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Our Correspondent
Mokokchung, Aug. 3 (EMN): The 14th book of Padma Shri awardee T Senka Ao titled “Akumlir Longkong (Mortal Trails)” was released by minister of Rural Development Metsubo Jamir at Eden Academy, Kumlong Ward in Mokokchung on August 3.
The author is a former editor of Ao Milen and has written 107 shorts stories. Ao informed that it took him the whole of COVID-19 pandemic lockdown to complete the book.
Jamir, while releasing the book, stated that the biggest legacy ‘we can leave behind is a story for others’ and urged the people to try to understand and gain deeper knowledge and thoughts as they read the book.
The minister also stressed on the extinction of the tribe's language especially among the younger generation. He observed that Ao’s could live anywhere and co-exist with other communities because ‘we are able to adapt and compromise our identity’, however, he maintained that there is the drawback of neglecting one’s own identity which may lead to extinction of one’s own language.
In this regard, he appealed to the Ao people to uphold and promote the Ao language even even while socialising and co-existing with others.
It may be mentioned that T Senka Ao was a war reporter for PTI during the East Pakistan War (1969-72) and Ao Milen editor from 1973-1979. He upgraded Ao Milen into an Ao vernacular daily in 1993 and worked for Ao Milen till 2006.
He was also conferred with the Nagaland Governor's Award in Literature in the year 2016 and was conferred the Padma Shri award in 2022 in recognition of his service as a tribal Ao author, teacher and journalist preserving Nagaland's Ao language through his writings over decades.