The incidents at Khowani village where seven innocent Rengma sisters and brothers were killed and several houses burnt, and at Pachaspura (Dimapur) where nine innocent Karbi brothers were massacred besides one shot dead near Khotkhoti, were unfortunate. All civil society organizations of Karbi Anglong and Nagaland have vehemently condemned both the killings. Killing of innocent and helpless people is nothing but cowardice.There are good and bad individuals in every community. The bad action of a tiny fraction of a particular tribe does not make the entire tribe bad. There is no smoke without a fire, so there is no denial about the bad actions of a few individuals belonging to the Karbi tribe. However, it is illogical to label the entire Karbi people as bad, or “aggressors”, or “oppressors”. Likewise, the NRHPF claimed responsibility in the massacre of nine Karbi youths, which many called it as an “outrageous violation of human rights” since all the youths were blindfolded and their hands tied behind before being shot point-blank. But we cannot call the entire Rengma people bad because of the actions of the NRHPF. So we must agree with Keyhang Rengma when he said we must refrain from calling the present problem as “Karbi-Rengma Clash”. In fact, the whole thing is “orchestrated” so well some Rengma and some Karbi individuals think they are enemies!
The best that we all can do is to demand that the guilty be arrested and justice done, both to the Rengma people and to the Karbi people. We are common people. The common people may be in majority, but still they cannot take the law into their own hands. It is the duty of the State Government to investigate and bring the culprits to book.
There is no animosity between the Karbi and the Rengma people. However, since every community has its own bad apple, the bad apples from both the communities started a fire that got many innocent people killed and homeless. It would still be simplistic and prejudiced, and even illogical, to call the entire Rengma people as bad, or the entire Karbi people as bad. Some individuals like Keyhang Rengma, K. Solomon, and Shahi Rengma have unfortunately been trying to malign the image of the Karbi people, playing the role of the underdog, since one year now simply to get the world’s attention. It seems impossible for respectable and learnt people like them to stoop to such levels. The Karbi people have no reason to object to the Rengma people’s need for identity. There is no necessity to project the Karbi people as the “oppressors” and the Rengma people as the “oppressed” in order to get heard. In the same way, the Karbi people has no necessity to drive the Rengmas from Karbi Anglong to attain statehood. What would the Karbi people gain by driving the Rengma people away? In fact, the Karbi people will be disadvantaged if other tribes are driven away. Therefore, the Karbi people wants all the tribes to live together with the Karbi people to achieve statehood. All the tribes in Karbi Anglong are protected under the Sixth Schedule. There is no reason for any tribe to feel excluded.
Keyhang Rengma, and the CNRH/NRHPF had on 18th January 2014, declared that the Assam Government is backing the KPLT. If this is so, and if the KPLT were actually involved in the incidents, it only proves that it is actually the Assam Government who is trying to drive the Rengma people away from Karbi Anglong. For what reason? Nobody knows. Perhaps, to reduce the percentage of the tribal population in a Sixth Schedule district? The tribes of North East India will not survive without supporting each other. What is the best strategy to weaken the tribal people? The answer is–create distrust between the tribes. I have been observing the statements of the CNRH/ NRHPF since early 2013. They are self-contradictory. It appears they are either proxy players or they are deeply hoodwinked by someone.
G Rongpi
President, Aikna
