Vetso Koza (from Burundi)
The only way to shame the spirit of division is to be united among ourselves. Such may sound foolish at a time when there are mixed-feelings in the hearts of the people. And yet to be victorious over this “Divide and Reign” attitude is to reject any kind of division and strengthen the bonds with mutual love and respect. It is the basis to achieve our fervent aspiration to live as one too.
The theology of nation-building clearly informs us that it is corporate. A single person does not make a nation. God created Adam so that through him nations would be born. The Nineteenth verse of Genesis Chapter Two mentions, “It is not good for a man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” God referring to Adam that he needed a soul-mate gives the concept that a nation is comprised of people knit in mutual relationship of love, respect and help. It is a society driven by a common vision and goal. True nation-building, therefore, should be based on oneness – oneness through reciprocal love and respect, and responsible relationship towards one another. This, in fact, is the precise meaning of Democracy.
Our forefathers were able to bring out what has been quoted as “The purest form of Democracy” when there were no schools and proper alphabets to form a written document. Today, we may claim we have become wiser and knowledgeable than them. Have we been able to hold and beautify this unique democracy shaped by the so called our ‘less-literate’ forefathers? If we misuse this well-designed democracy by bringing in division, silencing the views of others, etc., then our knowledge is no better than their foolishness.
Nagas are, nonetheless, people who cannot easily compromise on the family pedigree. The value of clenching our extended families is strongly embedded in us. We may settle in another village or town but we manage to find out our family roots and have re-unions. We are knit by one common string – a common value. This is one reason why the Naga Political Struggle of living an integrated family is so dear to us.
Therefore, in defence to this national conviction, thousands of brave and dedicated men have laid down their lives for the liberated future of their people. Many children are longing for the love of a father they have been denied of. Many women, raped as though they’re sub-human beings. Thousands been tortured without any fault. (Besides loosing an unaccounted number of physical materials). The list can go on.
Uniting ourselves and living in mutual co-existence will be a gesture of honouring those who have sacrificed for us. It will be a gesture of respect - a small, but important step towards elevating their dignity which has been stripped away from them. Lesser than unity is a message that their giving is not worthy of a price. What had happened to those people will be reduced to nothing. It will be forgotten sooner or later.
Moreover, this freedom struggle affects each and every Naga in one way or the other – young and old, male and female. It affects the blind, deaf and mentally challenged people. It affects an unborn child even. It affects, in fact, the core of our lives.
Our society has been tainted with division, confusion, suspicion – name it all. A fallacy had been entrenched because of which Nagas today are fragmented. We have been trained and brain-washed to hate our own people. Our visions and dreams are blurred. Conscience deranged. And yet to make all these crooked straight depends on us the Nagas. No other human race can come and straighten it for us. We have the freedom either to build or destroy. We have the freedom of rejecting the wrong and grasping the right. To come back to this straight path, each one should start with self-realization. A realization of what had happened in the past, what is happening in the present, and what should be in the future. This self-realization is the fundamental leap towards reconciliation, and ultimately to healing. With self-realization, reconciliation with self is made easier. For reconciliation begins with self before we reconcile with others.
Someone has to take the first step in this reconciliation process. All of us who assert we are right, let us make the first move of getting out of our chair and embrace the others who are wrong. With narrow-mindedness this may sound imprudent. With broad-mindedness, it is certainly the heroic way.
The days of healing are here at our courtyard. Now is the time to listen to the divine call. “Come now, let us reason together,” is a call not from fellow human beings but from God. It was a call to the Israelites; it is a participatory call from God to the Nagas today. We need to sit down with God and reason together with him. We need to sit down with our fellow brothers and sisters, and reason together.
It is time to talk out our differences in a democratic manner. In a responsible and mature way. It is time to clear the air – the rumours, misconception, miscommunication, misjudgement, intentional or unintentional mistakes, et al. We have to do it for the sake of our children – the young innocent generations to come. Else, the best food we can serve them would be the ‘burnt and stinky rice,’ just as we are having now. Somehow, somewhere, we have to change our situation towards a brighter future. We cannot remain in the muddy-swamp any longer, and be submerged by it.
We need revival again! A revival which is not limited to the four corners of the church-wall. We need revival which transcends all the social stratifications, into the very core of our individual being. We need revival in our faith, and reason; word, and deed.
We have to regain our romance of living that beautiful life, sitting around the fire and laughing over the village fables. That was what we were; this is what we have to be. Arundhati Roy in her book, An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire advocates, “At a time when opportunism is everything, when hope seems lost, when everything boils down to a cynical business deal, we must find the courage to dream. To reclaim romance. The romance of believing in justice, in freedom and in dignity.” How true it is! In a gloomy moment such as today, if we stop having visions and dreams for our new brighter Naga-Land, our struggle all this time has been a cheap one. Our struggle for six decades, and whatever had happened in different forms would be simply buried in the heap of dust. It would be devoured by history with no justice and dignity.
Let us, therefore, be stubborn people – stubborn of uniting and loving each other. Stubborn to always keep in sight the primary purpose of our political struggle. Stubborn to complete the task together.
Ours is not a fight to dominate; ours is a fight to reclaim what has been denied that rightfully belongs to us. Ours is not a fight to abuse human rights of others; ours is a fight to restore our human rights and dignity which has been made low by means of denial through force occupation. Ours is not a fight to exterminate other nations or communities; ours is a fight for survival of both the present and the future Naga generations.
