It’s little wonder the Naga did not and still do not perceive joining the Republic of India as desirable. While the concept of “untouchability” was outlawed within the Indian constitution, popular opinion and discrimination were not. The Dalits continue to suffer in modern India. The technical jargon of India’s constitution refers to these people as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (some 16% and 8% of the population respectively).
The Naga fit into the category of Scheduled Tribe. Within Indian society and Indian governance, Nagas would instantly be lumped into the lower 25% of the population. They are below caste.
Adding to the discrimination, Nagas typically have smaller eyes. Their ethnicity is Mongoloid, and they’re vastly agrarian. India is among the most diverse countries in the world. As is always the case, this diversity carries prejudice with it. While not uniformly hated or discriminated against, there is little within Indian society which appeals to Nagas.
The majority of Naga society has long been more egalitarian than the caste system of India. This basic cultural incompatibility drew Cosmo Zimik’s attention soon after he arrived in Delhi. At first, it confused and astounded him that such a large percentage of the Indian population could be contained and oppressed by so few in power.
Some say including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with the Other Backward Classes encompasses over half the population of India. At the same time, the priestly or Brahmin caste consists of approximately 5%.
With corruption and nepotism running rampant through all branches of government and law enforcement, Cosmo marveled that the system worked at all. After spending two years studying Indian bureaucracy and politics, participating in multiple student organizations, and saturating himself in all aspects of Indian society, he grew convinced the Dalits were the lynchpin in reforming the Indian government.
Due to their forced association since 1954, many Nagas had come to sympathize with the Dalits of India. At twenty-one years of age, Cosmo believed the kinship of suffering shared between India’s non-casted, lowest rung of society and the Naga could evolve into a political partnership in their mutual struggle for self-determination.
He also believed that if these oppressed people could manage two victories—one over fear and one over poverty—they would rise to grasp the power the Indian constitution technically provided for them while practically withholding from them. The route to these victories would not be through violence, but instead through self-sustaining economic development. Then, and only then, things would really change.
For the most part, Cosmo kept his theories to himself. But his unique experience and elite skills never allowed him to remain in the shadows for long. Near the end of his second year of studies, Cosmo was approached by Naga revolutionaries. They wanted to hear what he had to say about the Dalits. After his exams, he traveled to the jungles of northeast India for a meeting.
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Empty Hand Revolution
Non-FictionBorn into a tribal war with India, violence his earliest memory, Comso Zimik trained as a black belt and street fighter from the age of nine. His vow: never show weakness. Tortured and left for dead in the jungle at the age of seventeen, Cosmo birth...
