It was flabbergasting to see that picture on the front page of a leading local daily of some Nagas allegedly tearing a live dog apart at the Hornbill Festival at Kisama. I never knew of the existence of such a ‘culture’- how ignorant of me! It was barbaric and utterly uncivilized!
I must confess it made me very angry to see such cruelty meted out to the dog and it spoilt my whole day thinking about it. True we don’t worship animals, but no civilized society can tolerate such barbarism.
I wish such demonstrations were not made; after all, I was told, it is no longer in practice now! But to think that there are some among us who still take pride in enacting such gory rituals is unimaginable! Couldn’t they use some stuffed dolls to demonstrate how wild they had been in the past! I wish such a picture was not published on the front page of the newspaper!
I know these are all wish full thinking. And that the organizers failed to screen out such ‘cultures’ beforehand is a horrifying failure on their part! They had probably thought everyone is as civilized as they are.
While hoping that such uncivilized actions will not be repeated in the future, one cannot help realizing with great sadness that we have not come very far away from our past.
Dr. Viu Meru
