[dropcap]L[/dropcap]et us please not play the blame game. I think it is time for all Nagas to grow up and leave our egos aside and swallow a bitter pill. The question to ask is: What have we learned and realized from this? Can something as heinous as this bring about positive change? Change that is desperately needed to keep up with the rest of the country (forget trying to get closer to the rest of the world). Can the state government (administrative and politicians past and present) now recognize how the rape of the state funds have weakened us socially as well as structurally. Can the Naga government over and under see the result of trying to make personal money by prostituting themselves out to the people who have brought ugliness that were never in our society from ancestral days until the 90’s, which has culminated into this shame for our entire Naga society.Most of us may not have been there physically but it is a shame that is shared by the entire Naga society within Nagaland and elsewhere in the world. We have shown the world and ourselves that we are totally and absolutely behind in this 21st century. Dimapur is definitely in the category of cities where goons live with street justice and where people cannot protest with pride and dignity, learning to channel our emotions in a positive manner for a positive outcome. This incident has shown us how inadequate, unprepared and ill-equipped our law enforcement and government administration is. Most of the people in mainland do not and will not understand most of the people in the Northeast states, especially the Nagas. Our social structure is very, very different from the rest of India. The fact that majority of Naga men hold women in high esteem (from age old days) as respected individuals and not just as a female to breed and as a sex object is something that most mainlanders have yet to comprehend (and that was sure shot to bits by a handful of high strung, young, thoughtless Nagas).
How do we get our high strung youngsters to channel their over load of testosterone in the right direction? Imagine if all the effort and energy that was spent on the 4th and 5th of March were poured towards improving their daily lives positively, what an amazing Nagaland we can make. The state government needs to invest in guidance counselors and make it compulsory for schools and colleges to have a minimum of 2 guidance counselors to reach out to young people in surroundings that they spend most of their waking hours. We are no longer isolated as we are in a digital age and the government needs to recognize that and bring the rest of the state up to date and focus on practically uplifting the young Nagas from all walks of life and not just work towards spoon-feeding them. Nagas are getting lazier and more egotistical as each generation comes along. We can no longer ignore it, but own up and recognize it, in order to move forward without this baggage. I have read time and again that “we need to clean our house”. Well, it is spring, let’s all spring forward, leave our ego and empty arrogance behind and take humility and positive strength which can make an impact that is opposite of what has been done recently.
We still definitely have to find a right way to curb the influx of unwanted elements and welcome the ones that have true and positive interest in helping and lifting the Nagas, the ones who respect and want to learn from us and wish the Nagas to succeed as well. There is nothing wrong in having passion, fire and being a fighter, as long as it is lit in the right way and you control it instead of letting it control you. All changes happen with passion and strive. How one uses it is what is important. In this case it started for a just cause which turned ugly when some of them lost control and let the fire explode and control them, instead of letting it burn out slowly, steadily and in control.
Our body needs all different the parts to function like a well oiled machine that needs nourishment/maintenance as does our state with different tribes and then some. Let us all come together, the young and the old, the leaders of different tribes and organizations, the government (administrative officials and politicians) and all those who have a positive stake in Nagaland’s growth. Let us feed our state the nourishment that it is desperately crying out for and maintain it and make it an amazing Nagaland that every single individual Naga can take pride in for the present and not just the past! We need to evolve positively and move ahead not regress and be a lost tribe! So let us Nagas all around the world pick up the pieces and salvage our beaten pride and together come out wiser from this episode.
Warm wishes with fire and passion,
Athsole Mero Olson
Jacksonhole, Wyoming, USA
