Neidonuo Angami
Former President, Naga Mothers’ Association
In the past weeks, deeply troubling developments have been reported involving Naga Political Groups in Eastern Nagaland. At a time when uncertainty looms large over the Naga political talks and our society stands at a crossroads, we cannot afford to allow the culture of violence to rear its ugly head again. For much too long, we have witnessed and experienced the social evil of factional and fratricidal killing as well as suffered the pitfalls and repercussions it leaves behind. We should not forget the lesson learnt from the past, lest we repeat the same mistake again.
The most agonizing consequence of factional killing is human suffering often borne by the affected families. Mothers losing sons, wives losing husbands and children losing fathers leave an irreplaceable vacuum. As a society, we cannot let Naga mothers go through the trauma of fratricidal violence again. Factional violence is also the worst form of punishment imposed on our children for no fault of their own. As our society undergoes unprecedented transformations, the youths are pulled in different directions, the lack of clarity as to where our society is going has created a confused, frustrated and agitated Naga youths. Under these circumstances, it would be at our own perils to add factional violence in the already charged up society.
Factional violence also takes a heavy toll on the entire society as it drains out social capital and social dynamism with fear and suspicion taking over public spaces. It will be unfortunate if the factional conflict in Eastern Nagaland adversely affects the wider society, especially when the eastern districts of Nagaland state have got an opportunity to transform their region with the new administrative arrangement under the Frontier Nagaland Territory Authority (FNTA). It is imperative to create an environment conducive for socio-economic development in the eastern districts of Nagaland state as in the long-run, this will also positively contribute towards the betterment of our Naga brothers and sisters on the other side of the border.
Most importantly, if we continue to fight among ourselves, God forbid, we will be going down the road of turning our fertile land into a cemetery. Who then will remain to inherit our land? Our forefathers were able to achieve what they could because they struggled together, suffered together, and stood together. Let's not undo what we inherited from our forefathers. It is our responsibility to build upon what was given to us and pass down to the future generation. We can move forward only if we listen to each other and together decide how and where we want to take our future.
Let’s remind ourselves of the Shed No More Blood campaign initiated not so long ago by the Naga mothers when fratricidal killings shocked the conscience of our society. Today, there are worrying signs of undermining the solemn pledge. We all must recommit ourselves to this pledge before it is too late.
