Aheli Moitra
Six year old Arep is a bright child. She is up to date with her English letters, vowels and even small words. Her sentences, grammar, conjugation and colouring are slowly falling in line. She is a socially engaged child who enjoys her playtime, and sometimes even her study time! Very quickly, she has learned to engage with the world outside the womb—television, books, newspapers, utensils, toys, school, friends, KinderJoy etc.
But it is at home where Arep engages with her Naga self. Her mother often cooks meat in Anishi or Axone, and the smell wafting through the house makes her roots grow by instilling that tingling sensation of being home where the self is liberated. She speaks to her parents and relatives in her local Naga dialect—she is clever enough to switch between languages while sharing secrets with her little sister, depending on whose company she is in. But, mostly, she is an honest and transparent child who shares her thoughts and space.
So, when her mother insisted that she go to Sunday school, and she persistently refused, the family was dismayed. The local church was the only place of organised learning where the medium of instruction was her mother tongue; through this, the church already had a program in place to instill values of a community in her every Sunday morning.
Arep felt trapped. Having completed almost three years of pre-school, her community was one that communicated in English, and played hide-and-seek on weekends. At the tender age of six, she understood little of her ‘self’ as a Naga and chose liberty for the time being.
But as she grows up, are there other avenues where she can build her sense of belonging and shared community in a Naga nation? At school, in a shop, at music or dance class?
At a Dialogue with Dr. John Thomas on his new book ‘Evangelising the Nation: Religion and the formation of Naga political identity’ held on October 18, the author suggested that the Naga struggle for self determination had come to be narrowed down to a political struggle greatly influenced by Christian theology promoted by White missionaries that had sought to reduce traditional Naga culture (and, in effect, belonging) to the realms of ‘darkness’ and ‘savagery.’ A parallel revival to kinder the rich cultural spirit of the Naga (nation) had not yet taken place, particularly because the Church had tempered down the wholesome spirit of nationalism.
In effect, we find ourselves surrounded by the reality of a globalised world where television, books, toys, schools, shops and sweets tell us more about foreign material culture than Naga (exceptionally, this is changing with entrepreneurs, or even musicians, turning the cultural tide). Globalisation would have gone down amicably had the Naga people not been oppressed on every other essential count—exploitation of land and resources, a dysfunctional government, rising rural poverty, continued miliratisation, tribalisation etc.
The discussion around Dr. Thomas’ work also brought out the flip side. The Naga church has been on a journey of change and decolonisation for a while now— As Dr. Wati Aier said, religion has not been so much about withdrawal (an opiate) as about intentional engagement for the Nagas; taking control rather than giving up. Naga theology, mindful of the weight on its shoulders, has been pluralising and broadening the discourse in ways that we are only slowly learning about.
In the time that the progressing religious paradigm seeps to the grassroots, the Dialogue seemed to suggest that there is a dire need to reform and broaden the ‘nationalist’ agenda—rooting itself in the religious, or even tribal, agenda has only narrowed what it means to be a Naga, a nation and a sovereign Naga nation. As the new Naga generation figures out its liberties, their leaders need to be mindful that being Naga should become as much about osmotic dialogue, shared humanity and finding liberty together (to borrow words from Dr. Aküm Longchari) as it has been about smelling the first morning fire in the hearth, learning stories in a mother tongue at Sunday school or perfectly fermented bamboo shoot.
Questions & comments may be sent to moitramail@yahoo.com
