“How many variety of sovereignty are the Nagas fighting for? Does the definition of sovereignty differ so drastically among the factions that they need to stand uncompromisingly apart and continue this onslaught of taxation upon its people?”
Khekiye K. Sema, IAS (Rtd)
Despite the remarkably rapid transition from the headhunting ancestry to that of an intellectually capable people of the 21st Century, the Nagas are still embarked on an unending journey through the fog, consistently choosing to continue down a treacherous path into the abyss. The sincere sacrifices rendered unselfishly by the generation before us has merely been reduced to a talking point. The past 66 years of a comparative sub-standard existence has taught us precious little. The only noticeable transformation taking shape is the fast emerging class distinction between the have and have not. At present, the comfort zone of the ‘haves’ both within the State Government and the equally powerful ‘Parallel Government’ is cushioned by complacent indifference of the masses even as the “I scratch your back, you scratch my back” game is played between the two with fluent and tacit understanding. How long this lasts, time will tell in due course.
It has to be admitted that power is the opium of the elite and Christian values its first victim. In this context the French Revolution of 1787-99 comes to mind. King Louis XVI of France along with his Feudal Lords, the Aristocrats and the Religious zealots taxed their already poverty stricken subjects mercilessly. Their indifference to the unending suffering of the common man, the heightened indulgence in the decadent ways of the ruling class coupled with incompetence of the administrative system had aroused deep anger and resentment among the masses reeling under the fiscal crisis of their times. (All this has a familiar ring to it in Nagaland context as well). An epic transformation within the French society was unleashed. It was inevitable. The cities saw masses throng the streets along with peasants in the countryside shouting “Liberty, equality, fraternity”! The success of the revolution by the down trodden class culminated in the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793. This is a history of real events of the past. History then repeated itself in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya because the powers that be paid no heed to it. Oh yes, we are apt to say such a thing will never happen in a place like Nagaland, “a land of festivals and complacent indifference”. But note, the ripple of discontentment has already begun to surface with NSF/ENSF stirring the water. It may be a small voice at the moment but it is bound to grow louder as the burden increases. One need not be reminded, that extreme poverty and inequality has an unpredictable way of expressing itself. Should we then wait for that ultimate human depravity to transpire where we have nothing left to loose, and allow mass reaction to take control? Or should we do some soul searching for a saner world?
It would serve us well to remember that on the 10th January 1929, the Nagas submitted a Memorandum to Simon Commission. Apart from all other points raised in this memorandum, the most significant issue that struck fear in the hearts of the Nagas at that time was: (Quote) “Our country is poor and it does not pay for its administration. Therefore, if it is continued to be placed under the Reform Scheme, we are afraid that new and heavy taxes will have to be imposed on us and when we cannot pay, then all lands will have to be sold and in the long run we shall have no share in the land of our birth and life will not be worth the living then”. (Unquote) Late Mr. Phizo intelligently capitalized on this issue of taxation as the salient feature of his campaign to galvanize the Nagas movement towards a tax free sovereign nation. Today, this very agenda of taxation has been transformed into a crippling nightmare of the masses, not by a foreign hand but by our own.
The 66 long years of freedom struggle has only multiplied the woes of the masses with faction ridden differences among brothers in arms, each imposing an unforgiving and rigid tax regime upon its own people without an appreciable effort being made towards achieving the goal. The NSCN (IM) is perhaps the exception showing a modicum of initiative with the ongoing dialogue. All the others are comfortably seated on the fence awaiting the pleasure of the GOI. The atmosphere of urgency and purpose is non-existent within the camps of the factions since the national tax/ revenue keeps pouring in for their luxurious sustenance. That this problem is OUR PROBLEM as a people has not realistically occurred in the minds of our political leaders either who would rather delink this issue as alien subject. The furthest participatory distance covered by the State Government is the indifferent debate among the Political Parties on “Equi-distant” and “Equi-closeness” policy, both leading to a resounding inaction at the end of it. The task that the Government of Nagaland should have taken full responsibility years back has only been picked up by FNR to find a common platform of reconciliation among the factions and a common resolve to confront the issue. It is beyond the dynamics of the State Government to exercise an option to play an important role in mobilizing the mass opinion to accelerate the process from the GOI and at the same time check the accesses being committed by the factions in the name of sovereignty. It is a pointless waste of time issuing orders to the officers and staffs of the Government not to pay tax to the underground when those responsible for issuing such orders themselves pay up with a much disciplined promptness. After all, who wants to die prematurely? Public opinion on the other hand has a force even the factions will be compelled to respect.
Rather than to spend some quality time trying to discover possible ways and means to hasten and resolve this long pending crisis, the State Government and the National Workers seems to be relatively satisfied with its well entrenched legal and illegal taxation system that they have put in place. One quietly raises personal tax from under the table while the other imposes national tax with a life threatening tag attached. Both are a contented lot, one being no better than the other. Sandwiched between these insatiable Christian titans are the masses trying to egg out a living and laboring on to educate their children. It is true that no Government on earth can afford jobs for every of its educated citizens. So we continue to hear grave philosophical excuses from the powers that be that Nagaland is additionally handicapped in the job market due to lack of industrial infrastructure. Yet when the young entrepreneurs struggle to set up small enterprises to sustain themselves, they are promptly confronted by sovereign tax of the National Workers with erratic percentage fixation, even before such enterprise can set roots. The State Government is aware of this but is helpless to do anything about it. The miseries of the entrepreneurs are further compounded by the state Government adding another critical spanner in the works in the form of efficient load shedding of power supply. The most unfortunate aspect is that each of these units is forced to pay similar percentage of taxes to ALL the factions. The compelling question that then comes to mind is: “How many variety of sovereignty are the Nagas fighting for? Does the definition of sovereignty differ so drastically among the factions that they need to stand uncompromisingly apart and continue this onslaught of taxation upon its people?” The taxpaying citizens have a right to know why they are being compelled to pay so many taxes to so many factions for so many years for the same purpose. In reality the Nagas are paying ‘Ego-mania tax’ to the Leaders of National Movement who have no intention of compromising an inch of their VIP status to other leaders but continue to live in comforts built from the sweat of the taxpayers … all in the name of sovereignty. This has become an addictive life style akin to the Mafia system in the USA. Why else should a unified stand be such an impossible task and spare the people from this multi-layered tyrannical taxation?
Take a look at the absolute irrationality of taxation mechanism that the people endure from day to day. In the long run this is an area for disaster in the making. It is a well known fact that all Government Departments of Nagaland deducts 5-6% of the Departmental development budget for each faction. However irregular or questionable as the case may be, such taxation being deducted at source should normally end further taxation process. But this is not the case. You will often hear explanation by the grassroot functionaries like the VDBs that they were unable to complete their village development works according to specification due to underground taxation which no village is spared. Now take a mathematical exercise of the number of factions that are afloat with their tax demand approximating 5% each which could work out to about 20/25% overall being deducted at the Headquarters for all the factions. The same percentage is again being paid at the field office level as well. Over and above all this, the tax payers have to further contend with the Regional and Town Commanders aggressively raising their own personal national tax to quench their national thirst in the prosperous local liquor bars of our very dry State of Nagaland. Add the illegal tax of the State functionaries from top to bottom. Further add the contractor’s margin of profit. The end result is, even a chicken would ignore the balance budget that actually gets spent for development on the ground. It is frustratingly chaotic. We have created an environment where growth is being stifled prematurely. Taxation such as this will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
The other reality that the Nagas need to seriously consider and understand is that the Government of India will exist for as long as the Indians do. They have all the time in the world. It benefits them to leisurely walk the distance to find a workable solution to their advantage, which they have been doing for the past 66years. We do not have the luxury of time. Our generation is slowly wasting away like second rate citizens without a decent environment and opportunity to grow.
So people of Nagaland, how much longer do we propose to complacently continue this journey through the fog?
