Politics of Agitation

Like the rest of the world, the politics of agitation may have found its way in to Nagaland too and it has come to stay. Like any other people whose history was shaped by agitations, even in India the success of many political parties is based on the politics of agitation also referred to as agitational politics. Not only under repressive regimes or governments but also in a democracy it has become an inherent and an important aspect of politics. Although it occurs more in the emerging economies but it is not completely absent in the developed countries too. It is also not untrue to say that the regional and the communist parties were and are more agitational in the country. India during independence can be said to have just one single party; the INC. The rise in the number of agitations has increased even in Nagaland especially since the coming of the current set of lawmakers in 2013. The last five years have witnessed the formation of many anti-graft organisations and also pressure groups with certain specific objectives. The first to be formed, in the last five years, would be the Acaut and the latest the Public Service Aspirants of Nagaland. While the former voices generally against corruption in public offices the latter’s objective is to bring meritocracy and equality in opportunity of government jobs. The coming together of these two groups to lead the recent agitations can be termed as a success, leading the government to listen to their demands. However, the last five years also witnessed the highest number of violent movements including lynching incidents and the highest cases of arson all around the state. The tussle in the ruling party, that started right after the elections were announced, resulted in the burning down of a party office in Dimapur and vandalism at the NPF party’s central headquarters. The Naga political groups and their cadres were also not spared and one camp was also completely razed to the ground. The biggest loss to public property occurred when the agitations against the ULB elections turned violent resulting in burning of many government offices in Kohima besides offices damaged in the other districts. All these incidents had injury and death involved. There were also instances when undercurrents of inter-tribal and inter-regional rivalries were evident. Although the politics of agitation was always present since statehood the present scenario is unparalleled. The events that are happening in the state needs some very in depth deliberations by all stakeholders. As is the case in all crowd uprisings, painting the image of the common enemy works but is dangerous. Citing the Arab Spring to evoke the young innocent Naga minds indicates either intellectual deficiency or a very sinister design. The death toll, when Libya and Syria are considered, exceeds 2 lac. since the uprising started in the region and is still counting. The initial death toll was reported to be about 35 thousand with about 900 in Egypt only. It is time the Naga intellectuals, if there are any, need to come out and say something. The path of the Naga society has reached a point where the need to ask direction is fundamental.