Respect for our elders is positive virtue of Naga society. Irrespective of which tribe you belong to, the younger people go to great lengths to listen and obey what our fathers or elders have to say on all matters of importance concerning our society and its wellbeing. Our Naga culture is also such that authority as a tradition rests with our elders. Perhaps all this is good in the sense that culture and tradition is passed down from generation to generation. In this way we ensure that our way of life is preserved while ensuring social control and order. So while we are proud of our tradition, on the other side is the question, are Naga leaders listening to the voices of the younger Naga generation? This was the Morung Express poll question wherein an overwhelming majority of 70 percent readers expressed the view that Naga leaders (meaning our elders) do not listen to what the younger Naga generation has to say on a range of issues. Interestingly one of the reader stated that elders, while they do listen, however they are slow to change. In other words elders are not very receptive to change. And it could also be because during their time, they did not challenge their elders with their independent thinking or viewpoints like what younger people are starting to do today. The crux of the problem as brought out by some of the comments seems to be that the present social system has no room for young people. And unless we change this i.e. making our present system more democratic and inclusive in its functioning, the immense potential and contribution of our young people will remain untapped and go to waste.
The thing is we may never see a Barack Obama, a Bill Clinton, a David Cameroon or an Ed Miliband (British Labour Party Leader) emerging from our ranks because simply put we don’t give value to young people. All these mentioned are young people who have risen to the top leadership position of their respective countries not because of their age but on their merit and capability. But here in our Naga society forget about emerging young leaders, we don’t even encourage second rung leaders who can take over from the elders. Isn’t this the case in most of our organizations—whether they are church based, tribal hohos or civil society, political parties, national groups etc. We can perhaps take a leaf out from say the Dalai Lama or the Kingdom of Bhutan. In the case of the former, he has taken semi retirement and appointed a political head—a young US educated Tibetan Prime Minister. In Bhutan it is noteworthy that the elder statesman King Jigme Singye Wangchuck gave way to his son to take over from him. Both the Dalai Lama and the elder King of Bhutan could have held on to their power and position. But they wanted to give a chance to the younger generation to lead. In stark contrast here in our society we don’t look with favour to our younger generation especially when it comes to sharing power and authority. So while we must continue with our good virtue of respecting elders, it is perhaps time that the younger Naga generation and what they say is also given due credence and respect by our elders and those in authority.
