Nagaland DGP Rupin Sharma examines community solidarity, customary institutions and how collective responses to crime can deepen conflicts across Northeast
DIMAPUR — Nagaland Director General of Police (DGP) Rupin Sharma has called for a closer look at the relationship between community solidarity, customary institutions and the formal justice system in the Northeast, arguing that collective support for people accused of wrongdoing can sometimes turn local disputes into wider community conflicts.
In an opinion piece published in The Print on September 26, Sharma pointed out that the instinct of communities to “stand with their own” has deep historical roots in the region, where customary institutions traditionally played a central role in maintaining order and settling disputes.
However, he argued that this system can create difficulties when individual acts of wrongdoing are sometimes recast as attacks on an entire community.
Sharma cited instances of villages and community groups rallying around accused persons, saying such mobilisation can place pressure on witnesses and complainants, complicate investigations and turn disputes that could otherwise be dealt with through the legal system into broader identity-based confrontations.
Also read: AFSPA extended across nine Nagaland districts, 27 police-station areas
Suspected spurious liquor came from neighbouring state, says Mokokchung police
At the same time, he acknowledged that community solidarity cannot simply be discarded, recognising its role in providing mutual support, resilience and cultural continuity across the Northeast.
His argument, the police chief said, was not against community solidarity but for drawing a line between legitimate community welfare and advocacy, and the automatic shielding of people accused of wrongdoing.
Against the backdrop of the ongoing Naga-Kuki clashes in Manipur, Sharma argued that the broader issue of community solidarity and customary authority merits attention across the Northeast.
He referred to the dispute over Lamhai Namdi in Nagaland as an example of how questions of village boundaries and land rights can take on a wider inter-community dimension. He observed that the absence clearly recorded land demarcations in some areas can contribute to disputes over jurisdiction and ownership.
The DGP traced the region's reliance on collective responsibility to a time when the reach of formal state institutions across the hills was limited. Village councils, chiefs, clan elders and other customary authorities dealt with disputes involving land, marriage, inheritance, property and other offences.
Read more: Senapati firing death toll rises to three
According to Sharma, colonial administration later retained significant elements of customary authority in the hill areas, while experiences of conflict and state action after Independence further strengthened community-based protection mechanisms.
These historical experiences, he argued, help explain why communities in the Northeast often respond collectively when one of their members is arrested or accused of an offence.
However, Sharma said that in a constitutional system based on individual criminal responsibility, guilt or innocence must ultimately be determined by a person's conduct rather than their community affiliation.
Among the measures he proposed are making the formal justice system more accessible and credible, clarifying the role of customary institutions, protecting witnesses and complainants from community pressure, and creating mechanisms for dialogue between communities before disputes escalate.
He also stressed that the state should avoid collective forms of punishment and called for greater civic and legal education through schools, churches and student organisations.
Sharma clarified in a disclaimer that the views expressed are personal and do not necessarily represent the official position of the government.
JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL