We are faced with several ailments and tribalism, which is destroying the very fabric of the Naga society, is one of them. What happened in the aftermath of the August 31, 2012 incident, where a suspected bike lifter was killed by the Quick Reaction Team (QRT) of the Kohima Village Youth Organization (KVYO), and the subsequent violence that spread to Dimapur and its surroundings on September 1, 2012 is now going to be, as the Naga Hoho described, “one of the darkest moments in the annals of Naga history”. One of the immediate thing that comes to mind is how will the Nagas govern themselves if in the near future we are to get self rule or sovereignty. Do we have the quality and discipline to unite as a people and work towards a shared future? Hopefully what happened on August 31 or September 1, 2012 will be a lesson for us—to search our hearts and minds. Yes because of someone’s action we may feel the pain and hurt caused to my or your tribe. But what Nagas can perhaps be proud of is that even during such times of anger, pain and violence; we have sane voices from within our communities who speak out against such kind of intolerance and the need to protect the harmony and peaceful coexistence of the diverse Naga family. Even as we write this editorial, Mr. Kanito of Kilitomi Village, the Sumi father of the deceased Kivika, has forgiven the defaulters without any reservation in the name of the Almighty. This was done through the initiation of the Kohima Sümi Hoho and made public through a joint statement with Kohima Village Council. These are gestures that should make every Naga proud.
Against this backdrop, and in the context of what is happening around us now, we thought the Morung Express will celebrate and perhaps highlight some of the goodwill gesture that we have noted as a newspaper. Earlier this year during the occasion of Sekrenyi festival of the Angami community, the Sumi Hoho had on behalf of the Sumi people extended “heartiest greetings” to all the people belonging to the Angami community. The apex tribal body of the Sumis went on to wish the Angami People’s Organization success and prayed that the Almighty God bless the Angami brothers and sisters abundantly during the festival and in the days to come. Isn’t this gesture of one tribe reaching out to each other something like a breath of fresh air? We need more of such reaching out among the Naga family. Let’s admit the truth that over the years, a lot of mistrust and suspicion has been generated among the different Naga tribes. Unfortunately, we are yet to have a proper forum for the Naga tribes (hohos) to come together. We need to strengthen the institution of the Naga Hoho if we want the unity of the Naga tribes to be sustained. There is nothing wrong in having other groupings whether they are based on regional (ENPO) or ethnic-cultural aspirations (TPO) however we need to transcend our loyalty to our tribes and groupings to a larger common identity. Perhaps we are not investing more time, effort and resource in building a shared future.
Today some of the disputes taking place along tribal lines; this has infused deep distrust against one another and thereby preventing any form of dialogue to take place. We need to be warned therefore that the curse of tribalism can destroy the vigor and strength of the Naga people. Let us as a people not underestimate the danger or threat to our peaceful coexistence that can be fueled by tribalism. Rather than conveniently brush it under the carpet, the problem of tribalism has to be addressed. Like the gesture of one tribe reaching out to the other or the father forgiving his son’s killers, the time has come to reconcile and rebuild our broken relationships. We need more of reaching out—to embrace one another so that no force on earth can divide the unity of the Naga family.
