Yes, ‘chinky’ is a racist word, says Naga activist Kikon

There is almost a foreign policy approach to states in the Northeast, feels human rights activist from Nagaland Mmhonlumo Kikon. He spoke to DNA, about how awareness of the region can bridge the distance 

If a havaldar [constable] wakes up with a bad mood, he’ll walk out of the house and shoot the first person he sees on the road. There will be no questions asked; in fact there is an Act that gives his action total impunity.

Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA), gives forces all rights to protect the nation state. In fact, such Acts distance communities within the very nation state – bringing feelings of distrust and disconnect. “It’s more to do with policies like AFSPA,” says Kikon, human rights activist from Nagaland, who was in the city last week.

“When you preach the policy of cultural diversity and national integrity, you cannot have dehumanising Acts like AFSPA,” said Kikon, “which totally takes away the right to life of those people living under this draconian legislation.” According to him, this “is just one of the many examples” why there is a certain disconnect between those living in the eight states in the Northeast.

Northeast is a term which entered into the Indian lexicon only during the early 70s, he says. “It tries to club together a diversity of about more than 200 indigenous communities into one basket called the Northeast.”

In the process, the unique identity and culture of the different people of Northeast, which is fiercely protected, is lost on the world, says Kikon.

“It is then taken to another level of geo-political policy-making for the region which is totally devoid of peoples’ participation. Take for instance, the Ministry of DONER. It envisages a common policy for the region without taking into consideration the different dynamics of the multiple ethnic composition of the region.”

“It is akin to people in Delhi calling all the people from south India as Madrasis,” points out Kikon, “it is not a generic term and is purely a term for locating the geographical coordinates and completely misrepresents the rich cultural diversity of the people.”
Bangalore has a sizable population comprising students and working professionals from the region. Yet, awareness of these states as compared to other states in “mainland India” is comparatively low.

It is almost common practice to refer to them as “chinky”. It is not only wrong, but downright derogative. However, there is history behind the term, as Kikon explains, “During the 1962 Indo-China war there were lots of instances especially in North India where any person looking like a Chinese was termed as ‘Chinky’.”

“It was a pejorative term used mainly for people coming from the region and was extremely racist in its overtones,” he says. Unfortunately, the distancing has been constant, ever since, calling Indians from the Northeast Chinky only reflects the ignorance some have about their own country.

“The fact that it has remained in the collective psyche of the people in North India is a testimony to the misconceptions and ignorance that prevails among the people from Mainland India,” says Kikon.

He points out that this is the experience of everyone from Northeast India, when they travel to other parts of India.
Indians are in denial – they are as racist as racist can be. Yet, we act in shock when our people are ill treated elsewhere in the world, when we are constantly dividing one another on regional basis.

Kikon says that people from Northeast, “completely understands and empathise with the plight of Indian students who face discrimination and are subject to acute racism.”

However, Bangalore fares better than Delhi, “I think that unlike the North, Bangalore has a civil society which is more accepting of other cultures,” Kikon says and hopes that this positive attitude can “be a factor in bridging the lack of awareness for the cultural diversity of the students coming from the Northeast”.