In 2024, voters will have to think beyond Eat, Pray and Money

 

Many Naga people share personal opinion but request us not to report

New Delhi 

Writer Elizabeth Gilbert was in the news when she announced suspension of her book 'The Snow Forest' as Ukrainian readers expressed displeasure at the news that the novel was set in Russia.
Our northeast India is permanently in conflicts either in one corner or the other. 

Lately, Manipur is undergoing that experience. Imagine a book getting cancelled if the story was set in  Manipur or Reang-Mizo clashes, Myanmar or even Kashmir. What are the merits in it?

'Nagaland Page'

Do we find, Literature being weaponised, and are we to justify such an era? 

Closer home in Nagaland, hardly fictions have been penned based on such controversial conflicts. E T Sunup,  a former Nagaland bureaucrat, used to write short stories during our younger times in the 1990s. I distinctly remember his description of a 'half-moon night' in one such work. That was melancholic and truly poetic.

'Bedrock of Naga Society' was a political publication by the Congress party and that had generated strong debates. The publication and Congress leaders were flayed by many quarters including NSF among others.

Even a counter publication 'The Naga Foundation' was brought out by the influential students' body on Sept 20, 2002.

Blogger in NSF office/Naga Club premises - 2022

Those days, I was busy covering post-mayhem Gujarat and Narendra Modi was the chief minister.  Things moved on. 

Poll experts later said that probably 'Bedrock of Naga Society' and the negative publicity it generated also led to the fall of the Congress party in 2003 elections. 

The NSF in 'The Naga Foundation' says Bedrock booklet had "attempted to distort the facts of a race which suffered immensely in the course of its history".

This may not be the proper time to assess what could be the arguments in favour of both the publications or how and why could someone 'differ' with the content in either of them.

But still we may highlight some issues raised from time to time and also debated. "....some readers of the booklet (Bedrock) have come up with juvenile and jaundiced conclusions", the Congress party later said. In fact, the NSF also burnt the copies of Bedrock. 

My curiosity is something else. What made the Congress party in the first place publish such a thin 18-page booklet which essentially deals with documents and historical events? What way the Congress party thought it would help them to win elections?

At one point, the Bedrock says, "The criticism implies that the 16-point agreement was a mistake as the demand of the people was for complete independence from India". Somewhere it also says -- "Emotions have a way of hiding the truth" (Page 3).

The NSF version clearly says it has "denounced" the Bedrock and "We have gone to the extent of burning it in public". (Page 19 - The Naga Foundation).

The debate here is not what either of the publications have to say. But it is a fact both these publications will again come for public scrutiny from time to time. 

Going back to Elizabeth Gilbert episode will be relevant yet again. She is an American journalist and author and her 2006 memoir, 'Eat, Pray, Love', made a sensation selling out 12 million copies and has been translated into over 30 languages. 

The book was also made into a film of the same name in 2010 starring the talented Julia Roberts.

Julia Roberts: Eat, Pray, Love (movie) 

Writers belonging to both categories, fiction and non-fiction, have an important role to play in challenging times. They can also challenge lies and myths. The 'Manipur situation' and the publicity in the media and importantly in social media will be debated in the future too.

The state of Nagaland is also amid interesting times and to an extent exciting times. Many people share their  personal opinion but request us not to report. Journalism is an exciting profession but a thankless job.

Sincere journalists often discharge their duties at a great cost. Even if someone is not attacked physically, the emotional torture can be killing. It is more so when one is not sure whether that 'sincerity' displayed in selfless manner will be appreciated even by close friends and family members. But the show must go on.

In far off Bengaluru, the Congress and other opposition parties on July 18th have floated a new coalition called 'INDIA'.

The goal being to save India. Talk to BJP leaders, they cite a big list of Congress follies and misgovernance models.

BJP national vice president M Chuba Ao mentions about Mizo leader Laldenga being 'hurt' and not many Congress veterans will agree with him. They say rather Laldenga had benefited when Lalthanhawla 'sacrificed' and paved the way for an agreement.

Mizos are always known for pragmatism. Nagas had cautioned former Mizoram Governor Swaraj Kaushal, in 1998-99 "not to look at everything with the Mizoram prism".  So at least the 'sacrifice' has not yet come. 

Into the Russia-Ukraine conflict yet again, Vladimir Putin is also a communist, a mortal and so not any exception to rules.

History generally teaches how victors wipe out the culture and memories of vanquished. 2024 is not far off. Between NDA of BJP and INDIA of opposition, the faceless voters will have to make a choice between two different set of clubs. The main 'Nagaland House' in Delhi is incidentally located at the APJ Kalam Road. Will the address change next year?

On many issues including joblessness and road safety, Nagaland may think something; but voters in Nagaland could bank on their 'money tools' to decide things.

ends 

Ms Gilbert