Morung Express News
Jotsoma | May 24
“What type of Nagaland do you want to shape for your future?” asked former Odisha Governor and five times Nagaland State Chief Minister, SC Jamir to students of Nagaland University today.
He was speaking during the Nagaland University Students’ Union’s 26th annual parting social at RCEMPA, Jotsoma.
Speaking on shaping the Naga future, Jamir asked the Nagaland University students as to what roles they would play in “shaping the destiny of our people?” The former Governor viewed that Nagas cannot expect external forces to build Nagaland, and with the resources and opportunities available, the students should be confident to have a State which can compete with the rest of the country.
Envisioning Nagaland to emulate a nation like Israel, Dr. SC Jamir viewed that Israel is a small nation with a tiny population but has the will to survive and surpass its neighboring countries. “Nagaland is also very tiny and very small. And yet if we imbibe the spirit of Israel, we can survive and also we can surpass the rest of the country, and that responsibility rest upon your shoulder, it rests upon your determination and it rest upon your ambition,” Jamir urged the university students.
“Naga people are standing on a shadowy border line between what should we do and what should we not do. We are standing on the crossroads and this shadowy border line is adversely affecting the prosperity of our people,” viewed Jamir.
He pointed out that age old respected values of honesty and discipline are dissipating within the Naga society. Jamir therefore called upon the young to clean the political system. “Unless the wall of politics is broken, everyone will try to loot. And that looting has started in Nagaland. No one is the owner, everyone has become the owner and therefore there is complete confusion in the minds of the common people,” viewed Jamir.
To transform politics, Jamir also pointed out the role and responsibilities of universities and educational institutions in shaping the young minds. He specified three goals of the university which are: nurturing of knowledge, building capacity among the students for the application of knowledge acquired and fostering great ideas and ideals.
“When you leave the university, you carry those ideas and ideals and it should be instrumental in shaping the destiny of our people,” he said, adding that universities are the depositaries of knowledge and therefore it must continue to reform, restructure and rejuvenate. Jamir encouraged the graduating students to continue to be learning people and the quest for knowledge must be their end and objective.
Professor RC Gupta, Pro Vice Chancellor, Nagaland University Kohima Campus meanwhile encouraged the outgoing students to decide on their goals and follow those goals with devotion and determination. “You have to have the courage and confidence,” stated Gupta while reminding the student that today “the world is behind liberalisation, privatization and globalisation’ where these three things have become an intrinsic part of the world’s economy and culture.”
“While every child may not be born with a silver spoon, every child is born with a talent,” he stated, maintaining that it is the university that refines this talent. Gupta also expressed hope that the students would become job providers and not job seekers.
