When rot begins at the roof, it does not stay there. It drips. It seeps. It stains every wall, every floor, every corner of the house until the entire structure groans under its weight.
That is where we stand today in Naga society.
Cry from a wounded house
From the highest offices to the lowest desk of bureaucracy, corruption has become normalized. It wears the mask of “adjustment,” “connection,” and “the way things are done.” What began as small compromises has grown into a system that rewards the crooked, silences the honest, and sells the future of our children for short-term comfort.
To disinfect such a system is not a weekend cleaning. It is not a press statement. It is not a committee.
It is a long, laborious, painful surgery. And surgery requires surgeons with steady hands, clean hearts, and the courage to cut.
Without a strong team of men and women of high moral integrity, conviction, and love for a shared society, the disease will only metastasize.
We must stop it now, before it gets out of hand. Before the Nagas become a stranger not only in their land, but in their own institutions.
Biblical, moral foundation
Biblically, God hates dishonest scales. “A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight” Proverbs 11:1.
He raised Nehemiah to rebuild broken walls while enemies laughed from outside. He raised Elijah to confront kings who sold justice. He called the Church to be salt and light, not to blend into decay.
Morally, a society that cannot trust its leaders cannot trust itself. When contracts are given by tribe, when jobs are sold by cash, when public funds become private pockets, we do not just lose money. We lose honor. We lose the next generation’s faith.
To be a Naga is to carry a name. A name given by ancestors who chose truth over convenience. Corruption is the slow betrayal of that name.
Political reality
Politically, we must speak plainly and prudently.
Designated camps politics, run by remote control from Delhi, will not liberate the Nagas. A politics that survives on allowances, on permissions, on waiting for signatures from faraway tables, creates dependency, not sovereignty.
It creates leaders who negotiate for survival, not for principle.
It creates a bureaucracy that answers to patrons, not to people.
It creates a generation that learns: “If you want to rise, find a godfather. If you want a contract, pay a cut.”
That is not self-determination. That is managed decline.
Tremendously and vehemently we must say: the Naga Nation cannot be built inside a cage, and it cannot be cleaned by hands that are paid to keep it dirty.
Social, emotional wound
Socially and emotionally, corruption kills more than budgets. It kills hope. The young graduate who studied hard watches the unqualified get the post.
The farmer who pays tax watches the road never come. The widow who seeks justice watches the case die in a drawer.
This is how a people grow tired. This is how idealism turns to cynicism.
And yet, deep in the hearts of the Nagas there are still the memories of village republics where the elders sat in the Morungs and judged with fairness. Of a time when “shame” was stronger than law.
That memory is not dead. It is waiting for a new generation to wake it.
Intellectual challenge
Insightfully, we must admit: cleaning alone will fail.
You cannot disinfect a river by scooping water at the mouth while poison is still poured at the source.
You need a new wave of revolutionists. Not with guns, but with conviction. Not with slogans, but with sacrifice.
What kind of revolution?
1. A Moral Revolution – Leaders and citizens who say “no” even when no one is watching. Who choose public good over private gain.
2. A Political Revolution – Institutions accountable to the people, not to party bosses or distant masters. Transparent budgets, merit-based appointments, and laws that apply to the powerful first.
3. A Social Revolution – Parents who teach children that cheating is shame, not skill. Churches, students, and civil society who name wrong and protect the whistleblower.
4. An Economic Revolution – Naga-owned enterprises, cooperatives, and enterprises that break the monopoly of middlemen and create wealth that stays in the hands of the Nagas.
This is laborious. It will take years. But anything less is cosmetic.
Nationalistic, patriotic call
Nationalistically, patriotism is not only waving a flag. It is guarding the treasury. It is refusing the bribe. It is building the school, the clinic, the road, even when no camera is there.
Patriotically, we must declare: the Naga hills were not watered by the blood of our fathers so that we could auction them to the highest bidder.
They were defended so that a Naga child could grow up in dignity, in truth, in a system that works for him.
To Our Leaders: You were not elected to eat. You were elected to serve. Speak with one voice, act with clean hands, or step aside for those who will.
To Our Youth: You are not the future. You are the present. Learn, build, stay, and lead. Do not sell your vote. Do not sell your skill. Become the new Nehemiahs.
To Our People: Unity is our shield. Ao, Angami, Lotha, Zaleingrong, Sumi, Anal, Tangkhul, Konyak, Chakhesang and all other Naga tribes — when we fight each other, corruption wins. When we stand together, it falls.
Prayerful resolve
Prayerfully, we cry to the Lord of Justice:
Give us leaders with the wisdom of Solomon to discern, the courage of Daniel to stand in a corrupt court, and the integrity of Joseph to refuse what is easy but wrong.
Guard our homes from the spirit of greed.
Let our churches be houses of truth, not silence.
Let our students be a generation that cannot be bought.
Conclusion
Retrospectively, we have survived empires.
Introspectively, we must now survive ourselves.
Intriguingly, the greatest threat to the Naga Nation may not be outside. It may be the corruption we tolerate within.
Awesomely and beautifully, history shows that nations are not saved by perfect systems, but by imperfect people who decide to be faithful.
The hour demands a new wave of revolutionists.
Men and women of high moral conviction.
A team that is not afraid of the long road, because they love the destination: a shared Naga society where justice rolls like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.
So let it be declared.
We will not wait for Delhi to clean our house.
We will not wait for camps to decide our fate.
We will rise, clean, build, and govern.
And from every village, every town, every hill, the voice will rise again:
“This is our land. This is our integrity. This is our revolution. This is our home.”
***
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)
