By Moa Jamir
Even as more than 40 NPF legislators reportedly left his camp and traveled to their favorite haunting place Kaziranga for the Nagaland version of ‘Games of Thrones,’ the Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF) patriarch Dr Shurhozelie Liezitsu, on February 18, took a defiant stand and assured its party functionaries that "we still hold the trump card” and “the present Kaziranga episode will flop like the failed Coup d'état of 2015.”
True to his word, Liezitsu, on February 22, was sworn in as the 17th Chief Minister of Nagaland, seemingly suggesting a return to normalcy of the state of affairs in Nagaland, which witnessed widespread chaos and violence, over election to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) holding the state machinery in limbo for more than three weeks with loss of lives and burning down of invaluable public properties.
The game of musical chairs that followed afterwards culminated in a casual ‘swapping of chair’ between the current Chief Minister and the former Chief Minster TR Zeliang. While, the protests reflect widespread disillusion with political institutions and its actors in Nagaland, yet the populace have to simply resign to their fate as the ‘peoples movement’ transcend into usual games of power politics, pertinently highlighting a paucity of leadership that plagues the system. It is swamping with fidgety politicians, devoid of any ideology and constantly biding for an opportune moment to board the ‘gravy train’ of politics. This in the third instances on which NPF have been wracked with big internal tussles for leadership.
Going where the wind blows, goes a clichéd idiom referring to move without planning or thinking. In Naga politics, it’s a clearly calculated political gamble and the only ideology that governs the lot is political survival and hankering for a share in the ‘gravy’. In politics, there are no permanent friends or an enemy, only permanent interests goes another cliché. In such circumstances, one is not surprised to witness a politician, who was spewing venom on the Government during the crisis, comfortably back as a Minister in the present dispensation after an “unconditional apology” while another former ‘rebel’ turncoat took the ‘highway’ to ministership. Nevertheless, if one does not learn to adapt to changing circumstances, can one be called a politician? Clear conscience, thus, has become a luxury, which a politician can hardly afford to indulge in.
Most importantly, the drive for social justice and empowerment quietly sunk amidst the din of musical chairs losing out to parochialism and power politics which regularly threatens to usurp any endeavour towards progressive policy. Where does that leave the people of Nagaland, languishing in poor governance and with what recourse or future? In this jamboree, the one holding the trump card is not only the present Chief Minister, but all the elected representatives who, time and again have been known to take the citizens for a ride.
‘Choose your leader wisely’ - demands the situation - a maxim the Nagas must earnestly adopt with added urgency. It is our duty to elect the right set of people to govern and articulate our priorities, not for privilege and power. Cynicism over the present state of affairs must cede to active participation and support towards any drive to cleanse the system. An initiative by an apex church council on Sunday, taking forward an initiative started by Nagaland Baptist Church Council is a right step in right direction.
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