Witoubou Newmai
A failed mechanism was responsible for the creation of the recent disorderly scene in the State of Nagaland. Calm has prevailed now but it does not signal that the failed mechanism has been rectified. Rather, it has become a matter of urgency to note that the calm is not without potential to accumulate more energy to generate a catastrophic state of affairs in the given configuration of Nagaland State.
In a democracy like ours, there are enough tools to address and redress the affairs of the day. Either due to misuse of these tools or ignorance of their availability and abundance, the working mechanism often jumps off gear. This is what has happened recently in the State of Nagaland. The reluctance of going beyond the temporary or momentary, drowning in the joy of brownie-point scoring or dearth of analytical and leadership resources and elements also contributed to the sorry story of today’s Nagaland State.
Today, the mental health of the State Government is reminiscent of a captain who fails to study/gather the weather forecast before s/he sets out on a voyage. Interpretations of the causes of any wreckage of the ship will always be random and rampant driven by the intensity and colours of the interest groups. Interestingly, the recent impasse in the State had come amid celebrations of having a so called “Opposition-less Government”.
Time and again, this writer has been questioning the so called “Opposition-less Government” in the State of Nagaland. The writer has also been voicing the desperate need for a spokesperson for the State Government. These are two examples among the many factors whereby, addressing these concerns can play a part towards the rectification of faulty mechanisms.
It is never proper or right for one to accuse a government for being an “Opposition-less” one. Freedom of affiliation and allegiance is a key feature of democracy. However, if one ventures out for honest inquiries, the manner in which how the Nagaland State Government became “Opposition-less” was determined by interests, thereby paving a way for the people to act as the Opposition.
The unfortunate truth is that, “an Opposition-less Government” is the other connotation for “a speed-breaker free government.” The absence of pick-holes-exercise among the law makers often generates an atmosphere of despotism.
In the absence of Opposition parties, any action or decision of the government will be masqueraded as the truth. This is to say that no one is there for the policing job in such a time when the government becomes despotic. This is also to say that the “Opposition-less Government” is to give the legislators too much freedom to cause too much of damage to the society. The State Government of Nagaland would “happily” choose not to recognize these facts.
At the end, one feels enough and more to despair about the present configuration trending in the State of Nagaland.
