There comes a point in time in the history of every civilization when people cannot bear injustice anymore and say that enough is enough. They confront the powers that be and work together in bringing about positive changes for the betterment and advancement of society. This is how many societies and civilizations have progressed in due course of time. They were able to realize that people united together as one are a source of strength and also the real source of authority; the power lies with the people. Sometimes, the transitions are violent and sometimes they’re peaceful. Change, nevertheless, is an assured thing.
Nagaland is a curious case. Maybe we are too Christian and too forgiving. Maybe we are too ignorant and arrogant. I don’t think God put us here on earth just to praise him and worship him. Think about it. So much injustice has been going around and yet we turn a blind eye, hoping and praying that God will take care of everything at the end of the day. While we wait for God, thieves and robbers are stealing from us in broad daylight and making merry. We must do something on our part too and that something is doing the right thing. We can’t pretend that everything is alright, not least when our future is at stake and in the hands of the few elite.
The world is moving ahead leaps and bounds. People are scaling new heights. And us? We’re stuck in this rat hole, cursing our fate and luck, and as long as we remain so, change will never occur. We are the youth of Nagaland, we are the promise of the future and the future belongs to us. We cannot be robbed of our future. For too long, we have been conditioned to believe that things will remain the same (and ever mundane) and that we should mind our own business, but I say we have to break out of this false and fractured belief system. Every decision that the government makes affects us, more often than not in a negative way. Just take a look at the recently concluded Nagaland Legislative Assembly session from March 15-19, 2016. Nothing of substance was actually ever discussed. Instead of deliberating on serious problems and issues confronting the state of Nagaland, the Naga legislators turned a blind eye. They did not even bother to discuss or debate on the CAG report on Nagaland (given the fact that they’re the culprits and why would they discuss anyway?). They have mistaken themselves to be representatives of Utopia. You see how we’re taken for a ride and how we’re used as mere pawns in their hunger games? They decide our future and politics. Do they even know what the ground situation is in this pitiful state of ours?
This is most contemptible by any standard. We cannot simply allow this to continue anymore. The government harps on the fact that the present Nagaland government is an opposition less government and that they have come together for Naga unity and for an early solution to the Indo-Naga political issue. However, even if the Indo-Naga political issue is solved (supposedly, and it should, hopefully), the state of affairs will remain the same, more or less. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer. Things are looking bleak if we peek into the future unless we stand up and tear down the walls of hypocrisy that engulf Nagaland. Nagaland is so much in debt that any day from now, the Union Government of India might come down here some day and on the pretext of recovering debts, explore our state’s oil, gas and natural resources, easily overriding Article 371A and making it irrelevant. Believe me, this is a possibility in the future. We need to pull up our socks. The so-called leaders of Nagaland go around building palaces and castles while the common man is treated like dirt and we are all very much aware of this despicable phenomenon in particular. We can’t run away from it. We all know how agitated we get when we talk about the impunity of the government and government officials. We must channel our anger into something positive which is by starting to do right by people and according to the law.
One of the funniest things (forgive my bad sense of humor) the Nagaland government tells the youth is to learn how to stand on our own feet and not to depend only on government jobs. How we wish it was as easy as it sounds! Can somebody please tell the government to first advise the NPGs to stop collecting taxes from us and only after that will we go about starting our own businesses and realizing our ambitions of becoming entrepreneurs? For sure, one can argue that there are a few Nagas who are making it big in the private sector industry but let’s be honest (with all due respect to them), they’re usually the well-off ones. Sons and daughters of political big shots and what-not, who can afford to pay multiple taxes unlike the ordinary Naga who can hardly make both ends meet. Let us assume for a moment that I’m earning Rupees 10-/ month out of which I have to pay Rupees 7 as taxes after which I’m left with Rupees 3. Now what am I supposed to do with it? Work harder and pay even more?
There are many problems, small and big, confronting Nagaland. In the end, the ordinary people end up paying the ultimate price for the sins of the people at the helm of power. Salaries are paid late or haven’t been paid for a number of months, our roads are a joke, our educational system is an insult to us, funds meant for development are diverted to God knows where, small time contractors are not paid their due share of money for months and years. Almost everything is in shambles. We can’t afford to remain silent anymore. There’s so much going on which are starting to slowly overwhelm us. Just look at the swelling number of Bangladeshis in our state. I bet you the government doesn’t have a proper mechanism to check this almost impossible to check trend. The CAG report on the Youth Resources & Sports Department, Nagaland Bamboo Development Agency, SARDP-NE and fraudulent fund withdrawals by officers of various departments all point to the fact that the people of Nagaland are being toyed around with. The CAG report is nothing new but it sure is a damning revelation.
We have to start at some point and we have to start now. The future is calling and we must wake from our slumber. We cannot wait for God to come down and take action. This would only make things worse than ever. We have to take action on our part too. Let me be very clear that I’m not advocating for a violent revolution (only time will tell) but all I’m saying is that CHANGE is of utmost necessity at this juncture of Naga history. Let’s start with the small things. Changes often come from the most unexpected and smallest of places.
We, the youth of Nagaland, have a duty to safeguard our interests, we have a duty towards the well-being of Nagaland, a duty towards God and most importantly, we have a duty towards our future Naga generations who will judge us on the amount of good work that we have done and the kind of world we leave behind for them. “When politics decides our future, we decide our politics”
Long Live Nagaland!
I Longkumer, Dimapur
