Benito Z. Swu
[dropcap]E[/dropcap]mpowerment of women will not come based solely on the merit of the slogan of “women empowerment.” Women have to walk the talk. Yes, it takes two hands to clap. Men have to agree that it has to happen for the good. And that is for which women has to work. As it is, we cannot pray for rain without working the field.
Why do we say that former MP Late Rano Shaiza was before her time? Most probably it was because she had a mind of her own, and her husband – a luminary in his own right – was always there reveling in her ways. Had she lived today as then, there would have been no talk of her being before her time.Today, when Nagas are definitely at the crossroad again, we need women who must work for real peace and truth. The climate change that we face today needs a change not just in the correct sense of the term, but equally a change in the climate to bring forth peace. The latest study states that a recent extreme drought in Syria between 2006 and 2009 in most probability was due to climate change and that the drought was an important factor in the violent uprising that began there in 2011 thereby drawing one of the strongest links yet between climate change and human conflict.
It is the women and the children who bears the brunt of any conflict and as such it becomes all the more important for women to work for peace. Elderly women in Nagaland needs to start giving serious mind to this serious handicap in Nagaland and work towards fine tuning women of today in the quest for empowerment to bring about the much needed peace and tranquility to the land. Who does not love life? We all love life and want it to continue the best it can be.
Nagaland is indeed different from the rest of the Indian States in respect of our attitudes and treatment to the women folk. Naga women are by and large modest and accommodative, the goodness of which is sometimes misconstrued as a weakness and taken undue advantage of. But in more sense than one, Naga women enjoy more higher social status and privileges than most other women elsewhere. This advantage needs to be exploited by the Naga women to play a major role in the quest of the Nagas as a people, for permanent peace, for that still elusive peace of mind. Mizos are all Mizos. Why not, atleast for once, all Nagas become just Nagas. And for a change in this climate change, the climate of truth and love – the greatest of all - has to reign. And again we all know, love cannot be bartered for denying the truth.
A tailpiece:
“The fact in the largeheartedness of that, such as one, was or is considered eligible to shoulder a responsibility is in itself a reflection of the magnitude of trust and belief that, is indeed, still not extinct. And that is enough. One does not need the wants or a position for the cup to runneth over. It is the mind that matters. And God freed the mind. If it happens, good. If it doesn’t, it will only be for the common and greater good. And God knows what is good. God is always right.”
