As participants of this global evolution, Nagas need values which uphold that we are the products of many cultures, traditions and memories having overlapping identities, all of which unites our shared humanity. This means having values of mutual respect that allows us to study and learn from other cultures, and to gain strength by combining and adjusting the unfamiliar with the familiar. As a people, Nagas have the right to take fulfillment and ownership in our particular faith, heritage and destinies, and learn to love what we are, without hating what and who we are not. Nagas are in need of values that enable us to prosper in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.
It is at this particular point that Nagas, like any other young society in this world needs to engage with the dilemmas of truth, and the truth about dilemmas. Today, real borders are not between divided states. The real borders are between human hearts and human values. They are between the powerful and the powerless, the free and the bonded, the privileged and the unprivileged, the rich and the poor, and the equal and unequal. Today, no one can claim ignorance of the cost that this divide imposes on those who are no less deserving of human dignity, fundamental freedoms, security, food and education. The values of inclusiveness are essential for human life to thrive.
However, Nagas continue to be raised in an environment of degenerating values, where the most basic value to respect human dignity and human worth is being challenged. Invariably, the manner in which our values and our culture collectively address these challenges will define and shape the future of our collective destinies. Which values are Nagas pursuing and nurturing? Are we feeding and nurturing the forces that will consolidate a humanity of respect, dignity, justice, freedom and hope. Or, are we only fueling the forces of prejudice, hatred, oppression and the ‘isms’ that destroys human dreams and hopes? The reality remains that one cannot begin building a future founded on ‘fear’ ‘hate’ and ‘exclusivity?’
This period of human crisis is a time for Nagas to engage in self-criticism and to truthfully examine our present values. The idea that there is one group, tribe or organization that possesses the truth, one answer to our tribulations, or one solution to our needs, has caused more harm. Today, we need values – the ethos – embracing a human diversity that is both the reality that makes dialogue necessary, and the very basis for that dialogue. Our individual and personal respect and dignity is essential to a shared humanity.
Nagas need values that teach us that the human-security and well-being of any one tribe, community, or group is connected and interdependent with the well-being of all others, requiring mutual respect, understanding, cooperation, and investment in our mutual destiny. A value-based future invariably means, defining our own destinies.
