Imkong Walling
It’s a given. Skirmishes, altercations do happen between individuals. It has been happening since ‘time immemorial’ and Nagas are no strangers. The incident, which purportedly happened in Chümoukedima village, Dimapur, about five days ago, was certainly one example.
It certainly was a source of debate and tons of memes, which morphed into insensitivity. The memes stopped being funny after a picture of a real person got tagged. Not only was it insensitive, it was outright mud-slinging without ascertaining the truth.
For a lack of independent, unbiased testimony, it would be unwise to jump to the colloquial ‘whodunnit’ position— more so for the fact that the parties involved came to terms, with one party apologizing.
An overlooked aspect though has been conflict management. The way most disputes are settled here between parties/individuals, sidelining contemporary judicial law, giving a whole new meaning to the term— out of court settlement.
The traditional way of settling matters has its advantages. It is relatively simple and swift as opposed to the intricately woven and protracted modern day justice system.
On the flipside, the traditional practice, without a set overarching guideline, becomes susceptible to individual emotions. It gives way to taking matters into one’s own hands, rendering the government authority no more than titular, besides spawning a predisposition to succumb to militia sentiments.
The frequent show of force and clout by village, neighbourhood, ward councils and youth organizations in the name of ‘bandhs’ and in more recent times, in the name of the Coronavirus are examples.
The sovereign village was relevant to an era when the concept of nationhood was non-existent. The village of yore evolving and dictated by the ethos and security needs of the time.
Today, there is an elected institution called Government, from which the village draws its legitimacy. Mandated by law and elected, the Government, with all its flaws, has the responsibility of security and also to intervene when its citizenry or villages quarrel.
With all its quaint beauty, the militia mentality of yore is still prevalent, having consequences on the way the people today perceive community policing.
Community policing is in essence a means to aid the government administration in maintaining law and order and it would be delusional to equate it with general policing. Unfortunately, misinterpretation of the core concept is evident.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
