The World is Coming to Us
It is gives us immense pride to note that many positive things are happening in our homeland. Offcourse we cannot deny the fact that Nagas are burdened with several unresolved issues, whether it is the long drawn political talks with the Government of India or the reconciliation of the Naga national groups. On top of this we also have an array of other internal problems facing us. However all this has not come in the way of outsiders coming to recognize us as a people. This is good news for the Nagas that more and more people are coming to our home and reaching out to us. Due credit should go to everyone collectively. In the last few months or so Nagaland has witnessed the presence in our midst of several groups of people, firstly—Great Britain’s Prince Andrew who was here in Kohima to represent the Queen in her Diamond Jubilee Year Celebration. We should note the significance attached to the visit to Kohima, after all Prince Andrew was on a very brief visit to India and to have chosen to come to Nagaland must have been carefully worked out. It shows that the British Monarch and her government wanted to pay tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in the course of the Battle of Kohima during the Second World War and Nagas were very much part of this struggle for freedom. So Prince Andrew’s visit was an acknowledgement of not just the Battle of Kohima but the Naga people. On a very different note another group of people came calling—the international Rock super band Firehouse. Many of the present generation of Nagas grew up listening to cassettes and CDs of such icons as Firehouse and Mr Big, just to name a few. Ten to twenty years ago, who would have ever imagined that these international rockers would perform Live in our hometown like Dimapur. The visit of eight highly distinguished diplomats from the European Union has also taken place.
Today the reality of new age communication, the relative peace and order along with the greater resourcefulness and inventiveness of government, the youths, Church, civil society etc has enabled greater openness and interaction both within and with the outside world as well. This is also a clear and loud message that everyone of us, we are no longer satisfied with the old order of negativity, silence and dogmatism but Nagas want to chart out a new course—to live with conviction, explore new ideas, reach out to new horizons and seek a better life of self respect and dignity in the comity of other peoples and nations. And it is not only the recent visit of Prince Andrew, Firehouse or the EU Ambassadors, but over the last few years, we have been having a lot of important people coming to see and meet us whether at the government or political level, as tourists, professionals in different fields and even the fact that we seem to have acquired innumerable in-laws through marriage. So it’s not just about visitors but our Naga family is also growing with global personality and outlook. All this may not solve our problems but hopefully this new vision and character will act as a catalyst to propel us into a better tomorrow. Given that the world is coming to us, perhaps the Naga people will need to be consciously aware about rebuilding our homeland so that we can also live up to other people’s expectation of us. Every section of our society will have to work collectively towards this rebuilding process.
