arunachal pradesh

Culture, social and political institutions of the Adi Tribes in Arunachal Pradesh

Posted on by simplesum

Adi tribe is predominant in the region around the river Siang especially the East Siang District. The tribe is known for its rich culture and unique social and political institutions.

The tribe is known for its colourful festivals such as Solung, Aran, Etor etc. Usually, the celebrations include dance popularly known as the ponung dance and songs and merrymaking. Traditional rice beer called apong is consumed during these festivals. The prominent food includes rice, leafy vegetables, eggs, chicken, pork and fish. usually, they are steamed and eaten with less use of oil. The food is very healthy and is required given the rough terrain of the area and nature of the occupation. There is a spread of popular East Asian cuisine in the area too. Traditional dresses were hand woven. For the female it is called Gale and Galuk. The language spoken is Adi however it is yet to develop its own script. The principal characteristics of the culture include solidarity, community spirit, amity, respect and equal treatment for women, simplicity and harmony with nature.

The social institutions in the tribe of Adi include village, family and community places such as Gangging, Musup and Radeng. Village in Arunachal Pradesh have well-defined boundaries and except for individual houses most of the property is held in common. The family is patriarchal, however, women enjoy equal respect and authority in the decision-making process. The family continues to have strong ties with the extended kinship. Marriage is exogamous with respect to the clan. Gangging is the place for congregational prayer. Musup and Radeng are youth dormitories for young boys and girls. These dormitories is a place for socialisation, learning arts and crafts and future family responsibilities. These institutions, however, today is gradually declining. But the spirit of these institutions is preserved to a certain extent in the new residential schools that have emerged in the region. In sociology, Israeli Kibuttz community is noted for having such youth dormitories.

The Adi tribe has an elaborate and well-evolved institution in the field of political decision making. The village council called Kebang is the political institution in the village. Usually, it is a village or tribe specific. However for tackling a common challenge inter-tribe or inter-village council are also utilized. The head of the Kebang called Abo is selected based on merit. Deliberations are started with invoking the God and elders who have blessed the village. Prominent judgements and good works of the council is praised. Deliberations are held in a democratic manner and sometimes it goes on for months. None of the decisions is imposed on the parties and decision is arrived at by compromise. Thus it gets automatically enforced. Family and kin play an important role in the process and they have to pay in case anyone from their family is the culprit. Hence this work as an efficient network of social control and results in very fewer crimes and violations.

The culture, social and political institutions continues to exits in the era where forces of glabalisation is bringing fast paced change in the life of people. It’s very important that the young generations understand its importance and conserve it in its original form.

To the readers please share about your culture, social and political institutions here in the comment.

Citizenship Amendment Bill and its impact on the state of Arunachal Pradesh

Posted on by simplesum

The Citizenship Amendment Bill has been passed by the Lok Sabha recently and is now pending in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill aims to relax the provision of eligibility of citizenship by naturalization. It makes minority communities from the countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan eligible to apply for citizenship after 6 years of residence in India. The cut-off date is set as 31 December 2014. The minority community in these nations have fled persecution from the state and public to find refuge in India. The Union of India has brought this Bill to make these state-less people eligible to apply for citizenship given their present condition.

There was a band declared in the state of Arunachal Pradesh on the apprehension that the Bill will grant citizenship status to Chakma and Hajong community living in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Here I would like to clarify the apprehensions that has caused anxiety in the mind of people living in the state.

  • The Chakma and Hajong community are already the citizens of India. They were granted citizenship by the Honorable Supreme Court of India. Hence the idea that this Bill is aimed at granting these community citizenship status is a misconception.
  • The Bill is applicable to entire India. Assam as a state does seem to be disproportionately affected by the Bill. However, the central government is reaching out to the state government of Assam to ensure it doesn’t have to face extraordinary pressure due to the Bill.
  • The Bill does not automatically convert these communities into the citizen of India. It only makes them eligible. The government reserves the right to investigate whether the person is eligible to be the citizen of India or not based on other provisions of the Bill.

Arunachal Pradesh as a state has been provided with a number of safeguards to ensure the protection of indigenous people rights and culture. The state does not share a boundary with the countries mentioned in the Bill. Apart from that, to enter into Arunachal Pradesh one needs a travel document issued by the government called as the Inner Line Permit. The people of the state should understand in a democratic setup its is the political process which determines the distribution of resources. Since all the constituency of Arunachal Pradesh is reserved for people from their own tribe, the impact that an outsider population can create is farfetched.

Above all I have an appeal to the general populace that all boundaries are man-made. It’s a well know fact the tribes living in North-east or as a matter of fact entire India have migrated to that place years ago. If we accept fellow countrymen as one we’ll be able to ride against the tide of intolerance that is being created by people with vested interest using misinformation campaigns.

I appeal to the readers of this article to share their opinion with me on the Citizenship Amendment Bill.