Dr Asangba Tzüdir
The idea of a ‘Naganess’ that is ‘constitutive’ of being a Naga can be located within a communitarian project, an ongoing process, where everyone has a part on the success of the project. It is not just about being a Naga but a project of remaking a new Naga identidy through a process that demands reviving principles and values of the communitarian good by sharing responsibilities where everyone responds positively and progressively to each person’s call of duty and where every Naga can take pride in being a Naga.
Politics and culture are at the core of the various Naga crisis which has created so much of hostility, violence, hatred and division in our society. As such, this project calls for building a new Naga identity based on a ‘Naga self’ that goes beyond ‘politics’ and ‘culture.’ The Naga self needs to begin by embracing values and principles of care and moral concern for the ‘other’ including the environment and all forms of life with a sense of responsibility. This will not only divert and transcend the self from politics and culture of the day but also from the disease of selfishness. Though in reality, working on it may seem to be rather daunting.
The kind of selfishness that has crippled our society in many ways today has somehow blinded the Naga self from encountering the pleasure of doing good for the ‘other’ and thereby for the good of the society. The Naga self needs to be guided by moral principles of duty as demanded by one’s profession and to perform thereof. For the government, the people are not merely objects to be governed but a government, in all truth, sincerity and honesty, see the people not just as an ‘other’ but as an equal subject with the heart to listen to the needs and desires and for the well-being of the people. A lot depends of the quality of governance because life of its citizens lies at its centre. For the administrators and the police it needs to go beyond book-keeping and apply the ‘rule of law’ in praxis so that the safety and security is ensured, so do justice. For a doctor and a nurse, the patient is not just an ‘other’ but an equal person to whom a responsibility to give proper healthcare is desired because life is at stake in their hands. For teachers, the students are not merely objects through which their salary comes but as subjects to whom every teacher holds the responsibility of making the student a responsible citizen because every student has the potential to become anything. The Church holds the responsibility of transforming from the physical and the material to the spiritual towards building God’s kingdom. The citizens too owe allegiance to the government in discharging the duties and responsibilities that is required of a citizen. Above all, each Naga self needs to inculcate the values of the moral in all the acts and free oneself from corruption.
The coming together of the new Naga self thus becomes necessary to build the communitarian project which can be translated as the essence of being a Naga - the ‘Naganess’ – a New Naga identity where every Naga can proudly embrace it.
(Comments in any form can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
