By Thepfulhouvi Solo (EMN)
A well known loud unrestrained RSS Mouth in Nagaland today praised Governor of Odisha in the local News Media for the Post of the Vice President of India.
Most people in Nagaland, -Naga or not- would welcome the Idea with great enthusiasm. It is very nice that for the first time in India, one Naga has at least come to be mentioned in connection with the Post of Vice President of the Country.
It would however have been more ethically beautiful to the Indigenous had the Idea germinated first from the ground of the Governor’s turf and then the majority in the Parliament supported, than it generated the idea from the RSS surface soil first.
The cultural ethical values & attitudes of the people from the mainland and the cultural values of the People of Nagaland is a little different. Sub-continent-size India has Billionaire, small Nagaland has only a precious few crorepatis, Nagaland Chief Ministers go to Delhi to gather Harvest of crops Nagaland has not sown, yet the democratic and ethical Values of the feeling of the people in the State is no less than that in the Country.
The native Culture in Nagaland has a deep Feeling of Equality of all, big and small, high or low and the search for limelight position in the Public Media is considered not very honorable. In the Mainland, the jockeying for public limelight is viewed not much with inhibition because the Religion sanctions the position of High and Low. The Caste in the social scale determines the worth of a Man more than the level of his/her Ethical quality or Sense. Equality in a society of Man is perhaps a more Ethical and higher Morality than to be in the Lime light.
A Barber, in an interesting small talk we used to have while he sometimes trims my hair at Dimapur once told me that before coming to Nagaland he worked in Bombay and Delhi.
A little surprised, I asked him, “then why did you come to Nagaland from such famous places, and here you must be experiencing many unpleasant difficulties from the people”?
“No”, he said emphatically, -except from one Community he named-, “most others are nice” and he said he likes one Community most.
“How can you determine the different Naga Communities?” I asked.
“Yes, I can, for example the Aos have very coarse hairs, others have soft hair and still others have silky hairs”, he said.
“Why did you not like Bombay or Delhi?” I enquired.
“Oh, the House Owners there take most of our earnings. They treat us very low, and make us sleep so congested on the floor that we cannot conveniently turn this side or the other at night. Here we feel very Free”, he said.
The well known RSS mentioned above may think he is endearing himself to the Person he praised so volubly never realizing he is doing a great disservice to the Person.
In Nagaland most Naga consider the RSS in unfavourable colour and very few self-esteemed Naga would value so openly liked to accept thin Media praise from a confirmed Saffron cloth.
When the present Prime Minister was not elected this popular, quite a few distinguished Indians even said sour things towards the Prime Ministerial Candidate.
Some even expressed they would not like to live in India if the Candidate happens to actually become the Prime Minister of India.
Today it is understandable the Prime Minister would hesitate to have as President a person who said unpalatable things about him in the Past. Yet he may select one who would bring Respect of the World & Economic success to India irrespective of whether people in Saffron likes him or not.
I am nobody to suggest his name but I have the freedom to prefer some over others and my likings go to Amartya Sen, -the world renowned Economist and the man the Prime Minister kicked out of University Chancellorship 2 years ago. In my view a renowned world Economist and a Naga would make a very nice combination of President and Vice President of India.
I once suddenly asked Baptist World Alliance President David Coffey to pray to God to give a Christian Prime Minister to India. He was so surprised and exclaimed– “You are asking me very great thing”.
I replied, “Yes, because in your Message this morning you said, -“Expect great things from God”. After a moment’s thought he sincerely said he would.
If David Coffey were here today I would have asked him the same prayer, this time for a good independent President of India and a Christian Naga for Vice President.
