Soyimyanger Aier
The recently held assembly elections ended with astonishing results. Regardless of which political party won, the voters of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Kerala voted out their respective incumbent governments. I will neither glaze nor bash any political party, but let’s just say that the people were simply fed up with the incumbent governments. Long-term incumbency leads to public fatigue, and people who are more politically mature see this as a problem because an individual or a party holding public office for too long leads to more corruption, stagnation, concentration of power, etc.
In Nagaland too we have the same long term incumbency issue but with a unique twist. Our politics is not based on ideologies of any political parties but it is highly concentrated on individuals with resources who are closely guarded and supported by their respective community or clan or tribe. We have politicians starting with our CM who have been in power for many terms and decades. They have been in power for so long that they are now millionaires in a state on deficit which lacks proper infrastructure, good health care and an economy dependent on the center. They are like a herd of cattle who navigate in groups to where the power lies without any clear ideologies or political directions. They read the same old script of bringing political solution to the people of Nagaland, which is as boring as their debates in the NLA sessions. The same politicians, just in different political forms, have exploited Nagaland for decades. Even the younger candidates who got elected and of whom we all showered praises as young and dynamic leaders comfortably slipped into the old shoes. Nothing changed, they only got richer. I would also like to highlight the fact that we now have political dynasty taking shape in our state which I believe is something we should all discourage.
If only our people were politically matured and had good political conscience our politicians would have never used our government for their own benefits however, they thrive on the naivety of our people. Our people will always adhere to communal/tribal loyalty first before any ideologies, be it political or religious. We take too much pride in our own communal or tribal identity that we forget our collective goals. It is always our tribe first or our clan first but never Nagaland first. This is not something we should be proud of but instead it is a weakness of our people which hinders our progress as a race and this weakness has been so successfully exploited by the muscle men of our politicians. This illogical system of communal coherence has benefitted only the individuals in power and the only consolation prize the people get is that we get to elect some rich people from our own tribe or clan to live like kings in Kohima and ironically we take pride in it.
As the 2028 general election approaches fast, I am afraid Nagaland may continue with the same political system and, if so, we will continue to see the same people in power without any clear political course in their mind to take Nagaland towards progress. With absolute certainty I can say that their priority is their wealth, their power and their survival in the power race, not the people. Unless we come to our senses and understand important considerations like what a political party should stand for, what kind of political course or stance Nagaland should take within the Indian union, what good governance should be like, what differs a politician from a statesman and, most importantly, muster the courage to break out from the bondage of clanism, communalism and tribalism, we will continue to remain a third world shit hole.
~ Soyimyanger Aier
(The views expressed are those of the writer and not of the newspaper)