Kedi Haralu
The next General Elections which is just behind the corner, is going to be rather interesting, since there are quite a few new players entering the Arena plus they are all educated and well versed with much exposure plus most significant, they are all from well known families and tribes. It is truly going to be a fight of the Gladiators, where tactics will be more focused upon, rather than brute force and money. Election Strategy has never been a focus, for it has always been the brawn and not the brain. But as we have advanced, our mindset has changed, and the electorates too know their politics, most of them, at the tip of their fingers. False promises and booth capturing of polling booths will also become much lesser, since the supporters of each and every party have similar strengths and know their opponents weak points, thus pre-poll predictions will be much tougher and difficult, since it is a new ball game. The Naga public has seen for themselves that those who used a lot of money during the elections, and when and if he wins, focuses on himself and the money he had spent and the public is given the last priority. A few hundreds or thousands per voter does not go far, for after taking that amount how can the individual even think that the Minister or MLA owes him a favor? He has conveniently closed his own doors, since he had accepted the pitiful amount during the election stage. The public has now realized this, thus money will not talk much this time, but it will be more strategy and tactical thinking, which will be adopted, regardless of factional interference, for they too have closed their own doors, for they had been involved, rather directly during election time and those they favored mostly won but once these MLA’s were well settled, they had conveniently forgotten who brought them up to the position they are in today.
Now the general public want a different breed of politicians, and the criteria to be a running candidate regardless of party, will be his background and qualification, not a town goon or a village chief, for these people has shown their unethical behavior and also their complete lack of respect and responsibility. There is one such MLA in the Dimapur Division, who has no morals and ethics and since he does not have the background needed to represent the people of Nagaland, he has completely destroyed his chances (if there was one) plus his younger brothers have ensured that their brothers reputation remain tainted. It is because of such politicians politics has been dirty and cheap, for so long, but fortunately the public has woken up, thus the seal has been stamped and delivered, thus thrown into the waste basket, “as our MP would say.” For as a leopard never loses his stripes, the “town chokra” will remain a “town chokra.” on the other hand Dimapur has been bless with MLA’s who have good background and are well versed in not only Naga politics, but national as well as international politics. Such new faces in the Government will create a humongous change of image for the politicians as a whole and will be more respected and trusted. Nagas had unfortunately allowed the Indian political stream into their backyard, for now with tribalism at the fore, it would be very difficult not to have one tribe majority in the Government. With so many tribes and sub tribes, Nagas are so divided that words like “integrity” “integration” and “unity and diversity” becomes a big joke and only a dreamer will be hopeful for such a time as this, for the dream will continue to be a dream and sometimes mes a nightmare, as long as elections are continued.
What Nagas had needed in the first place was more selection then election, for then all tribes would have a sitting MLA, and would not matter if he became a minister or not. Nagas have been thrown into the lions den with the proper gear and weapon to protect himself, therefore the introduction of democracy during the days when even passing class 3 or class 4 was considered an educated person. If democracy is to be continued in Nagaland, then the people must be more educated and farsighted, other wise democracy will continue to be misused and misinterpreted. unfortunately even though we may scream our heads off and cause a huge ruckus, the political scenario will remain as it is, hence the only answer is to equal both sides of the scale, we need these new breed of politicians. There will certainly be more strategists and brain drain during this election, and if this continues there certainly will be more rooms for change (change of attitude, mindset and become more broad minded). True development will come only when we have a Government that has such elected members, for they will surely think alike and will have respect for each other, regardless of party, for they will certainly be focused more on economic growth, public amenities, medical facilities and business infrastructure. This will ensure our complete sovereignty and also get more respect from the Center and not be considered as a bunch of junglee’s, who can be silenced plus seduced easily by money, which is exactly what the Central Government thinks of us. Taking up arms and rebelling against the center, non co-operation and so on will not help us achieve our goal and this can even carry on till eternity. Threats and bullets do not scare the public anymore in the urban areas, for they know their rights as per the Constitution of India. We should also realizes that there are numerous clause in Article 371, and we have for too long focused on only one clause and most do not even know how many clause there are in this article and its contents. Many people harp on their rights quoting the Article, but they do not realize that the Government in the Center can counter the article anytime through the Constitution. Many claim Article 371 when their ownership of land crops up but on the other hand we ourselves fight amongst ourselves and encroach on our neighbors land and property, thus creating a huge difference amongst tribes and even amongst villages. Things like monthly interest on loan of money by unauthorized and illegal money lenders, will be things of the past for it is completely against the law of the land, be it traditional court, tribunal or Judicial court. Nagas have picked up habits which had been tossed out of the window many decades back but we are still lingering on these, for it was the Zamindari - system which had completely destroyed the Indian Heritage and history plus the rise of population under the poverty line, and there were no middle class, for it was either you are a big shot or a small fry in the Indian Society. It is only when these things were tackled and laws created to counter these garbage’s, India could move ahead and now it is the next super power with China. Therefore Nagaland can forge ahead only when and if the Government gives more importance to such practices and comes down strongly on those who are ruining the economic structure of Nagaland and creating a huge divide amongst the haves and have nots, It is time the Government stood up boldly and fight for the rights of the common people we can never see the silver lining in the dark skies.
For decades since the inception of Nagaland as a State, we have been involved in a politics which is straight forth dirty and it is impossible for a man with conscience become a politician, for our society has evolved as the “test tube” experiment of the world’s largest democracy. And as a mouse gets fatter or thinner or changes in character and outlook as per the chemicals and gasses applied, Nagas have become like an experiment specimen of the Center, so it can dictate its terms to the Naga Society, and they have done a good job, for we had forgotten to think for ourselves and act as per our motives and goals, just like the mouse in the Laboratory. Fortunately things are changing slowly but surely and the ultimate result will be our Sovereignty, which will come only when we are economical well off and also confident in ourselves, our people, our leaders and most of all, our Government.
But as I had said earlier it is very important that the layman get involved and also transparency shown on the part of the Government which comes to power as a mandate of the people in Nagaland, and we should cease and desist from allowing the old school of politics to exit and the new school start to exist. Guns and artillery may be an effective way of showing our discontent plus to be noticed, but in the end, it will not be those with arms carving our future, but it will be you and me and as time goes by, our children then our children’s children. As most harp on “politics should be different from the Church and vice versa,” it is not possible since we are all believers of the one and only true God Almighty who was our creator, is our Destiny and will be our future, but we need to focus more on the mindset of the general public, thus adopting certain qualities such as principles, ethics and morals and most importantly start to have a conscience. Peace talks and dialogues will never end, but will only prolong the agony of childbirth, and regardless of how much violence and bloodshed we may spill, this will never be the answer for a better tomorrow. Let us leave behind a society which is a model for true democracy, where there is no corruption, complete honesty and complete transparency.
It is like a song sung by Petra, which has always been in my heart “My Life is Like an Open Book.” !!!
