India: The idiocy of identity politics

Daily News and Analysis, 21 August 2012

The idiocy of identity politics

by Leki Thungon

The numerous articles and news releases about attacks against the northeastern “migrants†is not an outrageously new phenomenon. What makes it seem different is that this time the “attacker†can be easily identified, the Muslims in this case. One of the most dubiously interesting things that emerge from this is its uncanny resemblance with the violence taking place in Assam, where two marginalised groups are in a state of violent conflict. We all are well aware of the second class citizen treatment both the groups in question (i.e. the Muslims and the northeastern people) meet at different social, political and administrative levels. Both groups have experienced hostility from “mainland Indians†through either assimilation or exclusion. However, the outcome of this not-isolated incident is the reactionary anger and fear which would add fuel to the hate and to reductive identity politics.

Social networking has also made unreflective “public†opinion viral. While the debate around accountability and validity of such electronic mass politics stands, it does give an insight on the extent to which the extremely problematic politics of identity and national integration are accepted and propagated. This shows a general lack of conscious politics in this country which has been repeatedly filled by instantaneous, reactionary politics that legitimizes itself as an answer to the exigencies of the despairing present. This incident has also contributed to this sensory politics.

The urgency with which the northeastern block reiterates its national position, “We are also Indians†, shows the deeply-rooted feeling of insecurity nurtured by continuous alienation. There is a valid anger against the invalid/ignorant knowledge of the northeastern region and its heterogeneity (which ironically brings the region “together†). When the question of security from the state arises, the idea of “true†citizenship also surfaces in this case. So the second thing which this statement hints at is the degree of “Indian-ness†which the popularly accused party seems to fall short of. This statement addresses the state and coaxes it to take responsibility of the safety of its non-citizens who still buy into the idea of a “fatherly†state.

The fear of massive racial profiling is also implicit this news. Just imagining a physical, violent form of racism, perhaps a hundred times more than one meets in everyday life on the streets of New Delhi (which has earlier witnessed the Sikh genocide in 1980s) might be reason enough for people from the northeast to flee cities, especially workers and manual labourers who do not enjoy the security of class.

This reaction also shows the uncontested presumptions about Muslims. In this particular case, it is about Bangladeshi immigrants who have come into the region across the twentieth century and form the backbone of labour processes in the region. It is also stunning that the Bodos and the caste-Hindu Assamese who hate each other have come together in their joint hatred for the Muslims. The using of tribal groups to attack each other or the ‘immigrant’ is not new in Assam or anywhere in the region. Nellie in the 80s saw the caste-Hindu Assamese getting the Tiwas (another tribal group in Assam) to massacre Muslims on a large scale and in the most brutal manner.

So, the most disturbing thing about this moment is the lack of dialogue between all parties concerned. The state might have promised token security through increase in police surveillance, a free train ride to Guwahati and a corporate hookup in restricting people’s SMSes but it has failed to facilitate communication between groups – mainly the caste-Hindu Assamese, the Bodos and the Muslims. This tiny band-aid treatment for a gaping wound shows the reluctance of the Indian state to stop these processes of hatred and ethnic cleansing.

The media has been of no help here either, instead of providing a platform for an alternative opinion which is not based on ideologies of the “us and them†all we find are rabid rantings both in the form of articles and ‘opinions’ but also responses from readers.

Regardless of whether or not these threats of imminent violence materialise, what this whole situation shows is the urgent need to create a genuine political awareness to fill the vacuous incantations of political party, insurgent, media and unthinking agendas in this country and the difficulty in meeting this goal in a political spectrum which oscillates between the complacent and the reactionary.

The writer, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, is a student of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics.