NORTH EAST - THE FORGOTTEN STATES

                                 

    

        The hilly and full of tribes, the 'Seven Rainbow States' or as we better know them as ‘Seven Sister’ that makes up the North Eastern part of India can best be described as 'Asia in miniature'. India's North East is a part of a great tropical rainforest that stretches from the foot-hills of the Himalayas to the tip of the Malaysian Peninsulas and the mouth of the Mekong river as it flows into the Gulf of Tonkin.

     Since many centuries to escape from disease and dangers from other tribes in early days of head hunting, the tribes lived on higher mountain areas, developed their own dialects and customs and identities and remained isolated for a long time. The British never ruled them in the true sense but the missionaries risked their lives in bringing them to the mainstream, taught them English and gave them a religion. Being sparsely populated and not sending many MPs to the Parliament, the entire North-East is generally bypassed by the Government and the rest of the country.

     The Government on its part has doled out huge chunks of money and thought it has done its duty and only made the Government very corrupt. The education levels are far higher there than the rest of India and their grouse is that while they study Indian history and are knowledgeable about Indian states, the rest of India doesn't know anything about the history or culture of the North-Eastern region. When the youth came to other Indian cities to study or work, they are treated like foreigners because of their mongoloid looks and ill-treated many a time. The fact is that they take great pride in being a part of India. Most of them speak Hindi. They want people from all over India to come and visit them.

     Although India is culturally blessed, one can’t deny the unfortunate fact that there comes a lot of discrimination with it. It saddens me that every time North East person start a conversation with someone in Mainland India, they have to assure them that they are not Chinese and that North East is within the geographical boundaries of India. It sends down patriotism to the pit and the feeling of alienism and strangerness.

     In fact, that New Delhi doesn't give much heed and importance to the region, as long as it remains a part of the Indian Union – A Buffer state just good enough to keep China – The Dragon at bay. This Step Motherly treatment meted out to 'Our beloved North East' can be ascertained from the fact that even if a dozens’ are killed in the North East Region, New Delhi is silent, is least bothered. While on the other hand, a single loss of life in Jammu and Kashmir and it makes it to the headlines of the major Newspapers across the Country, and often led to a hue and cry in the Parliament. A truly forgotten and uncared for is our beloved North East!

 

    When other States are making rapid strides toward progress and development in all spheres of life. The North East Region is still what it was a few decades ago – A Stagnant Pool. The Central Government is not doing enough to develop the region and to bring it on par with the other states of the Indian mainland. Time and again, New Delhi has often cited the presence of 'Many Revolutionary Groups' in the region as one of the main reason for not releasing adequate funds to the region. For instance, The Manipur State Budget is less than the annual budget of one single department under the Andhra Pradesh Government. This glaring fact only goes to show that the Central Government is not at all interested in the development of the region, but it is no doubt interested in the 'genuine exploitation of the Region's Natural Resources. Where is the 'Right to Equality' enshrined in the Constitution of India?

    If we see sports. there’s hardly any mainstream sportsperson from the NE. I cannot recall any cricketer or tennis player or even hockey player from NE  I suppose there are a few names from NE in the athletic and sports meets who get us medals at SAARC games etc (for example in sports like archery, boxing) — but hey don’t u know that in India, “sports” equals “Cricket+Tennis+Hockey”? The rest of them don’t qualify — their achievements are not counted. Anyways, that’s not the topic of this post!

     There are many mainland Indians, who don't know anything about northeast states and sadly consider them, it to be a part of China. They consider them Chinese all because they don't resemble like mainland Indians.

     Yes, we agree they look different but that doesn't mean we can insult them or be racist to them like calling them chinky, momos or Chinese. Its sad people don't consider them as Indians and when they tell them they are from northeast states, people consider it as different countries. It was also a time when these northeast students when came to Delhi for studying, they were harassed every time. Even there are many educated people who are ignorant to them.

     By this blog I just want to tell my brother and sisters that: -

·       North East Indians are our brothers and sisters like every Indian.

·       North East states are so beautiful and their culture is also respectful.

·   They are broad minded people who respect woman and give equal opportunities to both the gender.

    When someone from other state people call you Bhaiya or Bihari, Mallu which hurt you also so they too get hurt when you called your own brother and sister from N.E momos chinky or Chinese etc. This type of disregard, bias and racial discrimination along with ill thought makes most of N.E think that the mainland India people create damage or is a threat for them. Lets correct ourselves and give them the hand of brotherhood and acceptance that in itself will remove the problem.

       According to my personnel experience they are fun loving people and I would suggest any reader to go for the horn bill festival in the northeast if you want to know more about then. They are among us in every parts of the country but accept them mingle with then give them the respect that they deserve and they will be more than happy to be your greatest asset.

      North-East is a Land that is blessed with natural beauty and it’s the seven sisters which an integral gem for our country’s history and ours too.