Robert A. Silverstein
New York, USA
There have been a number of editorials condemning the use of water cannons by agencies of the Nagaland government on teachers and others who were protesting the fact that teachers had not been paid for many months. I have chosen to respond to two of them, for two reasons. First, they are both representative of the few articles I've read on the issue, and second, I have a slight connection with one of the authors.
I have had, recently, a brief but pleasant exchange of e-mails with Aheli Moitra. Moreover, her article uses an analogy, the 1960s American civil rights movement, which I lived through and was, in a small way, a part of. (In 1963, as a student at the University of Vermont, I was one of the organizers of a civil rights conference at UVM, and had the honor of escorting around two of the most famous people of the movement for three days, the late James Farmer, then head of the Congress of Racial Equality [CORE], and Congressman John Lewis, then head of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee [SNCC].) I have always cared passionately about civil rights and those who were unjustly oppressed by the powers that be, and that interest is one of the reasons that I have recently gotten involved in the critical debate going on in the Naga community, of Nagaland and elsewhere, about the fight for a sovereign nation and the endemic corruption within Naga society.
I share the concerns of Moitra and the Nagaland Page (hereinafter NP), and agree that the conduct of the government agencies is very unpleasant. The reason I cannot condemn the use of the water cannons is, as a retired lawyer who respects the rule of law, I do not know whether the agencies had the legal right to use them in the situation where they were used. The wisdom of using them is another matter, and common sense indicates that the agency or agencies which chose to use them might have been better served if things were worked out without the use of coercion and violence.
But there is a much more important point I hope to make here, and it ties in with articles I have written recently which have appeared in The Morung Express, the Nagaland Post, and my occasional comments in the NP. Moitra ends her article by saying, “When a State loses its sense of responsibility, it should either rethink its direction or stand to lose power. If the current Government does not want the latter, it is time for it to come up with imaginative solutions to the problem of salaries that has continued to plague teachers and doctors in Nagaland State – [or] it will not be long before nonviolent direct action becomes the norm, as the people overcome the injustices of their times.”
In the Nagaland Page editorial, it says, in part, that the photos of the use of the water cannons on those protesting nonpayment of salaries, “reveal the total break-down of governance in the state of Nagaland. …. The larger question is: why haven't the Teachers been paid their salaries for six months, which translates into where have all funds allocated for education in Nagaland gone?.... [To answer this question,] we need to look further and deeper into the state Government's policy on School Education, especially on fund allocation for all aspects of school education, not least teachers' salaries. This necessarily entails transparency, accountability and audit, especially by stakeholders and qualified, independent authorities. But that would upset numerous apple-carts and it is this aversion to upsetting apple-carts that would always hinder Nagaland's progress every which way.”
I agree with everything that has been said in the quotes, above.
But what I'm about to say is of critical importance, not to the issue of nationalism, but to the other topic I've recently addressed, corruption in the Naga community, not just in Nagaland, but in Manipur and elsewhere.
I've written, more than once, that to condemn corruption in writing in general terms is meaningless. That to be effective, one must eventually name names, and take specific actions. That those who are corrupt are happy to let citizens vent in the papers. As long as no one is made to feel uncomfortable, as long as no specific names are mentioned, and, most critically, as long as no one DOES anything, those who are corrupt could not care less and will continue their corruption undeterred..
Recently, in more than one article, I've alleged that the NSCN (IM) is corrupt and violent, and is in charge of all the other corrupt people and institutions within the Naga community. If I am right, then to look to the Nagaland government to solve the teacher salary problem, or any other problem, is useless, as all the members of the state assembly, and all those under them in agencies, are all, directly or indirectly, under the intimidating thumb of the NSCN (IM).
The latter may have, once, viewed its sole role as negotiating with the government of India (GoI) for a sovereign Naga nation, but it has since morphed, in my opinion, into an authoritarian organization which will tolerate no dissent, and will do what is necessary to maintain its power, whether it is in the best interest of the Naga people or not. Now I want to relate what I just said to the articles by Moitra and the NP. After my recent comments about the NSCN (IM) in a number of articles, the NSCN (IM) has, significantly, not responded to me in any of the Nagaland papers. As a retired lawyer, familiar with evidentiary issues, I can only presume that the group has not responded because its members cannot respond; that my allegations are in fact true, and if they responded they would have to defend themselves, and that would open them up to scrutiny and to responses that they would prefer to avoid.
Moitra and the NP have again attacked the “State,” and “the state School Education Department,” respectively. But I wonder why the Naga people must beg for money earned and deserved, and if not handed over by the state, why they must go directly to “nonviolent direct action.”? What happened to the rule of law? What happened to due process of law? If legal agreements are the basis for the teachers' salaries, why can't they be enforced in the courts? Why must the people go from begging to direct action, forcing them to be treated with disrespect and violence? But to answer these questions, the Naga people must go from polite articles and even polite threats, as Moitra has done, and ask the difficult questions about whether corruption is endemic in Naga society, something that everyone seems to agree is the case, and then have the courage to state out loud who is in control of the corruption, and also the extortion and violence which underlies all these other evils.
And they then must take action, and action as a GROUP, not as individual voices writing articles in papers. At some point someone, presumably those who view themselves as leaders of the Naga people, must have the courage to start to organize, to take legal action, to insist on the courts enforcing contracts, to have honest people run for office who will do what it takes to get into office, and once in office insist on maintaining their honesty, even in the face of offers and threats from the corrupt.
There is a time when politeness, begging, even threats of “nonviolent direct action” are not enough. Until those in power feel threatened with imminent imprisonment or loss of office, the corrupt and violent will never budge. Enough with articles. It is time to “upset .. [the] apple-carts.” If I am wrong about who is corrupt and violent, then Naga people must have the courage to name different names, as they see things. If Nagas do not have the courage to fight for the rule of law instead of the rule of force and violence, then they deserve what they get and all the articles in the world will make no difference.
