Aheli Moitra
With a long history of violence and a recent movement for forgiveness and reconciliation, the craft of peace making is not a stranger to this land. Forgiving, as a method for peace, wherein people keep aside their ethnic/religious/ideological differences and make sure that a cycle of revenge does not affect peaceful coexistence, is widely recognized by the church, civil society, national workers and tribes in the Naga context. “Forgiving is the beginning of reconciliation but definitely not the end,” says a Pastor from Kohima who has been observing incidents of the past few days. “It has to be followed up with dialogue, and finding respect and honour for each other,” he adds.
The realization of common good is a necessity of this process, and Lt. Kivika’s father, Mr. Kanito, has made an important judgment at a time when inter community rivalry could have spelt a disturbing future, even though the culprit here is probably the government’s policy of ‘community policing’ rather than inter tribal hatred. The prejudice and animosity created by the latter needs to be tackled with on a much deeper level which will exemplify whether forgiveness has given way to reconciliation, or remained merely the victim’s burden.
Various organizations have come forward to express their gratitude to Mr. Kanito in being able to control the violence by forgiving “the culprits” on time. Though such violence could be understood to be holding the victim’s family to ransom by society at large, the Southern Angami Catholic Youth Association (SACYA) has highlighted the significance of Mr. Kanito’s “divine gesture to forgive those responsible for his son’s death.” The SACYA, in a statement, has hoped that the Lord will grant their family solace and strength in their hour of grief. “His big 'YES' to 'forgive' shows a true spirit of mature Christian, which is worth revering by every Christian. Apart from that, his reported appeal to both the communities to halt escalation of confrontation was a clarion call,” said the SACYA.
On a similar note, the Nagaland Senior Citizens Forum underlined “the magnanimity of the aggrieved father in forgiving “the culprits” in the true spirit of Christianity” which “should be emulated by every Naga.” Both the Forum and SACYA, in keeping with the spirit of reconciliation, have appealed to all citizens and communities to work with commitment for ensuring peaceful coexistence in the State, to maintain brotherly love and tranquility.
At a time like this, it will be handy to remember the pledge that 35 Naga tribes took at the start of the Naga reconciliation process in December 2001 to affirm that they will “go beyond seeing only where others have hurt us and be ready to see where we too may have provoked them to hurt us so that forgiving and being forgiven will become possible.” That said, forgiving or reconciliation must not be confused with justice having been done. “Asking for justice does not mean I haven’t forgiven. The law has to take its course,” points the Pastor out, much relevantly.
