In layman definition corruption means the destruction, ruining or the spoiling of a society. A corrupt society stops valuing integrity, virtue or moral principles. Perhaps, selfishness and greed are the two main causes of corruption. In today’s Naga society where traditional, religious, ethical teaching and standards of morality are weak, these values should be revived and in this effort public leader, religious leader, elders in society have important role to play. Corruption hinders economic growth, social harmony and deters investment. Various forms of corruption include extortion, graft, bribery cronyism, nepotism, embezzlement and patronage. Corruption allows criminal activities such money laundering, extortion, killing and drug trafficking to thrive.
What Nagas need to understand is that corruption didn’t just start and end with politicians, officers and public leaders. Corruption in Naga society is a way of life. It is a by-product of a system that is power driven. Our Naga society respects power, not excellence, honesty and integrity, such societies can function. However, they don’t progress much. Societies that values excellence, innovation, and integrity do well. Power-driven societies resemble the jungle, the lion always right and the lion’s friends have a comfortable life. We think cheating, in reasonable amounts is okay, these are not good values. Corruption is worse than terrorism. Terrorists blow up existing infrastructure such as roads, airports, power plants etc. Corruption prevents such infrastructure from being created in the first place, terrorists take innocent lives. However, corruptions prevent hospital from being built, which means that innocent lives that could be saved are not. Thus, we as responsible citizen need to take some responsibility too. Only then true change shall happen. If we want Naga to be rich, we have to value excellence and honesty first. In fact, honesty pays but only if all of society is honest. If only you are honest, but everyone else is not, you will suffer; this is the bottleneck obstructing change in Naga today. We all want to be honest, but we don’t want to be the only one honest. This paradox prevents change. The nexus between the rich and government servants is strong and you will often find one in the other’s living room in the morning and evening. Why do so many politicians socialize with industrialists?
Values are the good habits that are contagious. No doubt, values bind us together and set us apart. Today, Naga society is seeing a terrible amount of lack of value, people are discriminating and being discriminated against. What can I say; we Naga seem to be leaving behind a legacy of hatred and destruction for future generations. We lack empathy, mutual respect, love, loyalty and honesty. We need to be able to accept others for what they are, not what they can do for us.We always talk about how we should respect and uphold Naga cultures and abide by Naga values. Our culture isn’t just our food, arts and traditions. But, culture defines us- who we are as people, how we aim to live our lives, what sort of behavior is acceptable or unacceptable and who should be rewarded or punished according to societal norms. Our culture contains the implicit rules by which we live- our values. When we think of Naga values, we normally think of personal values such as family, religion and respect for elders, for instant, one might assumed US values, competition, individualism and religion. However, we don’t have clear answer of Naga community values. Do we values education or wealth? Do we value honesty, love, mutual respect, loyalty and empathy or do we value getting the job done anyhow? Do we value our local communities or do we value being part of Naga? Do we value democracy or do we believe in powers in the hands of a select few to whom the laws don’t apply? These questions have no easy answers. There are conflicting responses to any of these in Naga society. Scholars, unable to account for this conflict, make profound statements such as there are many Nagas within Naga. Some romantic types even call this ‘the beauty or uniqueness of Naga’.
A clear set of values helps tell people what the purpose of their lives is and what is worth working for. Knowledge is only one part of education; equally important aspects are application of values tell people what is good and important. They bind society, social scientists believe that without values, a society could disintegrate, a risk often present in Naga society. The system changes with better policies. Society changes with better values. Surprisingly, Naga society is associated with relentless greed, materialism and consumerism. We have been enamoured less by honesty, and love more by dynasty. Greed is good was just the validation they needed at the time. No one cared about a person’s values we cared about a person’s money. Why do so many intelligent, educated, respected bureaucrats succumb to corruption? The answer is simple; the importance of our society has begun to attach to money. Money is extremely important now a day, surviving well in the modern society does require amount of material wealth. Money provides stature- bigger houses, more lavish Christmas or birthday parties and high-end place to shop at and gives one a certain place in society, we celebrate the most rich and famous lists and idolize those who live in expensive houses, judge people by their residential address. So, toward which direction Naga are heading? Perhaps, important values in society need to be built and propagandized to bring about positive changes and to keep the balance between welfare state and social Darwinism in society. After all, you give love to get love. Thus, we need to stop concentrating on how we can reduce competitions and focus on how we can grow together.
K Pamreihor
Doctoral Scholar
Centre for European Studies
School of International Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
