Er. Moa Aier
Recently, I was having a discussion with an elderly respected Naga academician who is settled in Australia, and had come back to Nagaland for a visit - after 20 years. His comment was, “Everyone in Nagaland has become so dishonest. You can’t trust the Government, not the NPGs, not the NGOs, not even the Church. We can no longer even trust each other. Generally people in Australia trust their government. But not here. Everything has become so chaotic”. I think this sums up the sorry state of affairs that we face today in Nagaland. But should we or can we afford to resign ourselves to such a situation? Is this what the Naga youth deserve? What is our vision for tomorrow. What do the youth aspire for and what can we do today?
The youths are the period between childhood and adulthood. A time filled with hope and energy. Secondly, a nation is a country considered as a group of people living in a certain territory under one Government.
So if we go back to the title of this article – “nation building”, which nation, whose people, which territory and which Government are we talking about? Many of us know the story about the elderly carpenter, who informed his employer that he wanted to retire. His employer was disappointed to lose him, but agreed and requested him to make one last building. The carpenter reluctantly agreed and went about doing his job. But his heart was no longer in the task as before. He used inferior materials, cut corners, made shortcuts and his worksmanship too was not upto his usual standards. After the building was completed, to his astonishment, the employer gave him the keys to the house, saying it was his gift for the many years of dedicated service he has put in. How the carpenter was regretting. If only he knew it was to be his own house, he would not have spared any expenses. He could have used the best wood, the best fittings, the best of everything. If only he knew!
Today, we Nagas are like that retiring carpenter when it comes to Nation building. We are not sure whose nation we are trying to build, and under which government we are living. Consequently, we are half-hearted in our attempts. If we say, “Kuknalim” we are liable to be called anti-national by the Indian army and maybe arrested, tortured or even killed under AFPSA. If we say “Jai Hind”, we are again liable to be called anti-national by different Naga groups and harassed. So, what is “national” and what is “anti-national”? If we don’t know “which nation”, how can we build it with care? Such a situation has put tremendous psychological pressures upon our youth today, that we are confused and end up doing nothing – at best, or become a liability to society. Thus for the youth to play a role in nation building is, first know yourself and know your identity.
The second most important prerequisite is patriotism. Each youth, each citizen, must be imbued with the spirit of patriotism. Patriotism is different from nationalism. Nationalism, if taken to extreme by jingoistic fervor, can even become destructive, as in the case of Germany leading to WWII. Patriotism on the other hand, is always constructive. It is having a deep sense of justice, love, respect, service and sacrifice for one’s land and people. A honest citizen, working a honest day’s work with a sense of duty for a living is a patriot. But gun toting elements by whatever self-styled grand names they may call themselves, trying to extract multiple taxation out of someone’s sweat are not patriots. A leading citizen of Mokokchung once remarked, “Nagas have nationalism minus patriotism”. He has succinctly put his finger in the core disease which is bleeding the Nagas today.
The first generation of Naga freedom fighters of the 1950s & 60s were patriots. Nationalism was just a corollary. But today, we have lost, nay, sold away, our patriotism. And we try to cover this under the pseudo cover of nationalism. Let us be clear – we must first learn, understand and love our land. Our history, our culture, our flora & fauna, our people. This forms our Nation. The caste system, the dowry & bride burning is not our culture. Indus valley civilization is not our history. We relish pork, we eat beef – and many more. How can one share a kitchen with someone whose culture and religion says that you cannot eat what you eat, and makes your diet illegal? Linguistically, Naga languages belong to the Sino-Tibetan Burman group and not at all related with Hindi or Sanskrit. Anthropology can never agree that Nagas belong to the “Indian” group of Dravidians, Adivasis or Aryans. A nation comprises of a people. So which People and which Nation are we talking about? Let us be clear – we are talking about the Naga People and the Naga Nation. Under the Memorandum to the Simon Commission in 1929 and the plebiscite of 1951, we have every moral, legal, political and historical right to claim so. Unless we can agree on this, we shall be confused, attempting to build a house whose ownership is in doubt, and it can never be of a good quality because our hearts and mind can never be fully into it. But if we build our own house, we put our mind, our soul, our sweat and tears into it. We work, serve and sacrifice for it. It can be our own house where we can see justice, peace and prosperity.
The main role of the Naga youth today for nation building, would be thus to firstly, identify where they stand. What they stand for. And how much they are willing to work, serve and sacrifice for it. Thirdly, we need a whole new generation of Naga youth entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs with knowledge, innovation and skills. The primary role of young people is to get a good education in order to become better and useful citizens of tomorrow. They need to learn skills to do the job that their country’s economy needs. Upto what extend the Naga youth are playing this role today? A people whose plate of rice is in someone else kitchen can never be a free people. They shall remain enslaved and suppressed. To regain our sovereignty, we must first economically be able to stand on our own feet. To economically develop, we need entrepreneurs. A people that works hard. Not the present mad rush for government jobs. In Singapore, in Hong Kong, in Japan, in Silicon Valley and in most developed countries, the best brains are in the private sector. They look down poorly on those people in the Government sector. People in the Government sector in such countries are generally seen as not competitive, lazy, incompetent and the not so bright type! Here, the Naga parents need to free their children, and allow them to strive for what they aspire. Let the children do the things that they have the passion for. If they want to be a shoe maker, let them become the best shoe maker – like the father of Abraham Lincoln. If they want to be a hotelier, let them run the best hotel. Why should parents chain their children with the caveat that “they must try for a government job even if it is only a peon or a chowkidar”? This parental attitude is killing a whole generation of Naga youth today. Let the Naga youth break free from this chain, and work for their nation building in whatever capacity they can. Please don't waste that best 35 years of your life, and of your youth, chasing after that elusive rainbow of a govt. job.
Thus one of the most effective role that the Naga youth today can do for nation building is to become an entrepreneur. According to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, “If you want to know the future of any nation, take a look at what the youths are doing presently”. An army of Naga innovative youth entrepreneurs can transform the land. It can then become a land where we can hold our heads high – with dignity and with pride.
But entrepreneurship and economic activity needs the trust factor. The trust factor is the oil that makes the economic engine run more efficiently and effectively. A few years back when I visited Finland, we took some taxi to move around the city in Vaasa. Each time instead of paying, my Finnish companion gave only his visiting card to the taxi driver. Initially I was a bit puzzled, but I soon realized that it was for the driver to bill the fare to the address in the card. How does this work? A very high trust factor. The passenger trust the driver to bill accurately, and the driver trust the passenger to pay as and when the bill is sent.
Contrast this to Dimapur. One can hardly conclude an auto ride without an argument with the auto driver. Why? Because the trust factor is very low. We don’t trust the amount of fare charged by the driver, so we argue and fight. This is just a small example. But again, why don’t we trust the fare so charged? Because the fare meter is not there. Why the fare meter is not there? Numerous orders has been issued by the District Administration for its installation, but it remains unimplemented. Why? The auto drivers/owners don’t trust the Government. The end result – we end up arguing everyday, after every auto ride. We Nagas need to rebuilt our trust factor. We can do this by revisiting our earlier sense of honesty, integrity and work ethics.
Let us also revisit the role that each one of us has played during election times. Have we cast our votes sincerely? Or did we indulge in poll rigging, proxy, buying and selling of votes? With such electoral malpractices, we can only agree with the French political thinker and historian Alexis de Tocqueville who said, “People get the government they deserve”. We therefore don’t trust ourselves and we don’t trust the government as we have elected them after selling all our rights. We thus continue to live in the stink of the sewers. The role of the Naga youth for nation building today, should be to break free from this vicious cycle of corruption and mis-governance which is fueled by electoral malpractices. Most of the youth indulges in such electoral malpractices with gusto with a wrong sense of pride and achievement. But don’t we realize that we are selling and giving up our tomorrow by such actions? Why complain about bad roads, poor electricity, lack of sanitation and water supply, pathetic health care, crumbling government school buildings full of proxy teachers, a police force which cannot arrest even a known murderer, an ineffective administration, a dysfunctional government etc. Let us not complain about these, for we have already made a pact with the devil to be the recipients of such, when we sold our votes and mastered the art of poll rigging. We are now a people without any rights – for we have all sold away our rights.
Many people also question the legitimacy of the State Government. Over the years, Chief Ministers, Ministers and MLAs irrespective of parties, have declared that they are ready to give way as soon as a honourable and acceptable final solution to the Indo-Naga political issue is brought about. Between these conflicting goal posts, we – the youth, individuals, groups, students, NGOs, even some church workers, the civil society, including the village authorities, all continue to behave irresponsibly, buying and selling the citizens rights to any bidder. We cannot build a nation under the auction table.
At this nadir, do we have the courage to introspect, take personal responsibility and first change within ourselves? Only then, will we begin to see the power of youth and of change, and of a Naga nation that can be built – brick by brick, strong and beautiful. Can every single Naga youth aspire for this? And act upon it? If so, you will find your role in nation building. It can be a nation we can be proud of.
Kuknalim.
******* Published inMokokchung Salangtem Ward Youth 50th Anniversary Celebration Souvenir during December 2015.
