The relevance of Gandhi & Gandhians in Northeast

The relevance of Gandhi & Gandhians in Northeast
Rajesh Verma*
Publication: The Otherside, Vol. 22, No. 01, January 2009

Mahatma Gandhi in his journal Harijan wrote, “I am writing these notes at Tezpur on the banks of the mighty Brahmaputra”. “The river, in front, flows peacefully. I deliberately use the word ‘peacefully’. As the water is deep, I see no turbulence in it... If only we could acquire such serenity and enjoy such peace, within what a short time we could win swaraj!” Six decades later it would seem there is a great deal of turbulence which has disturbed the stillness of the mighty Brahmaputra and the peace Gandhiji was evoking has become elusive. Mahatma Gandhi had visited the region of northeast particularly Assam thrice. He has expressed his ‘Experiences In Assam : the land and the people’ describing the region as ‘Prakriti Putri’, the daughter of nature.

Non-violent activism

The hardest thing in the world is to resist injustice without hatred, or to resist brutality without brutality, or to fight any kind of war without losing your own humanity. And yet more than 100 years back, Mahatma Gandhi, not only preached but also practiced how to confront“brutality without brutality”. Mahatma Gandhi showed how one could fight a war without losing own humanity.

Conflict and violence have been perennial problems in the Northeast India. The forms of conflict are varied and multidimensional. They are borne out of inter and intra-ethnic feuds, armed conflicts between the insurgents and the state, and fratricide among the rebel groups. In the context of North East India, peace has ever been elusive.In such a situation, the Gandhiji's Philosophy and the Gandhians can play a vital role.

Serving Gandhians

Nonviolent methods have been used by many Gandhians in the Northeast to resolve various burning issues of the region. Gandhians like Hema Bharali, Dwarika Barua, Natwar Thakkar are rendering great service to the area.

Dr. Harikrishna Das was a doctor, a social worker and a Gandhian philanthropist although Das died half a century ago, his legacy survives in Assam for the role he and his family played in the freedom struggle, and the social institutions which he helped erect. With the arrival of Mahatma Gandhi in Assam, he and his wife became attracted by the message of peace, tolerance and self reliance. Since 1927, Dr Das became actively involved in the freedom struggle, and soon faced government censure. For participating in the Quit India movement, he was imprisoned. He lost no faith in his mission to serve common humanity, and his belief in Gandhian values. In order to build an organisation in memory of Kasurba Gandhi, Dr Das and his friends raised a substantial amount. His daughter Amal Prova was sent to Sevagram in Wardha to learn about social work geared towards the goal of Gram Swaraj.

Gandhiji came to Assam for the last time in 1946, and dedicated the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust to the public. The Assam Branch office in Sarania could take shape because of the generosity of Dr Das, who donated a huge plot of land towards the purpose.

Hem Dutta is a noted Gandhian from Assam. He has made outstanding contribution to promote communal harmony and fight against terrorism and violence. He received the Rajiv Gandhi National Sadbhavana Award-2006. Speaking at the occasion, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, "I do believe that Hembhai, from my adopted state of Assam, is a living example of non-violent mass action for peaceful social transformation."

Ravindranath Upadhyay is an eminent Gandhian of Assam who was the winner of Jamnalal Bajaj Award for promoting Gandhian values. He is an active follower of the nationalist leaders like Gopinath Bordoloi .

Irom Sharmila Chanu is a budding Manipuri poet. On November 2, 2000, a tragedy took place when the Indian army killed ten civilians at Malom, near Imphal . The incident jolted a 28-year-old budding Manipuri poet, Ms. Irom Sharmila Chanu, who resolved to sit for a hunger strike until the controversial law was completely scrapped. However, she was imprisoned on charges of 'attempted suicide' and was kept in a secured ward at Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital in Imphal for more than half a decade where she survived by state-forced nasal feeding.

On October 3, 2006, the local court at Imphal ordered her release, following which she flew to Delhi. Ms. Sharmila held a fast-unto-death at Jantar Mantar, lying close to the nation's parliament. Her struggle is still on.

Dr Binodkumar worked in the Naturopathy Hospital, Kolkata for some years but he could not concentrate on his work as he was always preoccupied with the welfare of youths in home state of Manipur. His dedication towards promotion of peace in present violent and restless world can be gauged from his active association with several organisations including the Gandhi Gram Rural Institute, Dindigul, Manipur Sarvodaya Mitra Mandal, National Youths Organisation, South Asia Fraternity, World Conference on Religion and Peace, Centre for Gandhian Studies etc. He was the general secretary of Manipur Peace Committee.

Sri Chitta Ranjan Dev is one of the prominent social activists and a veteran Gandhian worker of Tripura. He started working with a crusader’s zeal and determination to render voluntary social service right from his student days. Sri Dev set up various organizations to serve the cause of the poor and downtrodden across the state. He also had the rare privilege of being blessed by Mahatma Gandhi in recognition of his service to the underprivileged section of the society. Although Sri Dev established several organizations to mitigate the woes of the poor, prominent among them are Tripura Harijan Sevak Sangh, Tripura Adimjati Sevak Sangh and Tripura Prohibition Council. He is also the founder secretary of the Association for Social Health in India (Tripura branch).

From the later part of 1945, i.e., after the end of the Second World War, when the freedom fighters were released from the jail, he under the guidance of freedom fighter Kshirode Ch. Sen and others, started literacy drive and worked for prohibition drive of intoxicating drinks in the Bhangi Colony at Agartala. In 1950, he set up an organisation in the name of Tripura Harijan Sevak Samity with the Bhangis (scavangers) of Agartala and formed a cooperative credit society in the name of Agartala Harijan Samabaya Samity to provide credit to the needy Bhangis on nominal interest rate to save them from the clutches of the big money lenders. In 1954, he started a Balwadi in Durgachumuhani (Agartala) Bhangi Colony with financial help of Bengal Harijan Sevak Sangh and a creche in the same colony for babies of the working mothers with cooperation of the municipality and financial help from All India Harijan Sevak Sangh in 1967.

He established one landless agri-labourers colony for landless people at Jagatpur under Mohanpur Tahasil in the name of “Thakkar Bapa Nagar”. He also set up a landless cobblers’ colony by purchasing land with the help of the government at Pratapgarh
He had the proud privilege of meeting Mahatma Gandhi at Chaumuhani in Noakhali district on November 6, 1946 along with leaders of the Tripura Rajya Congress and had his blessings for working among the Bhangis. He had the proud privilege of working with Lokanayak Jaiprakash Narain in the hill and border area coordination committee. Vinoba Bhave encouraged him to write for prohibition works in Tripura and elsewhere.

Hema Bharali, (born on February 19, 1919) is an octogenarian Gandhian, distinguished freedom fighter, front ranking leader of Vinoba Bhave’s Bhoodan movement.Since her childhood, she has always been attracted towards constructive social work inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. Since independence, Hema Bharali has been associated with non-political organizations that fought for the cause of social upliftment of people at large. She has been engaged in rural development, spreading basic education, prohibition, strengthening of national integration and removal of social discrimination. She has also worked for empowerment of women and children, promotion of their welfare, securing social justice and promoting peace and non-violence. She helped the panic stricken people of Tezpur and adjoining areas of Assam-Arunachal border during the Chinese aggression in 1962. She took active part in Vinova Bhave’s Bhoodan movement and undertook padyatra to instill the spirit of national integration in the minds of people; to create an awakening among the women; and to spread knowledge about forests as vital factor of environment.

Hema Bharali is one of the true Gandhians, who believes in promoting non-violence, social harmony and equitable development. She has done commendable work in these areas for a considerable period of time. Recognising her dedicated service to the nation, Government of India conferred the prestigious Padmashree Award to Hema Bharali in the year 2005.

Dwarika Barua is a prominent Gandhian who was once abducted by the Bodo militants from Dhamdhama in Assam's Nalbari district. Barua was a crusader for the upliftment of the poor and the downtrodden. He has served the people of Assam in a number of different ways, specially in those areas inhabited by the Bodos. He founded two Gandhian service organisations, both wedded to the service of the Bodo community.

Natwarbhai Thakkar has been Nagaland's most famous Gandhian for more than 50 years, and a recipient of several national awards, has been working to bridge the gap between Nagas and rest of the country. A Gujarati from Dahanu Road in Maharashtra, Thakkar is known for his developmental and humanitarian works on Gandhian lines in the state.

In fact, Thakkar is one of the few non-Nagas to have been accepted by the Nagas into their community. His wife Lentina, who is the first Naga gram sevika trained in the Sarania Ashram in Guwahati, has helped keep up his moral. To promote all-round development of the people of Nagaland, he established the Nagaland Gandhi Ashram in 1955 in the remote Ao Naga village in Makokchung district.

Rajiv Vora, writer, speaker and educator, is a preeminent interpreter of Gandhi's works and in particular his root text, Hind Swaraj. He was requested by Naga leaders to help in the resolution of Naga political issues. He has been in constant touch with the Gandhians of the Northeast. He is in touch with the senior Naga political and Hoho leaders like Hokishe Sema and others and have greatly contributed towards restoring peace and tranquility in Nagaland.

The first challenge is perspectival shift towards selfishness and violence at the level of the family and other social institutions. There are many organizations which are working towards creating a harmonious society, the dream of Gandhiji. Some organizations are rendering yeoman's service to the country and the northeastern region. One such organization is the Assam Branch of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust. Inaugurated by Gandhiji himself in 1946, it is run by dedicated personalities, who have sustained Gandhian ideals alive.

"Preach Peace, Reject Violence, Resolve Conflict." With this call, the Centre for Development and Peace Studies, an independent peace and conflict research centre based in Guwahati, is trying to contribute towards peace and development. Peace and social activists, former insurgent leaders, academics, journalists and development experts keep on making efforts for achieving peace in the backdrop of insurgency and ethnic strife afflicting India's Northeast and the efforts by the government and non-government agencies at peace-making under guidance of Wasbir Hussain, a senior journalist.

Gandhjii may be dead but his ideals are still relevant and the Gandhians are vibrant force in mutating mosaic of the Northeast

*The author is a former Principal of Police School, Nagaland