With the Right to Information Act firmly in place, many of us see everyday in both print and electronic media, the nation wide ‘Drive against bribes’. Sadly in Nagaland, the people especially our NGOs and Civil Societies are even yet to get themselves armed with the weapon. The sad thing about our NGOs and civil societies is that, we have too few professional social workers and too many failed people (in their own professions) as leaders in such organizations.
Corruption is like an incurable cancer in our society and probably Nagaland, a Christian state is the most corrupted state, surpassing our neighbouring state that was earlier duped as the number one corrupt state in the country. Many politicians have the audacity to declare that they have cleared their election related debts within a year of taking the mantle of power. Corruption has shown such an ugly head as for people in the helm of power to conventionalize percentage cut in almost all the projects for people’s development.
When some honest people want to talk about something against the evils of corruption most people now tend to say “What to do? Everybody is like that these days. We have to accept the reality and adjust ourselves to be among the majority”. Is that all Nagas? Have we resigned to fate? Where’s honesty? Has it really become a thing of the past?
With corruption spreading its tentacles to even the Naga national government I would dare say, in the present context the need to wipe out corruptions is even more urgent than independence. After all, of what use the independence would be for Nagas if we have to live with this social cancer? Can we really build a nation on the foundation of corruption? Don’t we have anything better to learn than corruption from our so called enemy?
There are no two opinions that the nagas need reformation- political, social, educational, economic, religion etc. but more than that, we need a total mindset reformation. Should that be delayed, will ‘Revolution’ be far? How many Nagas would then tighten their loin cloth in Naga style and say ‘I am ready.’?
Dr K Hoshi
