Nagaland
Nagas in the 21st century continue to conduct their affairs based on old politics driven by fear, exclusion and negative reactivity to ‘the other.’ As long as the old politics and practices prevail, Nagas, as a people, will find it difficult to mend the divisions that separate us. New open inclusive culturally sensitive and participatory political processes based on mutual respect, responsibility and accountability, and a shared vision for a common Naga future are all essential for us to live in harmony.
Our colonized mindsets that inform our way of being have to be uprooted - decolonized. Historically, controlling human beings during colonial times through slavery and other forms of oppression has most successfully colonized our bodies, minds and true natures. This invisible yet highly effective form of psychological colonizing skillfully uses fear tactics, as well as physical torture and abuse to create a sense of worthlessness, confusion and doubt. This psychological conditioning effectively controls human beings’ behavior and stabilizes the status quo which leads to accepting abnormal or false norms that have been imposed on the oppressed group. This usually takes place in situations where those who are being oppressed don’t see themselves as makers of their own culture and history. Perhaps Bantu Steve Biko best articulated this phenomenon by saying that ‘the most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.’
The State’s policy of domination results in various economic, political and social outcomes, both intended and not. However, at its core, the domination model needs to be viewed at a psychological level, as its success is based on generating mental confusion that undermines, compromises and weakens the capacity for self-healing, self-determination and transformation. Decolonizing the mind requires self-reflection and identifying and removing those parts. Transformation and self-healing are intrinsically connected. This symbiotic process renews, regenerates and revitalizes or gives new life to the people and their culture. These three characteristics of renewing, regenerating and revitalizing are the dynamic process of cultivating new life!
Ngugi Wa Thiong’o astutely responds to Western accusations regarding the prevalence of corruption in Africa by saying, “They wash their hands of what is happening, as if they have never had anything to do with the corruption, with massacres, with backwardness. My concern is with these colonial distortions. There are elements which are indigenous, but they are also external. You can't understand one without the other. The tendency is to leave out one of the elements in the equation. But an equation without all its elements is no longer an equation.” Ngugi further emphasizes the need to challenge and transform ‘the system’ because of the terrible moral decay. He adds, “An individual can go, but the system continues.”
Ngugi has astutely pointed out how interconnected the individual and social or political systems are. This is very evident by many examples throughout Naga culture and polity including systemic corruption which directly impacts the well-being and quality of life for each and every Naga person.
The birth of a new politic can only emerge through intentional decolonizing our minds and all aspects of Naga culture and society. In order for all types of transformation to take place, Nagas need a new song, based on our own history and stories. Otherwise, we will only be singing the songs written and taught to us by others.
