Call to remake divided Nagas society into one family
Morung Express News
Longpa | January 15
Nagaland Parliamentary Secretary for Geology and Mining, Dr Imtiwapang Aier today said that Naga society was “fragmenting into pieces” because of lack of unity among the Naga family and called upon the people to dust themselves off and begin again to remake Naga into “one family.”
Addressing the second and final day of the 68th Asetkong Mungdang (Asetkong Citizens’ Conference) at Longpa village under Mokokchung district as the chief guest, Dr Imtiwapang Aier stated that the “impact of division has created an atmosphere where malpractices, corruption and poor governance have dominated the society, fading away the legacy of our Naga forefather.”
He also lamented that instead of bridging the gap between the past and the present, “rift among us prevails and has become dangerous for the younger generation.” In this connection, he appealed the people of Asetkong that it was the right time to correct the mistakes and reshape the future.
“The division within the Naga society might be the result of failure in societal governance, where organization/NGOs have been mushrooming with different ideologies. Naga society has now become a divided society,” Aier observed.
Saying that India before independence had more than 500 princely states which was merged into one knowing the consequences of a divided house, Dr Aier maintained that Naga society was now in a “transition stage but transitioning without proper direction, where we have to start taking responsibility by contributing positively and to erase the negativity.”
“If we cannot bring change today, don’t expect our children to bring change tomorrow. Our children will judge us whether we have built or destroyed our society and will never forgive us for our mistakes,” Aier asserted.
Stating that good governance is a global issue and “hard to be implemented hundred percent effectively,” Aier also challenged the citizens of Asetkong range to “fight for the people and to bring good governance and show an exemplary life to the rest of the Nagas leaving aside clans, range and tribes issues.”
Also the main speaker Rev. Dr. Mar Pongener, Dean of Clark Theological College, Aolijen spoke on the conference theme “Shilangdi”. He maintained that ‘shilangdi/return back’ should be adhered by evaluating the past and present to look for a better the future.
The conference also adopted a resolution whereby “it was resolved that the Asetkong Mungdang office bearers and executive members shall within a period of three months meet with all the village elders in the range with regard to addressing the issues pertaining to the history of Asetkong.” The conference also nominated a new team of Asetkong Mungdang office bearers for the tenure 2016-2019 led by A Nungsang Jamir (Longjang) as president, L Supo Jamir (Longpa) as Vice President, K Zulu Lemtur (Sungratsü) as General Secretary and Purtoshi Aier (Chami) as Asst. General Secretary.
