As we approach the end of another year, reflecting on it and questioning whether 2016 has been a year of failed government assurances is needed.
The degree to which Nagaland State and its government have deviated from their assurances compromises democratic practices and values. This betrays a lack of sincerity, political will and commitment to truly serve the people they claim to represent. Perhaps the assurances were made only to pacify an angry public whose patience is constantly tested. But, in the end, the series of failed assurances has only prolonged the people’s unacceptable living conditions and their suffering.
In Nagaland state it has become a common practice for elected officials and government servants to make empty assurances. Ironically, making these promises and assurances are an attempt to placate and soothe the public protest against the government’s inability to genuinely acknowledge and provide basic human needs. Sadly, every unmet assurance further weakens the public trust. Let’s face it, when the government fails to fulfill its responsibilities, the people lose.
Has the ordinary Naga become indifferent and been marginalized along the sidelines? Are politicians and government servants so caught up in themselves that they are immune to responding to the public?
Let us examine the citizen’s expectations after years of political struggle and living in an unhealthy environment where conditions are in constant flux and armed conflict is ever present. How does the habit of making empty promises affect the Naga psyche? Does it mean that once in power, politicians take the people for granted and the promises are forgotten? Or, are the people so fatigued and battle-worn that they become indifferent to the abuse of public trust, corruption and the arrogance of political power?
If the government is people-driven and people-centered, then the people’s basic needs are to be upheld and addressed. After all, there is nothing more important than safeguarding the lives of ordinary people and the environment in which they live. The public needs to ask whether the government and its workers – elected and appointed - are upholding the public trust that ensures representative, participatory and inclusive democratic governance which is ultimately accountable to the people.
The politics of forgetting, or more specifically political amnesia, is a common trait amongst politicians and governments. It is ironic that the politics of promises, as well as the politics of forgetting are too comfortably intertwined in the Naga context. This implies the presence of a weak civil society that is unable to stand firmly and command absolute accountability and participatory governance. This reveals a government that is not people-centered and has become complacent by conditions that make corruption and the abuse of power seem normal.
Let’s be clear, present day politics in Nagaland State are appalling, corrupt and have institutionalized violence within the existing State structures. This type of violence is hidden and invisible, but negatively impacts the people while simultaneously perpetuating unacceptable living conditions. This structural violence exists within a context of protracted armed conflict which threatens the people’s daily well-being in addition to fracturing possibilities of attaining long term nonviolent peaceful outcomes.
The Naga public can no longer remain a spectator in this scenario and needs to address the structural violence by recognizing that true power lies with the people. The public needs to define the form of healthy political environment and nurture leaders that would serve everyone’s greater good. Any such process begins by holding elected representatives and government officials accountable to the ideals of democratic governance that is participatory and people driven.
