The Naga public has to stop being passive detached spectators and shift from reactive dissent to informed dissent through nonviolent social action in order for any real political change to take place
The Nagaland Legislative Assembly, the state’s seat of political power, has come under much ridicule in the social media and has been sharply criticized for conducting brief hurried sessions during which the elected representatives did not engage on many of the substantive and pressing issues. This is occurring at a time when Nagaland State is being challenged in various areas of governance where basic human needs continue to be unmet, and the public’s expectations for legislators to rise to the occasion has been belied.
History reminds us that when a government exists to function without credible opposition to ensure checks and balances – like the present ‘opposition-less government’ in Nagaland State – there is an overriding tendency for an opposition-less government to become self-indulging and exhibit tyrannical characteristics. After all, the arrogance of power corrupts absolutely with little or no regard at all for the people, particularly in areas of long standing conflict fueled by a climate of impunity and corruption. This is especially true as the exploitative nature demonstrated by the flagrant arrogant display of political and economic power is being felt throughout Nagaland.
In all this, the people, the public, are reduced to mere powerless spectators. They are ridiculed and mocked in the culture of impunity and the culture of power, as their attempts to resist or stop the far-reaching tentacles of power in any meaningful way are continually compromised and thwarted. This is clearly evident by how the powers that be have disregarded and navigated their way across many expressions of public discontent.
In 2016 alone, there have been many threats of (and some short-lived) agitations, protests, bandhs, but nothing substantive enough to cause the powers that be alter their behavior. What is more demoralizing is that every call for protest has been pacified by some form of verbal or written assurance. By caving in to power politics and pressure, the people by default, have only legitimized and strengthened the arrogance of power.
The urgent need for change and accountability has reached critical mass. The change that Nagas are yearning for, in all likelihood, will be initiated by individuals united by their sense of common concern and shared responsibility. The political dynamics over the last few years have shown that Naga traditional organizations and institutions have lost their dynamism and are being pulled more into a polarizing colonial framework. Change will also not come through organizations whose actions are based on knee-jerk actions, reactive dissent and whose analyses are both apolitical and ahistorical.
Any framework of this nature does not have the inherent capacity to respond to the changes needed to today’s serious problems. One such consequence is what Dr. Wati Aier has called “seduction of tribeness.” Such a seduction will further lead to fragmented and entrenched views created along narrow constructs of identity based on state and tribal formation.
The people, the public need to stop being complacent detached spectators and truly embody the spirit of what the Brazilian artiste and social activist Augusto Boal called the ‘spect-actors.’ By being ‘spect-actors’ the people are engaging in self-empowering processes of critical thinking to allow them to make conscious interventions and informed dissent through nonviolent social actions which are rooted in shared analysis. This requires a minimum amount of shared common concern for the society.
The question is whether there exists a substantial section of the Naga population that shoulders a minimum amount of shared concern to push them from reactive dissent to informed nonviolent dissent in the theatre of change.
