Witoubou Newmai
Most people would not like to be reminded why the Naga cog fails to whir because such conversations bring monotony to every Naga ear. Those people indulging in such conversations have become incorrigible recluse before the eyes of today’s Nagas. But it is imperative to consider this: in order not to drain energies, it is important to re-read the initial strutting of the ‘Naga course’ decades ago.
Two things are glaringly affecting the ‘Naga course’ adversely today, either due to the lack of faith in the struggle for dignity or because the vested interests in us have overwhelmed the whole narrative so much so that we fail to recognize the importance of the principal issues before us.
In the first case, either it is driven by the characteristic trait of a small community such as ours or otherwise, very often we experience that our primary focus is on the secondary things, thereby creating a classic case of the ‘cart-before-horse’ or Spoonerism in action.
Elucidating the case, while pushing the issues confronting our society we are often caught in the sticky web of magnification of those organizations or leaders spearheading a movement. In the process the people become mere disciples of the leaders or organizations, thereby giving rise to polarization of situation while forgetting the primary cause that initially stimulated the people. In short, it all narrows down in the end to the affairs of aggrandizement of leaders or organizations by the exercise of clout instead of issues confronting the society. In a tribal society, such an exercise only brings everything to the realms of great danger. This trend prompts the proliferation of power centers, and all critique is stuck to these ‘heads’ without capturing the real issues.
The second case is of the 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome' that many leaders/organizations suffer from.
The contradictions are the manner in which we engage with the colonial remnants or legacies which we say we abhor on one occasion but embrace or guard them jealously on the next. In short, today’s Naga narrative has become about how we deal with this duality.
Placing things in a more direct manner, we have come across leaders and organizations/institutions condemning the 16-Point Agreement signed between the Government of India and the Naga People’s Convention (NPC) but the same elements who opposed it are today concerned with the perks or jealously guarding the perks that came along with it. May be it is a colonial remnant; our society is very adept at addressing them through the prism of hypocrisy. Or is it another way of saying that all those things which were considered as farce the other day have become relevant in today’s Naga world?
Our responses to various circumstances over the years/decades have changed the ‘Naga course’. These conversations of hypocrisy must never be allowed to be justified. Such conversations not only corrupt the 'Naga course' but they also bring about a sort of collective insecurity and a great deal of anxiety.
