More than two decades of violence and depredations under the
guise of Naga freedom struggle inflicted a dead blow to the entire systems of
Naga polity. The much publicised Naga political issue is in a terrible mess,
the governance is in doldrum because of multiplicity of authorities both
constitutional as well as extra constitutional, there is no semblance of unity
among the Naga community both underground and overground, economy is
non-starter because of multiple extortions from all angles, fear psychosis
continues to subjugate the minds of the people. One exceptional and perhaps the
ugliest Naga political phenomenon is that the single body is adorned by twenty
six different faces. This abnormality speaks volume about the status of Naga
political picture. All the stakeholders especially the leaders of the
underground must recognise that this is the real malady in Naga politics and
unless it is blot out immediately Naga politics will be a mockery.
But today a positive mood is emerging among all sections of
the people of Nagaland. Once more a new dawn is visible that would surely
gladden the slumbering Nagaland, and ultimately rolled away the thick folds of
darkness in which it is enveloped. Once more, Christmas has awakened the
consciousness of the Christians for peace on earth and goodwill among men. The
Christians of Nagaland in particular have fully realised the kind of situation
we are faced is exactly like that of Ezekiel’s vision. We stood in the midst of
the valley of Dry Bones. On all sides as far as the eye could reach, there were
scattered heaps of dry bones. And what were these? Exhausted political
ideology, lifeless dogmas denuded of flesh and blood, the idealism which once
caught the imagination of the entire Nagas is now mere dry bones. How sad,
truth had been murdered at the altar of opportunism and egoism. How distressing
the sight! It appears that our bones are dried and our hope is lost. But we see
a silver lining in the dark cloud. Nagas are no longer novice about the
changing world. They can no longer be taken for granted.
The people of Nagaland without any exception yearn for peace
and normalcy. But either because of selfishness or ignorance, the leaders of
the underground continue to harp on the old obsolete and antiquated tune and
thereby creating confusions in the minds of the people as well as obstructing
the people to move forward. Is it not a time to choose either violence or
peace?
Technologically, we are living in a borderless world. In
reality however, we exist in compartments, separated by walls of caste,
religion and geography, in Nagaland the greatest danger is the wall of
tribalism. We acknowledge the information explosion as being a great
achievement and take pride in describing ourselves as a knowledge-based
society. Snowed under as we are with tons of information, we are facing a
paradox; we find that ignorance levels are growing as well. The rate at which
we accumulating information is not commensurate with the rate at which our
awareness is growing. How much more do we know reality and existence? The
amazing world of knowledge is action like a moat that prevents the passage of
even more important kind of knowledge, knowledge about self. The ignorance of
self is compounding individual tensions, creating discord in relationships and
is responsible for changing the character of the family as a reliable support
system.
The most dangerous in human society is the negative
emotions. It affects almost all spheres of life, whether in relationships or
social activities. The basic of life is to attain happiness and peace. All
religions advocate the art of discovering the self. The Nagas in general and
the leaders of the underground in particular needs to learn this tenet.
Sage Narada tells Sanatkumar in Chandogya Upanishad: “Only
he who knows self, goes beyond sorrow.” By knowing the self, the unseen becomes
the seen and the unknown becomes the known and all doubts get destroyed. But to
know self we have to shake off the falsehood in us and recognise illusion for
what it is. This is the way to dissolve all differences between individuals,
communities and faiths.
Peace is Life, War is Dead
There are two choices before the Naga people- Peace or
Violence. As believers in Christ, we shall truly uphold the tenet of
Christianity which advocates peace, communal harmony and mutual coexistence.
Christianity propagates compassion, fellow-feeling, selflessness and
self-transformation. Are the Naga Christians to follow this tenet?
Naga Christians are not so clear to get out of this combat
mode. First, we must try and clear our minds of all cluster. Next, we should
cultivate a positive attitude so that we can face any kind of confrontation
with a composure and patience that is absolutely necessary to rein in whipped
up passions. Only then can we generate solutions that are reasonable and
peaceful.
We, as Christians must promote in a proactive manner mutual
understanding and respect, compassion, collaboration and honest transactions
among all people. The same principles of mutual understanding via
continuingdialogues, practice of
concessions and learning to accommodate etc. will help promote understanding.
Way of Peace; Love as an Antidote to War.There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.
Any society like the Naga society bogged down in conflict for decades, this
revelation could be a beacon of hope. We can achieve lasting peace only when we
realise that peace is the way, in and of itself.
Give peace a chance; enough is enough. War or conflict
happen when in tolerance reaches epic proportions, when reason for war become
greater than the sanctity of peace. Wars happen when we fail to realise the value
being alive. Recent threats by the NSCN(IM) for war goes against the wishes of
the entire Naga people. In the heart of every Naga peace is like a seed waiting
in the desert to grow, to blossom. When we allow this seed to blossom inside,
then peace is possible outside. We have to give a chance. Will we give peace a
chance?
If we look around us today, what do we find in our land and
in our society? Fear psychosis had thoroughly enslaved the people and there is
acute famine of truth in the land. Nagas were known as upright, truthful, brave
and trustworthy but gun culture in the hands of a small minority of the people
had created such a fear in their minds that they refuse to open up their
mouths. The fundamental question today is: In what way can peace be achieved in
this fair land of the Nagas to put an end to this suffering? The greatest asset
given to man is the conscience. It is this power to discriminate between right
and wrong and can be said to be a spark of divine element in us. To succeed in
our mission for peace in Nagaland, the first step is introspection of what had
been done during the last more than two decades in the course of political
movement. We should know where had we gone wrong. It is no doubt difficult to
find fault on oneself. The Buddha said the mind can be great obstacle in the
path of realisation and at the same time, it can be a great vehicle on the way
towards enlightenment.
Whatever had happened had already happened but now let us
build a Temple to tolerance: In the name of sovereignty too much innocent blood
had been shed. Economy had been crippled through extortions. The land is
littered with too many corpses. Columns of smoke from fire of hates choke the
air. The sun hides its face from this shame. Stars had fled from our sky. Many
children have become orphans and many parents have lost their sons and
daughters. Thousands wounds bleed. Our hearts bleed. Nagaland bleeds. Enough is
enough. Stop this abomination. For God’s sake stop it. Live and let live. Live
in peace. Life belongs to God. Like the rest of us, have you not grandmothers
say, life is divine? God is the giver of life; He alone can take it back. By
killing in the name of independence or sovereignty, you make a mockery of them.
On your lips, the name of God is scandal. Your zeal is blasphemy. Do we not
recognise this?
Multiple factions of the underground have not only destroyed
the sanctity of the Naga political entity but brought shame to the entire
people of Nagaland. Can they not live in the same family, when they can have
truce with the Indian security forces? For this uglyepisode, we cannot blame
others but ourselves. The only remedy is that to bury these hatches once and
for all.
Come, let us first watch the immolation of all hatreds. Shed
torrential tears and douse this fire. Let not our beloved Nagaland burn alive
while we have a tear to shed. Yesterday was a nightmare. Let it go. Let us rise
and build again together, for we too have a temple of to build; the temple of
Nagaland where God delights to dwell as love.
