Imkong Walling
There are hundreds of motivational quotes extolling the virtue of silence. An internet search engine would not fail to toss up hundreds, and perhaps millions, of related lines/quotes.
This website: thequotesmaster.com, has quite a list to pick from. It lists some interesting ones, with or without source attribution, lines like: The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear; Words can make a deeper scar than silence can heal; Silence is the best way to answer a fool; Keep your mouth closed until your mind is in gear; Work hard in silence, let success be your noise; If you don’t understand my silence then you don’t deserve my words; Silence speaks when words can’t.
There are also quotes attributed to famous personalities and writers, such as: Silence is sometimes the best answer (Dalai Lama), He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words (Elbert Hubbard), Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer (Muhammad Ali), Men of few words are the best men (William Shakespeare).
Check out the list, it can perhaps rouse the philosopher within.
Now, to issue a disclaimer, it is neither a fact-checking nor promotional endeavour. It is rather a prop to enable contextualising the essence of the quotes relative to a known and observable trait of the Government of Nagaland in matters concerning corruption in governance.
The state government has perhaps taken the quotes all too literally, as opposed to silence as an admission of guilt.
The most recent examples would be the RTI revelations in connection to the incomplete road projects in Meluri and the case of the incomplete drinking water project in Zhadima, Kohima district.
It involves the PWD and PHED, two departments, whose track record, as far as road maintenance and water supply is concerned, are not the kind to sing praises about. Both are worth crores of rupees, have the ignominy of long pending unfinished work and allegedly disproportional work-fund ratio. Both have been reported in the news, and even an FIR in the former case, yet the state government has not failed to disappoint by projecting utter silence like it has, in matters concerning corruption, for as far back as one can remember.
The apathy is an obvious reminder of a government, which has flourished in a society peopled by a populace that has deplorably cultivated misconceived notions relating to moral principles. It is a disgrace to all the words celebrating the virtue of silence.
Silence can put an end to an otherwise lengthy and unnecessary argument. It can be blissful after a hectic day at work, but certainly not reassuring in issues concerning corruption, especially of the kind involving public funds.
The writer is a Principal Correspondent at The Morung Express. Comments can be sent to imkongwalls@gmail.com
