For many people in this world, death is not only an inevitable natural phenomenon anticipated at the end of a long life, but a daily fear or potential occurrence. Here I refer to death as a natural phenomenon for a person who dies from illness and unidentifiable death. Unnatural death refers to people who are killed for other reasons; people who die in accidents, by suicide, violence, torture and so on. For Callum Brown, death means something that comes to an end, or stops going on. His point of reference is the so-called death of Christianity in the European world of the 1960s (Brown, 2009). Indeed Brown’s theory of death is true that when a human being faces both natural and unnatural death, everything about him/her stops going on.
Death is something that has no pleasure to proclaim because it brings unhappiness to people who are alive. However, a natural death, which every human being believes to receive from God, is exceptional to have the pleasure as a soul that goes to a peaceful world which is believed to be called the Kingdom of God. Like any human being in the world, many Nagas have been taken away by both natural and unnatural deaths from the head hunting era until the present day. There is another aspect of death from classical Islam. It says that God causes human being to die twice and to live twice. Regarding this aspect, many commentators have made several interpretations of these lives and deaths. The first death refers to the time before life in this world, which means human beings were dead before they were first born. The first life refers to the day the human being was born into an earthly existence. The second death refers to the end their life on earth and the second birth refers to a life of resurrection (Jane Idleman Smith, 2002). Whether the first, the second or the third death it may be, one of the deaths mentioned above becomes a reward for any Naga who stands for the truth in the society. There is a saying that truth always bring pain for those who do not want to live in truth.
In the same way, any Naga who speaks the truth in Naga society; be it about the State leaders, NGO leaders and especially any Naga factions, constantly receives a death threat. For instance, in the past countless people who stood for the truth have been rewarded with an unnatural death at the hands of many Naga freedom fighters. Today, it is an open book in the Naga society about the way freedom fighters act in Naga society. People such as Kaka Iralu who speaks the truth about a few wrong ideologies of NSCN I-M has been captured and kept in the NSCN I-M’s camp several times and perhaps it must have been the alternative to a reward of unnatural death.
Another person in Naga society who speaks the truth is Mr. Thepfulhouvi Solo, who is known by many Nagas as someone who digs out dirty ideologies of the State political leaders, leaders of NSCM I-M, NSCN K, NSCNU, NNC and others. There were moments when this man, who stands for truth in Naga society, is less appreciated by the mentioned leaders. He stands for the truth to be revealed in the larger Naga society because he does not want to see the common Naga citizens die at the hands and in the minds of the leaders who act as true leaders with wrong ideologies and deeds.
In addition to Kaka Iralu and T.Solo, there is another gentleman who loves to stand for the truth for the benefit of common Naga citizens; he is Mr. Khekiye Sema. K.Sema is one among those who is good in revealing every beat of hidden agendas or untrue leadership of political leaders and any NSCNs who unabatedly kill many Naga citizens. In a recent movement of unabated taxation, K.Sema has revealed many illegal tax collections collected by the NSCN I-M in and around Dimapur. This initiative has turned out to be a common Naga revolutionary movement to fight against unabated taxation that sucks the life from the common Nagas every day. In a few rejoinders in the Nagaland media, NSCN I-M did not appreciate or favor the truth revealed by K.Sema about the NSCN –I-M hidden policies in justifying the Naga freedom fighters.
The above three Naga activists and scholars have been codified by the NSCN I-M as Indian agents, but for many Nagas, these three are felt more as agents of the lost and suffering souls of the Nagas. One can easily feel that there needs to be someone who fearlessly stands up to speak the truth to redeem those suffering souls from illegal acts and discrimination imposed by both political leaders and the NSCNs in the country. Nagaland has become a deadlock for those who have no power to impose a death threat. Money, properties, lives and human bodies belong to those NSCNs and political leaders who have money and gun power. Unfortunately, these practices were still occurring even up until yesterday when no leaders such as Kaka Iralu, T.Solo and K.Sema came out to speak the truth of what needs to be told to the common Nagas who have been suffering from day to day psychological and physical violence forcefully imposed by the NSCNs and Naga political leaders. Many Nagas are disgraceful about the India who forcefully imposed Nagas to be Indian, whereas there are NSCNs and political leaders in our own kitchen who adapted the Indian policy of forced powers and policies.
Let us see the consequence of death threats as a reward forcefully and constantly implemented by the NSCN I-M (or other factions in the State) against those who speak the truth. Constitutionally, a death reward is given to those who are involved in crime and for those who do not speak the truth. Such a constitution imposes to threaten people to avoid in indulging in any crime of abduction. A death threat is usually encountered by people when some groups of criminals’ seek a ransom from the family/colleagues of the person who was abducted. Accidental death is inevitable to avoid and it cannot be considered as a threat. A death threat for those who stand for the truth is avoidable, but in Naga society, it results to an inevitable intentional death imposed by NSCN I-M, K,U and others who have power and money. This death refers to what Robert Kastenbaum, an anthropologist who vividly explains that death results from some outside agents, persons, things, or circumstances that weaken people because the agent contains a greater life force (Kastenbaum, 2002). Similarly, death for those who speak the truth in the Naga society will remain as the effect of outside agents and the outside agents in this context are any freedom fighters who impose a threat of death upon people such as Kaka Iralu, T.Solo and K.Sema. These three figures are the greatest example for many young people in the Naga society to come up for the truth without any fear of unnatural death reward from those who do not seek the truth.
The result of the spirit “fear no death to stand for the truth”, which comes from the three mentioned Naga leaders, will be the emergence of many young Nagas coming forward to stand for truth and justice. This will lead to the revelation of many hidden untrue ideologies and agendas being kept under a table of political leaders and the Naga People’s Government in the near future which starts from now. In such a situation, the entire body of Naga citizens can hope for the new history of Nagaland with more young people to stand for the truth despite a threat of unnatural death that comes from those who do not want to stand for the truth.
At the end, there is one thing that Naga political leaders who indulge in flaming any group of Naga freedom fighters to impose a reward of unnatural death to those who stand for the truth must rethink urgently: That the future Naga society will end up in the hands and minds of those who stand for the truth. The same urgent rethinking also should be promulgated by the unappreciated NSCNs who impose any unnatural death reward upon those who reveal any NSCNs untruthful policies in Naga society.
Despite the agony of such phenomenon prevalent in Naga society, there is also an urgent revolutionary thought for every young Naga to have the courage to come forward and share every single truth among the common people in both rural and urban areas in Naga society. Every young Naga needs this thought to come forward to stand beside those who unceasingly stand for the truth without any fear of an unnatural death reward. Save people who are worth saving so that anyone who stands for the truth to fight against the unhealthy and untrue ideology of any political leaders and NSCNs in the Naga society will continue to save people from generation to generation. In this way, Nagas can save a good and peaceful society for generations to come. Saving good people is saving good society.
Lemwang Chuhwanglim
Researcher & Activist
