More than two decades of violence and depredations under the guise of Naga freedom struggle inflicted a dead blow to the entire systems of Naga polity. The much publicized Naga political issue is in a terrible mess, the governance is in doldrum because of multiplicity of authorities both constitutional as well as extra constitutional, there is no semblance of unity among the Naga community both underground and overground, economy is non-starter because of multiple extortions from all angles, fear psychosis continues to subjugate the minds of the people. One exceptional and perhaps the ugliest Naga political phenomenon is that the single body is adorned by twenty six different faces. This abnormality speaks volume about the status of Naga political picture. All the stakeholders especially the leaders of the underground must recognize that this is the real malady in Naga politics and unless it is blot out immediately Naga politics will be a mockery.
But today a positive mood is emerging among all sections of the people of Nagaland. Once more a new dawn is visible that would surely gladden the slumbering Nagaland, and ultimately rolled away the thick folds of darkness in which it is enveloped. Once more , Christmas has awakened the consciousness of the Christians for peace on earth and goodwill among men. The Christians of Nagaland in particular have fully realized the kind of situation we are faced is exactly like that of Ezekiel’s vision. We stood in the midst of the valley of Dry Bones. On all sides as far as the eye could reach, there were scattered heaps of dry bones. And what were these ? Exhausted political ideology, lifeless dogmas denuded of flesh and blood, the idealism which once caught the imagination of the entire Nagas is now mere dry bones. How sad , truth had been murdered at the altar of opportunism and egoism. How distressing the sight !It appears that our bones are dried and our hope is lost. But we see a silver lining in the dark cloud. Nagas are no longer novice about the changing world. They can no longer be taken for granted.
The people of Nagaland without any exception yearn for peace and normalcy. But either because of selfishness or ignorance, the leaders of the underground continue to harp on the old obsolete and antiquated tune and thereby creating confusions in the minds of the people as well as obstructing the people to move forward. Is it not a time to choose either violence or peace ?
Technologically we are living in a borderless world. In reality however .we exists in compartments, separated by walls of caste, religion and geography, in Nagaland the greatest danger is the wall of tribalism. We acknowledge the information explosion as being a great achievement and take pride in describing ourselves as a knowledge-based society. Snowed under as we are with tons of information, we are facing a paradox; we find that ignorance levels are growing as well. The rate at which we accumulating information is not commensurate with the rate at which our awareness is growing. How much more do we know reality and existence ? The amazing world of knowledge is action like a moat that prevents the passage of even more important kind of knowledge, knowledge about self. The ignorance of self is compounding individual tensions, creating discord in relationships and is responsible for changing the character of the family as a reliable support system.
The most dangerous in human society is the negative emotions. It affects almost all spheres of life, whether in relationships or social activities. The basic of life is to attain happiness and peace. All religion advocate the art of discovering the self. The Nagas in general and the leaders of the underground in particular needs to learn this tenet.
Sage Narada tells Sanatkumar in Chandogya Upanishad: “ Only he who knows self, goes beyond sorrow.” By knowing the self, the unseen becomes the seen and the unknown becomes the known and all doubts get destroyed. But to know self we have to shake off the falsehood in us and recognize illusion for what it is. This is the way to dissolve all differences between individuals, communities and faiths.
PEACE IS LIFE ,WAR IS DEAD:
There are two choices before the Naga people-Peace or Violence. As believers in Christ, we shall truly uphold the tenet of Christianity which advocates peace, communal harmony and mutual coexistence. Christianity propagates compassion, fellow-feeling, selflessness and self-transformation. Are the Nagas Christians to follow this tenet ?
Naga Christians are not so clear to get out of this combat mode. First we must try and clear our minds of all cluster. Next we should cultivate a positive attitude so that we can face any kind of confrontation with a composure and patience that is absolutely necessary to rein in whipped up passions. Only then can we generate solutions that are reasonable and peaceful.
We, as Christians must promote in a proactive manner mutual understanding and respect, compassion, collaboration and honest transactions among all people. The same principles of mutual understanding via continuing dialogues, practice of concessions and learning to accommodate etc. will help promote understanding.
Way of Peace ;Love as a Antidote to War. There is no way to peace. Peace is the way. Any society like the Naga society bogged down in conflict for decades, this revelation could be a beacon of hope. We can achieve lasting peace only when we realize that peace is the way, in and of itself.
Give peace a chance; enough is enough. War or conflict happen when in tolerance reaches epic proportions , when reason for war become greater than the sanctity of peace. Wars happen when we fail to realize the value being alive. Recent threats by the NSCN(IM) for war goes against the wishes of the entire Naga people. In the heart of every Naga peace is like a seed waiting in the desert to grow, to blossom. When we allow this seed to blossom inside, then peace is possible outside. We have to give a chance. Will we give peace a chance ?
If we look around us today, what do we find in our land and in our society ? Fear psychosis had thoroughly enslaved the people and there is acute famine of truth in the land. Nagas were known as upright, truthful, brave and trustworthy but gun culture in the hands of a small minority of the people had created such a fear in their minds that they refuse to open up their mouths. The fundamental question today is: In what way can peace be achieved in this fair land of the Nagas to put an end to this suffering? The greatest asset given to man is the conscience. It is this power to discriminate between right and wrong and can be said to be a spark of divine element in us. To succeed in our mission for peace in Nagaland, the first step is introspection of what had been done during the last more than two decades in the course of political movement. We should know where had we gone wrong. It is no doubt difficult to find fault on oneself. The Buddha said the mind can be great obstacle in the path of realization and at the same time , it can be a great vehicle on the way towards enlightenment.
Whatever had happened had already happened but now let us build a Temple to tolerance: In the name of sovereignty too much innocent blood had been shed. Economy had been crippled through extortions. The land is littered with too many corpses. Columns of smoke from fire of hates choke the air. The sun hides its face from this shame. Stars had fled from our sky. Many children have become orphans and many parents have lost their sons and daughters. Thousands wounds bleed. Our hearts bleed. Nagaland bleeds. Enough is enough. Stop this abomination. For God’s sake stop it. Live and let live. Live in peace . Life belongs to God. Like the rest of us, have you not grand mothers say, life is divine ? God is the giver of life, He alone can take it back. By killing in the name of independence or sovereignty , you make a mockery of them. On your lips, the name of God is scandal. Your zeal is blasphemy. Do we not recognize this ?
Multiple factions of the underground have not only destroyed the sanctity of the Naga political entity but brought shame to the entire people of Nagaland. Can they not live in the same family, when they can have truce with the Indian security forces ? For this ugly episode, we can not blame others but ourselves. The only remedy is that to bury these hatches once and for all.
Come, let us first watch the immolation of all hatreds.. Shed torrential tears and douse this fire. Let not our beloved Nagaland burn alive while we have a tear to shed. Yesterday was a nightmare. Let it go. Let us rise and build again together, for we too have a temple of to build; the temple of Nagaland where God delights to dwell as love.
By SC Jamir
Former Chief Minister & EX-Governor