Liberal Democratic Party of Nagaland
With the world gearing up for a showdown between the conservative extremists and the liberals; a war between religious extremists: ISIS and representing Free world: secular western liberal democrats, which the president of the US, Trump has termed it as a war between ‘good and evil’- a lesson is being taught to every deprived human and every Naga alike that we should no more “succumb to disappointment and suffer from injustice”, like Marina Jose in her recent article has rightly pointed out (which is just basic ethic and morale boost in the west). And as said, “The only thing needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”, today we Nagas are barely equipped to face the conservative ignorant forces that cares not of all the injustice, for which they are swell rich.
They know that if the ignorant system is stripped off from the face of Nagaland then the new rational environment won’t be a suitable habitat for their kind of minds to adapt; work hard, learn knowledge and be modern smart and developing a personality etc. Thus it remains a challenge for the concerned, us, to actually take our own responsibilities and act instead of always having dependent on a higher force’s intervention. Nagas it seems to have forgotten that God helps those who help themselves.
The demon that the Nagas have yet to overcome is to break free from the vicious cycle of the rich laymen dominating our politics at the expense of depriving the people of development and progression and further threatening our future civilization with every fund they pocket away. Ours is a battle between the conservative traditional despots with their well fed followers and the liberal modern democrats with the despair of the people. If the conservative prevails then with a couple of desperate reforms and more paint on the old canvas, Nagaland could appear to be normal with all the makeup on the outside but horribly decaying on the inside. Should the latter prevail then with simultaneous reforms and a perpetual Art on a new canvas, Nagaland would be flamboyant inside out.
The timing couldn’t be any more right for us to be more realistic and practical instead of always being trapped in a political deadlock, unable to conclude and move ahead. It is time for us to face our fears and lead our people out of always wanting to stay put in the comfort zone; time for us to question if justice is being served instead of ignoring the issues because of fear.
The recent decision of the Nagas in Arunachal Pradesh, to pursue an autonomous district for development is applauded. It is regretted that they have been misinformed about the Nagas of Nagaland enjoying developmental privileges, because the truth is not so. Truth be told, apart from the remnants of decades old town and the band of reverse “Robinhood” (public money funded) corrupted aristocrats, there is nothing as much as an inch of development are we being privileged. Nevertheless, although we can’t help them in financial matters as of now, we support them with our whole heart and will offer them intellectual assistance should they seek for it! We shouldn’t let the conceptual boundary divide us Nagas. Nagas from all corners should try to stand up on our feet first before striving for anything, clueless.
We also urge the various NPGs to do away with awarding capital punishments to our fellow Naga national workers. They could have gone rogue but this doesn’t mean the authorities should take away their ‘right to life’. If we are to consider ourselves as civilized then we have to act like one as there are rational ‘humane’ means of dealing with the defaulters. It is a shame that some of us still practice mob justice which is the purest form of irrational justice. Some women on the pretext of seeking justice from her adulterer husband; gang up on her husband’s estranged lover and trashes and shave her head in front of the society as if to prove a point that justice will always be done to defaulters. Such kind of irrational justice is scattered across Nagaland especially in the suburbs and rural parts. This kind of prejudices must be reformed by each village councils as there are always rational approaches to solve issues.
We also appeal to the law enforcing communities to respect an individual’s rights pertaining to legal cases. They should not jump up on a suspect/defaulter and harass him up openly in front of everyone. Every citizen deserves a fair Trail in court and until the court announces him guilty, they have to be aware that he/she is still a citizen with fundamental and civil rights. And even if he is proven guilty, it only means he will be serving his years in jail and no one deserves to be beaten to pulp from the law enforcers.
Those with money or muscle power should realize the fact that no one is above the law and every issue/disputes has to be resolved and coordinated in terms of Human Rights/Norms as it is only because on humanitarian grounds, the civilized super powers (nations) have stopped conquering weak nations like ours after World War II.
