Violence and conflict are parts of the living human condition. But the levels of violence and conflict differ in kinds and in degrees from society to society. It is physical violence which draws our immediate attention. Physical violence is ultimately triggered by violence in the human mind. The mental violence leads to verbal violence or straightaway to physical violence. Most of the violence is the manifestation or reflection or expression of the pathology or sickness of the mind.
However, there can be legitimate and necessary violence and conflict in human society without which progress and development will be impossible. Violence against oppression, exploitation, authoritarianism etc, are legitimate and absolutely necessary if persuasion fails. In my thoughtful reflection, it appears very strongly that the kind of violence and conflict in Naga society is sadly a manifestation of sickness of the mind; although philosophically speaking it is very difficult to draw the line between the pathology and health of the mind.
The glaring examples of violence within Naga society are the inter-factional, inter-tribal, inter-village, intra-village clashes, senseless threats and counter threats, rampant corruption at every level, etc. Opinions from cross sections of Naga society eloquently speak out that even the so called some of the Naga National workers have become “privileged parasites”, others have become extortionists and yet some have become sheer destroyers of the very basis and foundation of the Naga society. In the eyes of the public, many of them are in the category of “curse” and not “asset” of the society. The silver lining of the Naga struggle is that very few individuals are still convinced of what they profess. Their exemplary life and genuine self-sacrifice, deep commitments have drawn the admiration and respect of the Naga public. It is because of such few dedicated and committed people that the organizations will survive and hopefully they will act as catalyst for better change and better future for the Nagas as a whole covering four states in India and Eastern Naga areas in Myanmar.
Some super rich Nagas have even candidly expressed their view that “it is better to be under the Indian government, than under the Naga government”. A lot of Nagas have expressed their feelings in this phrase “Today we fear the fellow Nagas more than the Indian Army.” Further, some non-Nagas have also casually expressed their opinions that Nagas seem to kill Nagas more than non-Nagas kill Nagas. From the analysis of the above opinions of people across different sections of society clearly reveal that something is going on seriously within the Naga society. Time has come for every thoughtful and caring Naga to awaken the moral and spiritual conscience of the Naga public, especially those Naga National workers who have deviated from their committed path. They have degenerated so much that the Naga public want to shun them; thereby they have become a nuisance value for the society. We have to do some serious soul searching and suggest remedial measures. In human history, in the name of politics and religion human blood has flowed as streams and rivers. Therefore, one has to be very wary and cautious about bad politics and closed-minded ritualistic religion. They can destroy a society completely if not leaving it to the state of destitution.
Sometimes sectarian violence arises from the reduction of the multiple identities of people to a single identity, viz. a particular political party or a particular religious sect or any one other identity. To argue that hatred and violence result from the reduction of multiple identities to a particular identity only forces the question one step backward i.e. why do we put people in a box called “X Tribe” or “Y Tribe” or “Z Tribe” or NNC or NSCN (I-M) or NSCN (K) etc. in a strong negative way. To ignore the multiple identities will facilitate hatred and anger. Because it is the human tendency to be hostile to “the other”, a tendency that readily arises to the surface in certain context, particularly the political factions among the Naga National workers. We all must work hard to persuade people that bias, prejudice and hostility against “the other” is not a necessary part of the political goal or aspirations by the people. In fact such prejudice and unbridled hostility will defeat the very objective of the struggle. The very ideology and noble cause of the Naga political question itself demand supreme sacrifice, tolerance of different viewpoints, dialogue and acceptance of multiple strategies to achieve the goal. In preaching hate, violence, threat, diktat and intolerance would amount to an appeal to a single identity and this in turn will fall into the trap of accepting the assertion of a single identity as the only truth, which has dangerous implications. Such stand is completely rejected by even post-modem thinkers and philosophers. The influence of the intolerant, crude and inflammatory rhetoric of any political group should be countered by appeals for reason, sanity, harmony and good work for the public to see and get their support magnetically and not by brute force. The efforts of the state government, the intelligentsia, the various NGOs and the media in this regard should be reinforced by pleas by the religious leaders. The fear of completely marginalizing or even wiping them out may push a particular group into over stressing their narrow separateness or accentuated tribalism and loosening grievously and perhaps fracturing the social and political cohesion repeating what happened during the head hunting days or like the chaotic, destitute African tribal groups. We should always try to strike a balance not once for all, but repeatedly and continuously.
We Nagas have to have a relook at our political question in the light of the changed political scenario of the world. Dalai Lama himself has already accepted Tibet as an integral part of China although historically speaking it was never a part of China. The various European Nations are coming together as one economic and political block since 1957 at different stages. Over a decade ago even the South East Asian nations have come together economically, perhaps politically also in the near future. North and South Vietnam have already reunited. A lot of efforts are going on, on the part of different NGOs and the intelligentsia to reunite North and South Korea. Simultaneously negotiations and dialogues are going on too among Japan, China and Korea to come together despite many centuries of hostile conflict and violence among them. In the light of the growing power of India economically and politically and the aspirations of the Chinese to overtake the strongest Super Power i.e. the USA in a couple of decades, the Naga Intelligentsia and the Naga National workers need to have a serious relook at our political question.
What should we do to build the Naga society quickly? The answer to my mind is good and enlightened politics, just as bad politics destroys a society. We should allow the art of the possible and maximum toleration in politics as Aristotle had argued much before Christ. Further, as the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius argued that a comprehensive consideration of the nature of man, not just the rationality of man, as basis of negotiation and consideration, in order to retrieve our moral power which we have almost lost in our struggle. It is my strong conviction that Confucian approach clearly suggests for hopeful development to humanize the world toward justice and peace by emphasizing on transformation of each human being and each civic organization in a manner of self-examination, self-reflection, self-cultivation and self-education in the spirit of mutual understanding and sympathy with others. According to Confucius even cosmic harmony requires a moral awakening and moral attentiveness in different races and tribes. Each group of people should recognize the very basic human needs for mutual care, mutual respect, mutual trust, relevant fair distribution of wealth and democratic and humanitarian use of power. If we Nagas try to implement such ontological-cosmological principle (Chinese Taihe) which is a kind of moral harmony we can march forward rapidly if not exponentially in the present context of globalization.
Xavier Pfokrehe Mao
Department of Philosophy
NEHU, Shillong
