Asangba Tzudir
Exploring the Christian idea of ‘Resurrection,’ if Christ is to resurrect a thief, then what will be the ‘form’ and ‘content’ of the resurrected person. In a secular framework, one may ask whether the resurrected person will still have the attributes of the thief. Looking from a theological doctrine, it is a question of whether the thief died in Christ. If so, the person will be resurrected as a ‘new’ creation ‘guaranteed’ for a place in Heaven.
Rev. Dr. Wati Aier has in a recent article, coined and used the word ‘Naaka,’ though for his sake only, shying away from the word ‘Naga’ which is also a Sanskrit term for serpent. He further puts that, an RSS writer has also inaccurately mentioned that Nagas were “Hindu Nagas” and therefore the word ‘Naaka’ is used so that others may not deliberate the word ‘Naakas’ for Hindu Naga.
The word ‘Naga’ has been birthed through different understanding yet within a cultural and ‘geo-political’ context. Classified within a linguistic and tribal group, the word ‘Naga’ has different meanings and origin. ‘Naga’ in Indian mythology is a member of a semi-divine race, part human, part cobra in form, associated with water and sometimes with mystical initiations. The word ‘Naga’ also seems to be an incorrect pronunciation of the term ‘Noga’ in Ahom Thai dialect meaning ‘Hill People.’ The name of the hill people with whom the Ahoms came into contact is recorded in the Ahom Buranjis as ‘Noga.’ The word ‘Naga’ also has relation with the Burmese word ‘Naka’ meaning ‘pierced ears.’ Then there is ‘Nanga’ in Hindi meaning ‘naked.’ The Kachari word for ‘Naga’ means warrior.
Now, if the word ‘Naga’ is ‘resurrected’ or rather replaced by the word ‘Naaka,’ what then will be the meaning of the word ‘Naaka.’ Will ‘Naaka’ be an embodiment of the word ‘Naga’ as understood at present or placed within an ‘evolving’ concept, more so within a political framework? For now, it seems to be brought in within the elements of their traditional belief system and Christianity.
Besides the origin, coinage and meaning of the word ‘Naaka,’ what will be the political implication associated with the identity as a ‘Naaka,’ and further, will it serve the possibility of being a unifying concept within the larger Naga Struggle? And therefore, what would it mean for ‘Naakas’ as a people?
The Italian term popolo, the French term peuple, and the Spanish term pueblo along with the corresponding adjectives popolare, populaire, popular and the late-Latin terms populus and popularis from which they all derive, designate in common parlance and in the political lexicon the whole of the citizenry as a unitary body politic like the Italian people or the Spanish people. Any interpretation of the political meaning of the term people also starts from the peculiar fact that in modern European languages this term always indicates also the poor, the underprivileged, and the excluded. The same term names the constitutive political subject as well as the class that is excluded de facto from politics.
Likewise, as a ‘Naaka’ people, how would the ‘Naakas’ living in ‘Naaka-land’ envisage the meaning of the word ‘Naaka’? Will it be ‘with’ or ‘without’ borders both physically and mentally? Besides other pertinent considerations, the usage of the word ‘Naaka’ cannot and should not shy away from its political meaning and the Naga lived realities.
Whether it is ‘Naga’ or ‘Naaka’ or otherwise, it should not create any kind of mistaken identity, and therefore, demands clarity of the underlying concept and its associated meaning. And in the context of the Naga Political Struggle, it is also a question about whether it can serve as a unifying concept in the larger struggle for reconciliation of Nagas across borders coming together as ‘one without borders.’
(Dr. Asangba Tzudir writes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
