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Konyak view of independence and head-taking |
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'What have we gained from British rule? Only loads to carry, letters to be sent, house tax to be paid. How happy we were before they ever came!' |
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'British or Congress rule - it is all the same. All we want is to till our fields' gaonbura of Kongon |
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When I said to the gaonbura of Kongon 'Is it good that head- hunting has been stopped?' he replied 'What shall I say? Taking heads from nearby villages like Oting or Wakching - that is bad. But to take them from distant villages, how good that is'. |
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- re need for heads cf. Wangla and the inferences drawn in Kongon from the failure to give the drum a head. Chingai's interpretation of the prevailing Konyak view - 'If the British cannot control us, how can a plainsman?' |
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'A column - what is the use of that? It comes and burns a village. Then it goes away. And we sit and laugh'. |
