The ridiculousness of the entire situation is underlined by
the daily reports appearing in the local newspapers. In yesterday’s edition, the
front page of all the papers had the Congress party, or whatever’s left of it,
desperately trying to make itself heard as it criticised the ruling DAN
government for what it called ’12 years of rule and ruin’. Turn the page and
there you have two reports of two happy Congress MLAs attending department
functions as part and parcel of the DAN government.
The eight Congress MLAs officially joined the DAN government
earlier this month for what Chief Minister TR Zeliang has termed a ‘party-less
government’ – in other words, no opposition to keep the government in check. All
our elected representatives from various parties – NPF, Congress, BJP, NCP,
JD-U, Independents – have now come together to form this merry band and they’re
trying to convince us that it is for the greater good of the Nagas.
So, this coming together is a selfless act for the purpose
of pressing for an early resolution to the Naga political issue? This was the
excuse put forth by the Congress MLAs following their induction in the Zeliang
cabinet and subsequent suspension from their party, though they insist that
they will always be Congressmen. It is not a quid pro quo for the support given
to the CM when he faced revolt from his own party legislators?
My apologies for thinking that a deal was struck in February
earlier this year when the Congress legislators surprisingly decided to extend the vote of confidence to the CM in the Assembly. I should have known that they
had discovered a new confidence in the NPF Chief Minister after all these years
of shouting themselves hoarse over the doom and gloom that they claimed the
NPF-led DAN government was taking the Nagas and Nagaland towards.
Politicians are truly a different breed. It's amazing how the lies and
half truths flow so easily from their mouths. More amazing is how
they eventually start believing their own lies and do not even seem to realise
that they’re not telling the truth.
But what about us, the public? Do we want to hear the truth?
It seems not. We just want to hear what we want to hear, as in the present
situation. Barring a few comments by young people on social media questioning
such a convenient arrangement all in favour of the politicians,
Nagas in general appear to have just meekly accepted it. The so-called society
leaders, our famous hohos and their leaders, they are all silent even as the
politicians get ready to party with the massive free pass that they've gifted
themselves with.
In a democracy we elect people to do a job. They are not so
much ‘leaders’ as they are public servants - employees of the people. In
Nagaland, our elected representatives have become kings with absolute power. But the real tragedy here is that the people no longer seem to have a voice, the courage, to remind them that they are not!