Abstract
The paper attempts to articulate construction of indigenous identity in the process of religious reform movements, Donyi-Polo among the Adi of Arunachal Pradesh and Heraka of the Zeliangrong Naga inhabiting Assam, Nagaland and Manipur of Northeast India, which are influenced by Hindutva ideology. Hindutva’s indigeneity advocacy, it is argued in the paper, is a response to Christianity which had its entry in tribal areas right from the colonial period. Based on empirical data, the paper primarily focuses on the dynamics of Hindutva, its interest in tribal communities, the process of constructing indigenous identity along religious line and the organisations involved in the process.
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Notes
- 1.
For a detail discussion on how Hindutva is mediated through local response among non-Hindu Indian communities, tribes included, see Berti and Kanungo (2011).
- 2.
The word ‘adivasi’ is largely a socially and historically accepted term for the original people of India. Interestingly, the RSS does not use the word ‘adivasi’. The Hindu nationalists translate ‘indigenous peoples’ as ‘vanvasi’, literally, those who live in the forest, instead of the word ‘adivasi’. From the Hindu nationalist ideological standpoint, the initial inhabitants of the country were ‘Aryans’ and not aboriginals, and that the aboriginals were driven away or conquered by Aryan invasions.
- 3.
The RSS has always been one of the most vocal opponents of positive discrimination in India. It immediately criticised V. P. Singh’s announcement on 7 August 1990 that the recommendations of the Mandal Commission Report would be implemented, which meant that 27% of central administration posts would be reserved for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The RSS is hostile to reservation because they are caste-based, and that the Hindu nation building is challenged by the caste identities. See Jaffrelot (2007), p. 256.
- 4.
Shuddhi was a ceremony used to demonstrate the return to the Hindu fold of those whom they regarded as Hindus but who had been converted to another faith. It had been practised by the Arya Samaj mainly in response to Christian and Muslim conversion movements in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and it was accepted by mainstream Hindus only with reluctance.
- 5.
The Mizo National Front (MNF) used the biblical event ‘Operation Jericho’ in their first uprising on 28 February 1966.
- 6.
Discussion on Donyipoloism and role of RSS and its affiliates in Arunachal Pradesh are primarily based on fieldwork and articles of Rukbo (2000) and Das (2000). The author is also greatly benefitted from the articles of Rukbo (1998), Nyori (1998), and Erring (1998, 2004) on Donyi-Polo philosophy and practices. The relation of indigenous communities with early converts in Arunachal Pradesh is discussed in Rikam (2005). The author is also benefitted from Dawar (2003), on identity issue in indigenous religious movement in Arunachal Pradesh. Of course, Elwin (1959), provides a blue print of the earlier stage of emergence of Donyi-Polo faith. The ideas and discussions are so overlapping in these works that the author has avoided in-text citation to maintain the flow of presentation with focus on field data.
- 7.
- 8.
Centre for Hindu media Research and studies, www.sentinalassam.com, accessed on 2 May 2011.
- 9.
Mention must be made here that those Heraka in town areas are associated with the RSS and its affiliates, and therefore influenced by the RSS.
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Dangmei, S. (2019). Confluence of Hindutva Protagonists and Indigenous Religious Reform Movements in Northeast India. In: Behera, M. (eds) Shifting Perspectives in Tribal Studies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8090-7_3
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