‘A final proposition, condition or demand specially one whose rejection will end negotiation and cause a resort to force or other direct action’ is the meaning of ‘Ultimatum’ according to Franklin dictionary. According to Cambridge, ultimatum means ‘when someone says they will do something that will affect you badly if you do not do what they want’. The Ultimatum is one of the better weapons for the helpless public to use it under compulsion. The Ultimatum is nothing less than the degree of threat. The implication of serving ultimatum is that the petitioner is ready with successive actions and prepared to bear consequences for those actions with gut. Serving ultimatum also implies that the petitioner, as the patience exhausted, has faint regard for the petitioned.
When and how the ultimatum option is used is when all other subtle alternatives are exhausted, then the ultimatum is applied. The ultimatum is the final bell rang for the one who is to be petitioned as it is always accompanied with a set dateline. The ultimatum is considered warranting to be served when the accountable person or the authority concerned is found unresponsive to the call for a common concern. Under the given circumstances, the demanding party is compelled to serve the ultimatum as the party feels ignored, ill-treated and aggrieved. The ultimatum is served against the attitude of negativity, of arrogance, of selfishness and irresponsibility.
For a Government, so long it remains responsible, responsive and accountable, it is not expected to be served at least with any ultimatum. A functioning Govt. is sensible enough to respond to the needs of its citizens in deeds and any ultimatum is not warranted. A responsible Govt. impresses its people with its policies and achievements. The leader of a responsible Govt. has the confidence of the people for his statesmanship. A responsible Govt. commands respect of its people, and the people do not dare to challenge the authority not for fear of repression but because of their due respect for the established authority.
Nevertheless, there can be no Govt. which is perfect. Imperfection is the nature of any Govt. under any capable leadership. A Govt. is a collective venture with myriad talents and egos of several individuals of both politicians and bureaucrats. All are not same and never of one mind. Irresponsible and greedy people are always in majority and therefore it is always a herculean task for the leaders to keep those under control. In the light of this nature, discrepancies in the governance are bound to come.
Yet, if the leadership is strong and capable with commanding charisma and determination to deliver goods to his citizens, he can bring immense positive changes under his Govt. A God fearing, domineering and dynamic leadership is what is the prerequisite for a delivering Govt. The commonly acceptable statesmanship will generate cohesion in the team. Also if an elected team in a Govt. has political will to bring about reformative measures and to make a difference in the governance, no power on earth can stop them from doing it.
Not necessarily having tendency to be critical with the present day Govt. but having observed the prevailing ground realities, I have noticed that today, serving ultimatum to Govt. is so frequent and in plenty. By my limited memory, nobody’s Govt. in the past had received as numerous ultimatums from the public as this Govt. has been served so. I wish those ultimatums to be money with which pending salaries for its employees can be cleared. I also wish those ultimatums served so far are panacea to the sufferings of common man. It is also observed that serving ultimatum to Govt. has become almost a normal fashion in Nagaland now. It seems that if anyone wishes to get anything done by the present Govt., normal and conventional approaches are obsolete except ultimatum.
When the cow gets too tired during herding for long distance she gets to its knees, lies down and refuses to get up despite beatings with stick. The last option for the lazy cow to get up and walk is to bite the tip of her tail. Similarly, the sole option for taming the present Govt. is to pinch its tail’s tip with ultimatum, if not it never gets up to work. Therefore, the suitable coded name can be ‘Ultimatum fuelled Govt.’. No problem. There is no dearth of ultimatums in Nagaland if at all ultimatums can fetch results.
–Z. Lohe