Politicians from Northeast should not try to be 'Dilliwalas': Pradyot Manikya

What is ‘mainstream India’ and ‘non-mainstream’ India? Does our constitution have a definition for these terms? Does eating chicken biryani makes one mainstream and eating pitha or akhuni makes one ‘non-mainstream’?

These are questions raised by TIPRA leader and Royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma during an exclusive interview with Afrida Hussain, Editor-in-Chief, InsideNE.

During the interview, Pradyot Manikya raised some thought-provoking questions for the people of Northeast as well as the political leaders of the region. Being a politician from Northeast himself, the Royal scion opined that the political leaders from Northeast have a tendency to act ‘mainstream’ and in the process they are diluting their own culture.

“You’ll never be a Dilliwala… take pride in who you are”, he stressed.

Having said that, the TIPRA leader also explained that racism is not a political problem but a cultural one.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Afrida Hussain: You have spent a quite a lot of time working with the ‘mainstream’ leaders. Do you see any difference in their mindsets about Northeast?

Pradyot Manikya: Why should a mainstream leader change his mind set about a person from Northeast when our own leaders from Northeast keep on trying so hard to be someone from the ‘mainstream’.

Also Read:YouTuber Paras Singh sent to 6 days in jail in Arunachal

No matter how hard you try, you will never be a dilliwala. When you go to different parts of India better to be a proud Naga, Tiprasa, Arunachali or Assamese rather than trying to be something you are not.

Afrida Hussain: Despite a lot of racial attacks inflicted upon the people from northeast, not so much change is seen in the people from ‘Mainstream’ India. What do you think is the reason behind this?

Pradyot Manikya: This is a mentality of what is happening and you cannot change that overnight. It has been like this since 70 years. This is the mindset of a country that judges people on the basis of caste and color. If someone has beard, you comment on their religion. If you see someone from Northeast, you call them ‘Chinese’.

In the first wave of COVID-19 it there were several cases of people discriminating northeastern people because they considered them ‘Chinese’ based on their appearance.

We have become one economically but not emotionally.

I don’t think the mainstream India has ever accepted Northeast or even the southern India as a part of the ‘mainland’. East has not been looked as ‘mainstream’

Afrida Hussain: Do you think there is a problem with our leadership?

Pradyot Manikya: The problem with our leadership is that we are trying too hard to be someone we are not. We can never better them in their own game. So, it’s better that we take pride in who we are and speak on the issues that matter to us.

When a leader from Delhi, UP, Bihar, Gujarat or Punjab comes to Northeast, do they try to pretend to be an Assamese, Tripuri, Arunachali or a Mizo? No, right! Why do WE have to dilute our culture so that they accept us?

The outrage because of the YouTuber disrespecting the Arunachal MLA will be forgotten in a few days. Then, there will be some other similar case and once again we will be an outrage.

So, we should stop bothering what people think about and be proud with our own cultural identity.

Afrida Hussain: Why do you think there is a need to strengthen the regional  forces?

Pradyot Manikya: It breaks my heart to see our leaders from Northeast India being so used to take orders from Delhi. We go to Delhi to get projects, money and posts. We go to Delhi to GET something. So, when they issue a dictate, we follow that because we are dependent on them.

If you look at our previous leaders like P.A. Captain Williamson A. Sangma, BB  Lyngdoh, Hiteswar Saikia and others; they all went as a proud Assamese during their visits to Delhi. How many of us can go to Delhi and speak for our people now?

For every project that comes from Delhi, we see our leaders tweeting and thanking them. It’s like we are getting what they are giving us in ‘charity’. Are we leaders from Northeast or are we sub serving to New Delhi? We ourselves are not asserting ourselves as ‘leaders’.

Afrida Hussain: If Delhi is the mainstream for Northeast then, it can be said that Guwahati is the mainstream for some states of Northeast. Do you think the people from Assam or Guwahati give equal importance to people of other NE states?

Pradyut Manikya: Difference among states will always be there. Disputes are there across India. The Youtuber Paras represents a mindset and the mindset is not restricted to politicians. As Ninong Ering is an MLA..a known person.. that’s why  the incident got prominence in the media. People from all the states of NE have faced racism at some point of their lives.

I will give you an example. When a movie like Mary Kom was made, Priyanka Chopra was casted for the lead role because Bollywood knows that a Northeastern face will not be accepted by the audience.

The northeastern way or the northeastern life is not acceptable in the mainstream. It is not a political problem, it is a cultural problem and this will remain.

Look at the Africans in the USA who went through racial subjugation for 200 years. Did the Africans start pretending to be white? They remained who they are.

And then we got an African American president. You have a vice president who has an Indian African descent.

Just because we are not accepted doesn’t make us wrong. We have to be aggressive and tell the rest of the country that if your chicken biryani is mainstream so is my pitha, my akhuni or gaaz tenga (bamboo shoot).

Just because we are different doesn’t mean that we are not Indians. This is something that the rest of the country has to understand.

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