There are a lot of things taking place all around us. Newspapers these days are filled with issues that concern our Naga people as well. The fact that we are living in an inter-connected and inter-dependent world makes the Nagas even more vulnerable to all sorts of things, whether it is good or bad. The large scale exodus of northeastern people from south India following threats as a result of the recent violence between Bodo tribal and the minority Muslims in Kokrahjar district of Assam has now become a national problem with international ramification. Naga people studying or working outside are also affected perhaps because we all belong to the same northeast region. Then another headache, which keeps returning, is the economic blockade being imposed from the Assam side. This is the result of tension related to land claims along the inter-state boundary between Assam and Nagaland. There are several places along the long stretch of our border with Assam, where some kind of conflict or dispute keeps cropping up. This needs to be addressed. Then we have so many other things to be worried about—the virus of tribalism lurking beneath the surface of our social fabric; the factionalism and killings taking place in the name of our national struggle; large scale extortion; parallel governments and multiple centers of power; corruption and abuse of power; deteriorating infrastructure such as roads and electricity leading to the current protest and anger among the masses. Then we are faced with a paralysis in policy making related to the larger question of Article 371 (A) such as 33% reservation for women in Municipal Bodies. We have also been working towards evolving a policy on exploration of our natural resources but without success because we have failed to arrive at a larger consensus. Besides all this, we are now entering a time where a settlement to the Indo-Naga political issue is being talked about.
So you see, Nagas are faced with a range of challenges that needs collective wisdom and a unity of purpose. The important question is whether we can rise above our parochial outlook and find common ground to address our collective failures as well as needs for a better future. The drawback of the present state of affairs is to be found in the incoherence and lack of a common approach to our problems. The Naga people have to decide on a lot of things confronting us. The Nagaland State government is unable to take decisive steps because of its own limitations. The non-state actors including the masses are losing patience because of the mounting challenges facing our people—whether it is corruption, extortion, illegal immigrants etc. The national groups still operate on factional lines and despite commitment to bury their differences and work together, they have failed to deliver. It is now going to be a year since top Naga leaders of the three political groups—NSCN/GPRN, GPRN/NSCN and NNC/FGN resolved to push ahead with the formation of one Naga National Government. Under the initiative of the Forum for Naga Reconciliation (FNR) the joint statement (Naga Concordant) was signed by Isak Chishi Swu, Th Muivah, Gen (Retd) Khole Konyak, Kitovi Zhimomi, Brig (Retd) S Singnya and Zhopra Vero. A national unity government is the need of the hour not just to take the peace process to its logical conclusion but also towards addressing the myriad of issues and crisis that confront the Naga people. We need to identity what our national agenda ought to be and then evolve a broad based approach to come out with the best policy decisions that is in our common interest.
