What a Contrast

By Z. Lohe | EMN Every morning we wake up to read our news papers, only the stories of cockfights in NPF flooded the front pages to meet our eyes. The party has been rocked during the last two years by leadership tussles and as per party’s motto ‘Fide no armies’ it has been having nonviolence and political nuclear clash endlessly between the two factions. In the process of cockfight, each cock fights hard to inflict deepest wounds on the other with sharpened beak and claws. Particularly, the crests of both the claimed cocks are badly injured as it no more looks reddish but blackened and fallen. One cannot stop the local media from highlighting the incessant brawls between two factions of NPF as both conveniently and leisurely waste their time to exhibit how best and efficient they can quarrel. The NPF is so used to such wrangles which has become part of their natural habit and without quarrel the party perhaps feels something amiss. It is also possible that quarrel is adopted by NPF as a strategy to pass off the remaining months as the excuse for not doing anything for the public in Nagaland in the name of crisis. Another possible treachery of 60 MLAs is to loot public exchequer under the belligerent atmosphere considered to be a better mechanism. The normal governance of an elected Govt. is supposed to publicise its achievements in respect of different Govt. Deptts. for public consumption in media. For instance, a new bridge is inaugurated, a road construction is completed, a road is repaired, a corrupt Govt. servant is suspended or dismissed, a registered company or a contract firm is blacklisted for poor workmanship or abandonment of the work, Doctors and nurses are posted to remote areas, PDS system is improved, water supply provided, sanitation improved, illegal immigrants deported, fuel adulteration detected and the Petrol pump sealed, etc. etc. In today’s context, not to speak of new achievements, but the greatest challenge is how to keep the existing assets maintained. According to the ideal of democracy, the 60 MLAs are elected to be cooks to prepare food for the citizens of Nagaland to eat. The contrast is, these elected cooks used to prepare the food and finish eating the preparation themselves forcing the citizens of the State to be mere onlookers. The reason being that these cooks have been suffering from severe hypesthesia and torpor. Thus, the general public owning the State is namesake as common man cannot enjoy the fruits of Statehood which are hijacked and hoarded by those few cooks. What a contrast! What good news NPF has to share with the people? Nothing except the endless stories of quarrel. NPF can be equated to that of an industry. We all know that all what we wear, use and eat are products of industries in India or from abroad. The industries do produce sufficient goods for consumers. Similarly, the wrangle industry of NPF manufactures huge amount of discords which are overflowing in Nagaland for entertainment of the public. Since the ruling party NPF is not engaged in developmental activities, it is duly engrossed in quarrel and so are the regular highlights about unabated quarrel over leadership. In politics, sadism becomes inalienable ingredient as the misfortune of the opponent is the delight of the other. In the prevailing situation, the NPF’s periodical wrangles are definitely to the delight of the other political parties for the hope that NPF would be crushed under its own weigh in 2018. It is therefore not unnatural for a political party to enjoy at the perishing of the opponent party. Few days back, a Congress leader asserted that NPF has ‘no more future in Nagaland’. The Congress leader can possibly be proved right should NPF being in other State and not in Nagaland. Had it been in some other State, not because of internal conflict which is secondary, but because of their dismal performance, voters will not spare NPF. Yet and despite of the sincere mass education on the consequences of unclean election by groups of people, the voters will repeat the past performance in 2018. In other words, voters will sell vote to those who have money. NPF members have hoarded lot of money all through these years since they used to siphon every fund including employees salaries without investing on developments. The commoners are impoverished during one and half decade due to lack of circulation of money and the degree of their need of money is steep high. Thus, one is ready to sell and the other is ready to purchase and there comes the meeting point. In the past, a party that had money had edge over the rest in elections. The situation in Nagaland has not changed. I therefore do not buy that ruling NPF out. In such a situation, the most corrupt leaders will once again come back with the mandate of the people to totally ruin whatever is left. In any of the advanced States, particularly a political party is not given chance to rule at longer stretch by the voters in the interest of their State. Whereas, it is otherwise in Nagaland as voters prefer dishonesty to honesty. What a contrast! I am fed up of reading the stories of NPF’s quarrel. Though I am not a member of this party and its none of my botheration who wins or loses, such stories do spoil one’s mood. When two elephants fight, it is the grass beneath them that suffers goes the old saying. Similarly, when the ruling party pays its total attention to wrangles, the welfare of the people gets crushed. But the basic set back is the voters in Nagaland who will go to vote for the wrong candidate and stand for anti-Nagaland party. What a contrast after having learnt so much lessons all these years. May God strengthen the righteous few.