The Naga Heart is the pulse, the heart beat and the life blood of the people’s existence. It is the thread that runs through the Naga peoples’ future, past and present. It is the unifying factor and the critical solidarity in their search for realizing their aspirations to be fully human.
But, the Nagas first need to acknowledge that the Naga Heart has been hurt, that it is in pain, and has been traumatized. It is by acknowledging how profoundly the Naga Heart has been hurt that the process of reviving the Naga Heart is made possible.
The Naga Heart needs to rediscover the idea of being a Naga which was founded on shared desire and aspiration, a common history, the circle of inter-dependence, and the Naga character. Reviving the Naga Heart means re-discovering its capacity to embrace and transcend the identities that shapes their existential realities of the present times. In other words, the core of it implies defining who they are. It raises the issue of self-definition.
The Naga Heart transcends all colonial constructs. It begins with defining the name Naga from a Naga perspective. Hence, the Naga is a generic term that represents the self-conscious collective political identity of sovereign “village-states.” While each of these ‘village-state’ has their own language, culture and social system, they have by way of historical forces been consciously representing their “common public character” through an active self, namely, the Naga.
Therefore, having a common past and historical inheritance, the Naga “cultural community” by virtue of exercising their right to decide their own future, is transformed into a “political community.” The Nagas as a “political community testifies to the existence of a common project for the future,” which is reflected in the struggle to freely determine their own political status, as well as pursue their social, economic and cultural future.
Furthermore, the Naga Heart embodies mindfulness. It resonates with the truth, to work for the common good, and implies speaking truth to power and upholding the values of justice. The Naga Heart recognizes that a shared future is sustainable when the values of a shared humanity are upheld. It begins with the understanding that the notion of “Right” means “Right Relationship,” since this form of relationship best determines the future of a shared humanity.
In this way, the Naga Heart can be revived through critical consciousness, by embracing the other, through transcending identities, overcoming notions of Right and replacing it with the idea of Justice. The Naga shared future is like a web which comprises many strands that weaves their future, past and present into one. At the core lies the Naga Heart and its ability to redefine and shape Right Relationships with the other.
The Naga Heart is currently informing the Naga people that a reconciled and shared Naga aspiration is the best opportunity for the people to claim their rightful place in the history of humanity. It means dreaming dreams. Therefore, as Paulo Freire would say, the dream is a demand, a condition that becomes ongoing in the history that we make and that makes and remakes us. The dream becomes a necessity in creating and embracing common vision because only the Naga people can weave the future of their dream.
