Some Issues in Need of Attention During the New Year

‘Happy New Year’ is the Greeting that we normally share with acquaintances as we usher into the New Year. Forecasting on what lies ahead however will be more of speculations or conjectures but less a reality. Will it be a Happy New Year or a year of anxieties or failures, one never knows. I would nevertheless like to indulge in dwelling upon few likely shape of things to come that may invoke some interest to its readers. In the coming days one may look forward with a certain degree of optimism on the ongoing peace initiatives that is apparently cruising towards a kind of settlement. Enough has been read on the writings on the wall that are either appealing or cheerless but a likelyAgreement between the Government of India and various groups. It will however be difficult to forecast on the kind of Agreement thatmay emerge out of the Current talks except to speculate.It is however clear with no uncertain terms that the Government of India may consider accommodating only those issues that are permissible under the ambit of the Constitution but not beyond it. Demands therefore from the Home front may confine only to the attainable issues that are devoid of ambiguity, rhetoric and fanciful. How long do we after all continue guessing by listening to the speculations on talks that resembles the sound of a muffling drums from a distance that is not audible? Besides the negotiating parties with the Government of India, there is a need for the State Government that are voted to power by the peopleto actively engage in the current Peace process. Maintenance of Law and Order has to be one of the core issues for any kind of Settlement and on this vital issue of paramount importance, the State Government need not shy away by assuming the role of cheerleaders from the gallery but instead take positive partnership in the Settlement process. Let me bring out an extract of the Declaration of Joint Forum of Nagaland Legislative Assembly during December 2018 that was made in our usual classical style and approach. It reads ‘….. declared its commitment towards the Democratic desires of the Naga People to live together under one administrative umbrella while appealing to all sections specially the Civil society, groups and HoHo’s to have confidences in the strengthening of the Naga family and come together under the spirit of oneness so that we collectively work towards unity and not towards fragmentation of the Naga family….” It is indeed written with beautiful and appealing phrases that will please all its readers but then the appeal only expresses a kind of desire for unity where none will raise objections but the appeal shy away from the core issue of declaring an expressive policy of commitment by the highest forum of the State in combating squarely on the multiple centrifugal forces such as violence, corruption, loose Administrative set up, tribalism and anti-social elements that is fragmenting our society to splinters today. Much has been commented about the Special Provision under Article 371 (A) of the Constitution that relates to the State of Nagaland. The then Naga Delegation, after a prolonged and hectic negotiations with the Government of India finally drew up the said provisions under Article 371 (A). This Article that has been loved, hated, debated and pursued still remains a Special Provision that has stood firm against various tests of time and situations. The present leaders and negotiators both from the over ground and other streams may like to ensure that any conceivable agreements that are likely to arrive at following the talks will only be an improvement to the existing provision under Article 371 (A). One may now have a sigh of relief and cheers that works on road development between Dimapur and Kohima has begun. Hopefully it will not take years for its completion. Let us also consider the condition on the ongoing developmental works on roads elsewhere. What about the progress made on the construction of bridge over Dhansiri river connecting Purana Bazar and Dimapur Town that has started some years ago. One wonders how many more years it will take before it is finally completed.In fact with the affords, such construction which should be just a routine in nature should have taken less than a year for construction specially relating to such a priority bridge connecting Dimapur with the rest of the State but then to the misfortune of our work culture, we entertain excuses for delay attributing to the fund constraint, price escalation, summer rain, winter draught, soil unsuitability, the so call land owner interferences, underground taxation, unavailability of labourers, thus causing inordinate delay in completion. What about the construction of a bridge that is connecting the State Civil Secretariat, the central nerve centre to the State Capital Kohima where presently all vehicles of high and low are made to cruise through an improvised diversion over a nullah. Should the might of the State take so long to construct this tiny bridge till the Kingdom come but Bravo none seems to be complaining? Roads everywhere are the faces that portrays the condition of a Sate. To a visitor, the first impression that he or she creates are the conditions of roads. The conditions of our roads even in our State Capital are not worth commenting. One tourist during the recently held Hornbill Festival express his views about our roads, he said, “….I have not found as bad as the roads in Kohima to any other State Capitals of the North East…” (20th December in a local paper). Are we not aware of the fact that often we are travelling on the roads of shame rather than the roads of pride. Shouldn’t we wake up to such stark realities? We often talk about the uniqueness of our culture. There is nothing wrong in talking about such issuesthat we often exalt very highly. I however wonder the kind of uniqueness that a visitor may find when he or she visit our State. Uniqueness of our culture should not be confined only to the songs and dances with daos and spears and jumping with HoHo’s and BoBo’s during the Hornbill Festivals. Culture should infact portray the characteristics of other aspects of our lives such as its people’s simplicity, hospitality, honesty, work culture and values that constitutes the total spectrum of our culture. There is therefore a need to inculcate the above elements into our living styles that others will see the uniqueness in us. Ushering into the New Year should also remind us in taking up new initiatives for proper exploration of mineral potentials of our state to boast up the present economic scenario of our state. It is learnt with concern that the ONGC from Assam has continued oil exploration in Assam/Nagaland during the last 39 years,whereas during such period our state was kept busy in sorting out the issues involved on oil extraction but not actually making use of the mineral deposits for income generation.The comment made by one of the honourable MP’S of Nagaland recently is pathetic as well as alarming.It reads ‘…The unresolved Naga political issue and differencesof opinions among various underground leaders,the ONGC has been exploiting the natural resources of the Nagas quietly and silently for the last 39 years..’ I was made to understand that the area of a particular oil reserve lying underground may be branching out to areas beyond a particular state , as such,in such a situation,there is a likelihood of our oil reserve being extracted by pumps located elsewhere.There cannot be any Boundary Commission Or even Article 311(A) to sort out such issues that lies deeply underground.We have therefore no other choice but to begin proper exploration at the earliest.My hunch is that huge quantities of oil that would have generated formidable income for our state might have been extracted from station located elsewhere. Last year must have been the year of exposures and excitement for the members of the newly constituted legislative body of our state especially for those elected for the first time ,when they suddenly woke up to the new found power,fame and privileges.It may now be dawning upon them that leadership is not as simple as delivering a lecture or inaugurating a new building but leadership entails patience, vision, hard work and wisdom for making a good leader. The new year should remind them to embark upon following the narrow road of learning, working and reaching out to people in meeting their needs and also draw up plans and programmes for implementation in pursuance to their election promises. Tali Longkumer