Cultural Positioning of Tribes in Northeast India

7/27/2019 Cultural Positioning of Tribes in Northeast India

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COMMENTARY

Economic & Political Weekly EPW january 5, 2013 vol xlviIi no 1 27

Soihiamlung Dangmei ([email protected])

is with the Department of Political Science,

Indira Gandhi National Tribal University,

Manipur.

Cultural Positioning of Tribesin North-east IndiaMapping the Evolving Heraka Identity

Soihiamlung Dangmei

While the vast majority of Naga

tribes converted to Christianity,

the Zeliangrong people follow

an indigenous religion known as

the Heraka that was formed out

of a movement to reform their

traditional religion. Since many

of the practices of the Herakaare derived from Hinduism, the

Sangh parivar has declared them

to bevanvasi (forest-dwellers)

and sought to assimilate them

into the Hindu fold. This article

examines the close association of

RSS and the Herakas followers,

their convergence and difference,

and more particularly, the impact

on the cultural positioning of

the Heraka. It also examines

the construction of the Heraka

identity along the distinct lines of

Hindus and Christians.

Despite the fact that the Indian

nation state is publicised as one

carrying a long and rich civilisa-

tional heritage, it is largely a product of

a 19th century Indian response to British

colonialism (Baruah 2009: 177). How-

ever, while Indias modern, educated,

urban elite whose intellectual horizons

were extended by modern ideas and

whose sphere of action was expanded bymodern agencies thought it was possi-

ble to unite India in a single political

community (Khilnani 2004: 5), the con-

cept of Hinduism as a force unifying reli-

gious tradition and the distinctiveness of

Hindu culture as a bounded category

was fashioned from the 17th century on-

wards due to interventions by colonial

administrators, travellers, scholars and

missionaries in the Indian subcontinent.

The modern notion of Hindu national-

ism began with V D Savarkar in his book

Who Is a Hindu? that provided the ideo-

logy for the establishment of the Rash-

triya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1925

by K B Hedgewar. The RSS is a cultural

organisation that believes in cultural

nationalism1 and espouses the Hindu

identity and cultural heritage, which in

turn has political ramifications.

The argument enunciated by G S Ghurye

and aggressively advocated by the RSS

and its affiliates to describe tribal com-munities as Hindus has had unprece-

dented consequences for tribes in India

(Xaxa 2005: 1364), leading to difficulties

in understanding tribes as distinct and

authentic groups. Certainly, there are

both similarities and differences in the

religious practices of Hindus and the

tribes, but the protagonists of Hindutva

have conveniently overlooked the differ-

ences between them. In colonial litera-

ture, though the tribes were no doubt

characterised by their distinctive reli-

gions, they were also seen in conjunc-

tion with other dimensions, especially

their isolation from the larger society.

Advocates of Hindutva, however, con-

ceive tribes solely in religious term. For

the RSS, being a Hindu is an issue associ-

ated with cultural nationalism. In north-

east India, for example, the RSS agenda

is to build the Hindu nation. A person

who had taken birth in India, who mayfollow any religion, caste, creed or any

form of worship but who thinks that India

is his motherland and holy land is a

Hindu, asserted an RSS activist in

north-east India.2 The RSS does not force

anybody to be a Hindu, he said, it only

tries to impart a sense of nationalism to

everyone. That some tribes have a pat-

tern of worship similar to Hinduism

does not necessarily mean that the RSS is

undertaking proselytisation activities in

the north-east, he said, but rather the

religious practices of some tribes were

influenced by Hinduism much before the

advent of the RSS, making religion the

sole criterion to define and assimilate

tribes into the Hindu fold.

Hindutva Project

Towards this end, the RSS has woven an

intricate network through its numerous

affiliates to reach out to tribal people

across the country to promote Hindutva.Operating as social workers under different

labels, members of these organisations


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COMMENTARY

january 5, 2013 vol xlviIi no 1 EPW Economic & Political Weekly28

work to inculcate a feeling of self-respect

and confidence among the tribal people.

Their success in persuading the tribal

people to return to their roots in Hindu

culture has translated into votes for the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last few

elections. Indeed, after the tribal people,

who had traditionally voted for the Con-gress since Independence, shifted their

loyalty to Hindutva, their votes catapulted

the BJP to power in Gujarat, Rajasthan,

Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The Hindutva project to include tribal

cultures and traditions into an overarch-

ing Hindu monolith is a strategy that has

been part of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad

(VHP) and RSS since their inception.3 The

RSS-backed Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram (VKA),

or tribal welfare organisation, started to

work among the Naga tribes as early as

1978.4 TheVHP began work among non-

Christian Naga, primarily the Zelian-

grong people who follow an indigenous

religion known as the Heraka,5 and de-

fended them against Christian proselyti-

sation. Derived from the traditional prac-

tice known as Paupaise, the Heraka is a

religious reform movement that was orga-

nised from disparate groups of the early

1930s into a centralised and effective

movement in 1974 (Longkumer 2008).As a result of their outreach, the ideo-

logy of the RSS and VHP had already

seeped into the rhetoric of the Herakas

followers and their discourse is often

peppered with various Hindutva catch-

phrases like, All religions have truth,

compassion, and love and are like streams

that go into one ocean, or Invasion of

foreign religion and foreign culture will

bring total destruction of Naga society

that reflect neo-Hindu projection of the

self and tradition and constitute a part of

the mass programme of unifying Hindu

society (ibid: 166). Alongside, powerful

symbols such as Om and the swastika

are commonly found in the homes of the

followers of the Heraka.

VHP activists distribute images of

Ram and Sita to this group. Indeed, the

use of such visual material is one of the

new means adopted by Hindutva groups

to disseminate their ideology among the

tribal people. Once they appropriate oruse these civilisational symbols, the

Herakas followers are immediately seen

as assimilating into the Hindu fold and

delineating themselves from the largely

Christian population. This assimilation

is projected through the subtle deploy-

ment ofSanatan Dharma (eternal faith

and culture) and the wider net of Hindu

solidarity (ibid). Organisations like the

Janjati Vikas Samiti orVKA, which workunder the umbrella of Akhil Bharatiya

Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, are active with

developmental projects, education and

also in providing organisational support to

win over the Herakas followers. Indeed,

theVKA has made a huge financial and

cultural investment to integrate the Heraka

movement with Bharat Mata (Mother

India). For instance, theVKAhas recognised

Rani Gaidinliu and Haipou Jadonang,

two charismatic leaders who founded the

Heraka movement in the mid-1930s, as

freedom fighters and included them in a

promotional poster that is prominently

displayed in the Heraka andVKA offices.

Attempts are also made to link the

vanvasi (forest dwellers) with the rest of

Hindu civilisation. Instead of progress-

ing with a sophisticated notion of adivasi

(tribal) culture and its place in Indian

society, the notion of vanvasi reverts to an

ideological pristine state that can some-

how be preserved. The Herakas follow-ers are seen as preserving the Sanatan

Dharma, which is treated synonymously

with traditional Hinduism. For the RSS,

the Heraka movement presents a practice

that is consonant with the Hindu ethos.

TheVHP began its work in the North

Cachar Hills of Assam as early as 1972

when it established free hostels for stu-

dents in Haflong. In 1994, the Vivek-

ananda Vidyalaya School was started in

the same place. In the initial years, the

VHP focused only on the Haflong town

area where it increased the number of

hostels for both boys and girls. However,

in 2004 it extended its work to the Heraka

villages of Boro Chanam, Laisong, He-

zaichak, N Songkai and Boro Haflong

where it imparted free education and a

subsidised hostel fee of Rs 3,000 per

year.6 Many of these students attend

these schools and live in the hostels. The

Ramakrishna Mission too provides free

education to the Heraka students throughtwo schools, one in the Haflong area and

the other in the Laisong area.

The association of the VHP and VKA

with literacy and education is reflected

in a vast network of schools and colleges

across the country. Every year, many

Heraka students are sent to these schools

in Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana

and Maharashtra on scholarships where

along with a secular curriculum, theyare also imparted a right-wing Hindu

ideology (Longkumer 2008: 184-85).

Overall, however, the education has

been beneficial for students. But when it

comes to religious instruction, the stu-

dents follow the religion practised in the

schools, viz, Hinduism. Since these stu-

dents are normally on scholarships, it is

difficult for them to disrespect the wishes

of the people running these schools.

Eventually, these students often speak

fluent Hindi and are, by default, influ-

enced by the Hindu way of life. The rea-

son for the Heraka students seeking edu-

cation in Hindu schools is because it is

free. Besides, these schools provide free

clothing and other necessities. Students

who are sent to cities like Delhi, Banga-

lore and Chennai on scholarship are

usually required to compulsorily serve

in the schools. However, many return

home on some pretext or the other mainly

because they do not want to work in thoseschools after completing their studies.

Negotiating Boundaries

The close association of the Herakas

followers with the RSS makes it difficult

to demarcate the religious boundaries

between them. Christians consider the

followers of the Heraka as Hindus because

even though they are Naga, they prac-

tise some aspects of the Hindu way of

life. Indeed, some followers of the Hera-

ka claim to be Hindus. A Heraka priest

argued, Since we live in Hindustan, we

call ourselves as Heraka Hindus, but the

religion is different from Hinduism.7 He

argued that the Heraka are Zeliangrong

Hindus and different from Bengali Hin-

dus. On the question of the presence of

Hindu symbols like Om, posters of Hindu

gods and goddesses, and Hindu calen-

dars in Heraka homes, the priest argued

that these were symbol of brotherhood,

enabling the Heraka to seek help fromIndian Hindus whenever necessary. The

Heraka also celebrate Hindu festivals like


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Economic & Political Weekly EPW january 5, 2013 vol xlviIi no 1 29

Holi and Diwali. Besides, in the Heraka

programmes and events, Hindus are in-

vited. For instance, during the celebration

of the Herakas school silver jubilee in

Tenning, Nagaland in 2010, many Hindu

leaders and organisations participated.

However, the close association and

the imitation of the Hindu way of lifemakes it difficult for the Herakas follow-

ers to maintain their distinct religious

identity, especially when there are post-

ers depicting Hindu gods, the Om sym-

bol, and calendars published and circu-

lated by Hindu organisations in their

homes. One may argue that the moment

a tribal religion loses its unique features

its purity and distinctiveness is lost.

But this does not mean that the tribal

religions are static and closed. There

has always been an active incorporation of

the new elements and reformation of the

old, the evidence of which can be found

in the elaboration of myths and general

beliefs. RSS-VHP ideologues argue that

students who are educated in Christian

missionary schools do not know their own

culture, as modern education weakens

tribal culture. In the same breath they

claim that they do not convert tribal people

to Hinduism. AVHP worker argued that

Hindus do not teach or propagate Hindu-ism in their schools whatever they teach

in their schools includes general know-

ledge, not Hindu prayers or rituals8 and

since Christians are averse to the Heraka,

Hindu schools serve the latters interests.

Christians, on the other hand, contend

that the Heraka students educated in

Hindu schools sing xenophobic and Hindu

devotional songs and practise yoga.

Interestingly, the Heraka followers

hold Christians responsible for the loss

of Zeliangrong culture. For them, their

religious identity marks their Zelian-

grong identity since Heraka is the sole

religion of the Zeliangrong. For the fol-

lowers of the Heraka or any indigenous

faith in north-east India, religion and

culture are inseparable, there is no sacra-

lising of space and there is no dichotomy

between the secular and non-secular.

Religion, culture, tradition and polity

are interwoven in tribal societies. Once

a person converts, he/she refuses to par-ticipate in the communitys festivals,

and other obligations are not binding on

the new convert. This is the reason why

a convert has to leave the village and

settle down in a Christian village or

move to a new place. Therefore, a Chris-

tian dissociates himself not only from

his indigenous community life, but also

from his culture and tradition.

Between Cross and Saffron

The colonial administration in north-

east India categorised communities into

ethnic slots for administrative purposes.

However, these people rarely conceived

their identity in terms of ethnicity

because although they belonged to a

certain polity, they mixed with a world

where boundaries shifted and were

redrawn accordingly. In a sense, this

construct began with classification.

Such classification was important for the

British because new religious move-

ments, which were thought to spread

across tribal boundaries, confused cate-

gories and created fear in the adminis-

tration of the rise of a pan-tribal alli-

ance. As a result, these movements were

considered a threat, as subversive of tra-

ditional society as of the colonial order.

Such a situation was created in the

case when Haipou Jadonang and Rani

Gaidinliu caused a stir with their move-ment to reform traditional Paupaise

practices. Jadonang was accused of

inventing a religion that was a debased

form of Hinduism, while Gaidinliu was

cast as a sorceress and the new priestess

of this cult. When this reform movement

became popular, Jadonang used civilisa-

tional symbols from the Hindu pantheon,

such as Vishnu and Mahadev, to crystal-

lise and evoke a sense of awe through

the appropriation of these powerful

symbols to further the reform move-

ment. However, the religious reforms

propagated by Jadonang and Gaidinliu

did not associate with Hindu organisa-

tions in the initial years; rather, they

were an agitation against the spread of

both Hinduism and Christianity. There

is a constant fear about the loss of tradi-

tion, culture, language, and religion

among the followers of the Heraka. Not

surprisingly, followers of the Heraka often

try to find links with the local tradition.By rejecting a global religious practice

such as Christianity, they find their

identity in the reality of home. They

construct a viable rhetoric of indigenis-

ing their faith while proclaiming Christi-

anity as foreign and by evoking power-

ful symbols such as death, they are able

to cement this bond and encourage their

members to hang on to their practices.

In the initial years of conversion,Christians were more conscious of their

religious identity than their ethnic iden-

tity. This consciousness is present in the

minds of the Christians even today, i e,

their religious consciousness of being

Christian is more significant and perva-

sive than their ethnicity of being a Zeli-

angrong. The closeness of the Heraka

with Hindu organisations betrays alle-

giance to Naga nationalism in the eyes

of the Christians. Christians constantly

mock the insecurities of the followers of

the Heraka by questioning if their feath-

ers have been smudged by Hindu incense.

Hindu organisations, on the other hand,

assert a sense of historicity by linking

the vanvasi to Bharat Mata.

The difficulty to find a comfortable

identity for the Heraka followers is also

connected with the larger question of

Naga nationalism and the politics it

engenders. The slogan Nagaland for

Christ is the crux of the issue for theHerakas followers for participation in

the Nagas political struggle. Besides,

because of the mass conversions, Chris-

tianity has become part and parcel of

Naga identity.9 This is true because in

many countries the Naga are known

through Christian missionaries and their

institutions. For Naga Christians, the

politics of Indias nation-building is a

source of historical suspicion. Indeed, the

position of Rani Gaidinliu and the expres-

sion of her Indianness as well as her

Naga identity is something the followers

of Heraka do not want to draw attention

given the present political situation.

Conclusion

There is an ambiguity in the Heraka

attempt to maintain a distinct cultural

identity, separate social space and religious

outlook. The RSS appropriation and the

misgivings of the Heraka movement is

something that the latters followersare not able to resist because they are

embedded in the Hindutva nation-building


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project. Therefore, the struggle to main-

tain a distinct identity for the Heraka and

to promote its religious reform movement

became ineffective or misguided. Besides,

the Heraka followers search and claim of

their religious indigeneity has facilitated

the conuence. This is because both the

RSS and the Heraka consider Christiani-ty as a foreign religion. Indeed, Christi-

anity is one of the important factors, or

perhaps the most important factor, that

brought the Heraka followers and RSS to-

gether. Besides, the Heraka followers of-

ten try to broaden and transcend local in-

uence and elevate their indigenous reli-

gion so that they can compete with world

religions. The closeness with the RSS, in

fact, has helped the followers of the

Heraka in propagating their religion on a

broader and higher platform. However, in

sharing the higher platform with the RSS,

some elements of Hinduism have been in-

corporated in their daily life. It is for this

reason the followers of Heraka are either

seen as Hindus or part of Hinduism.

Notes

1 The RSS today is a nationalist organisat ionwhose contribution to character-building ofmillions and towards inculcating in them thespirit of patriotism, idealism and seless serviceof the motherland has been incomparable. It is

this organisation that has inspired tens of thou-sands of public-spirited persons to serve the na-tion through the medium of politics. Those inthe political eld and those who are servingthe society in other elds have to function withunity and trust like a family to ensure that thecountry secures its rightful place in the countryof nations. See Jaf frelot (2007:191-92).

2 Personal interview and discussion with an RSSactivist in March 2011 in north-east India.

3 In 1964, in association with Hindu clerics, theRSS set up the VHP (World Council of Hindus),a movement responsible for grouping the headsof various Hindu sects in order to lend this hith-erto unorganised religion a sort of centralisedstructure. The VHP was established with thepurpose of generating unity among all faiths,sects and communities, addressed as Hindu,and to make society well-organised, integratedand true follower of dharma. It aspires for uni-ty, cohesion, integrity and a proper attitude to-

wards national life. See Bajpai et al (2007:31).

4 The Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram was founded in1952 at Jashpurnagar, Chhattisgarh, but itcame to the north-east only in 1978.

5 The Heraka is a socio-religious reform move-

ment of the Zeliangrong Naga derived fromtheir traditional religion. It was organisedfrom disparate groups of the early 1930s into acentralised and effective movement in 1974 in

Assam, Nagaland and Manipur. Initial ly, themovement was started by Haipou Jadonang in1929. But due to his early execution, the move-ment was carried forward by his disciple RaniGaidinliu. The reform aims for the abolition ofthe obscurantist customs and superstitiouspractices. Heraka means pure, which is notmixing with other evil things. The word Herameans god andKa means fence, meaning godfencing out to evil gods and keeping his peopleinside his fence. Those who are inside the fenceare called Herakame, which means the purepeople. See Newme (1991:1).

6 Interv iew with a VHP worker in Haong, NCHills of Assam in April 2011.

7 Interview with Heraka priest of Nrianam, NCHills, Assam in March 2011.

8 Interview with a VHP worker in Haong,Assam in April 2011.

9 Mention must be made here that the Nagas hadno interaction with India proper throughoutthe historical period. The British formulationof the excluded area kept them excluded

from the Indian mainstream during Britishrule. Christianity came in handy to create anapprehension against Indianisation, which theleaders branded as Hinduisation. See Choud-hury (1999:95).

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Baruah, Sanjib, ed. (2009):Beyond Counter-Insur-gency: Breaking the Impasse in Northeast India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press).

Choudhury, Sujit (1999): The North-East: A Con-cept Re-Examined in Kailash S Aggarwal(ed.),Dynamic s of Identit y and Intergroup Rela-tions in North-East India (Shimla: Indian Insti-tute of Advanced Study).

Jaffrelot, Christophe, ed. (2007):Hindu Nationalism:A Reader (Ranikhet: Permanent Black Publisher).

Khilnani, Sunil (2004): The Idea of India (NewDelhi: Penguin Books).

Longkumer, Arkotong (2008): Where Do I Belong?Evolving Reform and Identity amongst the ZemeHeraka of North Cachar Hills, Assam, India,PhD thesis, Religious Studies Department,School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh.

Newme, Ramkuiwangbe (1991): Tingwang Hingde(Guwahati: Regional Zeliangrong Heraka

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Political Weekly, 26 March.

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Cultural Positioning of Tribes in Northeast India