Food habits of Nagas shouldn’t bother anyone

People across Nagaland and the region were in for a very interesting news item on Monday (July 11) yet quirky for the typical Naga to digest (pun intended) as the government of Nagaland is even planning to impose regulations on the traditional Naga gastronomy. The government is planning to ban selling of dog meat in Nagaland and that all the urban local bodies were notified accordingly. This decision came in effect as a result of a complaint made by a lawyer from Assam on the sale of dog meat.
People from the neighbouring state of Assam may have some genuine concern as dogs are imported from their state in large numbers purely for the purpose of eating. It is agreed that the Naga appetite for proteins especially meat is quite voracious and there might have been cases, due to the high demand, that the life of somebody’s loved pet have been threatened. Still it does not justify the ban on sale of dog meat. Let the government of Assam pass laws to criminalise export of dog meat from Assam and not interfere in the eating habits of the people of another state.
Ahoms and Nagas were neighbours for a very long time and the Ahoms clearly know and understand the food habits of the Nagas. But for the remaining population of Assam it was always a case of misinformation about the Nagas for centuries. One very fictitious tale was that the Nagas eat dog by roasting in whole and without removing the innards. The Naga villages near the borders exactly know from where this tale originated. The Naga way of removing the fur/hair completely using fire before washing and cutting is the reason. In fact it is one of the cleanest methods of dressing meat. But for an onlooker from the distance it looks like roasting the whole animal for eating. Interestingly this legend somehow reached the eyes and ears of Maneka Gandhi and she had to write it in a magazine column without checking the authenticity. The prejudices still continue.
There are also genuine concerns in Nagaland itself where many still treat dogs only as pets and do not consider it is as a source of food and to them it is a taboo to eat dog meat. Moreover, among some Naga tribes, warrior clans traditionally abstained from eating dog meat since dogs were their inseparable companions during hunting and raids. It is pertinent that the government should instead look for better regulation as of any other meat product within the state. The current decision may not hold much water unless a more concrete rule is passed but blanket banning is against the basic rights of an individual and a people. Now it is about dog meat but if this is set as a precedent then there will be many more to come.
On a lighter note, people from the neighbouring states as well as the rest of the country should also learn a little bit of history when it comes to the Naga eating habits. The last time the “mainlanders” complained about the Naga eating habits especially beef and pork, the simple Nagas bluntly told the Simon Commission in 1929 to leave them alone and that they have nothing in common and to do with the Indians. The truth is that the eating habits of Nagas are more similar to those living further east than to those of their western counterparts.