ZTYO organises Mélange 2016 from April 21-23
Morung Express News
Zunheboto | April 19 I
f you are visiting Zunheboto Town this April, you will see red. Not on cars or clothing, as the stereotype may suggest, but in the form of little red flags atop houses, on vehicles—the Zunheboto Town youth are in the mood to revolt against the “sickness of corruption,” and to show it, they are painting the Town red.
The Zunheboto Town Youth Organisation will host a non-traditional youth festival, ‘Mélange 2016,’ from April 21-23 under the theme ‘Being Sümi.’ Part of its ‘Awake Zunheboto’ campaign, the festival will become the first time that the Sümi youth come together on the Zunheboto Town local ground in such a format- of ‘revolt’ under the spell of celebration.
“Corruption is widespread here. Bureaucrats and politicians use the excuse of (lack of) funds to deny us development, but the real reason behind the lack of development is corruption,” says Holuto, Convenor of Mélange 2016. He is out with a team of ZTYO members—in white and blue shirts—organising the festival at the local ground in Town on a windy, stormy day. The local ground itself was supposed to be a mega project of the Nagaland State Government.
Today it is the only “recreational space” for the youth; and also a large puddle after the rains, much like the riverine roads of Zunheboto Town. “Holding a small event is a herculean task here,” says Holuto, thinking of the job at hand—hosting at least 5000 people slated to attend the event from Zunheboto Town, as well as surrounding villages and districts, for the 25-activities-festival (cultural, sports, literature, arts) to be conducted at four venues across Zunheboto Town, with 11 colonies of the Town participating.
It will be a showcase of this development. Development, reflects Vinoka, General Secretary of ZTYO, does not start and end with roads. “We need to develop the mentality, for which we need to provide recreational spaces for the youth to express themselves positively,” he says. In the past three years, not a single festival (not even traditional ones) has been hosted in Zunheboto Town. There is a sense of “slumber” in the youth. To rise up against deep rooted corruption, the first step is to ‘awake.’ ZTYO was formed in October 2013 as an intellectual and pressure group to affect this change of gear.
ZTYO designed the ‘Awake Zunheboto’ campaign which will see a string of activities throughout the year following Mélange 2016. The festival itself will include a bazaar that will provide a platform to local entrepreneurs (free of cost) to showcase their talent through stalls set up at the local ground. It will also discourage Nagaland’s ‘chief guest culture’—the organisers have chosen an elder as the Father of the festival who has been invited to share wisdom with the youth. No monetary donations will be taken, and no grand felicitations made. Only respect will be given and taken.
In that, the festival will also be a platform to welcome the non Sümi people of Zunheboto Town to come together with the Sümi people to interact, understand one another, and become integrated parts of the movement.
“The colour red stands for love and Being Sümi should be symbolic of love,” asserts Holuto. The ZTYO wants itself to go beyond boundaries of tribe and religion, signifying the “cosmopolitanism” of Zunheboto Town—the word Mélange (mix) thus came into play. Spring was chosen as a time when the tension of examination fades, weddings & winter don’t pull strings, heat doesn’t bear down.
“Let us hope the rain does not play havoc now,” says Eunice, one of the festival planners, looking at the sky. Her hope is, of course, more than that—that the youth of Zunheboto rise up and come together through Mélange 2016 to chart an empowered future through determined and collective effort. The red storm is here to be.
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