Even as the Naga skyline seems to get more fractured and clouded, attaining critical public solidarity and unity in purpose is imperative in order to emerge stronger, and to transcend the present conditions of injustice, distrust, suspicion, anger and disunity. All Nagas - young and old, rich and poor, powerful and powerless, Naga civil society, Naga public and Naga National political groups - need to recognize that their survival depends on the survival of the Naga people as a whole. In order for the devastating state of Naga affairs to be arrested, every Naga needs to expand their awareness to work towards the collective well-being of Nagahood. When the collective is secure, then the individual’s security also increases, thereby all society benefits and stabilizes.
The process to strengthen the collective requires breaking down myths that have altered Naga people’s natural progress. One such myth is accepting the deeply ingrained false social construct of tribes. Historical experience shows that Nagas were initially comprised of independent village republics. It was the British colonial project that organized and categorized independent villages into “tribes.” Today, the India state continues to use sophisticated and effective means for sustaining the colonial project, and most ironically, the Nagas themselves have fallen into the project called “tribalism,” which erodes Naga solidarity. This irony is reflected by opinions that call for the people’s sovereign rights, while simultaneously demanding for the protection of Article 371A. The contradiction is indicative of the present dilemmas and confusion.
Consequently, Naga solidarity is essential for confronting the agenda of mythmaking in order for us to secure our own identity. Critical solidarity manifests through power that comes from recognizing and mutually respecting everyone’s dignity, and understanding that they are united against the injustices they face by embracing the richness of humanity. It involves creating a common vision, particularly in situations where access and consent is withdrawn to existing established institutions, and people’s participation is restricted from all power structures of domination. Such critical solidarity can lead to empowering peoples and providing a guiding vision that actively involves humans interacting with power structures.
Critical solidarity requires dynamic leaders that constructively and respectfully engage with people, while instilling the desire to liberate human reason from the dominant status quo. Through the interactive nature of building critical solidarity a consensus on a shared future evolves, which points to the need to rewrite history in which the people are defined as makers of history and not as objects.
In the present Naga conditions, emotional reactivity based on people’s feelings of fear, distrust and doubt are creating a climate that is unstable, volatile and can easily escalate into vicious cycle of violence. In such times, people respond by willingly sacrificing truth, integrity and respect, which further fuels fear and anger.
Furthermore, another factor contributing to these conditions is the current period of consumerism which is being fed by materialism and skill-driven development. This is creating societies defined by ‘want’ and inadequacy that have replaced truth, integrity and respect. Sadly these values no longer seem to matter as the desire and greed for having more has displaced intrinsic life-giving values.
In this situation, leaders can provide a critical intervention to at least temporarily halt society’s further breakdown. The interplay between leaders and the people is often complicated as many factors, internal and external, affect their meaningful interaction.
There are many examples of how various leaders have responded in the Naga context; some leaders’ responses to these negative emotions have only resulted in stagnation. Another example is a leader that moves too quickly may seem dismissive of people’s feelings and runs the risk of being misunderstood. The complexity is compounded when, in times of crisis and upheaval, a leader who focuses on the peoples’ feelings may gain temporary popularity, while a leader who gets too far ahead of the people may become irrelevant.
All leaders need to have sensitivity and intuitiveness, in addition to effectively building bridges between the emotional reactivity, doubts and distrust to a shared vision in which genuine relationships form, common understandings are reached and unity in purpose is achieved.
Eventually, everyone is responsible to stimulate and catalyze critical consciousness. Such a momentum will generate an energy and dynamism effecting people at all levels, particularly at the grassroots, which will empower them to be located within movements to reclaim their humanity.
