Is Nagaland a part of India? Museum staff in Pune isn’t sure

Is Nagaland a part of India? That’s a question that baffled a staff member at the entry ticket counter at Pune’s Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum. On Sunday, they took Rs 10 as entry fee from Pune resident Prithviraj Gaikwad. But his companion, P David Ndang, a 23-year-old student from Peren in Nagaland, was asked to pay Rs 200 — charges meant for foreign nationals. The duo’s arguments that Nagaland is very much a part of India fell on deaf ears. Upset with the discrimination, they returned without visiting the museum which, otherwise, would have been a great way to familiarise the young guest with Pune’s rich cultural heritage.

"They refused to accept his driving licence as a proof of identity, insisting that he bring his passport to prove that he’s an Indian. This is discriminatory and shocking," said Gaikwad, an employee with a city-based NGO, Watershed Organisation Trust, where Ndang was interning. The NGO decided to raise the matter on a public platform to "expose the discrimination". The incident, which happened in the heart of Pune last Sunday, is a shocking reminder of the attacks on people from Northeast India that took place in the city exactly three years ago. On August 2012, Pune station saw a 2000-large crowd of students and working professionals from Assam waiting to board the train to Guwahati. Thousands fled the city, following attacks on people from the Northeast, in a city that was hailed as a students’ town.

In early August 2012, ten students were attacked by miscreants in Kondhwa and the Camp area. The attacks were allegedly instigated by inflammatory MMS and video clips of pictures from the Assam riots and ethnic violence in Myanmar. After weeks of interactions between community members and the police, the issue settled.

With an estimated population of around 15,000 in Pune, students and working professionals from the Northeastern states are an integral part of the Pune workforce. They work in restaurants and hotels, corporate houses and small businesses. The city even has groups like the Hmar Students' Association, Naga Students' Union, Arunachal Students' Welfare Association (Pune) and the Association of Manipuri Diaspora working with the Northeast population to offer protection in cases of violence or attacks. While there have been no instances of attacks in the past three years, the episode at the Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is symbolic of a discriminatory mindset that was never prevalent in Pune. Ndang left for his hometown this morning, taking back bitter memories. The NGO where he interned for a month, however, took up the matter by discussing it with journalist friends.

"He spent a month working hard in Ahmednagar. Ndang is glad that there are people who stand by him and his identity as an Indian," said Gaikwad.