Today’s Nagas seem to be tentative about the current complexity of many issues including a failing state, systemic corruption, illegal immigration, a weak economy, a divided political discourse and emerging new power centers that is tribalizing the Naga peoplehood.
Though the people are certain of their aspirations, changing them into reality remains elusive. The situation is compounded because the gap between aspirations and reality has created a disturbing cycle of confusion that is threatening the people’s very well-being and causing instability. In the current situation an ‘us versus them’ mentality is in place which is oppositional and promotes reactivity and victimhood.
This is another wake up call for Nagas to recognize that the indicators reveal an urgency for unity in purpose. It calls for those well informed Naga ‘spec-actors’ to break their silence and speak out because they are the ones who can inspire and enable the people to break this destructive cycle. These ‘spec-actors’ can patiently and respectfully listen to the people so that together they can discover new ways forward that will build a cohesive and comprehensive pathway out of this status quo.
A new consciousness will serve as an immediate intervention to the current situation. It is a call for self-realization, self-reflection and re-examination of the Naga way of life, culture and worldviews, and the Naga spirit, all of which are essential for attaining a shared future. This consciousness will be the panacea for introducing sweeping changes across Naga Land and bring to public expression the hopes and yearning that have been denied, suppressed and dormant for so long. This new consciousness can expose the hypocrisy of injustices and enable a new political imagination that empowers the idea of a shared humanity. In essence, this new consciousness has the ability to empower the people’s self-determining capacities to assume yet greater responsibilities that will emerge from it.
The new consciousness can effectively examine the present brainkruptcy and work towards reviving genuine liberatory politics through an effective and democratic process of critical reflection and self-analysis. It can give rise to a political imagination that will maximize people’s participation effectively and meaningfully on issues that impact their lives. The changes that come about through the processes with which the new consciousness engages can usher a new era of accountability in Naga Land whereby the people themselves take responsibility for their political destiny and end this unhealthy deadlock.
This new consciousness will both illuminate and connect the relevance of Naga history to the future, hence the present. In so doing its dynamism can weaken attempts by the powers to deliberately arrest Naga culture and perpetuate negative images of it. This will generate a cohesive and unifying energy which creates the space for Nagas to reconnect with their true self-image. Naga culture is vibrant and alive and can positively contribute to the political evolution of modern Naga Land.
Finally, the new consciousness will reshape the social discourse from which a new understanding can emerge; an understanding which embraces differences through dialogue, which requires relational practice, is inclusive and is not oppositional. In developing a new consciousness, Nagas can maintain a solidarity that enables the people to resist all attempts to fragment their resistance and to nurture a culture of self-assertion that originates from a common heritage of shared values, common experiences and a common dignified shared future.
