"Betrayal is the birthplace of resentment": Diving into murky depths of Nehru & Elwin's policies in Northeast India unveils a legacy of disruption, a region converted, culture exploited & nation betrayed - glaring testament to their ill-conceived actions

In October 1964, an article emerged from United News of India (UNI) with a cryptic statement - Nagaland safe from Sadhus. What did this unusual remark mean?

Behind this seemingly mysterious phrase lies a regrettable episode of Indian history. This was the result of a pact between then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr. Verier Elwin, which restricted the entry of sadhus into Nagaland, a state in the northeast of India.

Under this pact, Nehru prohibited sadhus, or Hindu holy men, from entering Nagaland, creating a free path for Christian missionaries. This move has been viewed with widespread resentment and seen as a betrayal by many in India. The Christian population in Nagaland jumped dramatically from 20% in 1947 to a whopping 95% due to this policy.

The chilling aftermath of Nehru's decision took hold only five months after his death when Hindus began contemplating a return to Nagaland. However, it was too late. Nehru's decisions had inadvertently accelerated the process of religious conversion in most of the Northeast. Many believe that the Congress Party, which Nehru led, is responsible for numerous challenges faced by Northeastern states like Manipur and Assam.

Nehru's decisions, misguided by a flawed understanding of the issues, a distorted worldview, and a defective grasp of national security interests, led to policies that adversely impacted Assam and the Northeast. Among these was his politically motivated allowance for migrations from East Pakistan, which led to significant demographic changes.

Another devastating decision was Nehru's policy of dividing Assam into smaller states based on ethnicity, a move that had negative consequences. More than 220 distinct ethnic groups exist in the region. This division led to a surge in divisive identity politics and demands for separation, even though the small states weren't economically viable.

Dr. Verrier Elwin, a British missionary and anthropologist, and Nehru's advisor on tribal matters, played a considerable role in shaping these harmful policies. Elwin urged Nehru to treat tribes like the Nagas as "anthropological specimens," which obstructed the development and integration of the Northeast into the Indian mainstream.

Verrier Elwin was an intriguing figure - a British-born Indian anthropologist who began his career as a Christian missionary in India. Elwin initially worked with Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress but diverged from them over disagreements about tribal assimilation. Elwin is known for his studies on the Baigas and Gonds of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh in central India.

In his pursuit of anthropology, Elwin engaged in questionable practices. At 40, he married his 13-year-old tribal student, Kosi. Elwin exploited her as a subject for his anthropological research, publishing intimate details about their life together, a method known as participant observation. Nine years later, he abandoned Kosi in poverty and married Leela, another tribal girl from NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh).

Elwin's influence over Nehru was so strong that he was appointed as the Anthropological Adviser to the Government of NEFA (today known as Arunachal Pradesh). Elwin's preservation policy led to a segregation of the Northeast from the rest of India for over fifty years. He left a damaging legacy of churches, community hostilities, and a separate Christian State of Nagaland.

Elwin's contributions were controversially recognized by the Government of India, who awarded him the third-highest civilian honor of the Padma Bhushan in 1961. Even his autobiography, The Tribal World of Verrier Elwin, won him the 1965 Sahitya Akademi Award in the English Language. However, Dr. Lohia, a contemporary of Elwin's, heavily criticized his work, describing it as disgraceful and barbaric.

The challenges of the Northeast could have been addressed by providing good governance, a strong criminal justice system, reliable security, access to services, education, healthcare, improved connectivity, adequate infrastructure, and economic development. However, the Congress Party's socialist ideology, further cemented by Nehru, led India down a path of poverty, want, and international dependency, with no surplus to invest in development.

To compound the problem, the PCB nexus (Politicians, Contractors, Businessmen, and Bureaucrats), and in many regions, the PCBI nexus (PCB plus Insurgents) took charge of a significant portion of the funds. Without ensuring the proper use of funds, the Central Government kept announcing special economic packages for the region. These funds, instead of improving the lives of the people, mostly filled the pockets of the corrupt members of the PCBI nexus.

Continued militancy in the region and the need for development to combat it provide a convenient excuse to request more funds, which only leads to more corruption. It's clear that the roots of the problems facing the Northeast are deep, originating from the era of Nehru, and persisting due to ongoing neglect and mismanagement.