-By G. Tallo

Ziro, May 3, 2010

The call of Apatani Youth Association (AYA) for mass peace rally to demand immediate arrest of Murderer of late Habung Chunya and restoration of deterioting law and order situation in Hapoli and Old Ziro townships evoked spontaneous public response. People from all walks of life participated the rally in large way. One never see this scale of mass participation to the call of the youth or the student organisations in Ziro, atleast in recent past.

As one participant has said, the general public of Ziro saw this rally as a platform to vent their discontent and frustration of inaction of District Administration in tackling law and order problem. For past few years crime rate has been rising in and around Ziro and the District Administration were found wanting in promptness to nab the perpetrators of  crime.

It should be mentioned here that late Ms Habung Chunya was found murdered at her resident in Old Ziro on the night of 6th April. It is one month now but no headway has been made to arrest the murder.

People thronged the rally at Subansiri Stadium and took out a long procession from there through Old Medical Colony and Pai Gate to Deputy Commissioner Office, where AYA was to submit memorandum to Deputy Commissioner, Ziro. Throughout the rally process the participants conduct themselves well and it was peaceful.

There was a moment of anxiety soon after they had arrived the DC office complex. Absence of DC in the station infuriated the assembled mass. They condemned the DC Ziro for fleeing the scene everytime there was major law and order problem. They recounted few such occassions: first, a young boy was murdered by his friends in January 2008 and the deceased was buried inside Subansiri Stadium; second, seven years old boy was kidnapped and murdered last year, his relatives and friends with public support took out procession for immediate arrest of culprit in two occassions; and this time. Every time, she had left the station a day before or in the morning to avoid the ordeal. The assembled mass almost turn into an unruly mob before few elderly people, who took part in the rally, come forward to subside the irate public.

It could have been just a co-incidental that she had to leave the station: may not be intentional. Whatever be the case, the message from the rally was loud and clear: people living in Ziro want to live in peace and freedom from fear.

The special report on a new insurgent outfit National Liberation Council of Taniland is a headline of the channel since last 24 hours. The report says:

• the outfit is active in Arunachal Pradesh as well in Assam-Arunachal border areas;
• it receves aids and training from China;
• it has forged links with ULFA;
• it’s headquarter is at Ziro (which the report says is only 15 km from Indo-China boder);
• the outfit is fighting for cause of Apatanis and demands separate homeland for Apatanis;
• H Tamang, SP Papumpare denied having report of the outfit being active as of now. He said that there was instances of extortion notice being served in name of this outfit by some misguided youth who got training from NSCN(IM) in the April last. The Commander in Chief along with 19 others and some youths from NSCN(IM) outfit were arrested and the outfit was cracked down. He also was not in opinion that this outfit received training and aids from China.

The reporters of NE TV whosoever they are should know while preparing the report that:

· Ziro is hundreds of km away from Indo-China border;

· ‘TANI’ in National Liberation Council of Taniland is nothing to do with Apatanis. TANILAND as I could understand from various media report is the area comprising a part of Arunachal and of Assam inhabited by so called descendents of Abo Tani such as Adi, Apatani, Nyishi, Galo, Mishings etc.;

· Dragging the good name of Apatani community into the report is being resented by Apatanis across the country.

The declining trend of using Apatani by young Apatanis in their day to day conversation has been a cause of concern since long. There has been an urgent need to develop, popularize and preserve the language. In response, some pioneering works on Apatani language have been done by the likes of I.M Simon, Tasso Sai, Takhe Kani, Mihin Kaning and others. Habung Donyi’s “Apatani Dictionary: Let’s write in Apatani” stood out among the best of the related works done so far. It has immense bearing on the development and preservation of the language.

This formidable work of Habung Donyi runs into second revised edition and was released on the occasion of Dree festival, 2008. It is an Apatani to English dictionary; contains around 11,000 words, has 266 pages plus 23 additional pages of explanatory notes on letters, pronounciation and word formation involving verb roots. The dictionary is priced at Rs. 150 and available at all leading bookstalls in Ziro and Itanagar. A must reference book every Apatani household should adorn their bookshelves.

The second revised edition saw some welcome improvement over the first edition. The looking for words made easier by entering the words formed from similar verb roots as sub-entry of the verb root. That is, the words aba, abo, ado, ama, ane, ato etc., are found under the verb root ‘a’ (to come). The letter ñ has been omitted and the letter n or ng are being used in its place depending upon the stress on the letter n. This author feels that the letter e (e underlined) too need to be omitted to avoid inconvenience in writing and typing. The letter e can be directly used for two different phonetic sound in Apatani i.e., e as in pet, set etc., and e /e/ as in tader /tad…r/ (1. n. intestinal worm, 2 adj. audible). Besides, this author feels that some compound words are entered in the dictionary wrongly as single words which at times can confuse the reader e.g, akhiingamii means confused (should be written as akhiin-amii or akhiing-amii), abhinanii means swing (should be written as abhi nanii or abhi-nanii), adhunarun means idiot, foolish (should be written as adhun-arun).

The dictionary being first of the kind- Apatani to English dictionary, compiling more than ten thousand words with precise meanings would have been daunting task for the author. However, he has done it commendably well. With this commendable work of Habung Donyi a milestone is reached in development and preservation of Apatani language. Nevertheless, we have miles to go before the mission is accomplished.

The another work of Habung Donyi, the Anglo-Apatani Dictionary (English to Apatani dictionary), which is already in the market, is worth a see.

Back home at Manipur too, the report of positive dope result and the timing of declaration of result, didn’t go down well with the sportsperson and the people; with MOA (Manipur Olympic Association) deciding not to send participants to any National Championship and forthcoming National Games if Monica Devi is not sent to Beijing and citizens calling general strike on 8th August to protest dropping of Monica Devi at the eleventh hour.

Substantiating the general speculation that there may be something fishy about the dope test result, Monica Devi was cleared of all the charges. But alas, it came all too late for her to join the contingent to Beijing Olympics. India’s Olympic contingent Head Baljit Singh Sethi has said that there is no way Devi can compete. The entries closed on Aug. 7 for her event.

All this drama of doping charge at the eleventh hour and clearing of charges later, denying chance to sportsperson of this region to represent the country has put a big ‘Question Mark’ to the future of aspiring sportsperson of the region and the sports in India. Why this ‘politics’ to sabotage a sportsperson career and a chance to Olympics? Was it the case of preference over performance? Or as a colleague of mine suggested, it was a familiar case of intolerance of so-called mainstream Indian to the North-Easterner, which on any other time I would have differed but for the circumstances and timing of clearing the charges, which was in his favor.

Now, it would be interesting to see what action would be initiated against those responsible authorities. Or would there be any action at all?

I look at the date on my watch. It is June 18, 2008. A familiar face flashes on the TV screen as soon as I put the TV on. It is Mr. Lal Krishna Advani again. His renewed call for RAM MANDIR in Ayodhya is the headline today. I am reminded of the fateful day of December 6, 1992… On the 5th December, 1992, when so-called RATH YATRA entered Ayodhya, it had caught attention worldwide. Whole world was gripped with fear and filled with awe to witness what was happening- one of the worst incidents of the free India. And Heaven was not unaffected. Here is a delayed report from Heaven:

Ever since his war with Ravana there had never been such a large gathering of devotees in his name. Then it was largely monkey, now it was man. Lord Rama could understand how devoted they were! For apart from reading Ramayana and worshipping him as God, they maintained the record of the very spot of his birth which he had forgotten himself. So, today he was literally overjoyed to watch such a large crowd of devotees with bows and arrows, hammers and spears in Ayodhya.

Many influential gods in Heaven showed deep concern over the fear and horror of damaging the MASJID. But he did not heed them. “Don’t you worry,” he told the worried Sita. “They are my followers. Such an untoward incident will never happen. They cannot take the path of violence for I have taught them the great lessons of non-violence, forbearance and universal love.

In the meantime, although he did not preach his face and the Muslims do not worship his idol, it was expected of Mohammed the prophet to be worried and immensely disturbed at this moment. But he was calm as usual. “There’s nothing to go panic,” He told his friends. “It is a testing time for Muslim brethren. I’m sure they will prove that they are no fanatics. Even if the MASJID is brought down to dust, there will be no bloodshed for they will not retalliate. Instead they will keep cool and win the hearts of Hindu brethren with their overflowing love and a greater MASJID will be rebuilt in its very place, incase it is demolished.

Yet the God, who is the most powerful of gods and men, knew what was going to happen. He was fed up of all these nonsensical happenings in the name of religions. The religions were founded so that it shows the path of truth and righteousness to the mankind, so that the man live in peace and love one another. But it has been recorded that many deadly wars have been waged in the name of religion. Besides, many innocent men have also been robbed and opressed in the name of religion. So, today in great fury, He passed a historic judgement, to all the representatives of religion, in the parliament of Heaven.

“You were sent to earth to show the path of truth and righteousness to the man,” said the God. “But you have divided the mankind by inventing religions, which is a serious fault in your part. Because you have divided the mankind, you are sending back to earth to free the man from the bondages of religions. You preach them the philosophy of universal love and brotherhood and peaceful co-existence among the man. Mind you, so long as mankind is divided in the name of religions, the door of heaven will be closed on you.”

As soon as the news spread, a crowd of Satan led by the lord of Satan demonstrated outside the parliament of Heaven stating that this judgement of God will transform the earth into graveyard. The lord of Satan further said, “Man’s existence is not possible without religion.”

Gujjar intensified their movement for ST status. Bandhs and violence that ensued took toll of lives and properties. The economy of the country suffered huge loss. The stir hogged headlines for quite sometime.

Let us not blame Gujjar communities for what they demand and what they did. Let us also not blame Mrs. Vasundhara Raje, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, for the promise she made to the Gujjar, during the 2003 assembly elections, to garnered their support. Spell of the ‘reservation’ is hard to resist- we know that. It is so enticing to common people, so effective a tool for the political parties and so very essential for the successive governments in New Delhi to remain in-action.

I am told that the provision for the ‘reservation’ for SCs and STs was made in the Indian Constitution to reduce disparities, in term of social, economic, political and educational status, which existed at the time of the independence among the various communities of the country. This provision was to be valid for ten years. In these ten years, it was supposed that the government would take such remedial measures as to bring the disadvantaged communities to an equal footing with their more advantageous counterpart.

Ten years elapsed, twenty years elapsed…it is sixty years now. The disparities that existed sixty years back have widen further. The provision of reservation has been extended since and is still there. Rather it has been made more accommodative. Various categories of OBCs have also been included under the provision of reservation. Now it is turn for the Gujjar under separate category of ST. (For the Justice Jasraj Chopra Committee was not much convinced about Gujjar communities having ‘tribal’ characteristics.)

I sympathise with the Gujjar and for that matter with the other communities who are struggling and making sacrifices to get ST status. However, the fact remains that the so called ‘quota reservation’ is an eyewash and a deceptive ploy of the New Delhi. It is more to show the outside world and the people concern that the Government cares for the welfare of less privileged communities and is doing the needful.

I belonged to a ST community. I do not see much how ST status helps. District headquarters in Arunachal Pradesh are yet to be connected with all-weather roads, not to speak of rail and air connectivity. We are groping for basic amenities of life. It is so when the states’ native inhabitants are all STs. In our work place, in government organizations and PSUs, we suffer humiliation, not for our inefficiency, not for our lack of capabilities, but just for being ST. I wonder if we need ‘reservation’ in this globalise world. I for one would go for all-round development to reservation.

P.S.: Find out about G. Tallo here. His profile has been updated.

Myoko, regarded as the festival of friendship by many, embodies the cultural life of the Apatanis. Babo, Lapang, Nago, Biiniin-ajin, Miji-migun, Biisi-ayu etc, which are inseparable part of Myoko are the cultural heritage of the Apatanis. In many ways, Myoko is more than just the festival of friendship. It is the occasion when the Apatanis strengthen the bond of Biiniin-ajin, the heritable friends, by exclusively inviting them for feast (ajin-gyoniin ceremony) and offering them gifts in form of meat and millet beer; rejuvenate matrimonial and kinship relations by sharing meat of the pig, sacrificed during the festival; maintain their relationship with the forests and the cultivated lands by making some offerings to them, which are known as more-eha and aji-eha, respectively; and invite their ancestors and deities, from the world of spirits, and make offerings to them through various rituals. In fact, all facets of the cultural life of the Apatanis are reflected in Myoko.

I reckon we maintain and preserve our cultural identity so long as we celebrate Myoko.

However, all is not well with the way we celebrate Myoko. “It is too time consuming, cumbersome and expensive.” This is the talk of the day. In this modern day, when people are racing against time, should we devote more than a month time to celebrate a festival, is a big question. Apart from the wastage of time and the amount of labour put in the celebration, we spend minimum of Rs. 20,000 per household during the festival. This is making the celebration of Myoko unaffordable to more and more households.

Besides, the festival is male oriented and female members of family do not enjoy the festivity much. Their friends from other villages do not visit them as male counterparts do. There is hardly any event in the festival where unmarried girls take part. They just perform a dull chore of helping their mother in preparation of foods and drinks and serving them to guests – days and nights together. Thus, female members of family, particularly the school and the college-going girls, are not looking forward to Myoko.

C.V.F Haimendorf observed that the Myoko was the cohesive force, which bound the people of the different villages of the Ziro Valley, in olden days. It was true to some extent. Thanks to the institution of biiniin-ajin and the elaborate system of kinship relation, maintained through the celebration of Myoko. Those days the mode of celebration of Myoko suited the lifestyle of the people of the valley. We used to celebrate it with the kind fervour and enthusiasm, which we seldom see nowadays. May be it is because of this: until 1980s, even as some communities of the state were swept away by the charm of Christianity, we stood firmly rooted to our traditional culture and took pride in it. Now, it is not to be. Things have changed. Lot of transformations has taken place in the valley since, but we are too reluctant to change the mode of celebration of Myoko with the changing times. The younger generations of today no longer take interest in Myoko. They find it unattractive and outdated: so do they find our culture. Even some old folks find the celebration of Myoko as burdensome. Consequently, alien cultures and faiths are finally making inroad into our society.

Nevertheless, Myoko has all the ingredients to regain its old glory and bring back the lost brethren to its fold: only it needs to wear a modern look. What should be the modern Myoko like? It should be affordable to all. It should be the festival of young and old, men and women, and boys and girls alike. It should be the one whose celebration does not last more than a week. And it should be the one every single Apatanis look forward to.

The day when Myoko is eagerly awaited each year by every single Apatanis, our culture and identity would be in safe custody. It is to be seen here if we are ready for the change or we prefer to embrace alien culture and faith.

“Arunachal Pradesh is going to be the ‘power-house’ of India.” The people of Arunachal Pradesh, in general, love to repeat this statement with some pride. Trend is- one with better educational background and in good position use this statement more often. Our leaders use it the most times. Even leaders and dignitaries from New Delhi, whenever they visit Arunachal Pradesh, make it a point to incorporate this statement in their public speech or in their briefing to the press. A sure shot to impress the leaders and public of the state.

And, it is no surprise the Government of Arunachal Pradesh hurriedly made a wholesale deal of state’s hydropower potential.

When local people and students body of Dibang basin stage a protest against Dibang Multipurpose Project, braving scorching summer heat, at Itanagar, the July last, the onlookers looked confused. A friend of mine wondered why these people wanted to be roadblock when some developments are finally taking place in the state. He was, as most of us are, in a state of delirium. It was pleasing to our ear when Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said, while laying foundation stone of the project during his recent tour to the state, that Dibang Multipurpose Project alone will earn revenue to the state in tune of Rs. 300 crore a year. We forget to enquire at what cost this paltry 12% share of power in form of water royalty the state will get.

I know the environment issue should not always come in the way of development. Then again, it should not be ignored altogether either. I learnt from some sources that the accuracy and validity of EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) and DPR (Detailed Project Report) of some projects like that of Subansiri Lower and Dibang Basin came under scanner of some experts. It is really a cause of worry. We cannot afford to overlook the flawed EIA and DPR. Besides, the projects in magnitude of that of Dibang Basin, Subansiri Lower and others bound to have an impact on the environment. And the consequences arising out of it is to be faced by the local populace. In event of mishap occurring to the dam due to technical reason or natural calamity like earthquake, again it is the local populace, who will suffer the brunt. Also we shall not forget, some years ago a sudden rise in water level of Siang river caused trail of destruction from Yinkiong to Pasighat. The water stored in mega dam can be even more devastating in case the dam collapsed.

My gut feeling is that the paltry 12% so-called free power to the state is not justifiable. The State government should have contended with utmost 2-3 mega projects for time being and reserve the rest for future which could have been executed by the state Power Department itself or executed in partnership in order that the state have greater stake of power share.

Going by the numbers of mega projects proposed to be executed by various PSUs and private players, it is quite probable that Arunachal Pradesh indeed would become ‘power-house’ of India in days to come. But, big question here is- if it is going to benefit the state and its people. And, do our leaderships have the vision and foresight to use the surplus power to the advantage of the state and its people?

On the fateful day of the January 19, 2008, the people of Ziro Valley were shocked at the news of the gruesome incident of murder of a young boy by his friends. The turn of events that followed was no less shocking to the mute spectator of the valley:

Apatanis working in Raga area suffered the backlashes. They and their relatives back home spent two long days under mental agony. They were harassed for no fault of their. A motor bike of one of them which was parked in front of his quarter was damaged. There were instances of some people forcibly entering the houses with intent of grievous physical harm. Thanks to the few good people there in Raga but for whose timely intervention things could have gone worse. Finally, on the January 21, Apatanis of Raga and its adjoining area have to flee for their life.

Just as Apatani people were fleeing from Raga area, a mob of people, apparently the relatives of the deceased, who arrived Ziro the previous day, loaded in Tata mobile vans and motor bikes, all armed with daos, took the body of the deceased and buried it inside the Subansiri Stadium (more commonly known as General Ground). District administration did nothing to stop them. Moreover, on the same day, three cows were slaughtered by the mob. Two near the burial place and one in roadside at Nenchalya, old Ziro, on their way back to Raga. For the innocent owners of the cows it was like attempt on their life.

However, the silver lining in the entire episode was that the victims of the backlashes and their relatives lived up to the age old reputation of the Apatanis. They patiently turn to the District Administration for justice instead of turning their anger and frustration on the innocent people from Raga area residing and working in Ziro.

Now, more than two weeks have passed since but the District Administration is still indecisive about whether to allow the construction of cemetery at the burial place or to exhume the body and shift it to different location. Neither has it initiated any action against the ones who harassed the innocent people and damaged their properties. However, in an apparent show of boldness, S.D.O Raga on the behalf of District Administration told the victims of the backlashes to go back to their respective working places.

That was how the incident of January 19 has unfolded so far. Whether the body of the deceased is exhumed or not, I expected that the District Administration will take appropriate action against the person involved in harassment of innocent people and destruction of their properties. I also expected that the general public of Raga area and their leaderships, particularly, will come out in open to criticize harassment of innocent people. Unfortunately, neither has happened. Can any sensible person go back to their working places in remote areas under such circumstances?

District Administration seems to work on this principle: the time will heal the wound so put everything into closet for the time being. I feel, in that process a spark is being neglected. With rumour mills doing around, I just hope it does not flare up into flame.

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Are we heading towards (un)civilization?

It was a foggy night. I was on my way to home from my friend. The road was hardly visible but for the moonlight; the street lamps were not lit. A dead silence prevailed there. As I moved on, I expected the ghosts to appear any moment, from across the fences, above the branches of trees or grabbed me from behind. I felt as if my head was becoming bigger and bigger in size and my hair straightened up.

I tried my magic formula. I usually use my magic formula whenever I found myself alone in dark and fearful thought haunts me: SING AS LOUD AS I COULD. I sang very loudly and my voice was echoing into my ears. Singing broke the stillness but the dread of ghosts was still there. The stories of ghosts and evil spirits that I had heard from my grand mother were haunting me.

The stories I had heard were coming alive in my head, my song was echoing and I was walking in the middle of the road with my eyes looking straight. Now I could see my house not far away, still the dread was there.

Suddenly, I heard someone yelling after me, “Aye boy, listen!” Then after a pause, “Come here. Look what I have? I’ll give it to you just sing a song for me.”

When I heard the voice, I stopped trembled of fear. But I gathered up my courage and turned towards the direction of the voice. What did I see? I saw a monstrous creature, holding a long wooden log, coming towards me. There was no doubt that he was a ghost. “This seems too big for an ordinary ghost”, I told myself. “He must be the king of ghosts.”

I showered at the king of ghosts with stones and rock pieces- whatever I could gather from the ground, and then sped off –running and tumbling- till finally I sensed that I was home. I was frightened and breathing rapidly. I couldn’t say anything for quite sometime. “What’s the matter? Why are you looking so frightened? Obing, what’s wrong?” Mama was asking me. She looked very worried. I told her what I had seen.

“This is because you don’t return home in time and put your Mama and me in trouble.” Said Papa without even turning his face towards me; he was watching news channel on TV. I encountered the king of ghosts. I was dead frightened. But Papa thought it was some kind of joke and very funny. I hated him for that.

An argument started between Mama and Papa after dinner.

“From last couple of days” said Mama knowing very well that Papa would not take seriously what she was going to say, “I’m seeing bad dreams. I already told you this morning. Now Obing has also seen a ghost. This is not a good omen. We must consult our family priest. You know…”

“I don’t know” said Papa interrupting her. He looked little upset. This was not the first time Mama made up her mind to argue with him about bad omen, bad dreams and things like that. “I don’t know anything about your bad dreams, bad omen –modern women talking about such stupid things. As for what Obing has seen, it could be just an illusion. The other day you open the window under moonlight and a cloth hanging on the rope appears to you a lady in white rag in first sight. These things happen and …” He picked up the telephone without completing his sentence and asked the priest to come the next morning. He knew he can not convince Mama come what may.

The next day, early in the morning, I was woken up by the chanting of sacred hymns by the priest. He was holding an egg each in the both hands. The egg in the left hand was marked with black carbon soot. The chanting continued for few minutes. In this way the priest made enquiries of two groups of spirits, in the world of spirits, which he suspect was causing the trouble. After the chanting was over, the eggs were boiled in water. The priest took out the eggs after sometime, cut eggs in middle and started looking for signs in the yolk which give him the idea who was causing the trouble.

The priest lit up and smiled after seeing the sign in the egg marked with carbon soot. “Just as I had suspected” he said. “Now everything is going to be alright” he continued. “Two full grown hens and a cock are required for the rite.” Then he asked Papa to arrange some bamboo for the preparation of altar. Announcing that the rite will be started by 10 this morning, he left the house.

Papa too left for bamboo garden. Just as Mama and I were sitting by the fireplace an old man entered the room. He was Aku Tani, a nice old man –he was very fond of children. I could see he had fallen somewhere or had a fight with his wife the last night for a bandage was tied round his head and th

ere were some wounds on his face as well. Mama made him sit by the other side of the fireplace. She offered him a mug of rice beer. “What happened to your head and face? Fallen somewhere or what?” she asked him.

“No. It was that rascal boy” he said. “Last night there was no power supply, so I went out in the moonlight wearing black woolen shawl of mine. I walked around for a while and sat down in the roadside, leaning against a lamp post. Just then I saw a young boy passing by me, singing loudly. I yelled out to him and asked him to sing a song for me. Do you know what he did? He showered at me with stones and rock pieces and ran away.” Now he took a long sip of the rice beer and looked at me suspiciously. “He was of his age -8, 9 years may be.”

“You don’t mean it was Obing?” Mama said interrupting him in middle.

“No,” he said, still looking at me –looking up and down. “It was dark and foggy out there. I could not see the face clearly. If I find him, that rascal boy, I’ll break his hands and cut his ears and put them into his mouth.”

As the old man went away, Mama looked at my blushed face and smiled. It was so embarrassing; I had mistaken that good old man to be the king of ghosts and wounded him so badly. “What about the rite, the hens and the cock?” I asked Mama.

“It’s alright.” She patted on my back and said. “We can’t do anything now.”