Arenjungla Kichu
In this Sunday Exclusive, Mokokchung Times shares a candid conversation with the outspoken former bureaucrat, Khekiye K. Sema IAS (Retd), presently residing at 3rd Mile, Thilixu Village, Dimapur. Known and respected as a vocal crusader against corruption in Nagaland, KK Sema, as he is popularly known, has won the hearts and admiration of a huge segment of the state’s population.
MTNews: You’ve been a significant contributor in initiatives like ACAUT, an apolitical people’s movement against corruption. Do you still play an active role there and have the same trust on it?
KK Sema: The common man was suffering and continues to suffer untold hardships bearing the oppressive load of taxation/extortion imposed by the NNPGs in the glorified name of ‘sovereignty’. The unreasonable sky rocketing price rise of essential commodities induced the Dimapur Naga Council to set up an investigative team consisting mostly of enthusiastic youngsters, which later came to be known as ACAUT, to find out the reason for such an astronomical rise of price of essential commodities in Dimapur. Their findings seriously implicated the NNPGs as the root cause of it all. A public rally was announced to voice public grievances against unreasonable taxation by the NNPGs in which I was approached by the ACAUT members to kindly speak. Together we framed a slogan that touched the core of the problem and resonated with the public sentiment: “One Government One tax”. In the aftermath I did the best I could to help the ACAUT team to create public awareness in all the Districts of Nagaland on the issue of taxation by the NNPGs and the Government of Nagaland. Somewhere along the road the success of the anti-taxation campaign emboldened the ACAUT team to bite off more than they could chew by expanding the parameter from a focused subject of “One Government, one tax” to that of corruption in general. This was an unfortunate departure from the original objective of trying to induce the Factions to unite. ACAUT was intended to be apolitical movement as a matter of principle and so, the moment I decided to enter the electoral fray, I gracefully withdrew from ACAUT. Since then I have not been playing any active role in it. As of now, the unfortunate differences emerging amongst the original team members has fractured the cohesion that had once existed, with few of the original founding members opting to leave the team. ACAUT has lost its earlier impetus and as long as it continue to want to address “General Corruption” as its focus, it will be difficult to expect it to produce tangible results…laudable as it may.
MTNews: We’re all well aware of Nagaland’s opposition-less government. What would you like to comment on it? How do you like the role of RPP as a rising opposition party?
KK Sema: The Nagas have been sailing in troubled waters for decades. Compounding the already critically crippled system is the innocent sounding ‘opposition-less government,’ seemingly seeking for an ‘early solution’ to a terminally ailing Indo-Naga imbroglio. The following is the view I had expressed on the subject in the print media earlier. No matter how eloquent the hype concerning the so-called Opposition-less Government, it is woefully apparent that the bottom line is M-O-N-E-Y as the only driving force that dictates all the thinking process in the minds of all the Ali Babas in the Assembly. The very backbone of democracy has been mortally fractured over and over again in Nagaland by the very people we elect …term after term…with corruption becoming a way of life. The worst part of the story is that our people will still continue selling their votes to them yet again, come election, no matter how damning and crippling their performances has been, in trampling upon the well being of the common man. Now that the general election is around the corner, we are being made to suffer the comedy of another opposition-less State Legislative Assembly yet again in an exclusive Nagaland style democracy…and the reason being proffered for the murder of democracy is to ‘show solidarity’ of our elected Members of Legislative Assembly to achieve an early Indo-Naga political solution. This useless show of comical solidarity could have very well been achieved with the opposition bench remaining in opposition, but agreeing to full heartedly participate in the Core Committee without strangling the democratic structure of governance. The only net result seen thus far is that the State Government servants, mostly in the lower cadres, are now helplessly being deprived of even their entitled monthly salaries. This comes as no surprise. After all, our State’s exchequer has now become little more than a self-help service counter for all political parties with their unstoppable itching hands in the kooky jar. With the next election looming in the horizon, things can only get worse at best.
In as far as the role of RPP as a rising opposition party is concerned, it is much too early in the day to pass any judgment other than to say that at least they are mostly raising relevant issues at the moment and generating public awareness, even if the present government is totally oblivious to their critical appraisals.The party mostly consists of younger generation who has the energy and the enthusiasm to perform. I wish them all the best. However, there is a saying that “power corrupts”. What will become of RPP if they manage to enter the seat of power? Only future will tell.
MTNews: As someone who have contested in an election before, under the slogan of ‘Free and Fair Election,’ how would you rate Nagaland’s democratic process in electing their leaders?
KK Sema: In simple terms let me just say that in Nagaland, even a rat with heavy bags of money can win an election. A vicious cycle of ‘selling’ and ‘buying’ of votes has become a cancerous norm. The disastrous impact is that the elected representatives spend all their time trying to recuperate their election expenditures by hook or by crook (mostly by crook), and then more for the future election, as a result they have no time for public welfare and development. As the saying goes “we deserve the government we elect”…so we now have a Government that is in the ICU suffering from a terminal ailment called corruption…thanks to the Naga style democratic process.
MTNews: Do you have plans to contest in the upcoming election? Why or why not?
KK Sema: No! I’m not a moneyed rat.
MTNews: In a nut shell, what do you have to say regarding the tragic incident that happened in Oting and the demand for removal of AFSPA? Are you satisfied with the steps taken by the present government and the civil society at large in the movement against AFSPA?
KK Sema: There is no appropriate adjective to describe the dastardly act of the India Army in the Oting incident. It is absolutely unthinkable that the largest democratic country in the world upholds such a draconian law as the AFSPA against its own citizens. In a manner of speaking, we the Nagas must also blame ourselves in allowing such an act to persist, by our docile acceptance through inaction. The Oting incident prompted candle light vigil across Nagaland like a flash in a pan but has since died out, except for those who have suffered the immediate impact. The State Government passing a resolution in the Assembly for withdrawal of AFSPA was simply an act to appease the wrath of the public in the heat of the moment, but has produced no tangible result in the aftermath, in the absence of a determined resolute pursuit. Other than the ENPO, the rest of the civil societies are now silent. The GoI is not about to relent as long as the Nagas fail to collectively stand up against it more vigorously in a sustained manner.
MTNews: Before joining politics, you spent most part of your life as an Indian Administrative Service officer. How do you recall that experience?
KK Sema: There is a general perception that the life of an administrative officer is a bed of roses. In my case I experienced more thorns than roses every step of the way…manning all the jungle outposts which most would consider as punishment postings during the junior years, followed by mostly minor departments during the senior years. The simple reason was that I had chosen to follow the rules and regulations to the best of my ability which did not go down well with our political bosses, who preferred to work with officers willing to close an eye and bend the rules to satisfy their personal greed. I hold the distinction of having been posted 22 times in a 19 year service input. Nevertheless, I do fondly recall the various valuable experiences from all the Tribes that I had served, who enthusiastically participated with me in every endeavor we set out to do together, and there was always a sense of satisfaction that something positive had happened at the end of each tenure. I did the best I could for our people and have no regrets.
MTNews: The rate of success of Nagas getting through Union Public Service Commission is quite low so far. What do you think is the reason?
KK Sema: The quality of our academic grooming in the colleges we study has its own bearing in the ultimate performance. On a comparative scale, many of our Naga youth do not generally work as hard as others competitors from the mainland who literally study for 9/10 hours a day, in a sustained manner for months on end before the final exams. Our youth fail to comprehend the tough challenge they face against thousands of brilliant brains from all over the country. The lack of sufficient exposures to the outer world, the lethargy in reading habit, added to the absence of upper grade experienced coaching institutions in the state, adds to the handicap.
MTNews: Would you encourage the current youths to pursue a career in civil services?
KK Sema: I certainly would encourage our youth to pursue a career in the civil service as long as the intention is to really serve the people. We could make a difference in our society with the right kind of motivation. The world is however changing pretty fast and there is a whole world out there where entrepreneurial adventure can be had once the Nagas cross the bridge of Indo-Naga political limbo. Let that time come.
MTNews: A lot of media houses have boomed in Nagaland in recent years. Do you think the medias in Nagaland justify the term ‘fourth pillar of democracy’? If not, what can they do more?
KK Sema: I would be rather hesitant to qualify Nagaland media as the ‘fourth pillar of democracy’. The business of investigative journalism is non-existent. This is an area that sorely needs attention. It also takes courage to carry controversial news, items without fear or favor. I have observed that many a time controversial news that would upset the equilibrium on the community or ruffle feathers of the powers that be, is refused by the print media for obvious reason. As for the visual media, it is still in a fledgling state, but in the long run, perhaps one day in the future, they may come of age to perform more professionally. I would however concede that the present media fraternity is working under harsh circumstances and pressures from every conceivable corner. I would nevertheless presume that eventually they would qualify to become the ‘fourth pillar,’ but as of now…not quite there yet.
MTNews: I was told, you had some attachment with Mokokchung Town in the past. Do you still visit it from time to time? What’s your memory of Mokokchung?
KK Sema: By mid-fifties Naga Hill district was slowly but surely turning into a killing field. I was about ten years old when my late father, Khelhoshe, evacuated our family from Naghutomi Village and brought us to Mokokchung in 1956. Shortly thereafter, in the early part of 1957 he was sent as our Naga representative to the Assam Legislative Assembly and was inducted as Deputy Minister for Tribal Affairs, and therefore we moved to Shillong. In course of time the Government allotted a plot of land in the heart of Mokokchung town on Amguri Road, and by 1958 my father had constructed a wooden structured house (which got completely gutted during Army operation against NSCN (K) in town). We became a permanent resident of Mokokchung Town since then, but as school going children in St. Edmund’s School, Shillong, we only came home for three months of winter vacation every year. The time of coming home during college years in St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, was more or less the same. However, there were a good number of students from Mokokchung studying in various colleges in Delhi…Friends like Nungsang Aier, who joined us in St. Stephen’s college, Apong Pongener, Late Taku Jamir, Lima Aier…to name a few. The Mokokchung students got together one day and requested Uncle S.C. Jamir, who at that time was a Union Deputy Minister, to kindly fund a football running trophy in his name…which he did. Seasonal Club was formed and took the responsibility to conduct a very popular annual football tournament, which received spontaneous response from all the Districts in Nagaland. In the later years, other Indian Clubs like the Mohan Bagan of Kolkata, also participated in this tournament. Seasonal Club was a vibrant club and in the late sixties was the very life of Mokokchung town in the field of entertainment. I was the lone Sumi mosquito in this club…and though a fleeting one, I do have fond memories of all the wonderful carefree times I had spent with my friends then, and still friends to date. With my parental property still in existence in Mokokchung Town, I do visit once in a while.
MTNews: Kindly leave a message to our readers.
KK Sema: I can only surmise that if the Nagas would like to have a change for the better, each citizen must dig deep into one’s heart and take personal responsibility to ensure that real leaders of character are elected, rather than allow any Tom, Dick or Harry to purchase power and run an indifferent corruptive government. As long as we fail to rectify this deadly fault line, better days is not about to happen…it only will get worse.