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Dimapur, Jan. 13 (EMN): The post-harvest festival
of the Mech Kachari tribe, Aai Sagi, was celebrated by community members on
Monday at the Kushiabill-Darogajan village ground in Dimapur.
Aai Sagi signifies an offering of thanks to deities for plentiful harvest and to mark an occasion of merrymaking.
The president of the Western Sumi Hoho, Dr. Kakheto Zhimomi was the chief guest of the event, which was organised by the Mech Kachari Public Organisation. The guest of honour was the president of the Kachari Tribe Council of Nagaland, Ramesh Hasnu.
In his message during the programme, Zhimomi strongly emphasised on the need for preserving, promoting, and sustaining the community’s rich traditions and cultures and that of every other Naga community too.
Calling language the first element of one’s identity, Zhimomi expressed dismay that of the younger generation of Nagas are unable to even speak their mother tongue fluently.
‘Here, I am speaking Nagamese only out of compulsion so as for a common understanding when honestly, I don’t want to. Like that, we all must develop true love for one’s own language and use secondary language only when needed,’ Zhimomi said.
He appealed to the community at the gathering to make a commitment and promise that the land the community members own right now would not be sold in the future.
RIIN and ‘misconceptions’
He cleared ‘rumours’ and misconceptions about the matter of the proposed Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland (RIIN), which created confusion and fear among many sections of the Kachari community. He said that Dimapur, being the ancestral land of the Kachari people, need not fear about being ‘cut off’ from the RIIN and that it was ‘out of question’.
The president of the Kachari Tribe Council of Nagaland, Ramesh Hasnu, gave a brief address to. He appealed to the community to start developing a better understanding among the Kachari brothers and to love and support each other going forward.
Adding that it was indeed a time ‘where we now have to bring about a peace in the society,’ Hasnu advocated living in harmony together with other Naga communities to ensure peaceful coexistence. He added that only through unity, ‘we shall grow.’
The second session of the festival hosted the Mr. Aai Sagi 2020 and Miss Aai Sagi 2020 competition. After rounds of selection and trials, Tanvi Mech of Kushiabill village was crowned Miss Aai Sagi 2020 while Ashim Mech of Purana Bazaar was adjudged Mr. Aai Sagi 2020.