Dimapur, Dec 2 (MExN): Lamenting that the curse of sectarianism continues to disturb the lives of the people of the state, Nagaland Governor Shyamal Datta has reminded the people that real empowerment is only when they realize that in them is the power to intervene and change things for the better. The ‘penchant’ for one-upmanship among various sections should cease before it tears the society apart, he urged.
Governor Datta, in his Nagaland Statehood Day message emphasized on the division that the Naga society is in today. “Our enemy resides in us, and becomes stronger with the accentuation of divisions that we still nurse along tribal, sectarian and factional lines. Our penchant for one-upmanship must cease” Datta said sending a strong caution that all these, if allowed to go unchecked would tear the people apart. “It is exclusive pluralism of our society that can alone guarantee the survival and success of Naga people. One way of making this pluralism work in practice as a force of progress rather than for confrontation, is to harness fellowship through common endeavor” he pointed out.
The Governor reminded of the inherent strength Nagas possess to change things for the society for the better, provided they realize this knowledge. “Friends, the real empowerment of a society take place when people realize that they have the power to intervene and change things for better. To our satisfaction, we do see sparks of such thinking process whenever crises envelope us and make things difficult. The spurts of such action reflect the potential that we have in us and what we need to do is to ignite these sparks into flame to oppose collectively all that are injurious and harmful to society” he said. Datta urged the people to remove “the dust of history that some of us still wear on their foreheads and the mud of the past that sticks to their feet”. The bitterness of the past still present must be buried because it has been the cause of the inimical relationships at different levels as seen in today’s Naga society, he pointed out.
Observing on Statehood Day coinciding with World AIDS Day, Datta stated that it should be a reminder of the need for greater resolve to check the “death in silence” through greater awareness and mobilization of all available resources before it becomes a part of a larger problem. “…the day of reckoning comes nearer than we think. All our positive endeavors in different fields will get undermined if this deadly virus is not contained by our moral responsible behavior under good governance” he said.
