Z Lohe
I believe the trust deficit is the major factor that prompts the people of Nagaland, say a cluster section of people, to crave for equitable seat of power with specific reference to the demand for District creation. The Ism begets trust deficit aka tribalism, favoritism, party-ism, clan-ism, constituency-ism, village-ism, etc. And how Ism governs the State today is that when one becomes the minister in-charge of Home, he determines to see that only his tribesmen are recruited into Police service, when an Ism bureaucrat becomes Secy. of a department, he inducts only his kith and kin against the vacancies, when an Ism officer becomes the HOD, he ensures that only people from his clan are recruited, when the Ism Member is appointed as minister in-charge of, for instance, Medical department, he dumps only his constituency people into it, and today it is reportedly known that even post vacancies are on sale. [I happened to come across a pathetic case of a very poor Naga lady who was duped by a retired officer with fake appointment order issued to her on the verge of his retirement by taking cash from the helpless lady. A very daring ploy which can never evade the preying eye of the Living God, as I believe.]This undemocratic culture is being actively practiced today. The classless Naga society is today classified into almost inherent watertight compartments.
The aforementioned culture sounds like a reckless joke and yet it has its immense toll on the socio-economic and political equilibrium in Nagaland. This very culture of injustice and selfishness has in turn developed distinct classes, such as, employable clan and unemployable clan, employable graduate and unemployable graduate, employable tribe and unemployable tribe, employable constituency and unemployable constituency, etc. During yesteryear, people had Minister for Nagaland whereas today we have minister for Constituency as per neo culture. As the BJP Govt. at the centre has created a very deep chasm between the haves and the have-nots, the UDA Govt. has caused so much disparity between the privileged and the underprivileged in Nagaland. I heard about an officer who used to manipulate the recruitment and service regularization procedures according to his own personal whims and fancies for his pleasure, and this may be the tip of the iceberg.
Under this kind of governance in Nagaland, the less fortunate people tend to develop sense of insecurity in absence of the desired amount of political and bureaucratic backup. Besides, the chances of bullying of minority and backward tribes by major tribes and the powerful authorities both at political and bureaucratic levels cannot be ruled out. We know the Govt. facilities due to deserving public have been unduly enjoyed by non-stakeholders all these years under the patronage of the State Govt. Having watched the prevailing system of governance, I likened the fate of the less-privileged indigenous citizens to that of the Uyghurs who have been suppressed in the internment camps in Xinjiang province in China by the Communist regime. However, the report on the ground realities are throttled and perhaps the international media could not penetrate into it for fact extraction. Similarly, how much our bona fide citizens are denied their due share of Govt. facilities are hardly highlighted by anyone.
The injustice, partiality, favoritism, nepotism and cupidity have been the guidelines for governance since the true democratic principles as justice, transparency, honesty and magnanimity have been kept under lock and key for decades. In absolute absence of the application of disciplinary rules, the corrupt has free run over the governance as if the public office is his/her private property. All the above metaphors are conveniently practiced by people in authority from highest to the lowest levels all because all those Christians sans the sense of fear of God. We, the Naga Christians, tend to believe that Hindus and Muslims are dishonest since they don’t believe in the Living God, and yet in practical reality, we, Christians, are found to be much more dishonest than those idolaters.
Thus, the above reasons are the bigger attributes to the demand for creation of Districts. I lacked the knowledge of the criteria so set by the State Govt. for creation of a new District. Yet, the vastness of the area can hardly be a strong reason for creation as such vast areas can be manned through subordinate officers as ADCs and EACs. Neither the population density nor the developmental backwardness of the area can be a good reason too. Also, a tribe unwilling to remain under the existing administrative HQ thereby asking for creation of a new District sounds odd.
In the greater interest of the State of Nagaland, it would be most appropriate for the State Govt. to set up a Commission on Administrative Reform to have a relook at the over all existing administrative HQs. visa-vis the demands for new Districts. If at all any new District is to be created, it may be done so under holistic arrangement. On the contrary, the UDA has now trapped itself in its Pandora’s box as it is on the District creation spree. During the last 40 years (1963-2003) only 8 Districts were created, whereas just within 19 years (2003-2022) 8 more Districts have been created. As those Districts are created under pressure, the Govt. is now bound to follow the created precedence. At this rate, how and on what ground the UDA Govt. will reject the next petitioner. When a new District is created, it causes immense financial burden on the State exchequer. The new District has to be provided with all the basic paraphernalia including the infrastructures. When the UDA Govt. has been unable to pay salary to its employees in certain Department, how it is going to cope with the creation of 4 new Districts at one go.
While watching the performances of the State Govt. in the gallery, it is pathetic to see that the UDA ministry is found to be spineless. The Govt. is being dragged around by pressure groups to run the errands. It has become the ultimatum fueled Govt. Today, the Govt. is usually forced to meet the demand of those pressure groups under duress whether such demand is justifiable or not. There may be many reasons why the public dares to have no sense of respect for Nagaland Govt. and yet one major reason is allowing its authority to get diluted. The Govt. perhaps believes that it is a better policy to bring its authority closer to the masses by means of incessant consultative meetings on most of the issues as though the elected authority has no power to take unilateral decision on such issues. The so called pro-NGO and pro-tribal policy is nothing but cheap popularity and pampering, and the result of such unethical political conduct is losing its domineering image, and the consequence is now facing the smack of threat and intimidation from the mentors as well as from the public. In the past, the Govt. used to receive public memorandums and today it gets only ultimatums as asked for. Who is the decision maker today? The elected Govt. or the mob? Such disrespect to Govt. by the public is a new trend and it is unprecedented.
The UDA is making a name to itself by excessively fragmenting the 16,579 sq.km of Nagaland into small Districts. The UDA is fast manufacturing Districts, but what to administer and where are the resources to feed the hungry mouths of the Districts? At this rate, the UDA will convert 60 Constituencies into 60 Districts under duress. The governance of UDA looks more like a drama than a reality.
