The Pre-Monsoon Showers this year turned into earnest heavy monsoon rains that drowned not only the whole of Manipur and Assam Plains, but also caused the mountainsides in the whole of the northeast hills to slide down and caused severe disruptions of highways, destruction of houses, properties and even loss of human lives. At least one proud iron bridge over Chathe river in Dimapur collapsed causing death to several very unlucky innocent passengers in the vehicle that unbelievably happened to be on the bridge at the time of its collapse.
Some good citizens, in the local newspapers casually and customarily called for the resignation of the Road Minister who seemed to have neither heard the proposal nor felt the civilized moral ethics to resign, the collapsed bridge remain un-repaired!
This year 2017, it rained and rained day and night for more than 40 days and 40 nights that the daily processes life and the maintenance of normal qualities of life has become even difficult. Letters and magazines that came from the post office were drenched fragile, the pages stuck to one another so tightly that separating them without tearing the thin pages became an expert job.
The simple processes of opening the car door and sliding out into the open rain, and then into the roadside shop in the market could not be done without wetting the shoe or the bare head inviting fear of catching influenza.
The increasing number of potholes on the road, their sizes increase and their depths also grow day and night. Riding the vehicle on the city roads has become like riding a cantering horse. Sitting inside the conveyance -seat belt on or not- simply became decidedly uncomfortable.
One morning, on way to a Thinuo meeting early in the village, an active youth already reached outside of the meeting hall and seeing me enquired: “Uncle, I hope all is well with you”.
I thought for a brief moment and replied:
“Had there not been this incessant rain and our politicians this year life would have been much more pleasant”.
He laughed louder than normal in approval and in agreement we entered the meeting hall laughing!
The politicians in our state are more concerned for their own single minded self-Interests than ‘public interests’, so much so that they seem to feel no embarrassment at the political tamasha they have created.
Readers may please inform this writer what english word fits the description of these politicians! I find no words in the URA academy vocabulary except -‘Umekeso’ (dry mouth -appalling!) does the Hindi word ‘tamasha’ describe their public actions aptly?
I feel like Jeremiah the ancient prophet of Anathod look at them and say:
“You (the politicians) have the brazen look of a prostitute; you refuse to blush with shame”. (Jer. 3: 3)
If some readers do not know what the exact definition the English word ‘brazen’ means, let me save the trouble of his/her searching the heavy dictionary:
This is what I found:
Brazen is: ‘acting or done in a very open and shocking way without shame or embarrassment’.
What should the public do to such politicians? Condemning them in the news media means nothing to them; Angamis say: Dry bones have covered their forehead. Condemning them in the papers may be only a waste of time.
The only remedy available to us from such people is not to elect them to represent us.
If we really mean Clean Election, we should also mean:
1. No vote to candidates who change parties or group more than once.
Politicians often migrate from one party to another, from one group to another within the same party simply, in search of greener pastures or richer milk for his own personal benefits, such selfish behaviours completely shred the precious political principles and systems of stability very necessary for the progressive development of the society.
No party should welcome such migratory Gypsies and no one of us should vote for such apparently good persons.
2. No vote to candidates of former ‘Underground’.
Formerly, some national workers left the voluntary Naga national service in the hope of permanent better personal employment. We cannot fully condemn such persons, but they should not again enter the political arena.
3. No vote to the candidate who had more than 3 office terms.
In every people, in every race, universally –Power corrupts man and absolute power corrupts man absolutely. No person in political jobs needs to be in power for more than 10 years that is 2 terms of office.
We have seen very reasonable nice normally good gentleman turn into blind unthinkable person capable of unspeakable wrong doings in politics, in government services, in the armed soldiers, in highly committed nationalists, in corporations and unbelievably in the Church even, can you believe? People never though capable of doing harm to a small child become senseless with power.
The Nuremburg trials of war crimes and genocide after the World War II revealed ordinary people like you and I, well educated, in advanced civilized Nation of Germany perpetrated unspeakable horror on helpless, emaciated men, women and children. Nagas armed patriots or highly learned Churchman in power go wrong. We have seen them in our own church, in the church of our friends and in our national movement.
No one should be allowed to hold seats of political power more than 10 years.
4. No Vote to any candidate richer by 5lakhs times (5Crore, 75laks and 25thousands times) the minimum wage of a daily labour (115/- per day) in Nagaland.
Like political power, wealth corrupts. It buys churchmen, it corrupts the church, organizations, and it buys privileges, opportunities and selfish interests by those who have a lots of it. GDP has divided man’s societies into rich and poor nations: not only communism but capitalism also can become agents of great evil in man.
For this one young generation, no one with 25 Lakhs times richer than `115/-, the GoN current Minimum Wage of a Daily labour needs be voted into Power.
5. Only one candidate from one family.
It is good voluntarily a whole family may work for the society they live in, but with remuneration no more than one from one family may hold political post of power.
6. No ‘Turn-Coats’ of the Kingdom of Heaven for the Kingdom of Mammon. (The Issue is in the realms of faith and therefore the writer would like to hold this issue in personal my domain for detail)
