The African writer, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o says that language is central to a peoples’ definition in relation to the world around them. It also has a dual character as a means of communication and a carrier of an evolving culture. Therefore, language serves as the collective memory bank of a people’s experience in history. In the ongoing journey of self-definition and an evolving culture, Nagas are in need of a new language where they are no longer projected as the objects. The Naga people require a language that humanizes and enables them to live with dignity. In other words, it means a language where they no longer look at themselves as victims, but makers of their destiny.
There is an urgency to create a new language that moves away from the one created and perpetuated by victors of war and the dominant power structures. After all, changing language is essential for decolonizing the mind in order to change ourselves and change the world around us. A new language opens new understandings and insights into realities while identifying and recognizing new problems, and offers new creative options for enabling a shared humanity. The new language can empower the people to create a shared perception of common concern and trust. This requires a shift away from the current practice of expediency, to a language of peoples’ memory and vision. The practice of expediency often leads to the miscarriage of justice.
In the Naga context, because of how history, geography and politics have interrelated with each other, and how the conflict has in turn related to them, a language of domination and impunity has taken root. This has created tensions between Feelings and Truth, and very often, it is Feelings that draw more attention than the Truth itself. Contextually, this affects the language and styles of leadership. For example, in this paradox of truth and feelings, a Naga leader who confines his or her role to peoples’ feelings may create a situation of stagnation; while a leader who transcends peoples’ feelings to speak the truth runs the risk of being misunderstood. This complexity is further compounded in times of crisis, when a leader who is confined to peoples’ feelings may acquire Temporary Popularity, while a leader who gets too far ahead of the people may become irrelevant.
The call for a new language should lead to a consciousness that inspires Nagas to implement a praxis (action and reflection) where the people are capable of involving themselves in human action to transform the world, through a process that respects feelings, upholds truth and embraces restorative justice. It also implies a new style of leadership that inspires an imagination that leads to an enduring process where Naga people are makers of their culture, write their own stories, transcend the boundaries in which they are trapped, recognize their common humanity and create a relational shared future based on respect. A new language is required to reconcile the past, present and future by giving rise to new hope; a hope, in which the power of imagination will propel the people to overcome the culture of power.
