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Cultural appropriation of Naga designs rampant, says scientist
Dr Nesatalu Hiese addressing a workshop on Intellectual Property Rights in Kohima on Monday. (EM Images) 
Hokhuli K Chishi addressing a workshop on Intellectual Property Rights in Kohima on Monday. (EM Images)
Kohima: Stating that the Naga designs and products with geographical indication (GI) tags are being “randomly misused” by others, Dr. Nesatalu Hiese, Scientist ‘D’ at Nagaland Science and Technology Council (NASTEC), on Monday urged the people to be aware of their rights to protect the rich Naga heritage.
Speaking at the state-level workshop on ‘Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for accelerating creativity and innovation’ organised by NASTEC in collaboration with Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) at Capital Convention Centre in Kohima, Hiese said cultural appropriation including GI-tagged products is rampant.
Cultural appropriation is an act of adopting cultural elements of a minority group by a dominant group in an exploitative way.
Maintaining that there are two ongoing cases of cultural appropriation in the state, Hiese said one of them is the GI-tagged Chakhesang shawls that have been misused by others and for which the final hearing on the defamation and GI infringement case has been scheduled in the early part of May.
The scientist further urged the public to know their rights and protect their products.
Secretary to the Government of Nagaland and Chairman of NASTEC, Hokhuli K Chishi, said the Patent Information Centre (PIC) was set in Nagaland in 2011 with the help of TIFAC.
She said the PIC has done a tremendous job in 10 years’ time, having conducted hundreds of awareness programme and reaching about 20,000 people including students, researchers, scholars and others.
The PIC cells were also established in four institutions in Nagaland, while the one in Nagaland University is under process, she informed.
‘Besides four GI-tagged products from Nagaland, patenting of Ao and Angami shawls is in the offing. There is still so much to do, however, due to lack of fund, it is unable to do it,’ she added.
She pointed out that Nagas live on the simple principle of trust and had been living on that principle in the past. In the process, the good practices were not documented as they were unaware of their rights, and hence many were lost over the years, she added.
Urging the gathering to know their rights to protect the Naga culture and traditions, the scientist said, ‘We have to solve them and adapt to the situation as we live by.’
Dr. Yashawant Dev Panwar, Head of IPR Division, TIFAC, New Delhi, said nobody can reproduce or sell GI-tagged products in other parts of the country. These rights belong to the locals and these rights are not transferrable, he said while maintaining that protection of intellectual property (IP) has always been an integral part in the country.
During the technical session of the workshop, Professor SK Jain, former VC of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University and former head DMS, IIT Delhi, spoke on the overview of IPR and its economic significance. Dr. Yashawant Dev Panwar dwelled on potential of IP in Northeast and Copyright Management in Academic Institutes, while Dr. Indira Banerjee, Attorney, PS Davar and Co., Kolkata, spoke on patenting system in India and Novelty Assessment.