Khekiye K. Sema
...Continued -7
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]N GENERAL Aghunato propelled me through a wide spectrum of human and nature induced problems including an introduction to a supernatural phenomena.
Human problem: One fine morning, Mr. Hollohon came trooping to my residence along with 7-8 Gaon Burahs (GBs) in tow. He simply asked me to follow him without telling me the reason why. He led me to a location known as the air field by the area people. It was a small plateau levelled out through forced labour during the NEFA administration in a vain attempt to create a small aircraft landing ground. I had already made a blue print for establishing the offices of all the Departments in one location like a mini Secretariat for the convenience of the public. The main road connected the old town through a box cutting into this ridge, which continued upward towards Ghokishe village. It had a commanding view overlooking both sides of Aghunato township, the old and the new. The present residence of SDO(C) was located in the old town sector without the view of the new town expansion on the other side of this ridge. The official residence of the SDO(C) and the critical staff quarters were therefore to be located in this upper ridge which would effectively eliminate the claustrophobic sense of isolation that I felt as a first timer at Aghunato. Mr. Hollohon wanted this earmarked site for SDO(C)’s residence to be allotted to him.
Since the futuristic master plan had been officially dispatched to the Government, I informed him accordingly and requested him to find an alternative plot but that the site he was requesting for could not be give. He bluntly said he was not interested in any alternative site and abruptly walked away with the GBs. His way or the highway. It was rather disappointing to observe that Mr. Hollohon was more focused on his own welfare over the common good. It must have embarrassed him rather badly since this happened in the presence of all the GBs. It was a situation of his own making because he had not bothered to consult me on this beforehand. Apparently he had not taken my refusal lightly and later in the day, he vented his anger in a public meeting at Khewoto village informing the villagers of the area that their SDO ( C ) had refused to allot a site to him. The area people had been pressing Mr. Hollohon to build his residence in Aghunato, being their representative. On hindsight he probably had no intention of constructing his residence in Aghunato in the first place and had found a convenient excuse not to do so with GBs as his witness. On my part I did what I had to do to protect the greater interest of the Government and the public.
Nature induced problem: As if my hands were not already full with human problems, here in Aghunato, even nature misbehaved. Tsutha river is the boundary between Kiphiri Sub-Division and Zunheboto District. This river has a history of an erratic changing of its course every monsoon. The unusual adaptation that transformed into a traditional practice caused by freak of nature was that if the river flowed on the Sumi side of the bank, the immediate wet field carved away to the other side would be cultivated by the Sangtams and vice versa.
Despite this set tradition, land dispute over the ‘pani khetis’ was a recurring feature between the Sangtams and the Sumis along its banks. One such dispute erupted between Yangphiri Village of Cyechung circle and Khewoto Village of Aghunato, causing inter-tribal misunderstanding. Both the Sangtam and the Sumi owners claimed they had sown the paddy and with the ripening crop, tension was slowly mounting as both Tribes prepared for harvest. At that time the Circle Officer, Cyechung, Mr. Khezheto N. Swu was a cousin brother of mine. We had studied together from school to college and a crazy fan of Elvis Presley. He knew more about Elvis than Elvis himself. Anyway, he along with his DBs and the claimants village were summoned to the dispute site. I did the same.
I had to tread very carefully because a small misstep would have triggered an inter-tribal confrontation which was equally represented in force at site. On this occasion, the river was flowing from the Sangtam’s side of the bank and therefore the normal traditional practice ought to have dictated the land use rights to the Sumi.
However, the Sangtam claimant was adamantly proposing that he had ploughed, sowed seeds and transplanted the paddy before the change of the river course. The Sumi refuted this claim while insisting that it was him who had sown and transplanted the paddy. The jigsaw puzzle of fixing the time frame of the change of river course and the start of the agricultural activities was subjected to so many variables. It was not easily verifiable without doubt. The morning session was spent recording the statements of witnesses from both sides. We broke for lunch after midday. The Officers and all the DBs sat in the middle ground between the two tribes to have lunch that we did not bring. Both sides brought their prepared food for us. Midway through lunch, a lightening thought flashed into my mind from nowhere. Abandoning my lunch I called both the claimants and asked them to tell me the variety of paddy they had transplanted, in the presence of DBs of both sides.
The Sangtam confidently said, “Sir, I transplanted Vellio variety”. The Sumi likewise said “Manipuri variety, Sir”. The DBs were immediately dispatched to inspect the variety of ripened paddy growing in the field in the presence of both the parties. They came back unanimously confirming that the paddy was all ‘Manipuri’ variety. That ended the arduous continuation of the morning’s statement recording. The ground evidence was beyond reproach. I asked the Sangtams whether it was possible for Manipuri variety of paddy to sprout when Vellio is sown, in Cyechung region. They obviously had no answer other than to laugh at my enquiry. The court declared the right of harvest to the Sumi claimant.
After severely reprimanding the Sangtam claimant in front of his people for his dishonest claim, causing unnecessary misunderstanding between the tribe and for wasting my time, a punitive fine of Rs.500/- was imposed on him. This was paid on the spot. I also christened the Sangtam claimant as Mr. Vellio Sangtam. We parted with a laugh.
As for my cousin brother, I tempted him with a new Elvis Presley’s LP album I had purchased recently. The moment he heard of it he decided to accept my invitation and joined me at Aghunato. He was a man with a mission. After a hurried dinner he immediately retreated to his room and spent the whole night playing the record over and over and over and....we didn’t have a time to chat. That night however, I had a sober introspection about the sudden thought that had entered my mind out of the blues. It was a divine intervention, plain and simple. I prayerfully thanked the Almighty for guiding me safely through the day.
Supernatural phenomena: Getting to know my command jurisdiction was always a priority set in my calendar. In one such tour a DB was schedule to accompany me. All plans for the next morning trip were worked out that evening. As I got ready to move out the next morning this DB came and calmly informed me that there was no point in going to the area proposed because the road was blocked by a landslide. Now this DB was with me the whole evening. There was absolutely no way he could have known that the road would be blocked. I assumed he was trying to evade his assignment with me and so we went ahead with the trip anyway. After driving for an hour or so in the rough rural road, sure enough we ran into a huge landslide. We were unable to go any further. I asked the DB how he knew. He gave me wry smile and said nothing.
After return to the HQs I asked his colleagues how he knew about the landslide. They promptly said this DB had a ‘tiger spirit’ and that their kind would know these things. This was amazing. I had heard of men with tiger spirits but accosting one in my own backyard was something! Mind you, we are not talking about fiction movies where human beings physically transform into werewolves. Here the man retains his physical form and his tiger spirit remains a separate entity but the two are intrinsically interlinked. What the spirit does the man knows and also impacts on his behaviour. What the man wills the spirit executes. That’s about the best I can do to describe this very bizarre phenomena. I couldn’t be sure whether this DB was unable to explain or didn’t want to, as to how he became a tiger spirited man but the rest of this paranormal weirdness smacked more like a story from the twilight zone. He said when his spirit kills a prey and eats meat he would wake up with strands of raw meat morsels stuck between his own teeth in real time. When, the tiger spirit gets hunted or is in some danger the physical man would be crouching, hiding, jumping, dodging and doing all kinds of antics like the tiger would be doing in the jungle to avoid the threat. At such times the physical man must not be disturbed or restrained because it would immobilize the tiger spirit as well. Should the tiger get killed the physical man still continues to live on until the news of the death of the tiger spirit reaches him. I was transported back to a very unreal time zone. Facts are stranger than fiction!
By now Mr. C.N. Ngulley, the DC Zunheboto was again transferred out with Mr. Talitemjen Ao IAS taking over the reins of the District. Mr.Tali and I had studied together at St. Edmund’s College, Shillong, he in the third year and I in pre-university course. He was an NCC freak. Every morning he would sit me down with him on the lawn as a ritual, brasso the belt buckles and NCC crest and spit polish our NCC boots till we could see our reflection. He used to attend all the NCC camps all over the country as a result Rev. Brother Viyara called him a tourist.
That was the year when Mr. Asangba Sangtam (former Lok Sabha MP) bagged the coveted National Cadet and Mr. Tali the 2nd Cadet during the Republic Day at New Delhi. They did the Nagas proud. It was a pleasure having a friend as a controlling officer. Lunch in the afternoon at his residence would be a routine whenever I visited Zunheboto. The one thing I noticed was another ritual. He would pack up all the files on his table into a steel trunk and take it home. There wasn’t a remote possibility for him to attend to these files during lunch time when we would normally have lunch, have a chat and back we come to the office, with the file trunk untouched and unopened. Yet this ritual was strictly observed every time. I used to wonder why. I still don’t know the answer.
It was a volatile time with the wind of change negatively sweeping over Eastern Sumi region that encompassed Aghunato, Asuto, Cyechung and Sitimi. Representative leaders from all these areas had a huge assembly in Aghunato main Church. They were preparing to announce the creation of Eastern Sumi Baptist Akukuho Kukqhakulu (ESBAK). I was not invited for this function. However, since the subject concerned the unity of the Sumi Church I decided to check this out anyway, uninvited. Having heard their intention, I decided to share a thought or two with them and so asked for time. As the head man of the Area they couldn’t refuse. I explained the need to maintain unity amongst the Sumis and concluded with a fable of the old man calling his children together, distributed a stick each and asked them to break it. Each one did so easily. Then the old man again put the same amount of sticks together and asked his children to try and break it again. They couldn’t. The old man taught his children to learn from this experience and stand together for in unity there is strength.
Having said what I felt needed to be said, I walked out straight from the meeting hall without sitting down again since I was aware that I was an unwelcomed guest. After their meeting concluded, all the representatives from Asuto area came straight up to my residence. They said that the stage was taken over by Mr. Zhetovi former MLA of Kiphiri immediately after my departure from the meeting hall. He had made a lot of derogatory remarks against my father and me which seemed to have had an adverse impact instead. The Asuto representatives reacted to this, voiced their reservations and wanted more time to rethink. The establishment of ESBAK on that day could not be declared on account of Asuto’s wavering. This issue was never revived thereafter.
The next event was a heartbreaking episode that would forever alter the course of the Sumi Baptist Akukuhou Kuqhakulu (SBAK): The “HUBA” (Religious Conference) at Aquba. It was the year when the election to the highest post in the Mission Field, then known as the Field Secretary, was conducted. The contestants were Rev. Toniho, Rev. Nazhekhu and Rev. Nitoyi. It was the most ruthless un-Christianly election I had ever witnessed. It would have put the normal political elections to shame. Though Rev. Toniho was elected, the seeds of discord, disunity and disintegration of the Sumi Church had well and truly been sown on this day, never to recover from it. These three stalwarts of the Church at that time have all passed away now but the saddest commentary and legacy they left behind in their wake was a fragmented Church of the Sumi Tribe.
The ruthless power struggle and the dishonourable intrigues deployed for the top job was a curse they suffered and this curse has become a legacy of the Sumi Churches even today. Serving God with humility is the furthest in the minds of most of the so called Mission Leaders. The Sumis are prepared to slit each others’ throats in the name of the Lord. We have to keep an ambulance on the stand-by when the Sumis very loudly proclaim “Praise the Lord; Praise the Lord; Praise the Lord!” because by the third time of praising their Lord, someone in the congregation would have suffered breathing problems from the stranglehold on his throat by the opposing Lord. In those chaotic days my friends and colleagues would often ask me why the Sumis were having such a vicious confrontation between the Churches.
It became tiresome trying to answer this repeated question seriously. Finally I felt it was much better to joke it away by saying: “There is a direct access to heaven through a secret staircase, in Aizuto Mission Field, for which the Sumis are fighting for control. Once this is discovered, the Sumis will be the first to reach heaven alive.
By the time you come to heaven, there would already be a Sumi Head GB to whom you would have to apply for site allotment. So, don’t undermine the Sumis”. However, on a more serious note the fundamental conflict of the Sumi Church has nothing to do with religion. It is more to do with power and money. God is a secondary excuse. The NBCC as the father figure of all Naga Churches has floundered on like a rudderless ship floating with the tide, totally afraid to stand up for what is right. They have shown no respect for history and have conferred the status of the son to be the father.
In as far as Aghunato was concerned I had stoked up enough smoke to suffocate the big guns beyond their tolerance. On completion of a year, my 6th transfer order happily arrived. By now the Border Roads had been able to just complete the road construction reaching Aghunato town. We were able to load our luggage in the PWD truck that reached Aghunato for the very first. Before departure, I gifted the Khumishi goat to the DBs asking them to celebrate my departure.
It pleased me to see that ten/ twelve shops had sprung up in town as I drove by with my wife, daughter and my baby son, and wondered how long each would last once the DBs got back to their old ways. I felt good to be heading to a more civilised environment, or so I thought.
The writer is a retired IAS Officer.
Forest Colony, Kohima
