Rosemary Dzuvichu
As Nagaland’s outgoing Governor Shri Shyamal Datta bids farewell to the state on the first of February, one cannot help being sad at the departure of the best and most intellectual Governor we have had so far. My first meeting with His Excellency was on a note of high tension, as he arrived at a time when the Nagaland University Teachers Association and the PGSU were in the midst of serious agitation against the former Vice Chancellor G.D.Sharma on charges of manipulation, corruption and irregularities in the University. Unfortunately, the outgoing Governor Shri O.P.Sharma had been at the receiving end of NUTA’s ire for his partisan stand and protection of the then VC, in spite of documentary evidence; and therefore, His Excellency’s first meeting with us was to be met with a flood of demands and he was probably stunned at the group of younger academicians who refused to budge from their stand! After the uncomfortable but cordial meeting, it was an anticlimax for me to be asked to host the official welcome at the Chief Minister’s banquet hall and top it off with organising a Naga fashion show the very same night, as well as host the cultural program of welcome at my Kohima Village and be responsible for organizing the six day Naga fashion show at Swabhumi in Kolkatta, which saw him as the Chief guest in all these functions. One could well imagine his surprise and confusion at one of the ‘militant’ NUTA leaders popping up, at the most unexpected places!
However, our close association with His Excellency over the past five years of his tenure as our Chief Rector has proved that he is a man, the intellectual fraternity is proud to call a leader, in the truest sense. An attentive listener, a great sense of justice and firm with decisions whenever he took up an issue and one always had to be ready with solid points and arguments, as he was someone who did not suffer bad debators or fools gladly. Our visits and representations to the Raj Bhavan were countless, so much so, that whenever we met him for other occasions, he knew that the minute he mentioned NUTA’s name, we would be telling him that we planned to call on him again! His quick sense of humour always made one forget his office and over the years, one has appreciated that humane side of him. One could very well imagine his sense of great relief and genuine happiness when the University welcomed him as the Chief Guest on its Foundation Day in September 2006, after years of trying to solve this university’s issues and problems. He was responsible for keeping the Government on the right track with policies and programs and was energetic to keep a tab on each and every Department, much to the discomfort of many. And at the end of it all, one can also understand his position in the face of strong opposition from the political leaders to many of the changes that he had envisioned, particularly for women in the state.
As Governor, he has succeeded in gender sensitizing the strong patriarchal set up of the Naga community in more ways than one, not only with legislators and policy makers, but the Naga public, including the very strong traditional institutions of governance. He had challenged and questioned why Naga women could not be appointed as ‘Gaonburis’ when there were Gaonburas for every village, shaking the strongly held belief among our people that only men ‘can’ and ‘should be’ leaders. During his speech at the first Governor’s Award for excellence in music, arts and literature, he was perhaps the only one who noticed and said that it was very sad, but true, that even in paintings Naga women are always portrayed as working harder than their menfolk. He was referring to the awardee Votso Peseye’s paintings where the painter had depicted the woman weaving or working, while the man just sat relaxing. He also told the Selection Committee that women must be included in the next list of awardees for the Governor’s Award as there were many women who had excelled in the field of music, art and literature and thus he created the space for recognition of Ms.Thenuvolu and Ms Metevinuo Sakhrie by the Naga society for their contribution as a folk musician and a documentary film maker. The adequate representation of women in the Amendment of the Municipal Act of Nagaland is solely due to his pressure and refusal to pass the Act without this clause. The felicitation program organized for National awardee Mrs. Zaputuou and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Neidonuo Angami was given weightage by the reception at the Raj Bhavan Durbar Hall. Due recognition of the long standing demand and representations for a State Women Commission and its constitution and inclusion of a woman as one of the NPSC members are landmarks for Naga women during his tenure. No other Governor has worked this hard to make sure women were given their due share of recognition, not only by the state government but also by the society. His last interaction with the local media and his hopes for the future of Naga women are said, after years of observing the Naga society and political structure of decision making bodies. And we are indeed grateful.
During his tenure, the Raj Bhavan was an ‘open home’, where on many occasions, he made the extra effort to bring people from diverse backgrounds to mingle and interact with each other. He was also probably the first Governor to give due recognition to prominent Naga women from all fields by inviting them to these official gatherings on their ‘own merit’ and not as wives of Mr.so and so. Some of the best talents in music were invited to perform and he made the Bhavan come alive with the voices of children in almost every function. The children from the Kohima Orphanage were his special guests on many an occasion and he has always stressed on the importance of ‘listening’ to younger voices of aspiration in the Naga society.. A perfectionist in everything he did, he always expected nothing but the best from everyone. Bad English grammar was something he disliked, probably because he himself was so meticulous and one remembers rewriting and redrafting for the first Governor’s Award to meet with his approval, after he had critically examined the choice of bad grammar and language sent by the concerned Department. An orator par excellence on all kinds of subjects, he made the Rotary Clubs of Nagaland proud, when he deeply impressed thousands of Rotarians from all over RI District 3240 at the District Conference in Shillong with his speech on ‘Ethics in Business’, and at the District Assembly hosted by Rotary Club of Kohima in May 2005 as our Chief Guest. His great aesthetic sense was responsible for promotion and official recognition of Naga Arts, Literature and Music and we have had some of the best being exhibited and performed in the Durbar Hall during his stay at the Raj Bhavan.
As we bid him good health and brighter prospects for the future, one is confident that he may not be allowed to ‘hang up his boots,’ as he is one of the very few leaders, who has such a wide knowledge of the strife torn north eastern region, conflict ridden with its political intricacies and frustrated unemployed youth, gender inequality, lack of gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting, high economic potentialities and the onslaught of globalization with the Look East policy and the South Asian Highway raising serious social, political, economic and gender concerns among the intellectual community in the region. For the Nagas, his tenure will be best remembered as an era of positive changes that he strived to achieve for the downtrodden and the neglected strata of society.
