Truth, mercy, justice, peace key to reconciliation, says Dr. Aküm Longchari

DIMAPUR — Dr. Aküm Longchari, a peace and conflict activist and editor of The Morung Express, said on October 13 that most nation-states approach peace from a security standpoint, so there is a lot of investment in defence and law enforcement but little investment in peace studies.

Speaking as the resource person at a workshop on ‘Matrix of JustPeace’ organised by the department of Mass Communication, Patkai Christian College (Autonomous) at the college premises, Longchari asserted that ‘if there is a need to approach peace from a security perspective, it should be from a human security perspective’.

He demonstrated the structure and dynamics of power through an exercise and shared that power can be of three types: over people, within people, and with people.

It is critical to understand the structure and dynamics by understanding who wields power, he said, adding that those at the top of the structure try to maintain their positions, while those at the bottom can be lulled into acceptance.

In another exercise, he demonstrated how easily a group of people or a community can be divided. At times, it can be executed via small privileges here and there, he said, and noted that ‘divide and rule’ has now transcended to ‘define and rule’.

On the effects of conflict, Longchari viewed that conflict affects four dimensions of life — personal, relational, structural, and cultural. He explained that when there is a conflict, it changes people, their relationships, their existing structures, and their attitudes and behaviours.

To achieve ‘JustPeace,’ Longchari demonstrated through an exercise that truth, mercy, justice, and peace should be the anchor points for reconciliation. He said that the meeting of truth, mercy, justice, and peace marks the beginning of genuine reconciliation and that these ideas cannot exist in isolation.

Using World War II, East Timor, and post-apartheid South Africa as examples, he demonstrated how, in the absence of these anchor points, processes to find justice or peace did not result in genuine reconciliation. He reflected that Naga society is currently in a state in which truth is suppressed, justice is kidnapped, mercy is blinded, and peace does not exist. He maintained that the challenge for the young Naga generation is to unlock and weave the dynamics of truth, mercy, justice, and peace.

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