With bandh lifted in Dimapur, people thronged out in numbers with a sigh of relief. Much water has flown under the bridge since January 27 when bandh was first imposed for postponing the ULB elections in the state. With the subsequent chain of events which had claimed lives, destruction of properties and violence, the state of Nagaland had been under a dark cloud. However, with the current political developments taking place and the JCC/NTAC relaxing the bandh for common people, life seems to be limping back slowly and gradually.
In Dimapur, people were seen milling around in the market area and other commercial places to leisurely survey their requirements. Although the DC office continues to be under lock and key, the general atmosphere seems tranquil enough. How long the district headquarter can run without government functionaries is another question altogether. Government officials are also waiting to start work since so much has been kept pending. A lady government official had this to say:“For us government servants, it is our job to serve the people and take care of the daily administration. When government machinery is not allowed to function, it is the public who end up paying the most. I do hope that with a new chief minister, we can get on with our works for which we are paid salary. It makes me very guilty to sit at home and neglect office work.”
A prominent elder said, “Government need to get back to functioning and the demand of Naga public for reviewing the Municipal Act in the ULB election must be seriously undertaken by government. It was for this and other reasons that public had turned volatile and the core problem must be handled with utmost sincerity by the government.”
On being asked about how he felt at the lifting of the bandh, a resident of Duncan Basti exclaimed, “It is like being set free from prison out of my own compound. I can now go about my normal activities. As a pensioner, I go to the gym for workout which has suffered in the last ten days or more. Apart from that, I do carpentry work and I had not been able to purchase some timber requirements due to the bandh. Now, I can resume with my half finished cabinet for the kitchen!”
School children looked happiest as they went about with confidence lacking ever since the bandh was imposed. Shopkeepers are back to normal transaction of business and although they may not be able to cover their lost profits, they are relieved to be back to their livelihood routine. A vegetable vendor was busy peeling off old layers on his cabbages and rueing the loss of commerce due to bandh.
People are hopefully awaiting the new installation of chief minister and some even expressed that there should be no further disruptions in governance. One passer-by remarked, “There is hardly less than a year for the next general elections and I think that politicians should not be too ambitious, running helter-skelter looking for plump positions. If the new ministry is to be headed by someone else, let it continue peacefully. Too much has been seen by the public and at this point, safety and peace of the people is most important. Personal ambitions should be left aside and the majority party should not be divided. No further division or disruption should take place.”
Another person said, “In future the politicians must always remember this episode and try to be good leaders for the people who had elected them to power. There has been too much corruption and mismanagement in affairs of the state and it is high time that such practices should be curbed”. An ‘ordinary housewife’, as she claims, who was buying fruits when asked about the current situation in Nagaland remarked bitterly, “what does it matter for us common people who live by the sweat of our brows as leaders sit in comfort and pass decisions at their own whims and fancies. What has taken place recently is a lesson for politicians, government officials and public that when any situation reaches boiling point there is bound to be an explosion.”
Some are hopeful that the change of guard in government can bring in the desired peace required in the present context of Nagaland. Most people who were queried had a common conclusion, “elections are just some months away and therefore the public as well as the politicians should ensure that the government completes its five-year without any more drama”.
For Dimapurians and people of Nagaland who had been through a harrowing experience, life must continue and the general feeling in the air is for the much longed-for peace and healing in the land.
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