'Racial Ideology played its part in exodus from Bangalore'

Interview of Bangalore-based playwright and theatre director Swar Thounaojam on the northeast exodus and related issues.

OneIndia: You have spoken about racialisation of north-eastern India. While racial ideology plays a part when it comes to treating the NE people in mainland India, the new economy also gives birth to an opportunity to both the Indias to engage with each other in a more comprehensive manner. Do you think that the economic integration of the two Indians won't be complete if indeed the racial ideology is not discouraged?

Swar Thounaojam: Before we even discuss about discouraging racial ideology in the country, we first have to go down the path of recognising its existence and having a thorough discourse on how this ideology is corroding our social interactions.

Racial ideology played its role in the exodus we have seen in Bangalore. It is something that many people are still not willing to recognise and discourse; they are very happy to apply the Hindu-Muslim paradigm to it and leave it at that. The workers who left - they tried their best to integrate by being a part of the city's economy. Did this integration help them in any way? They had no option but to flee.

I don't think this country should be looking at integration the way our 19th and early 20th century nation-makers did. We need to understand and apply the politics of difference to manage our diversity. Instead of constantly trying to forcibly assimilate powerless minorities to a dominant national identity, we should be looking at new political frameworks where they can assert their rights.

OneIndia: On the question of assimilation into a majority culture, do you think such categorisation of majority and minority is a healthy one? In a country like India, there is essentially no majority group in terms of socio-culture. Even in mainland India, there are people who remain marginalised despite belonging to the so-called 'majority'. Thus by calling the mainland Indian culture majoritarian, which invariably means the culture of NE is a minority one, we tend to push the people from an already disadvantageous region further into a corner.

Swar Thounaojam: To me, the terms 'minority' and 'majority' communities have no pejorative connotations. They are terms currently necessary to make arguments against the nation-state politics that favour the privileged and powerful. Every minority or majority community will have its own hierarchy and tensions that need attention and redressal; it will be unfortunate if we allow this binary crisis to nullify our discourse on conflicts between majority and minority communities.

It doesn't hurt my identity to be recognised as a person from a minority ethnic community. It actually helps if the state recognises my difference and treats me equally for it. But my identity does get damaged if I have to assimilate into a common national identity created by the majority community.

I would actually push for the state to properly recognise the minority ethnic communities of the northeast and their differences. The state has to stop homogenising the region under its nefarious scheme of building a national identity. It is possible to be loyal to the state without being a part of a common national identity.

India is a Hindu-majority country. This religion is increasingly defining the socio-cultural landscape of this country.

OneIndia: Being a person from the playwright and the world of creative art, what do you think about making the creative field a medium to bridge between the two Indias in the mind of at least the progressive section? It seems even the progressive middle-class in mainland India is not very familiar with the NE. Creative art has played an important role in educating people against totalitarian regimes and orthodox ideologies. So why can't it be used in this case also? Or has it already been utilised?

Swar Thounaojam: I refrain from using my plays as cultural or political tools because that would limit me as a playwright. I like being oblique. I leave it to the audience and critics to interpret my plays.

Having said that, I am a political person. I am a feminist. To begin, add or further a discourse, I prefer writing essays. I also aim to use theatre workshops at colleges in Bangalore soon to create conversations with students and workers from the northeast plus equally affected communities.

Theatre has always been at the forefront of political mobilisation. Our country has a rich history of political theatre and brave theatre activists.

OneIndia: What do you think is the reason behind the recent Assam violence? And how that sentiment was developed into an anti-minority one in the rest of the country for petty gains?

Swar Thounaojam: It is the struggle for land and livelihood between minority ethnic communities who fear the extinction of their legacy and identity. India has always been unwilling to understand the identity politics of the northeast and never allowed it to impact its political practice. Now, the most cynical players have applied the Hindu-Muslim paradigm to it and it has entered the Indian communal vortex. Will Assam be able to recover from it? This is the question that India should be asking.