[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Naga society is desperately in want of strong conscience keepers to whom the people can bank on. Resolving issues within the Naga society would have been smoother but for the want of accepted civil leaders the situation tends to get complicated every time efforts are put to address the issues. Some Nagas with intellectual elements in them do exist but for the reasons best known to them they chose to remain docile. Nagas have influenced neighbouring communities of the North East region to a great extent. For instance, the Naga revolutionary movement has inspired and influenced the Meiteis, the Assamese, the Kukis, the Khasis, the Garos, the Dimasas, the Bodos and the names go on. Our creativity in various fields has also given inspiration to the neighbouring non Naga communities. However, sadly, we don’t have civil leaders who can influence the Naga society itself or from whom the Naga society can get inspiration.
The inspiration the Assamese people got from late Bhupen Hazarika and late Hiren Bhattacharyya was immense. Whenever conflicting issues pertaining to the Assamese community cropped up the people in general waited to listen to these two Assamese stalwarts. When they passed away, for several days roaring Guwahati became quiet. Bhupen Hazarika passed away in the year 2011. Relatively, for Hiren Bhattacharyya the show was a bit less but the public condolence was immense when he passed away in 2012. They were the great conscience keepers of the Assamese society indeed.
To certain extent the restraint the United States maintains from rampant pounding on its adversaries has been attributed to Noam Chomsky. He is one of the greatest living conscience keepers of modern world.
It is said that the dealing of the successive governments of the United States regarding the Middle East issue would have been more unpalatable but for mighty Noam Chomsky’s campaign the American conscience is checked.
A society sans conscience keepers is more vulnerable to the influence of the vested interest elements. Such society is also more prone to fragmentation/disintegration.
