Everyone of us have heard about the recent earthquake in Chile and how many unfortunate people lost their lives. As soon as I read about the news on the internet, the first person that came to my mind was my friend Benhur Khamrang, the enthusiastic and vibrant Spanish speaking Naga musician living in Chile.

I checked the epicenter of the earthquake and it was awfully close to where he and his family lived. Benhur and his wife Rachel had been blessed with a baby girl a year and half back. I looked at their family pictures again and saw how happy they were…a different kind of sadness engulfed me.

I had not been in touch with Benhur for a while. He often sent emails about his music and photos of his whereabouts. But lately, I had not received any such emails.

There are times when something bad happens and you feel like you don’t want to know anything about it…because the truth might be worse. I thought if all is well, he’ll inform!

Days passed and I was getting kinda restless reading all the news about the quake. I decided to send him an email. The very next day I got a reply - “we moved to the US few months back…we’re safe and sound…a lot of people lost their lives in the place where we stayed…”

If someone knew Benhur, he’ll tell you that he’s a God fearing man. I interviewed him once and was amazed by his faith in God. He’s a man who uses his talent to glorify God. If one talks about Divine Intervention this story is a perfect example!

— Follow Yan Murry on Twitter: www.twitter.com/YanMurry

We have many similarities with the Mizo people - take into account our religious beliefs, physical features, eating culture and so on. This also means that what their society does can be replicated by Nagas.

Corruption is rampant in our state. An Indian columnist recently wrote about Nagaland describing it as “a toxic mix of corruption and insurgency”.

Some Mizos realized this menace of corruption was destroying their society and beliefs. So they started an organization called PRISM (Peoples’ Right to Information and Development Implementing Society of Mizoram)- that deals exclusively with tackling corruption. Even their former CM Mr Zoramthanga wasn’t spared.

If we still don’t have such an organization in Nagaland, can we replicate this idea? After all, it should not be that tough since our “similar” brothers from Mizoram have done it.

Here is an article written by Sanat K Chakraborty on PRISM.

This is how Mizos fight corruption in Mizoram

A citizens’ action group in Mizoram spearheading an anti-corruption campaign has devised a unique way of tracking down corrupt politicians and Government officials, unearth their wrong doings by using RTI and put them on trial through courts.

It’s a kind of secret public balloting process which they call eiru thlan bawm through which the corrupt individuals are identified. “It’s a pretty simple method,” explains Vanlalruata, president of a prominent civil society organisation, PRISM (Peoples’ Right to Information and Development Implementing Society of Mizoram).

“People are asked to write down on a plain paper the names of individuals who they think are corrupt along with some specific charges against them, and then drop it inside the eiru bawm (corruption ballot box) installed in certain designated places in the State capital,” he said.

After the expiry of the specified date, the boxes are opened in a public meeting. The allegations are scrutinised for their veracity and processed for filing of FIR against the accused individuals. Sometimes, RTI is also used to elicit more information about corrupt individuals accused by people.

In the past three months, PRISM received over 500 cases from public. Most of the allegations have been made against bureaucrats, Government contractors and politicians, who have acquired assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

Out of the 100 odd cases so far scrutinised, at least 40 cases were found to be ‘fit for investigation’, PRISM president said. All of these cases are against officials who have amassed unaccounted assets, such as houses and farmlands in Mizoram.

PRISM along with other organisations have physically verified questionable assets mentioned in public letters and complaints, and the groups found some ‘basis’ for filing RTI and subsequently FIR against the corrupt officials.

“We will be proceeding against them soon,” Vanlalruata said, as more and more people are demanding action against corrupt politicians and officials.

“Corruption has become a real menace in our State,” said Vanlalruata and many organisations and people have been trying to find various ways to do something about it. He believes that the eiru bawm experiment — an idea which was drawn from the proceedings of an egg-theft case in a Mizo village during the British rule — would have a very deep impact on various Government departments.

The theft case goes like this: In an eastern Mizoram hamlet, villagers often complained of missing eggs from chicken coops of their houses. No one knew who was stealing the eggs. So the village authorities hit upon the idea of distributing ballot papers to each household on which the family members were to write the name of the person who they thought was stealing their eggs.

The ballots were secret and collected by persons appointed by the village authority. It was opened in a public meeting and all the ballots had the same name written on it. The man protested. He went and complained to the British officials but there was hardly anything they could do. No action was taken but after that the eggs stopped disappearing.

Eiru bawm campaign is likely to have similar impact to strengthen RTI process in the State. In fact, the organisations say, there is information that suddenly the empty coffers of certain departments are overflowing with funds again. “This happened because corrupt officials who took the Government money are returning the money before someone raises a finger at them.” Vanlalruata opined.

People are emboldened by the fact that something is happening with their own actions at last. Recently the arrest of a former State police chief and the pressure on former Home Minister Tawnluia, allegedly involved in police modernisation scam, and former Chief Minister Zoramthanga — all these are making people believe that no one can escape the law if people persist in following up cases.

Recently, the Gauhati High Court had ordered the State Anti-Corruption Branch to probe into allegations of disproportionate assets — Rs 18.65 lakh worth Maruti Grand Vitara, a luxurious mansion in Aizawl’s posh Chaltlang area and a huge Aii Puk Farm — owned by the former Chief Minister.

By Rahul Karmakar
No one messes with Mireuding, the guard- ian spirit of Nagaland’s Benreu village. Janile, his flesh-and-blood sister, found it out the hard way. “Mireuding would fling her from wall to wall if she failed to obey his command,” says Janile’s granddaughter Azeu Thou, 30.

Janile ceased to be the medium for her supernatural brother Mireuding. He apparently vanished from his mother’s womb, streaking out like a fading star after she died in 1989. But that has not stopped him from watching over some 100 Zeme Naga families — both Christians and so-called ‘animists’ — of Benreu. And keeping a leash on malevolent spirits from his perch atop Mount Pauna, Nagaland’s third largest peak overlooking the village sited 4500 ft above sea level.

One of Mireuding’s mysterious herbs, villagers say, is Cailihei found on the Pauna range. But the herb, purportedly potent enough to bring the dead back to life, can only be found accidentally. The hard-to-get Cailihei, featuring extensively in Naga folk tales, was precisely the reason why locals believe Hanuman uprooted Mount Pauna to ensure he had the right herb to revive Lakshman.

Acerbic honey
Cailihei has remained as elusive as Mireuding. Benreu, though, has had a cure-all alternative for ages: Telianedui, or the bitter-sour honey, from the hive of the tiny, stingless bee called Teliane. “They don’t bite, but an agitated swarm will snip off your hair,” says my host Vatsu Meru. “Maybe, Benreu is the only place where you can get your hair styled by angry bees.” He adds that the honey gets stronger and sourer with age, and takes care of every ailment, even snakebite.

Meru’s house is barely 500 metres from the eight-cottage Mount Pauna Tourist Village beyond Benreu’s community playground where three ornate totems stand for the three Zeme ‘khels’ or clans. The house provides a stunning view of the high, cloud-covered hills around and the plains of Assam yonder. And way down is the Teipuiki river serving as Nagaland’s boundary with Manipur, where more than half the Zeliangs, Zemes and Liangmais together, live.

Like all villagers, Meru has a colony of resident Telianes, which make their hives inside barks of trees with a waxy, funnel-like entrance that’s too toxic for other insects. He also rears hornets, whose nutrient-rich larvae or Kuidine are a delicacy. “They are costly at Rs 500 per 250 grams,” says fellow-villager Ikiesappe. Hornets are scared of the Telianes, I am told, for the little ones nibble off their antennae if attacked.
Kuidines are no longer the common Naga’s power food, but something’s that dirt cheap at Benreu is Nembeipok or ginseng, as the rest of the world calls it. Villagers trekking up or down to their paddy fields collect the aphrodisiac herb from rocky outgrowths. At Rs 120 a kg, you can have it by the quintals. But the back-breaking ‘single’ road to Benreu, the 120 km stretch from Dimapur or the 67 km landslide-prone track from Nagaland’s capital Kohima, won’t let you have that many.

The road, perhaps the only downside in this unfrequented paradise, serves a conservation purpose though. Eight years ago, villagers had banned hunting of wild animals and birds in forests above the road, allowing ‘checks-and-balances’ hunting below. Besides giving a fresh lease of life to the Blythe’s tragopan, the ban has placed Benreu among the most biologically vibrant areas in Nagaland, otherwise infamous for eating ‘anything that moves’. “A piece of ginseng dipped in Telianedui can work wonders for your health,” says Meru. Villagers are known to use ginseng as well as some no-name medicinal leaves to elevate their dishes from the mundane. The herb-enriched Tangnengkwa (snail) curry, for instance, is a heady — and healthy, asserts Meru — companion for Nrizau, the local rice beer.

Oldest morung
There’s nothing like feasting and getting high in a morung, the traditional dormitory where khel-specific male Nagas gather for community bonding. The Benreu tourist village offers a recreational morung, but it’s not a patch on the oldest one in the village below. The wooden benches and beds within, and skulls of bears, boars and deer hanging overhead, add a touch of eeriness to the morung’s dark interior.

Benreu, villagers claim, also has one of the highest concentrations of the highly-prized, semi-wild mithun. The wealth of a villager is gauged by the number of mithuns he or she owns. The animal, marked for special feasts, roams the wilderness unless it’s time to come home for addictive salt. “Anyone can offer salt to the mithuns, but only the owner has the right to sell/kill them for food,” says Meru.

Each mithun has one of its ears nicked at one or more points to identify its owner. The mithun’s trails have turned into trek routes for adventure enthusiasts. Along these routes are Tancuhebung, a natural curative bathing pond, Tingkaiki, a mysterious cave with an air hole that blows hot air throughout the year and Hetia Kerelibe, the echo-producing boulder. Oodles of pure oxygen won’t let you feel tired. But if you do, there’s Nembeipok and Telianedui to fall back upon.

This promising young computer wiz named Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data — including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper “laptop.” In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he’ll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all. This is a video of his presentation at TEDIndia 2009. I though this might interest you too.

By Dr. Paul Pimomo, Professor of English and Co-Director, Africana and Black Studies, CWU, Ellensburg, WA, USA

Introduction:

Honorable Chief Minister, Mr. Neiphiu Rio, council of ministers, political and civil leaders, my dear overseas friends, and ladies and gentlemen:

At this time in Washington State in the U. S., it’s midnight and I would be dreaming. It’s a real joy for me to be here in Kohima, a dream come true. I’m up here at the podium this morning, instead of down there listening, not because I know more about Naga society than the rest of you. I’ve lived in self-exile for twenty-five years in the United States. On the other hand, you live and work here, you run the government, you are the leaders of the Naga society; you know better than I do the needs of our people. But in general, everybody in this room knows as well as the next person what Nagaland needs for a better future: unity and peace, hard work and honest living, and goodwill toward one another. I have no new ideas to share with you today, only a new voice for the same truths in a different context from a different set of experiences. I make a living teaching literature, so I’m going to tell you stories from different parts of the world, including Nagaland, to illustrate the two central goals of human social life throughout history, namely the common good and personal happiness through acceptance and respect in the community. Most of you will recognize the stories, so I ask your indulgence. I shall end my talk with a comment on what I see as the most pressing need of our generation, because without it Nagas have no future as a people.

Being a Naga in the world sometimes feels like an ant among elephants in the forest. You feel tiny, vulnerable, almost non-existent. You can be crushed under foot by all sorts of animals, not because they hate you but because they don’t know you exist. So as Nagas, we learn to do two things to survive: First, like ants, we have to come together and build a large mound or anthill so that even elephants take notice of it and don’t walk all over us. Second, like some ants, we have to adapt, evolve, and grow wings with which to take flight and soar even above the elephants. I’m talking about imagination, vision, and acquired worldclass professional skills. Wings. And if there are enough of us who can fly around the anthill at the approach of other animals, we can ward off threats and protect our city and our spot in the forest. Every creature in the forest knows ants can bite and sting. Ants know that too, but that doesn’t carry us far. Every ant knows that it cannot survive alone; it must be part of a large anthill. This is true especially for small groups of people like the Nagas.

Let me say bluntly that Nagas have not built a viable modern community; we are too busy tearing down each other and carting away for ourselves nature’s goods in our land and the money that comes in from India, forcing the vast majority of people in the villages and townships into poverty, and an increasing number of individuals with wings to flee the anthill of our homeland. The thing is, it doesn’t have to be this way. That’s why we are all here today. We are here because we believe in the possibility of a thriving Naga homeland. We believe in the common good of the Naga people and we know time is running out on us.

PART ONE: The Common Good.

If we were to look at world history we will see that every group of people that have contributed to human civilization has had the common good of the community as one of its core values. This is the case despite the diversity of cultures and systems of governance.

Ancient Greece
One of the earliest myths in the Greco-Roman tradition on the purpose of social life comes from the fifth century BCE Greek Sophist Protagoras. In his “Great Speech” Protagoras tells of a primordial time when the gods formed creatures and animals, including human beings, from the elements of the earth. They then appointed Prometheus and Epimetheus to distribute various abilities and gifts to all creatures in ways that would ensure the survival of each kind. Epimetheus messed up the distribution work. He was so liberal with the gifts in the beginning that by the time he reached the humans he had nothing left to give them. Humans were left naked and unprovided for. When his friend Prometheus saw the defenseless humans, he took pity and decided to steal a survival kit from heaven for them. Taking Prometheus’ gifts of fire and technical skills, humans were able to make food and build shelter for themselves. But they still lacked one critical thing: the ability to organize themselves into a viable group, not even against the threat of decimation from bigger and stronger animals.

Zeus feared humans would become extinct. So he sent Hermes to them with the gifts of justice and shame, that is to say, a sense of social right and wrong and mutual respect, which of course are the basis for community and government. Not wanting to commit Epimetheus’ earlier mistake, Hermes asked Zeus if he should give the gifts to every human being or just to a select few. Zeus’ command was clear: “To all, let all share in them. There would be no cities if only a few shared in them as with the other crafts. And lay down the law from me to kill anyone not able to share in shame and justice as a disease to the state” (Luschnig).

As you can see, Protagoras’ story is clearly an argument for a democratic form of government based on two foundational beliefs: the god-given human ability to appreciate justice as fundamental in our dealings with each other and the human responsibility to reason and to contribute to the well-being of the whole. These beliefs were the basis for the Greek city-state.

Judeo-Christian
A reinforcement of the theme of justice and reciprocity in the Judeo-Christian tradition can be found in the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20, especially verses 12 to 17:

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. . . .[and so on].

Later the New Testament expanded on what it means to be an upright person and a follower of Jesus. This is shown tellingly in Acts 4 and 5, which describe the practice of egalitarian community among the early Christians:

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was with them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put them at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need (Acts 4: 32-35).

For Ananias and Sapphira, the couple who cheated, the punishment was dire. What happened to them is reminiscent of Zeus’ law of capital punishment for people who become “a disease to the state” by their inability “to share in shame and justice.”

Buddhism and Jainism
Eastern belief traditions, especially Buddhism and Jainism from the sixth century BCE on, anticipated the New Testament teaching of benevolent empathy. Following Buddhism, Nattaputta Vardhama (popularly known as Mahavira), founder of Jainism, emphasized non-violence as the basis of life. The sacred Jain canon, The Acaranga Sutra, has a section on The True Doctrine of Non-violence, Ahimsa. The doctrinal link between it and “Thou Shall Not Kill” (of Exodus 20) is obvious. The Ahimsa rule says that “One should not injure, subjugate, enslave, torture or kill.” It was taught by Mahavira as a basic human responsibility necessary to the viability of any community. The Arhats (Blessed Ones) considered non-violence as the foundation of all knowledge. They proclaimed it as “axiomatic.” One of the earliest articulations of what has come to be known as The Golden Rule can be found in verses 25 and 26 of the Ahimsa chapter whose purpose is to teach empathy, to refrain from causing suffering and pain to others because no one wants to suffer and experience pain.

My point in reviewing and quoting from familiar ancient texts from both East and West is to suggest that the principle of the common good, starting with peaceable co-existence, was considered the primary universal human value.

Let’s move to Africa
Peace and the common good are further confirmed by beliefs indigenous societies kept current and transmitted down the generations through oral literature. It is common knowledge that traditional African folk cultures, despite their variety, believed in the continuity of life among the living, the dead, and people yet to be born. For this reason, the path in an African village leading to the burial ground was considered sacred. Chinua Achebe’s short story “Dead Men’s Path” is partly a retelling of this folk belief. In it, the village priest explains to the arrogant headmaster of a colonial school, which sits on the village path, why the path should not be closed: “The whole life of this village depends on it. Our dead relatives depart by it and our ancestors visit us by it. But most important, it is the path of children coming in to be born.”

Hence it was taboo to desecrate it or block it, for doing so would endanger the wellbeing of the village community — present, past, and future.

Indigenous Societies
An example of a similar worldview from another continent is the Native-American story of Gluskabe and Grandmother Woodchuck, narrated by Joseph Bruchac in “The Circle is the Way to See.” It is said that Gluskabe, the prototypical human being, had a hard time hunting, so he asked his Grandmother to make him a good hunting bag. After several unsuccessful tries, Grandmother Woodchuck plucked hair from her own belly and made one for Gluskabe. The young man promptly went out to the forest and announced to all the animals that the world was going to end and they would all die unless they came into his bag. All the animals heeded his call and walked into his bag. Gluskabe proudly took the magic catch to his grandmother, saying he needn’t ever hunt again because they had more meat than they would want for the rest of their lives.

But Grandmother Woodchuck was not pleased. She told the young man: “You have not done well, Grandson. We have plenty of meat now, but what about the future? What about the children and the children’s children? They will die of hunger. You cannot do this; you must do what will help our children’s children.”

Grandmother Woodchuck went on to tell her grandson that every generation has the responsibility of weighing the consequences of their actions on the land and its creatures for seven generations to come. It is said that Gluskabe obeyed his grandmother and did the right thing by releasing the animals back to the forest.

Grandmother Woodchuck’s long vision of intergenerational responsibility represents Native American social teaching. Bruchac goes on to show that, like Grandmother Woodchuck, Native-American oral culture functions from a worldview which sees not only all human beings as interconnected, but human beings as part of an interwoven natural circle of soil, water, air, light, plants, insects, and animals of all description. In short, humans are part of the natural order, not above it. We are earthlings not extra-terrestrials. Hence the need to recognize that the circle of life is the way to see.

PART TWO
The Naga Story: The Village and Colonial Legacy

Coming now to Nagaland and our culture, the Naga story can be seen as an abridged version of the world’s. In one lifetime, Nagas have traveled a civilizational journey that took some groups thousands of years. The journey from the rudiments of life in a self-contained Naga village to the Global Village of space travel, live global broadcast, the internet and email, mobile phone, instant messaging and twitter, is truly the stuff of dreams. But this highly contracted Naga journey has the two guiding principles in the global story of civilization that I’ve have been talking about: the Naga village was a model institution of the common good , and commitment to justice and human rights is evident in the Naga struggle for our identity against colonial occupation and postcolonial domination.

The Village community:

Like all peoples of the world, Nagas, too, have myths and folklore associated with our origin, migration, and settlement in the homeland. And, as important, the values that define us as a people. We are all familiar with the story of the founding of Khezhakenoma. Leaving aside the other details, I’d like to remind you of how Koza and his family were blessed with a Sacred Stone, which miraculously doubled whatever crop they placed upon it. You will also recall what happened to the stone years later. Mother Koza saw her sons quarreling bitterly over whose turn it was to spread the rice on the Sacred Stone. She realized then that the stone was becoming the source of greed and hostility among her sons, so she exploded it by lighting a big fire under it.

The thing to note here is the challenge Koza’s sons faced in sharing the Sacred Stone, the abundant source of the common good. That Mother Koza would destroy the multiplier of goods for the sake of harmony among her sons is a telling event. Like Grandmother Woodchuck in the Native American story, Mother Koza took a long view of life and acted decisively and with prescience. She got rid of the source of discord among the Koza people. The absence of the Sacred Stone did not destroy the Kozas, however. We’re told that they increased and multiplied and built six more villages, and some more and so forth, so that many of us sitting here today are the descendants of the Koza people.

Since the time of the Kozas, until recently, the village was the Naga universe; the rest could only be imagined. The village was the center of Naga life to a degree that constituted our very identity as human beings. (My friend Visier Sanyu, here, has done good research on this subject). Even today, economic circumstances have forced many of us to leave our villages, but the village has not left us. The yearning for community quintessencialized in the Naga village is deep-seated in the Naga being.

There is a reason for this of course. Our forebears did not have a literate educational system in the form of colleges and universities. But they had an effective oral and practical system of education within the village community. Those of us who are familiar with Easterine Iralu’s historical novel titled A Village Remembered know that it is based on Khonoma village, but we recognize our own villages in it. I want to quote a passage from it on the role of the traditional Naga dorm parent. He is teaching the boys of the Morung about citizenship in the village community. Here are Apfu’s words:

If you are at a community feast and take more than two pieces of meat, shame on you. Others will call you glutton, worse, they will think to themselves, ‘has no one taught this boy about greed?’ This is the key to right living – avoiding excess in anything – be content with your share of land and fields. People who move boundary stones bring death upon themselves. Every individual has a social obligation to the village. When you are a few years older and your hearts are strong within you, you will take the responsibility of guarding the village while others will go to earn a great name for our village. Your roles are different but each is as important as the other. Never be arrogant, respect yourself sufficiently so that you fulfill the responsibilities of manhood. (25)

Naga leaders, starting with the Chief Minister and his cabinet, state legislators, Naga national leaders, and church and civil society elders are the modern-day parents and Apfus of Naga society. A relevant question then is: How much of the Ten Commandments, how much of the traditional Morung guardians, how much Acts 4 and 5 Christianity do we see in the lives of our nationalist leaders, in the elite class of the state government, and among the church leaders in Nagaland? I’m not suggesting that there isn’t; only asking how much? For Nagas to survive as a people, our leaders must talk straight and live straight, and lead straight. They can’t just talk the talk; they must walk the walk.

The truth is, Naga society is in a crisis of leadership – of visionary leadership — for more than a quarter century: leadership with a plan to get us to the vision. I hope I’m wrong, but it seems everybody wants to be a leader but is clueless about the destination and the way to get there. And how can we talk about the common good of a people without good leadership — a leadership founded on values developed within communities and handed down to succeeding generations? For us Nagas, those values come from the village community, further reinforced by Christian tenets of equality, justice and mercy. Owe to us leaders of this generation of Nagas who break the sacred tradition of the community’s well being. Let me quote the words of the most powerful living person on earth, President Barack Obama, who said in his inaugural speech on January 20: “We cannot escape history. What we do will go down in history whether we like it or not.” This truth applies to the present generation of Naga leaders as well.

Colonial Legacy and Human Rights

The second goal of social life is to secure a community’s dignity as a people and respect for the individual within the community. Nagas entered modern world history in the form of British colonialism and American Protestant Christianity in the 19th century. And since 1947, the major issue has been the Indo-Naga political conflict. More than 60 years later, two things have clearly emerged. First, it is crucial for India to recognize that Naga resistance to outside domination has become constitutive of the Naga way of life. That’s who we are. Second, for Nagas, it is time to take responsibility for our lives in the present and for the future, including the kind of role we wish to play in the unavoidably interconnected world of the twenty-first century.

Let’s try to sort out both points in a nutshell. History matters. The Naga experience of being twice colonized has compounded and bedeviled the Naga national movement and Nagaland State politics. It was British colonialism that gave birth to Naga nationalism and it was postcolonial India’s domination that gave birth to armed resistance against India.

Let’s face it, the Indian government’s position on Naga self-determination was colonialist from the start. The first Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, failed to recognize, so have successive Indian leaders since, the irony of the then newly independent India’s refusal to allow Nagas the same freedom from British colonial rule that it celebrated for itself in 1947. Nehru used the Indian military to stamp out a peaceful democratic Naga movement for independence. Nagas responded by raising a resistance army of our own. India countered by creating the State of Nagaland to de-legitimize the movement. After all these decades, we are still in a political impasse, more accurately, a very uneven stalemate.

Following a pragmatic of the doable rather than fanaticism of absolute principle, we can state the positions of the two sides dispassionately in hopes of getting out of the deadly impasse. First, Nagas don’t have to be an independent nation, separate from India, any more than, say, Sikkimese have to be. Second, equally possible, Nagaland doesn’t have to be a part of India any more than, say, Myanmar has to be a part of India. Third, it is easy to see that behind India’s stand is political expediency given the geopolitical facts of the region. Fourth, Naga commitment to human rights, specifically the right of self-determination, is something postcolonial India should be able to appreciate even if it is not politically expedient for India. The question is, where do both sides go from here?

Three Options.

Option One. India can relent its tough stand, invoke article 3 of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, allow a fair and internationally monitored Nagas referendum on the right of self-determination on the lines of the 1951 plebiscite (a lot of things have happened and changed since). Either way, India can take the result and do its best to help Nagas transition into self-sufficiency. This will be the most honorable and dutiful route for India to take. It will earn the gratitude of Nagas and the admiration from the world community.

Option Two. Nagas can give up our demand for sovereignty and enter into a fresh collaborative relationship with India on the principle of mutual benefit. For this to work, all three segments of the Naga society – Naga nationalists, state government, and civil society – must come together to deliberate and unite behind a new arrangement – whatever that may be.

Option Three. Do neither. Go on with things as they are and let them fester to the bitter end. This is the option to hell. And yet this is the road we are on as of now. Both sides are adamantly locked into their respective positions, and each expects the other to change while doing nothing on its part to change the unjust, inhuman situation they have created. The only way out is for both Indians and Nagas to get their heads out of the sand. That is to say, grasp the problem as something that can be amicably resolved through mutual respect and recognition of each other’s wellbeing and rights. That would change the way the problem appears to both sides. It would lead to a vision of a brighter future for both parties.

For India, Option One has crucial moral and historical implications. Indians might realize that their government’s policies and actions in Nagaland have led to too much suffering and caused unspeakable cruelty on both sides and have therefore created a moral burden for them and for India. They might see then that for India to refuse to settle the Naga Question once and for all is to be unworthy of its illustrious past as well as of its present status as a leading postcolonial nation in the world. They might also realize that having strong, friendly neighbors in the Nagas to the northeastern border will be good for India’s future. If nothing else does, as I said above, the 2007 UN Declaration on indigenous peoples’ rights offers India a timely platform for starting a new transformative relation with Nagas. Does India have the courage and the wisdom to act?

For Nagas, the economic advantages of Option Two are even greater. Tremendous opportunities may be had by aligning ourselves with India, a fast-growing economic power in the world alongside China, Japan, and South Korea. India is already improving relations with China, the leading nation in Asia. India is an official observer of China’s powerful Shanghai Co-operation Organization. Both countries are members of the ASEAN Development Bank, which, like the Bank of the South in Latin America and the Development Funds of Kuwait, UAE, and Dubai, not to mention the European Union, have begun to challenge to once unrivaled power of the IMF and the World Bank. In other words, the economic geography of the world is beginning to be redrawn at the present time in favor of Asia, particularly China and India, and an agreeable resolution of the Indo-Naga problem will doubtless put Nagas in an advantageous position. One caveat, however. A headlong rush into global capitalism without thought of its effects on other aspects of Naga society, especially the erosion of the traditional values of community and respect for one another, may not be worth it in the long run. But for the present, the immediate tasks are more urgent.

Conclusion:
To wrap up, historically speaking, twenty-first century Nagas are the political children of British colonialism and postcolonial India. Together, and with our help, they have exploded the Sacred Stone of our ancestral village community, and we are a groping nation of people killing one another and fighting over scarce goods. We can decide to stay mired in this dark, violent pit without exit, or, like our ancestors of Khezhakenoma, we can move on to build new villages in the brave, new global society. Nagas must choose quickly and wisely, or be a lost nation. There are any number of things we need to do, but two are foundational and indispensable: first, stopping the inter-factional violence; second, unifying the three constituent segments of Naga society (Nationalists, state government, and civil society) under one shared system of governance. Once this is done, we can begin the task of Naga nation building, which we hope will be an improved version of the Naga village in the 21st century.

That would require change both internal and external. And there are inspiring models to draw from other parts of the world – the African American experience, for instance.

African Americans made their long, painful march to freedom, human rights, and finally into leadership of the wealthiest, most powerful country on earth where their ancestors were once slaves. They did this through commitment to community and to one another and through faith in God. From slavery, when they were uprooted from Africa and orphaned through slave auction blocks, they cried out in songs of lamentation and grief as in “Sometimes I Feel like a Motherless Child.” And when their masters introduced them to Christianity, they empowered themselves through unwavering faith in the steadfast goodness of Jesus. They relentlessly held on to their dignity as children of God and worked their way to physical and spiritual freedom in the person of Jesus, as testified by their spirituals of hope and freedom like “Steal Away to Jesus.” That was the 300-plus years of African American journey from the cotton fields and swamps of the South to the White House.

Nagas have had it much easier despite the challenges to our rights and dignity as a people. But we have a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the world. In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his historic speech, “I Have a Dream,” and declared that the Negro was not yet free in America and that America had given blacks a bad check. 1963 was also the year Nagaland became a state in the Indian Union and many Nagas cried foul on India. In the United States, the government and the people heard Martin Luther King’s cry, and African Americans marched on ahead – disciplined and united in faith and in a nonviolent struggle. This year, in 2009, forty-four years later, the United States has its first Black President, Barack Obama. This year, 2009, forty-four years after the creation of Nagaland State, the Government of India is as adamant as ever on the Naga political question and the Nagaland state government is presiding over a society almost entirely dependent on India. Nagas are still under military domination by India as well as at its financial mercy. Naga nationalist factions are engaged in a deadly confrontation with each other. And the Naga people in towns and villages have become powerless prisoners of the system from forces within and outside the Naga society. Colonialism ended for Indians, but not for Nagas. Religion, which is supposed to see people through the hardest of times, seems ineffectually, tantalizingly caught up in rituals of worship and endless prayers with precious little work – bereft of practice. We’re like ants without an anthill, scattered and trampled upon by every animal in the land.

But Nagas, too, have a dream — of a peaceful Nagaland where every child, woman, and man is fed and housed reasonably comfortably; where the traditional values of community and respect for the individual prevail, and where we are free to work and prosper, to worship and praise God, and to create and celebrate our rich cultures and nature’s bountiful gifts in these hills. We need to start building the mound, our own anthill in the global village. For that, we need everyone’s commitment and contribution starting with, I repeat, first, Naga Unity — bringing all three sections of the Naga society under one political system. We cannot fly with one wing alone. Second: learning to live in the fast changing and an interdependent global society. Nagas cannot live alone. We need our neighbors and the rest of the world, starting with the good will of Indians and India.

To the young people in this room, as a Naga elder, and in the tradition of the Morung parent advising the youth, I like to say: No matter what, hold on firmly to “Thou shall not kill” and the noble path of non-violence. Whatever you do, please don’t kill for Nagaland; and don’t die for Nagaland either; instead, live and contribute toward a better Nagaland in whatever way you can.

To our valiant national workers, I have no words of my own but those of the Israeli writer and peace maker Amos Oz: “wherever right clashes with right, a value higher than right ought to prevail – and this value is life itself.”

To the state government and the business elite, I have no right to tell you anything other than to voice the cry of the common people of Nagaland. Even a casual observer of our society can see there’s something radically wrong with the system of distributing the goods and resources of the state. For the sake of our people who are so much in need of the basic things of life like safe drinking water, roads, healthcare, food and housing, stop the excessive, crippling corruption. Reform the hugely unfair and immoral distribution system so that a livable portion of the goods trickles down to the villagers and the poor in our towns. Institute a just distribution mechanism with an independent monitoring agency, something that allows for responsibility and self-respect in public service and hope for the common people.

Lastly, where there is life, change is possible. But no one can change us unless we have the will and a plan to follow through. We have faltered as a people because we do not have a will and a plan for success. We know success doesn’t just happen; success is made. The best others can do is appeal to our better natures; they cannot change us, they cannot make us succeed. Change and success start with us, must happen in us and through us. Today is all we’ve got; tomorrow doesn’t belong to us; for that we depend on grace. Let us have the courage to change. Let us plan for success starting today.

Thank you for your patience!

Pink Cathedral

Life is an everyday learning process. We use to do lots of activities and discoveries that nurtured us to become better individuals. As from childhood, I use spend my life independently at the age of 12. Being a man exposed to a city life, I been used to live a comfort life using the innovative technology to enhance and make things easy. Having this kind of life, I assume that I almost know and experience everything. But I was deadly wrong, there so much things to learn and discover in this world, and that’s where my journey begins.

December 1, 2008 boarding on a flight Air India, Dubai to Delhi. I had this mix feeling in my heart. I felt scared that this might be something wrong happened to me due to recent terrorist attack in Mumbai last November 26 and some insurgency issues in Assam-closer to my destination…at that same time a feeling of excitement to see my best friend Hileo. We use to work together in one company in Dubai. For almost three years we spent together, I could say that it’s my most memorable and happiest days of my stay in Dubai. Unfortunately, after completing 3 years, he decided to go back to India and take further course. For this, I decided to pay him a visit for 2 weeks before heading to my country-Philippines. While on board, a woman sitting next to mine is so nice telling me how beautiful the place I’m planning to visit. But she gave me some pre cautionary measures just to make me safe on my journey. Like be careful on the food I ate and taking some public vehicles as there have lots of unscrupulous people trying to charge me for a high fare. Around 5:30 am (next day-India time) plane finally landed at the Indira Ghandi Int’l Airport. After the immigration checking and all, I’m now ready to see my friend. And there he was… It took us about 45 minutes to reach her sister place in Noida (a place where I’m going to stay for a while.) While on my journey, I’ve seen how people are living in the city…far from Dubai and most likely in my country. Where you can find small and big cars everywhere. Different form of transportation can be found on the road. Everything was covered by a fog. It’s cold here for winter season is approaching. But I never mind this part seriously. I spent 2 days and 1 night in Hileo’s sister place-Kajini and Ashiho along with their cute twins Neli and Loli. On 3rd, we started moving from Delhi to Guwahati via train. We took the first class train by 11:45 pm, unfortunately, our trip got delayed. In fact, we started moving at 7:30 am on the next day (4th Dec). I felt strange upon entering the train. I cannot handle the smell but I just thought it was just common to this kind of transportation. While on board, I really find it hard to take the food that they are serving, thanks God, there are some vendors who use to sell some biscuits and water in every station where the train use to stop. This situation somehow bothers me. The only thing that really gives me a relief was the thought of I’m with my best friend and this situation is only part on my journey and not my final destination…that I’m might be seeing lots of spectacular views while I’m on my way. It took us 12 hours of journey to reach Guwahati- that was 5th Dec. From there, we prefer to stay to a hotel for a night since I’m not feeling well at all. I haven’t eaten my food very well, I need some place to rest even just for a night for I cannot bear any longer to take another 5 hours trip to Dimapur. It’s very shameful to tell but I’m almost passed out but I have to act normal. I felt shy with Hileo for he is the only one carrying our heavy luggage. We stayed at Raj Mahal Hotel in Guwahati and finally I took nice food…chicken tika along with rice and ice cream for my dessert. On the next day, we left the hotel at around 6:00am to catch another train to Dimapur. From there, it took us 5 hour s journey to reach the place. Hileo’s Aunt meets us from the train station along with her youngest son Peter. We had our food and visited his Aunt’s college where she is doing some sort of renovation. We left the place at around 3pm going to Kohima via his Aunt’s car.

Hornbill Festival

It was Dec. 6th when I reach Kohima. And a breathtaking view feed my eyes. Those thick and green forest and the mountains makes me feel relaxed. I was totally amazed with the place. The sky was grey and the clouds hung low. As a nature lover, this place rocks! The weather and the sceneries seems perfect and ideal place for relaxation. I’ve seen lots of pineapple fruits sold along the road and piled of fire woods which has been used by the villagers for cooking and to keep them warm. Upon reaching my friend’s aunties house, we welcomed with a cup of hot tea. House was situated in an elevated area where you could have a bird’s eye view on the place. Seeing those colourful Christmas lights sprawling all over this mountainous place creating aesthetic scene in space… Seeing those mountains covered by fog which seems kissing each other. We spent a night from there. On the next day (7th Dec) we visited the Pink Cathedral. It really caught my attention the architectural designs of the cathedral. Seems if you look at it from down distance, it seems that God is watching the whole place. Pine trees are everywhere, its leaves and branches dances as the wind blows start to play. Swaying and seems talking each other. After this, we proceed to the Heritage Village where the Hornbill Festival final day was being held. This festival was amazing. Seeing different tribes exhibiting their respective cultures, wearing colourful costumes, delectable delicacies and film showing about the history of the place. I had enjoyed eating the dried pork cooked with soup, boiled fresh vegetables, fish wrapped with banana leaf and their local rice beer. That makes me feel dizzy. Taste were not that good enough to compare with those branded beer that I use to drink normally but it almost strikes me off after taking 1 glass of it. I’m seen lots of beautiful women too. Place had westernized influence. Where live bands use to play most of English music. In fact, Hileo is a good guitarist and a good singer. People dressed in fashionable way.

On the night time, we decided to take rest in a hotel-Japfu Hotel since we’re going to a party on a secluded place with other 2 common friends. This place is really cold which I felt biting my soul. Jacket, scarf, bonnet and winter gloves were not even enough to keep my body warm. On the next day (8th Dec) I had the chance to visit the War Cemetery along with Hileo’s cousin brother Kholi- a young certified Mechanical Engineer. A historic landmark which always remind Naga people on the braveness of their ancestors and other military soldiers to fight against the enemy and avail the freedom that they’re enjoying. “WHEN YOU GO HOME, TELL THEN OF US AND SAY, FOR YOUR TOMORROW, WE GAVE OUR TODAY”…this phrase flashed in my eyes as I enter this historic place which built in memory of the men of the 2nd Division who fell in the battle of Kohima and for the fighting of Imphal Road. At the top of the place, you can see all the name of officers and men who died in the battle engraved on the black stone.

Mao Village

On afternoon we started moving on to Hileo’s village- The Mao Village. It took us approximately, an hour to reach their place where his parents are waiting us. After meeting and greeting his mother, “ZU BWE HU MWE! (How are you?) She offered us a short prayer for a safe journey. This thing really touched my heart for I was surrounded by God fearing Nagas people. From his sister in Delhi, Aunt and Uncle, cousins in Kohima and his parents from his village. No wonder why I’ve seen churches were built everywhere. From there I stayed the rest of the day and I was really touched the way his parents took care of me. Unlike her husband, Uncle Pfokrehe, English language was a problem for Aunt Kebesa , but language will never be an issue for us to express our thoughts and gratitude. I knew that she was nice and accomodating and doing her best to give me what I need. And I’m certain about it. I wish I could talk to them more often but due to language barriers seems hard for me to do it. Though the village are not having complete facilities, but still it’s surrounded by glorious mountains and friendly locals…and most especially, I’m staying with God fearing and accommodating Aunt & Uncle Pfokrehe. These things are much enough to satisfy me and enjoyed my stay. In fact, Aunt Kebesa’s word will always be tattoo on my mind. And I will always treasured it and share it to others too. A short phrase yet it really makes me felt that I was really welcomed. A phrase that could change the world if we do and share it to every human being…this phrase goes “Never allowed yourself to get hungry and thirsty”. Actually its more than a phrase, it’s a wisdom that we should live up with. Living standard is simple in the village. Auntie Kebesa use to woke up early in the morning preparing food for breakfast. And after that she will go to her vegetables garden to cultivate it. Upon going home, she use to carry fire woods using “Oro” (Naga’s basket) which the tie is being placed over the head. Oftentimes, she use to go in church to pray too. From there I realized that at her age of 55, she is still strong enough to do her tough daily routines. Maybe, because people here had enough exercise, eating natural and fresh vegetables from their own garden, taking enough sleep on time plus strong faith in God. All these healthy and simple lifestyle makes the villagers strong and live the life long. Far from the life that I use to have in the city where I use to sleep late at night during weekends and waking up late in the morning. From there, I just take a cup of coffee along with cigarettes to cover up my breakfast and lunch and doing the laundry and cleaning my place. I normally took my food at around 5 pm that is my dinner already. I use to carve chips or sandwiches in the middle of the night. From that, my meal is complete for the day. There were even times that we tried to go for hunting carrying an “air gun” for bird’s hunting. I wish the villager’s will stop this kind of activity and let God’s precious gift will exist in their natural habitat. Other than this everything has a perfect living. As I said “Simple life, makes a perfect living”. Villager’s use to bury their dead loved ones in their own land too. While in my place, we use to have a public cemetery to buried our dear ones. Deep in y heart, I envy this people…living a simple and happy life…being content of they have…having strong faith in God. I wish we could have the same village in my country…I wish my people in the world will leave the way as Nagas do. Living a simple life, developing our soil, for this there will be peace on earth and no one will get hungry and thirsty.

Mao Village Uncle Pfokrehe, Hileo & Aunt Kebesa

Its was December 15 that I left the place and this time we’ll be taking flights from Guwahati to Delhi to catch my flight from Delhi to Manila via Hongkong. And I’ll promise to myself, I’ll be coming back to this place and I’ll be spending more days on my next visit.

Recently, I came across an interesting article in Tehelka magazine which outlined how the Mizoram Presbyterian Church has taken the responsibility to ensure that the assembly polls in Mizoram are free and fair.

Following are excerpts from the article:

- A powerful moral watchdog, the Mizoram Peoples’ Forum (MPF) - sponsored by the Mizoram Presbyterian Church Synod will set up offices in every village to monitor the elections.

- “Our main aim is to ensure that free and fair elections are held. We’re working very hard to convince people not to accept gifts from candidates” - Rev. Lalbikmawia, Executive Secretary of the Synod

- They have asked candidates to spend little, not hold community feasts and abide by Election Commission’s code of conduct.

- “If they spend less money now they will be clean in the future. If they spend recklessly, we will urge the people not to vote for that candidate” - Rev. Lalbikmawia

- Another MPF guideline is that the political parties cannot hold separate public meetings, and that all meetings will be supervisied by the MPF. The MPF will convene meetings in community halls where candidates can speak.

- The Synod has asked candidates not to go door-to-door campaigns. Candidates might bribe voters or give them things like rice…

- But what will the MPF or the Synod do if people do not adhere to their guidelines? “We know the common people are pious and will abide by any guideline of the church. We can only urge them to lead a moral life. We do not want to interfere in the elections but only want to facilitate the process” says an MPF official.

- The MPF hopes that the common people will be able to differenciate between the good and the bad and expects all political parties to adhere to their directives. Says Rev Lalbikmawia: “We can only pray that the best candidate wins”

I am sure this will make an interesting reading for any Naga, both being predominantly Christian states.

A few questions come to my mind:

- Can the NBCC match the Synod in giving such directives durings elections?

- Will Nagas listen to the NBCC if simlilar directives are laid down?

- Is the church right in issuing such directives?

I don’t have answers for the first two questions but regarding the thrid one - I feel the Synod has done a commendable job by taking it upon temselves to see that elections are not ‘dirty’. It does not matter how much successful they will be in cleansing political campaigns. The important aspect is the Synod has listened to their conscience and decided they will try and get the best leaders elected.

Actions speak louder than words spoken on the pulpit. 

One such person I interviewed lately was Amongla Aier, the first Indian Police Service (IPS) officer among Naga women.

Amongla joined service in the year 2006 (Madhya Pradesh cadre). She is currently posted as City Supridentent of Police, Indore. Earlier this year, Amongla had commanded the official Independence Day parade of Madhya Pradesh.

1. Firstly, congratulations on being appointed as an I.P.S officer. You are the first Naga lady I.P.S officer. How does it feel to be inducted into the prestigious service?
Amongla: Thank you. I feel it is a great honour and responsibility to be a fraternity of Indian police service and also for being the first IPS woman from Nagaland and I thank God for all the blessings so far.

2. Women usually do not opt for the Indian Police Service. Was it your dream to be a police officer?
Amongla: Honestly, I never wanted to be in the IPS and I never even thought that I would be in this police service. I was kind of shocked and dismayed when I got IPS initially. But now I feel maybe I was destined to be where I am and maybe there is a greater plan of God for me to be in this service than to be in other service.

3. Tell us about your education and family background.
Amongla: I have done most of my studies from Nagaland. I graduated from patkai Christian college in economics. Then I went to do my PG in sociology from Delhi School of Economics-DU. My father is also an IPS in Nagaland so its like following in my fathers footsteps. My mom is a home maker and we are five siblings of which I am the eldest.

4. Cracking the Civil Service Exam is no joke. How much time did you devote while preparing for the exam?
Amongla: Well, I did put in a lot of hard work and time while preparing for the exam but most of all it was the prayer support and lot of good wishes from family and friends.that I am where I am now and perhaps it was destiny.

5. For the benefit of Civil Service aspirants reading this interview, please give a few tips on how to crack the UPSC exam.
Amongla:
1. Conviction from within, remember it’s a service not just a job that you are going to enter into.
2. Extensive study for prelims and intensive and selective study for mains. Be up to date with current affairs, read a lot- remember knowledge is power.
3. Interview is equally important- knowledge, language skills, confidence and personality are very important. It’s good if you can lead the board along to your plus areas.
4. It’s good to have a critical point of view, rather an analytical one where u can not only criticize but offer solutions at the same time.
5. Patience is very important here. Because one is not always lucky to clear the exam at one go, it is frustrating and tolling so I would practically advise to have something to fall back upon after your attempts are over- else its very difficult to start all over again after wasting so many years.
6. There is no substitute for hard work, remember once you have done your part God well do the rest.
7. Believe in yourself – think if others have done it why can’t I?

6. This year, you had commanded the official Independence Day Parade of Madhya Pradesh. That shows you are an able officer. Please describe the experience. What made your seniors choose you to lead the parade?
Amongla: Its was a privilege to be commanding an independence day parade. Initially I was a little apprehensive because I had to command in Hindi and my pronunciation was not too strong but I worked on it and everything went out smoothly. And yes, commanding the parade did help in boosting my confidence and I am proud I got the opportunity.

We are 4 officers in our batch and all of us have our turn to lead a parade. My seniors wanted a lady officer to lead the parade and so I was there.

8. How is a typical day like for you as a police officer? Any hobbies you indulge in during your free time?
Amongla: Police is a 24*7 work. There is no holiday, no weekly off. Here in Indore, all officers and men are putting in at least 15 hrs of work. I reach home at the earliest at 12.00pm every day. There is no date or time line. Right now there is just no room to indulge in hobbies.

7. These days, youths have ample options in the private sector with attractive salaries. Do you still feel the Civil Services attract youths like before and why?
Amongla: there is no dearth for aspirants in CS. Everyone have different opinions on the salary matter, for many money is everything, while for some it is not. The trend as of now is that most of the new entrants have work experience prior to entering the civil service and most of them are professionals like doctors ,engineers, management graduate etc. so it shows that despite the salary package being offered by Govt there are many takers to the service. Civil service gives you not only recognition and status but gives you a larger playing field if you really want to make a difference. It gives you immense job satisfaction for your action and decision, which impacts a lot of people which you don’t get in the private sector.

8. With terrorist threats looming everywhere in India these days, has the job of police officers become difficult? What steps has been taken by your department to prevent/counter terrorist attacks?
Amongla: Yes, times have changed, the role of police has not only become difficult but challenging .With increasing threat to internal security from terrorist activities, communalism, regionalism, naxalism etc, the need for effective leadership from police is called for.

We as a department is the most neglected, most criticized from all quarters of society because we are the most visible organ of Govt yet the society cannot do without us.

We need to be more proactive and become tactically offensive, our intelligence network should be strengthened, there should be more intra- inter state coordination and also with other agencies.

The constabulary and police station level should be trained well, we need good equipments and facilities, most of all we need motivated leadership.

Till now there is no concrete blueprint or plan to counter terrorism both at the national and state level. We follow a wait and watch policy. Our networking and intelligence inputs need to be improved.

9. How has the internet shaped the world today? What are your views on Cyber crime? Is the Indian police force well equipped to tackle cyber crimes?
Amongla: Internet and the information technology have brought profound revolutionary changes in the world today like never before. It has brought people together through access to information at the press of a few key strokes. The world is in your palm now.

Material changes have happened so fast that we are now at a loss with our own belief system and values. With any change there is bound to happen both the good and bad, rule of nature.

Cyber crimes is one which is fast spreading a result of this IT revolution, no amount of traditional policing can stop this we need a paradigm shift in our approach with such crime. The criminals are technologically few steps ahead of us. We have just begun writing our FIRS in computer!! We need trained and committed people. At present we are in a very sorry state as far as cyber crime is concerned. Delhi and Mumbai police are comparatively doing better then the rest of the states. We need a lot of trained technical professionals which we don’t have now. Government should start investing in training and equipments in cyber related crimes and offences. Till then we are searching for the needle in the hay stack.

10. If you were not a police officer what would you rather be?
Amongla: I really don’t know still. I want to do so many things before I die… maybe a fulltime wanderer!!!

Her immediate reaction was “How can you say that you are not a Naga?” She was politically right in her retort though my hypothetical question was not dismissed there and then. It did pick up some discussion, but only to put us and also our audience into a very unsettling and disturbing situation. I was grappling with the issue of my Naga Identity then. Not that I doubted my Naga identity but that I was struggling to find some grounds on the basis of which various Naga tribal groups have come together to assert our unique identity and our rights to freedom of self-determination. My own question continues to dog me until at certain point in time I decided to write out my thoughts. Today I feel that I made a little improvement though many more questions came about in the process. I am convinced that my Naga identity, above all other considerations, is primarily a political identity. For some, this is obvious but for me, it was different. I want to share some of the questions with which I have wrestled for quite sometime.

Suppose I were to be born and brought up outside my Naga homeland, unable to pick up my mother tongue, have no attachment to any Naga traditional or cultural values, will I be a considered a Naga? What if one of my parents is not a Naga? Perhaps with some reservation some may still be willing to grant me a Naga identity. But my problem goes further. Suppose all the Nagas en masse declare that henceforth we will not be called as Nagas but something else (on the ground that the very word ‘Naga” is not from our native language though I have heard of a native version somewhere from a friend), what will happen to my Naga identity? More, on what basis will the new identity of the people be constructed? Still pushing the doubt further, suppose all the Nagas were to forget our tribal languages, traditions and cultures and have adopted altogether new cultures and worldviews, then what will happen to our common identity, the Naga identity? Will we still call ourselves Nagas? What kind of meaning does the term ‘Naga’ connotes to the Nagas anyway? Do all the people presently identified as or claimed to be Nagas share similar perception towards the term ‘Naga?’ In other words, do all the Naga groups share the same sense of belongingness? What about those fellow Nagas who live in the present Myanmar or in the Indian states other than Nagaland? What will happen if the Bodos or the Mizos claim that they are also Nagas or vice versa. What will be the fate of our identity if, for instance, the Japanese or the Thais or the Chinese claim that the Nagas are their descendents and thus Nagas are also Japanese or Thais or Chinese? Is there any way out, that is, is there any basis or criteria to credit or discredit such a claim? After considering all these questions, I realized that neither race nor language nor place nor religion nor culture is enough to provide a criterion to decide my Naga Identity. Of course, I was not seriously considering the politics of my Naga identity then. I will now turn my attention to the political nature of my Naga identity.

“Is it possible to talk about my Naga identity without politics?” My answer is simple and straight – “No!” The moment I strip off politics from my Naga identity, I’ve lost my Naga identity. Perhaps, I may be an individual member of some group; for instance, a linguistic community, or a clan, or a village but definitely not a member of the Naga ethnic group. For out of politics and blood was born Naga identity. It is not so much about racial identity neither is it about linguistic or religious identity; so much less about the exotic terminologies of “nakedness” or “snakeness,” or of “pierced ears” or “mountainous folks” that have gone into the myth making of our ‘projected’ Naga identity. What I will call here, for convenience, as “others” or “outsiders” who in the opinion of some writers “narrated” us into existence is not what the Nagas were or are or will be. Of course, I don’t deny that others did their part to prepare the stage for our Naga identity to conceive and to be recognized. Without the others, as a matter of political fact, there can be neither Naga politics nor Naga identity. However, this is a question of a different order. But this is a very crucial point which I dare not ignore. For that matter, I will be grappling with this point again and again as I narrate the woes and wows of my Naga identity.

I am not Japanese

“Excuse me, are you from Japan?”

I hope Dr. Easterine Iralu will not mind for quoting her here. I must acknowledge that reading her poem – “Are you from Japan?” – which is made available to the Kuknalim readers, has in a big way inspired me to reflect and write on the present topic again. Today quite a sizable number of Nagas, the biggest portion of which is the group of knowledge seekers and bread earners, are scattered in different parts of India and abroad. Our initial encounter with the other people in India is often of this nature (we would be repeatedly asked): “Where are you from?” “Japan?” “Nepal?” “Korea?” “China?” “Thailand” and the list goes on. On learning that we are from Nagaland, some would ignorantly remark, “Where is that?” But some would curiously ask: “How is the ‘terrorist’ activity there?” Some are more sarcastic and pessimistic: “Do you think Nagas would survive on your own? What do you have to sustain yourself? Why are you asking for independence?” Still, to some, we are nothing but tribals who are simply surviving through the saving grace of the reservation policies. Only a handful of persons would sincerely try to understand our situation, empathize with us and also accept us to be part of the diverse Indian society. Somehow between the lines, it is visible in the expressions and in the attitudes of such people that we are a group of people who do not fit into the image of Indian identity. Not surprisingly it is on the basis of our interactions with various groups of Indian people, and also with other people at the global level, that the contemporary Nagas are continuously creating and recreating our Naga identity.

In the past, successive Delhi governments had resorted to various forms of colonial policies to deal with the Naga political question. The big mistake was their decision to sent armies to literally teach us some “imperial” lessons in our own homeland. They forgot that Nagas’ love for freedom constitutes part of their lifestyle, a question that cannot be settled by the use of force at any cost. Even the mighty British Colonial Raj realized the futility of attempting to subjugate the warring Nagas tribes. The Delhi Government learnt nothing in this regard from their former colonial master. The forceful occupation of the Indian armies backed by several draconian laws that led to a long history of untold Indo-Naga wars painted a black picture of the Indian image in the minds of the Nagas. It only resulted in bringing the various Naga groups closer and the Naga movement for freedom received a great momentum. The Nagas were forced to opt for armed struggle. What happened in the course of time to the Nagas has become part of our living history, too debasing and too dehumanizing to be recalled or retold in detail here. Nevertheless, it is important to note that the common struggles and pains and sufferings have become not only part of our history but more significantly, they have become part of our Naga identity today – that is, they have become associated with the social and political consciousness of our Naga identity by and large. Worse, the Nagas began to see the ‘Indians’ with nothing less than utter hatred, bitterness, distrust, shame, guilt, jealousy, remorse, etc. The only Indians most Nagas have seen and encountered in the past were the Indian armies. Many who live in the interior villages and greatly suffered in the hands of the armed forces and who never got the opportunity to see the other proud and honorable Indian citizens still identify Indian identity with the living image of those brutal picture of the cruel soldiers. When I go to a village, every home has some tragic story to share about their encounters with the armies. Let me tell one such story that happened to my tribe and which has been recounted by Kaka Iralu in his book “Nagaland and India: The Blood and the Tears” – out of the 64 Chakhesang villages that existed in those days (1960s), 60 villages were burnt during the army operation and one particular village, Porba, was razed to the ground 14 times in a single year. This is unforgettable. Being an oral society, such stories are narrated among the Naga folks again and again. I grew up hearing such stories. And over the years, this has accumulated into constructing a very tyrannical and cynical image of Indian identity among rural folks. Even today, to refer to, or to call someone “Indian,” for them, is to mean a debasing thing, perhaps with the same force as the term tribal is to some “orthodox” Indians. Of course, much has changed today. But it requires another essay to address the issues and problems of the changes that have come to grip the contemporary Naga society and Naga politics in the Indian context.

The point to note from the above discussions is this: with the contact of others or outsiders, the tribal differences gradually submerged and the sublime commonalities got manifested spontaneously. From one level, others have been constructing and imposing an identity for the Nagas, and at another level, the Nagas are realizing more and more that indeed the Nagas are different from the other groups of people. Thus, differentiating and dissociating from other sets (groups) of people enabled the Nagas to adopt a common set where they can become members of that set. The construction or rather acceptance of this identity, a Naga set, became almost inevitable as the differences with the other groups of people were increasingly becoming visible and the possibility of the Nagas either wanting to become a member of any of these groups or the other groups extending their core membership to the Nagas was almost ruled out. The others, in the meantime, contributed in this task of constructing the Naga identity by repeatedly pointing out that ‘the Nagas are a different lot of people having the following synonyms: head-hunters, savage people, naked people, beef eaters, pork-eaters, primitive, uncivilized, tribals, bloodthirsty people, rebels, terrorists, secessionists, etc.’ Having to share all these common perception of others – be it connoting a sense of shame or pride, defeats or triumphs, sympathy or apathy – nurtured and strengthened the feeling of being a Naga or Naganess. In short, contacts, conflicts and interactions with others of different kinds gave us the present Naga identity. Max Weber writes, “In our sense, ethnic membership does not constitute the group; it only felicitates group formation of any kind, particularly in political sphere. On the other hand, it is primarily the political community, no matter how artificially organized that inspires the belief in common ethnicity.” This seems to shows that there exists a strong relation between Ethnic identity and political identity. Being an ethnic group, Naga identity came about largely as a counter-product of Indian nationalism, which is understood by the Nagas as an act of Indian imperialism. While on other hand, the desire of the various Naga groups to live together, free from any kind of external control as has been in the past, resulted in the consciousness and subsequent construction of the Naga identity. This is my story. This is my Naga identity.

I always felt good people die early. May be there is a need for good people up there!

Last two days have been hectic, stressful and so much filled with emotions and pain. I lost my good friend Theja,  a final year Information Technology student who already got placement in Satyam Info Systems. He was young, lively and was looking forward to work in one of India’s top companies. He had made plans to celebrate Christmas with his family this winter. And then comes death –when it is most unexpected. He was in a picnic with friends when the incident happened.

I logged in to Orkut and checked his scraps. I could see countless messages of disbelief.

I never question God because I know he’s the master and He can’t be questioned. I didn’t question Him when some of my elderly family members died. But this time I asked him why, why, why?? 

Like me, Theja was an Army school Alumni who went through the girds and experiences unique to being a student there. He excelled in academics and went on to persue his Engineering degree in a National Institute of Technology. 

Theja used to say that he is grateful for this life and what he was doing. He could not ask for anything more. So he enjoyed his day to day life and looked forward to better things. Not many people are so content with their lives. That is one reason that calms me down and makes me think “he has lived his life happliy…” 

May be there are no answers to some questions and some of life’s mysteries will always remain mysteries. But having lost someone close I realized how real death can be - it is everywhere and it can strike anytime. And I feel we should be ready for it. One should be happy, be good to others and don’t postpone good things which one can do today. Then only, people will have fond memories of us when we are gone one day. That is what I learned from Theja.

So long, my friend, I’ll miss you lots.

Rest in Peace bro.