‘We Can Apologize Without Being Guilty and Be Guilty Yet Unapologetic’

Naga community pride sans humility!

By Peter Rutsa | EMN

Nagaland has too many clans, khels, villages and tribes which will consider even random, non-premeditated act of injustice received by it’s members from a member of another community as an insult, challenge or as targeting the whole community befitting a public apology followed by promth delivery of justice lest ‘unpleasant conditions’ develop.

In total contradiction, the same Naga communities never take any crime or injustice committed by it’s members be it intentional or unintentional against people from other communities as a collective responsibility deserving a general appeal for forgiveness. This undesirable and questionable habit of getting too involved when injustice is done to one of ours yet becoming too detached when one of ours is involved in unjustified acts against people from other communities should stop!

Just as huge numbers of community members physical gathering demanding for justice when one of it’s members is harmed!

Can the same volumn of community members appear in humility and beg for mercy when a member of their community wrongs another?

Just as predictable condemnations and demand for justice flood our newspapers one after the other!

Can we also do the same asking for forgiveness when we find our foot inside the other shoe?

In Naga society, community pride is occupying more and more space each year with very little left for modesty! It is unhealthy for a society when communities harbour too much pride and publicly exhibit it’s success too excessively, while totally refraining from acknowledging it’s failures and expressing it’s shame.

rutsapeter@gmail.com