Before the age of super digital and high tech surveillance cameras, political lies moved easily. Half-truths, propaganda, and manufactured narratives could condemn dissenting voices, silence opposition, and rewrite history without fear. In closed rooms, decisions were made. In whispers, betrayals were planned. The public had no way to verify.
THE END OF THE SHADOWS
That era is over.
We now live in the Glass Age. Every act, every statement, every signature is watched. What was once hidden in files is now recorded on phones. What was once buried in press notes is now dissected on social media in minutes. Corruption, political propaganda, and lies to the people can no longer hide from the general public.
Retrospectively from 1975 to 1997, power could control narrative. Today from 2026 forward, the people control the record. Even Gen Z, and now Gen Alpha, will hunt down and expose any betrayal, any time. A traitor’s political game is now watched like on a big screen.
THE BIBLICAL AND MORAL LAW OF LIGHT
Scripture spoke of this long before technology arrived.
“Nothing is concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.”
Light exposes what darkness protects.
Morally, this is not cruelty. This is justice. A society that wants to survive must choose truth over image, substance over slogan.
When leaders lie, the people now have tools to fact-check.
When organizations act in nepotism, the youth now have platforms to name it.
When history is distorted, archives, videos, and eyewitness accounts now correct it in real time.
To continue with an old outdated mindset to control people and their different voices on core issues is not strength. It is self-destruction.
THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL REALITY FOR THE NAGAS
The Naga political movement, Naga political organizations, CSOs, and even Churches are not excluded from this changing dynamism.
The expectations of our people have changed tremendously. The people are no longer asking only for slogans of nationalism. They are asking for accountability and transparency.
- In Politics: Any political agreement, any negotiation, any betrayal will be known. The public will not wait 20 years to read it in a book. They will see it in a week on their phones.
- In Civil Society: CSOs that claim to speak for the people must show clean hands. If not, credibility collapses overnight.
- In the Church: The pulpit must speak truth with humility. People will not follow institutions that preach justice but practice favoritism.
Insightfully, power without transparency is now impossible to sustain. A house built on lies can be dethroned or burnt down, literally and politically, overnight. We have seen it in India as a whole. We have seen rapid unfolding incidents where public anger, armed with cameras, brings down what decades of propaganda built.
THE INTELLECTUAL AND NATIONALISTIC CALL
This is not a call to fear. This is a call to evolve.
Patriotically and nationalistically, the Naga cause will not be advanced by silencing voices. It will be advanced by earning trust.
Democratically, different voices on different core issues must be heard with mutual respect.
Prudently, organizations must open their books, open their decisions, and open themselves to scrutiny.
Virtuously, leaders must lead with humility, not with entitlement.
Introspectively we must ask: Are we building for 2026 and beyond, or are we still fighting with the tools of 1975?
Are we preparing our children for a world of truth, or are we preparing them for a world of cover-ups?
THE FINAL ASSERTION
Therefore, let this be written powerfully, strongly, and beautifully:
- The age of hidden propaganda is dead. Technology has killed it.
- Accountability and transparency are no longer optional. They are the only way to sustain any Naga political organization, any CSO, any Church, and any institution.
- Nepotism and corruption are now public liabilities, not private habits. The cost is the future of the nation.
- The new generation will not inherit blind loyalty. They will inherit facts. They will judge us by our records, not by our speeches.
Marvelously and prayerfully, this is an opportunity.
When a society chooses openness, it gains strength.
When a nation chooses truth, it gains legitimacy.
When leaders choose humility and cooperation for shared security, they gain the people.
The Glass Age has arrived.
The cameras are on.
The archives are open.
The people are watching.
Let us meet this moment with courage, with honesty, and with a commitment that the Naga nation will be built not on narrative, but on truth.
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Michael Meiphami Shaiza is Co-incharge of BJP Manipur State Political Programmes and Meetings and President of Ukhrul-based NGO Ecological Rehabilitators’ Association (ERA).
(Views expressed are writers’ own and do not, in whatsoever manner, reflect that of Ukhrul Now)