Clear and Present Danger

Dr. Asangba Tzudir
 

The Need for Intellectuals’ Voice 

 

“The general population doesn’t know what’s happening, and it doesn’t even know that it doesn’t know.” – Noam Chomsky


The above quote by Chomsky is an apt reflection of the times, where free expression of thoughts and ideas and opinions, of critical expression that is integral to the promotion of a democratically ideal society finds missing.


Besides the silence of the seemingly unaffected submissive masses, helpless to a large extent, the absence of a collective voice among the intellectuals is a worrying trend. It is because the current issues at hand come with elements of uncertainty within a myriad of problems which will have long term impacts. Thus, the absence of a ‘voice’ has only led to a ‘normalisation’ of the current situation.


On the level of writing, a skim through the local dailies, attests to the absence of the larger intellects voice, and where one sees only the voice of the concerned ‘usual suspects.’ On the level of vocally voicing out, a channel to produce the voice is necessary but it seems to be still in search of a collective voice. The challenge is to unearth the predicaments, solving it will be able to give a sense of direction towards the creation of the voice.


As Naga society continues to nurse the past wounds, it is trapped within the present dilemmas though nestled comfortably within one’s comfort zone unmindful about the future, a future that actually is tense considering the present circumstances made more tensed because of the inability to read the future based on the present.


Thrown between hope and despair, the intellectuals as a strong ‘body of resistance’ need to come together to start a collectivity and which will bring the much needed impetus in creating a democratic culture and where the paramount issues are put to the test of debates and critical enquiry and to the extent where it will have a positive impact through timely intervention on policies, governance and the confronting issues at hand. 


Today, the voice of the intellectuals posits themselves in a space between the state and the citizens or peoples in a set-up where the people are simply made to bow to the machineries of power thereby propagating the silencing of the voice of dissent. The citizens are also egoistically crippled largely by a nonchalant atmosphere where it responds to the ‘wills’ of those who govern and thereby the very existence becomes just another channel to legitimate the unprecedented power of those who ‘govern.’ Thus, the society is witnessing a ‘subaltern’ narrative that refuses to speak.


Within such constraints, the presence of a vibrant voice of the intellectuals that articulates the language of critical thinking and dissent; the voice that speaks the language of self-determination; aspirations; freedom and the ‘will to power’ becomes integral to giving voice to the people. In addition to the pressing concerns, Governance and policy making which lies at the heart of human conditioning and flourishing is in need of ‘alternatives’ to broaden the horizons of policies that are somehow redundant besides being dangerous. 


Take the case of RIIN (Register of Indigenous Inhabitants of Nagaland). This very exercise will redefine the concept and understanding of ‘Indigenous’ in the context of the State, and therefore carries the danger of losing the very meaning of indigenous and what it means as belonging to a indigenous peoples’. Thus, policies as such are dangerous because what is happening here can trigger World politics particularly the world of indigenous peoples’.


It is high time for the intellectuals to generate the voice and create a channel for the collective voice to create an impact on the larger societal functioning starting from the government because the present ‘Naga condition’ is in dire need of alternatives or way forward solutions to issues that lie encoded in uncertainty. Thus, the present ‘Naga condition’ should really disturb the minds of the intellectual selves towards exercising the freedom of imagination because no power on Earth can stop such freedom. 

 

(Dr. Asangba Tzudir contributes a weekly guest editorial to The Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)