Battered and humiliated North East : Symbolic chicken neck
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: Ocotber 30, 2014 -
Ignorance when coupled with arrogance can be a dangerous cocktail.
And perhaps no one knows this better than the people of the North East who have been at the receiving end of such a mindset, once they cross the proverbial chicken neck. Chicken neck.
May just be a geographical description of a corridor that connects the North East to mainland India, but down the years this term has come to mean something very different.
Physical appearance may not mean much outside the beauty industry but when someone is judged according to how one looks then it is time to scratch the surface and get down to the nitty gritty of such a phenomena.
An observation borne out of the bitter experience that the people of the North East region have had to face on a daily basis in mainland India and this inevitably poses an uncomfortable question on the idea of India as a Nation.
Unity in diversity is a phrase that has been tom tommed all over the country and sold to the international community with much pride, but it is more than clear that this will not carry much weight when a large majority of the people see the people of North East as lesser mortals.
Ignorance and arrogance is written clearly on all the stories of abuses, assaults and insults that the people of the region have had to face in other parts of the country.
Some have even been brutally murdered. The latest case of assault on a Naga couple in Bangalore is another example of such a mindset rearing its ugly head in front of the whole world.
A clear reflection that something, somewhere is terribly wrong.
The words and sentences uttered by all attackers or assailants more than make it clear that in their mindset India ends just where the Brahmaputra starts.
There is a reason why the police in certain parts of the country have felt it necessary to open special cells to deal with cases pertaining to the people of the North East.
While such steps are welcome in the face of the continuous and rising cases against the people of the North East, it is also a demonstration that there is a difference, a deep seated mental difference.
Enough indication that something must be done to address this difference. The Government may cry hoarse and assure the safety of all the North East people, but the time for verbal assurances is over.
More than apt that a policy or policies be formulated to handle the ignorant people whose knowledge of the country will definitely need a complete overhaul.
This is where education can play an important part.
It absolutely makes no sense to expect only the young students of the North East region to know about the history of India, when the History of India hardly says anything about the region.
Include the history and culture of the region in the syllabi of all schools and boards. Will take time but this is the right moment to make the beginning.
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