Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Conflict Across Asia
eBook - ePub

Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Conflict Across Asia

Kunal Mukherjee

Share book
  1. 232 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Conflict Across Asia

Kunal Mukherjee

Book details
Book preview
Table of contents
Citations

About This Book

This book looks at conflict zones in the Asia Pacific with a special focus on secessionist groups/movements in the Indian Northeast, Tibet, Chinese Xinjiang, the Burmese borderlands, Kashmir in South Asia, CHT in Bangladesh, South Thailand, and Aceh in Indonesia.

These conflict zones are predominantly ethnic minority provinces, which by and large do not share a sense of one-ness with the country that they are currently a part of; most of these insurgencies have had strong linkages with separatist nationalist groups in the region. Methodologically, the author uses extensive fieldwork, interview data, and participant observation from these conflict zones to take a bottom-up approach, giving importance to the voices of ordinary people and/or the residents of these conflict zones whose voices have generally been ignored. Although the book looks at both the historical background and contemporary dimensions of these conflicts, the author focuses on exploring how the role of race, ethnicity and religion in these conflicts can be both direct and indirect.

This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of conflict and security in contemporary Asia with a background in politics, history, IR, security studies, religion, and sociology.

Frequently asked questions

How do I cancel my subscription?
Simply head over to the account section in settings and click on “Cancel Subscription” - it’s as simple as that. After you cancel, your membership will stay active for the remainder of the time you’ve paid for. Learn more here.
Can/how do I download books?
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
What is the difference between the pricing plans?
Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlego’s features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan you’ll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.
What is Perlego?
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Do you support text-to-speech?
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Is Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Conflict Across Asia an online PDF/ePUB?
Yes, you can access Race, Ethnicity and Religion in Conflict Across Asia by Kunal Mukherjee in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Storia & Storia dell'India e dell'Asia meridionale. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2021
ISBN
9781000371611

1Insurgency in the Indian Northeast

Geographical location

The Indian Northeast geographically is located in a remote and very isolated part of South Asia. It is located in the extreme peripheral parts of the subcontinent in the eastern sector of the Himalayas. The Indian Northeast shares international boundaries with China, Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh. It is cut off from the rest of India and is attached to India proper by a small strip of land called the Chicken’s neck or the Siliguri corridor. Through this small strip of land passes ‘a cluster of railways and roads, as well as a pipeline for crude oil.’1 Within India, it shares internal boundaries with the state of West Bengal. The Indian Northeast consists of the seven sister states which are Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. ‘The Northeast covers a land area of 255,037 square kilometres, accounting for 7.8 per cent of India’s total land space.’2 The new addition is Sikkim and hence the Northeast now has international boundaries with Nepal. Assam is the dominant force within the Northeast.3 Not only does it have a central location and thus share a border with most other Northeastern states, but from an economic standpoint also, Assam is comparatively richer; although by and large the entire region is quite impoverished. Parts of the Northeast are contested. For instance, Arunachal Pradesh is seen as South Tibet by the Chinese. The demarcating line which separates the Indian Northeast from China is called the MacMohan Line. This demarcating line, however, is not always recognised by the Chinese. This part of India is often called the Mongoloid fringe of India because of the historical migrations which have taken place from different parts of the Asia Pacific to the Northeast. ‘Home to more than 220 major tribes and various other sub-tribes, the region has witnessed the mass migration of people from Southeast Asia and East Asia since time immemorial.’4 ‘Migrations of different groups of people over a long period of time have laid the foundation of its uniquely diverse demographic landscape.’5 The entire area is hilly and mountainous and this is the part of Southern Asia where the mighty Himalayan mountain ranges come to an end. The harsh terrain does not support a dense population.6 The entire Northeast is very scenic, has a lot of natural beauty and is rich in biodiversity. It has been argued that ‘geography, topography and climate have played an important and significant role in identity formation in the region.’7 The Northeast is essentially landlocked.8 Because the Indian Northeast is sandwiched in between South Asia proper and East Asia proper, the cultural traditions of this part of India tend to be a syncretic fusion of both South Asian and East Asian traditions. When one is in the area, one gets the feeling that he/she is in East Asia/Southeast Asia as opposed to South Asia because the local people look more Southeast Asian rather than South Asian. The area is culturally very diverse. The cultural heterogeneity has often led to problems in the area. The area is often seen as an ethnic minefield. There are ethnic, racial, religious, tribal and linguistic divides in the Indian Northeast. The Northeast is marked by tremendous racial, linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity. All the major religions i.e. Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism are found in this part of India. In fact, the Indian Northeast is so diverse that sometimes analysts have actually said it is inaccurate to use the blanket term ‘Northeast’, because it does not respect the diversity which exists within the area. The term ‘Northeast’ which is so widely used in popular parlance has been questioned. There are of course other analysts on the opposite side of the spectrum who believe that there are enough commonalities which exist within the area despite the diversity, so the term ‘Northeast’ can be and should be used. In a lot of ways the Northeast has been imagined in opposition to the Indian mainland or Indian mainstream.9

The role of religion in the Northeast

If one travels to the Indian Northeast, one can easily notice the presence of Christianity because of the strong presence of churches and cathedrals in the area. There is religious symbolism associated with Christianity almost everywhere not only in Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya but in places like Assam and Manipur also and adjoining areas like North Bengal. In North Bengal, which has a border with the state of Assam, there is a strong Christian presence especially in Darjeeling, which is a well-known hill station. Darjeeling is very popular with both Indian and international tourists; one can see the third highest mountain peak in the world, mount Kanchenjunga, from here. In addition to churches, there are Christian schools and colleges in Darjeeling and elsewhere in the Indian Northeast.10 St. Pauls Darjeeling for boys and St. Edmunds, also for boys, in Shillong, Meghalaya are very well-known educational institutions in present-day India. Darjeeling had been used by the British colonisers, particularly during the hot Indian summers, as a resort. Calcutta or Kolkata, as it is known today, was the capital of British India and today it is the capital city of the Indian state of West Bengal and is seen as the gateway to the Northeast. Since the British had settled there for centuries, it was not hard for Christian missionaries to carry on with their proselytization campaigns in the Northeast due its geographical proximity. ‘Coterminous with British colonization that was in process in the region, American Baptists missionaries contacted and proselytized the Nagas. The missionaries’ involvement included the establishment of churches, schools, mission centres and ‘Christian’ villages for converts. They also introduced reading, writing and Christian rules for new converts and translated the Bibles into native languages.’11 With regard to the origins of Christianity in Nagaland, Bertil Lintner writes, ‘the arrival of Christianity in the Naga hills, then one of the remotest and least accessible corners of the Indian subcontinent, has its roots, unlikely as it may sound, 200 years ago in Salem, Massachusetts … Now, the Christians of Massachusetts decided that with America having been independent for more than thirty years, the time was ripe for the new country to appoint its own missionaries and send them abroad.’12
The first encounter between the missionaries and the Naga people took place in 1839. This happened when an American Baptist missionary, Miles Bronson went to the Namsang Nagas in what is now called Arunachal Pradesh. This mission, however, was not successful. In 1871, an Assamese evangelist called Godhula was sent to the Ao Nagas by EW Clark, who was also an American Baptist missionary in Assam. Clark moved from Sibsagar, Assam and established a mission station among the Ao Nagas at Molung in Nagaland. After that missions were initiated by other Naga tribes. However, the American zeal for proselytization was weakened after India gained independence in 1947. Soon after independence, New Delhi expelled foreigners from Nagaland and restrictions have been imposed by the central government especially for foreigners desiring to enter Nagaland. Even for Indian citizens, special border permits are required before they can visit sensitive border areas. The American Baptist missionaries did not allow Naga converts to participate in tribal cultural practices that were not in keeping with Christianity. This included native songs, festivals, dance and drinks. However, the Naga Hornbill festival which was ordinarily celebrated before Christmas is still celebrated in present-day Nagaland. The missionaries often saw the Naga tribes as barbaric and savage, and often labelled the Nagas as head hunters. Being Christian and white was seen as civilised and cultured. Everything else was measured against Christianity and whiteness. To be white was to be normal and human. The missionaries were seen as the teachers and the givers and all else, especially in Asia, as the receiver and the taught. The civilising mission was thoroughly intertwined with racial arrogance. The missionaries almost took a father figure like role to teach, punish and finally convert their ‘barbaric’ children in Asia. Thong writes, ‘The civilising process cannot take place as long as the colonised subjects remain proud of and attached to their cultural heritage and identity. In order to sever the subjects from their culture and to produce change and conversion, it is necessary to constantly inculcate in the mind of the colonised that their culture is evil, savage, irrational and deficient.’13 Finally, the pillars that would support and uphold Naga tradition and culture would fall apart because the people could no longer obtain a sense of value from what they considered their own. The negative images that the missionaries would constantly associate native culture with would finally play a key role in weakening and undermining local Naga values and Naga self-worth. Nagas were often characterised as pagan, heathen, sinful, uncivilised and backward. These negative images ultimately made Nagas lose pride in their local customs and traditions and paved the way for rapid conversion to Christianity in the second half of the twentieth century.
When we look at the rapid conversion to Christianity, we also need to understand the socio-political context in which it was happening. The Naga Hills and other parts of the Northeast had experienced over 150 years of British colonisation. But after India gained independence, there was political tension between New Delhi and the Northeastern periphery. Relations between the centre and the periphery remained non-violent until 1955, after which the Indian government began to send its security forces to crush the Naga movement. Also, according to India’s majority religion, Hinduism, tribal people living on the edges of Indic civilisation were often seen as avarna or as outcastes, which had been a leading cause for Naga people to feel marginalised. So, ‘for Nagas, the choice of Christianity was, to a degree, a form of political resistance. Their act of conversion, which was to identify them with their erstwhile Christian western colonizers, was in part an opposition to their immediate non-Christian coloniser, that is, India.’14 This is political emancipation from the mainstream Indian government based in New Delhi, which is often seen as a repressive and exploitative government by many Nagas and north-easterners.

Race and the Northeast

Because people of north-eastern descent look different to Indians living in India proper, they have often been subjected to violent acts of racism. Often north-eastern people are mistaken to be Chinese or Southeast Asian. Derogatory words like ‘chinky’ are often hurled at north-eastern people when they visit India proper for holidays, jobs or for purposes of education. The killing of Loitam Richard in 2012 and Nido Tania in 2014 sparked conversations on race and racism at the national level. ‘Most north-easterners have physical features that mark them out from the rest of the Indian ethnic and cultural milieu and subject them to derogatory names such as ‘chinky’, a putatively distinct category to which are ascribed particular attributes.’15 North-eastern people are often cast as being outside the boundaries of the Indian nation because of their membership of a section of the population identified by a racialised physicality. The appearance of a person with so-called chinky features marks them as peripheral and marginal, and external to the social stratifications associated with Hinduism and the Hindu caste system.
It is worth noting that in recent years, there has been increased contact between India proper and people of north-eastern descent. Between the years 2005 and 2011, there had been a twelve-fold increase in migration out of the Northeast to the big urban centres in India proper. It has been estimated that around half a million people of north-eastern descent live in India proper. All of these migrants in the big Indian cities like New Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata are very visible and they stick out from the mainstream population. They are visible minorities. They work in retail, hospitality, in the airlines industry and in call centres. Because of the ongoing political violence in different parts of the Northeast and the availability of jobs in India proper particularly after India’s economic rise since market liberalisation since the early 1990s and also the opportunity to pursue higher studies in mainstream Indian universities has encouraged people of north-eastern descent to migrate. The sad thing is that as this migration into India proper has increased in recent years, so have the acts of racial violence. As this migration has taken place, there has been increased contact between Indians living in India proper and those arriving from the Northeast and this has changed the perception that mainstream Indian have of the Northeastern region. Racial tensions reached a peak in 2012, when a twenty-five-year-old student from Manipur, Loitam Richard, was murdered in Bangalore, supposedly one of the more progressive Indian cities by his own housemates when they were having a brawl over the television remote control. This incident sparked a series of protests both in the Northeast as well as in India proper. After the incident, Manipuri scholar, Yengkhom Jilangamba, wrote in the Hindu that every now and again there would be an incident of violence which was clearly racist in nature and there will be protests against it, but it is the everyday subtle shades of racism, micro aggressions and other-ing that bruise and have a detrimental impact on people’s mind and body and it is this that builds up both anger and frustration.16 Needless to say, fighting this everyday racism is exhausting. One thing that complicates things further is when ethnic majority people, whether in Britain, India or China, get defensive when allegations of racism are made. Richard’s killing in the April of 2012 caused so much outrage that the then prime minister, Manmohan Singh, was forced to hold a delegation of north-eastern migrants the next month. ‘Although he condemned the killings, he denied any racial motivation.’17 This did little to ease the tension.
There was a lot of tension and anxiety by the middle of 2012, when the fear of attacks on north-eastern migrants in places like Pune and Bangalore led an estimated thirty thousand north-easterners to leave the big cities. Regional governments in the Northeast made provisions for the safe return of their people. There were scenes of overcrowded trains leaving Indian cities and these were shown on national television. With Northeast migrants feeling increasingly insecure and unsafe in India proper, the central government was forced to reassure people of nort...

Table of contents