Violence plays an integral role in destroying human hopes and dreams. It takes many forms, some are direct physical force that is visible to the eyes; and some are of more subtle forms, which are indirect and less visible to the eye, mostly in the form of structural violence. Violence with great sophistication takes away people’s capacity to decide their own future and denies them their humanity.
The institutionalization of violence in Naga society is no different. While, what is seen most often to the naked eye is the brute direct violence that is so prevalent in our day-to-day lives. But yet violence in its structural form is ebbing away the Naga spirit and character. In practical terms, it has been structural violence that has been the most damaging, and yet also the least addressed. It is the structural violence that facilitates the maintenance of state domination and diminishes possibilities of non-violent alternatives. In doing so the problem of violence is intrinsic to the nature of the State.
The issue of violence becomes more problematic in cases of protracted armed confrontation caused by political issues. In these cases, we see how the powers that be create more and more structures that enhance violence so that it supports the status quo and the interest of the powerful. It is true that structures of violence are created to sustain violence, in other worlds, adding violence to violence, because many people profit out of conflict. For instance, the budget, in areas of conflict, there is a relatively large budget to sustain war, but once the conflict is resolved, the budget is reduced which is against the interest of those who are benefiting from the conflict. Therefore to ensure that the budget does not decrease, structures are created to ensure that violence continues and people in power fulfill their interest.
There is no confusion that for peace to be achieved, the structures that support and breed violence must be removed. The structures of violence must be de-structured and by doing so it gives a chance to begin building a future of hope. The structures that give life to violence by breeding injustice, inequality, poverty, discrimination, militarization and oppression must be confronted and replaced by a more democratic structure; a structure that respects human life. It is imperative that this process of structural transformation be initiated through non-violent means where empowerment and participation of people is critical yeast.
If Nagas are really serious in struggling for their inherent rights to decide their own future, they must stop supporting the existence of an oppressive system and transcend the present structures and follow-up all their talk with concrete steps so that the alternative system that they envision emerges out of their struggle to redefine who they are and how they relate to one another as human beings.
