The focus of this thesis is the Heraka movement and its impact on the Zeme, a
‘Naga tribe’, in the North Cachar Hills of Assam, India. The Heraka is a religious
reform movement derived from the traditional practice known as Paupaise. It was
organised from disparate groups of the early 1930s into a centralised and effective
movement in 1974. This thesis examines the formation of the movement through to its
present state. A pivotal concern is the evolution of Heraka identity, and its emergence
into the arena of competing and often contested ideologies of ‘religion’ and ‘ethnicity’ in
North East India.
The processes by which the movement has evolved, exhibiting the
contextualisation of an indigenous identity, grounded in custom and tradition, are also
outlined. These factors, along with significant and complex relationships with Paupaise,
‘neo-Hindu’ organisations such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Zeme Christians, and the larger ‘Naga’ Christian groups,
have shaped pronounced yet fluctuating Heraka identities. This demonstrates the
difficult transition the Heraka movement faces as it shifts from the local to the regional
and even the national.
The time period studied spans the anti-British Heraka period of the late 1930s,
extensive Zeme village reorganisation and the renaissance of the reform during the
1950s, through to the present. A variety of sources is brought to bear on this
investigation: imperial archives, the official Heraka Hingde Book, Heraka use of written
documents, and fieldwork materials, including oral histories and case studies.
The thesis begins by examining the symbol of the Bhuban cave, an important
pilgrimage site for Hindus of various kinds, as well as the Heraka. The way the Heraka
have come to negotiate their identity is considered. This occurs on two levels: on the
one hand, they claim to be a ‘traditional’ group in their quest for ‘authenticity’ and
‘indigeneity’; on the other, they assert their ‘modernity’ and are hence reformist. This
developing identity clearly derives from the agrarian reforms of the 1930s onwards, an
initial response to what was a millenarian tendency, which in turn influenced these
changes. Hence, a different cosmology developed, incorporating monotheistic
principles, in order to accommodate the now changing village structure, and the
increasing mobility and flexibility of the people. Contact with the outside world also
brought about a nuanced and subtle reading of ‘tradition’ vis-à-vis other groups considered ‘traditional’, while similarly adapting to the pressures of other dominant
religious traditions by distinguishing themselves as inherently ‘religious’. The
introduction of ‘divine rules’, exemplified in the Hingde Book, and the establishment of
a Kelumki (prayer house), as ‘sacred’ space, mandated and reflected the formation of
this ‘religious community’.
This construction of community entails a consideration of notions of
boundaries in different contexts: Paupaise, Christian and ‘Hindu’. Boundary-making
attitudes and behaviour largely determine group membership, legitimated by ‘primordial’
ethnic notions within the Zeme community itself. Since such notions are largely
confined to the realm of perception, these boundaries are fluid; they fluctuate according
to context.
The leaders’ efforts to manage Heraka reforms give rise to visible tensions
between rural and urban communities. Hangrum village has become the symbol for the
rural community of a millenarian age, ritualised with its ‘king’s court’, while the urban
community disputes such claims as ‘superstition’. The juxtaposition of these two views
amplifies the struggle within the Heraka community, as they strive to maintain a balance
between the past legitimising ‘tradition’, and the present and future legitimising ‘reform’.
The attempt to construct a viable Heraka identity against other group identities
has given rise to oscillating differences in the way the Heraka locate and re-locate
themselves, both within and outside their community. These positional referents are
vital for understanding the evolving nature of Heraka identity in relation to their reform.
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