And Now, Tomato Riots

Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, witnessed a unique unrest recently.

Dimapur, the commercial hub of Nagaland, witnessed a unique unrest recently. After the town’s municipality fixed wholesale and retail prices of tomatoes (ubiquitous in Naga cuisine) at levels much below prevailing market rates, the item disappeared overnight from the town’s markets. Traders said it wouldn’t be viable for them to import tomatoes. Almost the entire requirement is imported at high rates of about Rs 30 a kg, but were to be sold at the mandated Rs 28 a kg. Imports stopped and the acute shortage sparked a series of demonstrations and dharnas, all of which culminated in a crowd of irate citizens going berserk and attacking vegetable shops. The police had to step in to quell the unrest. Leading residents of Dimapur argued that if people were willing to pay Rs 40 a kg for tomatoes like before, then no authority should interfere. Wisdom dawned on Dimapur’s civic bosses, and, after a week, the price curb was lifted. 

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Jaideep Mazumdar