Barren Land

For those who travel by air during this time of year, a disturbing sight that one notices as you fly over Dimapur and its surrounding is the barrenness of our landscape. While it is true that the lack of rain at this time of year contributes to the state of our environment, yet the fact remains that the place that we call home is slowly turning brown, dusty and scorching, bereft of green cover. Our forests are being cut down to pave way for commercial plantation or to meet the demand for new urban (living) spaces. The first impact of our environmental degradation is the drying up of our rivers and other water sources, vital for sustaining life. The health of our environment is not just the concern of the government but a collective one and should include all stakeholders. Efforts must be made towards sustainable development and to ensure a sound balance between the needs of growth as well as conservation. Nagaland can present a development model that is able to address the present needs for economic growth while taking into account future concerns of preserving nature. Planning such a model has become even more important against the backdrop of the government’s seriousness to set up the Nagaland Special Development Zones across the foothills of the State.

This barrenness is not confined to the physical plane alone. At the spiritual level as well we have become lifeless. While there are a lot of old problems plaguing us without much of a solution, we seem to have a flair for accumulating new troubles for ourselves, adding to the burden of our society and government. Look around us and there is no end to our problems. Whether it is unabated taxation, factionalism of the Naga political movement, tribalism, land encroachment, disrespect for rule of law, corruption etc, these are surely not a demonstration of our Christian ethos. The numerous groups, association or unions cropping up, each with their own set of agenda, grievances or demands is perhaps proof to the endemic failure of our system, whether it is dysfunction malady of our government, Naga political groups, tribal hohos, Churches etc. Teachers are protesting against non-payment of salary while contract workers are demanding what they call is their right to regular service and better pay. Conflict over land and resource is another peculiar problem we indulge in.  

The government on the other hand is unable to enforce the rule of law or meet the demands for whatever reasons, valid or otherwise. Who is right or where does the truth lie? In short, there is too much anomaly not just in our government set-up but also our society is faced with a moral abyss from which we are unable to renew ourselves and recover. It is quite shocking to learn that we have at present an excess of 54,689 employees in the government. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio made this disclosure while highlighting the salient features of the State’s finances during the recent Assembly Session. As mentioned by the CM himself, the problem of excess State Government employees “is not a recent phenomenon but has been occurring since the existence of statehood”. However it will be interesting to find out how many of this excess was employed by the NPF led DAN government during the last 11 years and also by the previous Congress regime before that.  Merely blaming the system or the government of India for all our woes is being dishonest. If our land is to ‘yield its produce’ and its people ‘live securely’ on it then we will need to return to the path of uprightness and obedience. This is as much a spiritual doctrine as it should be incorporated into our political theology.