This article in 'Ukhrul Times' is a must reading. And the author James Pochury needs to be complimented. A mere congrats note to him may not do justice; hence I thought of trying to interpret the spirit of this write up.
The article makes one sit up and even pull up sleeves and perhaps even to close eyes for a while --- how could someone be so candid and yet correct. The author actually raises questions - people often ask in private !!
Is Corruption not the real disease but only a symptom ?
He talks about Global Order. The article came on Feb 9th, 2026 -- hence we cannot blame Donald Trump's whims and fancies alone.
The provocation must be more personal and social.
James says: "This way of thinking teaches people to admire strength simply because it wins. It treats success as proof of righteousness. It turns land into entitlement and suffering into destiny."
He is quite eloquent : "Liberation movements rarely die because of enemies alone. They die when truth becomes inconvenient, when silence is praised in unity, and when loyalty matters more than integrity."
Then he hits the nail : "By the time collapse becomes visible, the damage has already been done".
Then he takes the debate into another plane - No movement "fails because their causes were wrong", he notes.
His argument is to the point yet again : "They failed because they stopped holding themselves to the standards they demanded from others. This is the part many people prefer to avoid."
In terms of Corruption and Criticism, the diagnosis is again good especially on the backdrop of Naga contemporary history.
James says: "The real disease begins when principles become flexible. When leaders start explaining away what they once would have condemned.
When the question quietly changes from “Is this right?” to “Can we manage this?”
Once positions start giving moral cover, instead of moral character justifying positions, everything shifts. Criticism is treated as betrayal. Institutions exist mainly to protect themselves. Faith remains present, but it no longer disturbs anyone in power."
He has yet another piece of simple advice --
"We also need to be honest about the world shaping us".
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| Kohima |
The author also maintains -- For Naga people... what is "damgerous" in today's context isto appreciate that
the Naga "history was never about conquest".
"Our survival came from restraint, from knowing limits, from holding land as relationship rather than property. When our nationalism starts admiring power without asking how it was gained, or blessing success without questioning its cost, we are already moving away from ourselves.
This is how a people begin to destroy their own moral foundations without realising it."
Take away:
James Pochury's underlining message is perhaps revolved around few themes -- Let us try to analyse then --
First; Everything that occurs now has some reference to the past, prejudice and politics.
** Another pointer must be -- If the milk spilled .... does it matter who spilled it ?
*** He may be thinking a bit 'philosophical' or at this end we are interpreting things too seriously.
Another thematic viewpoint could be --
Humans, insects and all animals may not be 'favourite creatures'; but they all including men/women are only part of a larger web that makes all life a reality.
Essentially he is making Nagas think. He is also urging the youths to be more caring about things going around. And he wants to fix accountability at multiple levels - the political (both underground and over-ground), social and also at the intellectual levels.
Then what happens --
Let us examine this aspect with a different approach.
We all know Wasps and Bees. We also know that the Bees are easily linked to honey and pollination and hence 'attraction' and admiration too.
But wasps are associated with stings and pain.
It's a fact of life that the emotional responses towards the other animals are always complicated and even irrational.
Final message - also streams from the science of zoology.
They say, sharks are 'feared' but they have been around for 500 million years; they evolved perhaps before even trees and so they have survived.
The multiple mass extinctions did not affect them.
Religion continues. Prophecy disappears, as James puts it.
