resisting all those forces that work to curb human potential.
In a similar vein, in the poem Not be Dead, Monalisa Changkija says, If tomorrow My body Is riddled With bullets, I shall not be dead. … The event would only mean The recognition Of the impact Of my words… (Changkija 23)
The above courageous assertion is the poet’s understanding that her thoughts have the potential of infuriating forces she is critical of, however she is ready to confront the consequences. In fact, such an event would only go on to assert the power of her ideas. This reminds us of the argument of cultural materialists who state that culture is material, as are ideas since they have the capacity of impacting reality.
Siding with the Exploited: Narratives of Common People
Temsula Ao narrates stories of common people and their daily struggles. This discourse of capturing their life and bringing to fore their issues, contributes to Ao’s humanist assertion. These narratives represent how people confront daily challenges and evolve. In the context, Ao’s women characters are important. We see them emerge as the real heroes during times of strife and confusion. Their heroism is not of the traditional kind but lies in the strength of character that is evident during duress. It almost seems as if Ao’s women characters bloom during the exigencies of conflict or conflict serves as a backdrop for their potential to shine out, which otherwise may have been blurred due to tradition. In her short stories, can we compare and contrast the position of women in peaceful times and that during conflict? This comparison will provide useful insight into gender patterns of the Naga community and more importantly into the ‘positive’ contribution of conflict, which is a rare expectation.
Inherent in the Naga society depicted by Temsula Ao are two mutually opposite dynamics vis-à-vis women - while the existing circumstance is deeply patriarchal, at the same time we also see a counter-impulse simmering in women. These instances of questioning women in the narratives are particularly interesting; they depict a spirit of resistance in that it is incipient and may develop into a full-grown confident voice of protest.
This juxtaposition of the repressive social forces and resistance is best exemplified in the story “The Night”. A young girl Imnala gets pregnant twice without being married - once when she is in school and later when her first illegitimate child is young. This circumstance provides sharp insights into the social and customary attitude towards women. The narrator says, “Fate of the unborn child would be determined on that day, depending on the admission or denial of parentage by the man involved (Ao 46). At another point, the narrator says that Imnala would have to face “…the censure if society whose balance of justice always tended to tilt against the woman. A married man was equally guilty but today she was the sole accused.” (Ao 54). The lover who betrays Imnala, her father, the entire society and even her own mother are seen against this young girl. Imnala seems to convey to her mother that her second pregnancy could have been averted had her father agreed to marry her off to a widower who had agreed to accept her as a wife. There is a suggestion here that she found herself in need of a partner that was denied to her. She was not given the space to make this simple life choice for herself. Here her father’s response is interesting. He says,
As for that no good daughter of mine, she has the audacity to tell her mother that I am partly to blame…she told her that I should have agreed to let her marry the widower…but how could I have allowed such a thing to happen to her? She is young, beautiful and deserves a better husband. (Ao 51)
Imnala’s mother responds in a manner that makes us aware of another dynamic.
Beyond the village boundaries, she deliberately slackened her pace and fell back. As she walked alone for a while, all the outward show of normality and nonchalance seemed to abandon her and she slumped down on a boulder by the wayside…she wept for the daughter so helplessly caught in the web of youthful passion…(Ao 53)
She does not castigate her daughter. In fact she keeps her emotions at bay, silently absorbing the impact of the circumstance. She is the sensitive one who is able to see the situation for what it is, blaming nobody; her daughter’s youthful passion overtook her, father allowed the stranger man to enter their household only so he could make some profit and get timber for the house and she wept for herself “for being a mere spectator of the sorrow now engulfing them all including the innocent unborn child.” (Ao 53)
Alongside these forces that curb the young girl’s freedom, exists a parallel discourse of the subjugated woman. It comprises a questioning and courageous spirit of these women who are subjugated. They respond to the treatment meted out to them The reader becomes aware of this by two ways- first, when Imnala confesses her real feelings to her friend. Secondly such questioning becomes evident by the narrator’s description of the girl’s thoughts. Both these cases make evident that such a counter-discourse is brewing but is yet beneath the surface. Open defiance is yet to precipitate as external clutches of orthodoxy or patriarchy have their stranglehold.
With the instances of writings discussed above one may note that a people-centered stance is a crucial feature of conflict narratives. Questioning violence, representing experiences of the common people, displaying faith in their potential and their strength to stand up to challenges are some characteristic aspects that define resistance in such narratives.
(The writer is a Research Scholar, Shivaji College, Delhi University. This paper was presented in a two-day National Conference on Cultural Studies, held at Manipur University, on May12 & 13, 2017)
