Discrimination, stereotyping, and erasure of cultural practices continue to mark the experience of Naga food in India, scholars argued during an online panel discussion organized by the Naga Scholars Association (NSA) on September 27 under the theme “The Circulation of Naga Food and National Anxiety.”
Presenting his paper “Can’t Eat in Peace”, Akishe L Jakha, a researcher at Sarai, CSDS, recounted the attack on two Nagas for selling non-vegetarian and Northeastern food in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He argued that such incidents show how Nagas face discrimination against their food culture by “the mainland”, dishonouring both the labour of preparation and the culture itself. He said these acts enforce a monolithic food identity and expose intolerance toward diversity.
Drawing from the experiences of Naga tenants in Munirka, Delhi, Jakha noted that while food is inseparable from identity and memory, in urban spaces it becomes a site of contestation, surveillance and stigma. He also raised how Nagas are stereotyped as “savages” or “cannibals”, citing a cab driver’s question if Nagas eat people and Debarathi Mukhopadhyay’s 2017 story Bhoj which depicted Nagas as cannibals. Jakha added that racism and discrimination also appear in regulatory laws, pointing to the Nagaland state ban on dog meat which led to students in spaces such as JNU eating in secret to avoid harassment.
Panelist Pamziuliu Gonmei, a doctoral candidate of Cinema Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, emphasized the importance of “nuances” in presenting Naga food, warning of the risk of erasure of the unique practices of different Naga tribes if nuances are ignored. Drawing from her Rongmei community, she highlighted gendered dimensions, taboos and superstitions attached to food. She urged further reflection on how food practices intersect with gender, superstition, and both internal and external conflicts within the Naga context.
Responding to the two papers, discussant Prof Krishendu Ray, Director of Food Studies PhD Program New York University, praised the framing of “can’t eat in peace” as an entry point to understanding the circulation of anxiety, relating it to the weaponization of taste in South Asia where commensality has historically been marked by caste, race and violence. For Gonmei’s paper, he stressed the relationship between food and language, noting how bodily experience transforms into expression, and raised questions of authenticity, representation and performance.
He further connected Naga food practices to heritage-making, appropriation, and pre-national and pre-colonial continuities. “Food is not only a matter of taste but of subject-making, intersubjective relations, and cultural politics,” he stated.
During the Q&A, participants examined why Naga food faces greater stigma than other cuisines. Panelists and the discussant cited disproportionate targeting and racialized perceptions as reasons, while also addressing exoticization, patriarchy and the gendering of food. Gonmei urged closer attention to these nuances.
The panel concluded with a call for more academic discussions and writings on the politics and practices of Naga food.
The Panel was coordinated by the Joint Secretary of NSA, Dr Haineube Newme and welcome address delivered by Dr Apila Sangtam, General Secretary of NSA. The Rapporterus were Ropfuvino Krose & Newlandson S Angam. A total of almost 80 participants attended the session.