Renponi Lotha
Dimapur
Dear Elders!
Greetings to you from the heart of a young mother whose heart grief with pain and unrest, upon the thought of Nagaland ten years from now in which our children and your grandchildren will live in, if we still carry on the legacy practiced twenty years back by all of us.
Twenty years ago when I was 13 years, I saw how all of you were full of Tribalism and grew up hearing parents addressing us as,’ that Lotha Girl’ or ‘that Sumi Girl’ friend of yours from the mouth of many parents who cared less to even remember our names but remembered us just by our tribes.
Twenty years ago when I was 13 years old, I saw how all of you rejoiced for your Children with prayers and fasting when your children got hold of Government Job after paying few lakhs of Rupees and we would all pray together in the Church as Prayer Point for Thanksgiving.
Twenty years ago when I was 13 years old, I saw how you would sit with an Illegal immigrant woman who cleaned your rice sheaves at home; she sweet talked with you and you bad talked about your other Naga neighbour with her.
Twenty years ago when I was 13 years old, I saw how you would teach the young children to wipe the blue ink on their nail and taught all of us how to stand in queue to vote and earn as much money as one can vote like a game. I remember thinking Election meant house to house distribution of money silently and in return we should pray out loudly for the candidate .
Twenty years ago when I was 13 years old, I remember how the most notorious and uncontrollable youth of the locality were disposed off in Theological colleges having left with no other place to send them off.
Twenty years ago when I was 13 years old, I remember how the most notorious and capable murgi chors who had nothing else to do but boast around the locality would joined our National movement not because of passion for our motherland but for authority to gain for his own.
Twenty years ago when I was 13 years old, I remember how despite coming from village itself where we sweat and toil our land, did not want to settle for low profile jobs in towns and wanted only easy money.
There are many things which you have done my dear Uncle and Aunties, which I wish we could had undone it if we can go back to that twenty years of mismanagement. The thoughtless and harmless actions which you assumed to be has started to show its venomous pangs now.
The thoughtless act of addressing us only by our tribe and not names has resulted in Tribalism amongst us, our innocent hearts which saw your sons and daughters only by their heart and name was dragged to bring Tribe in between and differentiated the hearts. Tribalism has become so strong that it is one venom that has made us still un able to unite for anything progressive.
The thoughtless acts of encouraging Backdoor appointment for your children without taking into consideration their capabilities has resulted in accumulation of stagnant brains in departments; when service sectors has malnourished brains for the right job than development of the state is at stake. Moreover, backdoor appointment has killed the spirit of healthy competition amongst the Naga Educated Youths unlike Mainland Indians. When there cease to exist healthy competition but easy spoon feed opportunities only, we create a generation of deaf, dumb and blind educated youths without wisdom and dignity who burdens not the family alone but becomes a burden for the state as well.
The thoughtless act of letting the illegal immigrants ladies to clean your rice sheaves, wash your vessels and clothes at home despite the household having womenfolks in abundance has killed the sense of hardworking quality of our grandmothers who toiled in the farm braving every odds equally like their menfolks. When you befriended them and made them your sister in Christ when she sweet talked to you ,making you pour out all your hearts out to bad talk about your other Naga neighbour you unknowingly welcomed a generation of other illegal Immigrants related from her womb, blood ,marriage and far flung relationships in Nagaland because of our unknowing patronage .Remember Christ said, ‘love your Neighbour as you love yourself ‘and if I may ask who your immediate neighbours are, than allow me to reply that your Ao, Sumi, Lotha, Angami, Konyak, Sangtam, Rengma etc are your neighbours and if you love your far flung unknown neighbours like the illegal immigrants more than your immediate neighbours than it will be plain hypocrisy.
When you taught the children and the youths how to wipe off our nails of that blue ink you created in us a future of corrupted youths who learned how to steal without realizing we are stealing also as we believed elders always teaches us good things only. For your greed of money you molested our hearts and brain with few rupees and made us vote for the most corrupted leaders whom we knew only by their name forget about who he was also. You made us elect the wrong leaders for ages and even deceived us to believe Election was a ‘festival of easy flowing of money and alcohols ‘and not an ‘Opportunity to practice our Universal Adult Franchise which should had been in fact, an holy day for us privileged to be able to choose a wise and capable leader in a Democratic country unlike a Nation where if we were slaves Would had no choice but to be under one ruler only. I am sorry Elders but you killed the meaning of Universal Adult Franchise right by your very own cheap act but the price of your greed , the society as a whole is paying for you. The accumulated mess of the society which your greed has created will take another ages to clean unless if you repent and practice ‘Clean Election' now. The thoughtless acts of recruiting some of the notorious uncles that we generally spoke off in National movements has resulted in the loss of interest and respect for the NPGs now by the youths of today. If I may, dare to humbly speak out the truth than we are not at fault for such opinions of our own too. The pioneers of our National Movement shed their blood for the Land , the pride and dignity of being a Naga and to keep us as Nagas in future also in our Motherland and it is for such passion that we still love and keep our hearts burning for our land understanding their sacrifices but ,with NPGs without any work profile of their own flaunting all the luxuries of the world irritates the youths especially ,when demand letters drops in when youths with Loan taken amount tries to venture in small business with great difficulty at the outskirt of the main business area, as the main markets no more belongs to the Nagas in our own Land.
The thoughtless acts of aiming only for government jobs and easy money by our elders who felt embarrassed to work in low profile jobs has resulted in the decay of Dignity of Labor amongst the Naga Youths. Grateful to you all that we now have no space in the market of our own economy to do business in our own land. Grateful to this high attitude of yours in the past that we now have no open air space also to do business in main markets forget about big shops .Your Fake pride of being Masters of the Land has ended in your younger generations becoming slaves in our own land.
Alas! the pain and grief are many and the heart unsure and insecure but I lay hopes that all is not gone and we still have hopes to repent , mend and work out things with prayers binded with Unity, Hardwork ,sincerity and commitment blessed from our Father In Heaven who Loves our Land so much even when we have failed to stand up to what we professed to be, ‘Nagaland For Christ‘, because for men, it may just be a tag but for God His name taken is not a joke to be taken lightly.
Kuknalim!
