I am well aware that every aspirant political candidate promises big changes and development for the society as though they spend their personal money and belongings for the cause of Nagaland. The great deficit of Rs. 463.52 Shows that Nagas still need classes on Political Sciences. Such deficit is an expression of Nagas’ political face. The Government of Nagaland is always in deficit, but some Ministers and MLAs are becoming richer than the Government. Did any Naga Ministers and MLAs faced deficit in their personal accounts? May be money grows inside their kitchen.
Has there been any surplus in the financial statusof Government in the history of Nagaland? We demand more and do less. This is what we are most satisfied. The demand of people for good road is fulfilled to the extent that it last for just two or three months. I had the privilege of visiting many towns and villages of Nagaland. In a certain place, the villagers were so excited with the newly constructed road (just 8 kms)connectingto a town. I too traveled with a smile on my face three to four times. But my next visit after five months was a sad journey to be remembered (to be precise, June 2013). The bitumen road has now turned into some kind of strange land. The road lasted only for five months (February–June). The road disappeared. Did the contractors took back the blacktop road to his house? Oh! that cannot be. We cheat our own people and talk about better changes and development. We have developed better ways of cheating and earning easy money for ourselves. I am sure that our contractors and engineers are no less than others outside the State.
The same is with the roads inside Kohima and Dimapur towns. It is strange but Nagas are used to with such kind of life. Nothing seems to last in Nagaland. We may have the best contractors and engineers but the necessity of putting one’s best in one’s own work is still far away from us. A construction of small panchayat, few class rooms and rostrum may cost twenty to thirty lakhs. It comes to the double of its actual expenditure. Most money gets burnt in the hot hands of few individuals. Constructing one’s own house with six – seven rooms does not show that much expenditure. Sometimes, we need to be ashamed of our poor performances and works, and appreciate ourselves at our success. It’s a high time that success overcome our many failures.
All developmental works stop at Nagaland gate. The rest of India continue to progress and develop whereas Nagas boast about themselves having nothing. Are there any reliable factories and industries in Nagaland? With nothing in hand, we aim high dreams. We demand sovereignty, freedom and independence as though we are self-sufficient. We know only how to change second hand clothes into branded ones. Guwahati has become one of the fastest developing cities of India. The road in and outside the city are admirable. The skyscrapers and shopping malls are built with latest technologies. In Nagaland, even to build your own house and shops, you have to pay illegal taxes to numerous groups. With such negative atmosphere, how do we expect Nagaland to grow and develop to maturity? Shillong has been accorded with much cleanliness and natural beauties that are well maintained by the Government. Lakhs of tourist flow to it annually to enjoy the serenity of place and people. Such cities progressed and developed because they were meticulous in implementing projects at the best of their ability. Failures and corruptions may exist even there yet they have gone far ahead of Nagaland. Nagas are living 50 years behind others.
Can we call Kohima and Dimapur as cities? Just call them towns. They are still in their childhood stage (they struggled even at their infancy). They are still immature. Their immaturity is caused by many reasons. There are many octopus in Nagaland. No one is totally free to work and develop towns and villages. Therefore, no companies may set up their factories or industries in Nagaland (because of uncountable sharing system). The Government share, the ministers share, the undergrounds share (five to six groups trying to get hold of the Government of India without first uniting themselves), the contractors and engineers share, the neighbours share, etc. We are used to with sharing others wealth and properties. The same should not be done with what belongs to us.
Please visit places where bricks are sold. A place called ‘Eta Patta’ in the corner of Dimapur is the best examples of sucking poor man’s blood. You are sure to meet good and faithful tax collectors in such a place. They never fail their duty out there. You may want to construct your house out of your own torn pockets, but they will be there to make your trousers and shirts pocketless. Such groups live at the expense of the sweat of others brow. Who gave them such high and shameful privilege of collecting tax out there?If you do not pay them, latest bullets may find its place on your body. The truck may bring your dead body instead of bricks. Who should see that such collections of any sorts be stopped at the proper time? No one dares to do so because life is precious than bullets. Nagas will continue to live under such shadows. Have pity on Nagaland.
The best extortion stories exist in Nagaland. Therefore, we have many local tourists than foreign visitors.The lives of many government servants who live from hand to mouth are made even worse by necessarily cutting off 10–20 percent of their salary even before it reaches them. Such money is used to feed rotten and hungry mouths of people and groups who defile the social life. The best option is to let those people/groupsto work and give their 10-20 percent salary for the cause of other Nagas. That would serve better than to feed the parasites of Nagaland. Those who live at the expense of others’ hard work are cancerous to Nagaland. So either we stop the growth of such sickness or let Nagaland die a sorrowful death. Thisstep lies in the hands of the public more than political leaders who also help the growth of such sickness.
