Kaka D Iralu
Mr. Silverstein
It seems to me that when I am fighting a foreign invasion of my country, where the enemy is using its military and economic power to subjugate me, you are suggesting that I should utilize all the economic prospects that the enemy is offering me and even go to war with my own people who are misusing those economic gifts. I for one will not do such a stupid thing. I am therefore saying that I am not interested in my enemy’s gifts of even the whole state with its entire infrastructure which has lulled most Nagas to sleep for over six decades. For me, this state is just a farce and a shadow of the real image of a truly independent country.
Now, why do I call it a farce? As a visitor of the Nagaland state of India, you must have seen the conditions of our roads in Nagaland. If you had come at the beginning of the first month of road repairs, or during the Hornbill Festival, you might be fooled. But if you come at the end of the third month after repair works, you will see the real condition of our roads- which are repaired to last for only three months. (The corruption on repair works being mostly pocketed by many Nagas contractors, Indian companies and Indian Central leaders- I am told). Also, don’t be too impressed by the many school buildings and Primary Health Centres –especially in the rural areas- because any Kungfu Master or Boxer can smash them into smithereens in a few hours.
The root cause of all these mess, they say, is because of the corruption in the state. But to fight this gigantic monster that is tearing Nagas apart would be to waste one’s energy in one’s short lifespan. And even if we succeed to some degree in fighting this corruption, we would still be left to fight with even greater monsters like the Disturbed Area Act 1955, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 etc which has been our constant companions from 1954 to the present. And do you know the powers of the Governor of Nagaland who alone can promulgate these heinous acts? Under Article 371 (A) section 1, (b), it is stated thus:
“The Governor of Nagaland shall have special responsibility with respect to law and order in the State of Nagaland… Provided that if any question arises whether any matter is or is not a matter as respects which the Governor is under this sub-clause required to act in the exercise of his individual judgment, the decision of the Governor in his discretion shall be final, and the validity of anything done by the Governor shall not be called in question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in the exercise of his individual judgment.”
You will note that, as far as law and order is concerned for Nagaland, The Governor of Nagaland is even higher than the President of India or even the Constitution of India. (For more details. see “The Naga Saga,” p.345-352) Yes, at the surface level, the Indian Government has given us Billions of Rupees for our development which has been greatly misused. But please note that this disease has come through the invasion or our country by India. And if a disease is being caused by some other factors, to fight the disease rather than the factors that are causing the disease- would be wastage of time and energy.
Political suppression with economic gifts by India is what is destroying Nagaland today. Here, I will fight the political suppression rather than fight to have a lion’s share of the economic gifts. As far as I am concerned, only a totally unpatriotic man with no sense for the dignity for his national and geographical identity would wallow in the enemy’s gifts of seductions to subjugate him. I will not collaborate with the enemy, when the enemy has nullified my very right to life, freedom and liberty even within the territories of my own country.
