The photograph (representational) above shows armed men moving through green forests. Special security forces conducting combing operations. Behind every such movement are homes, fields, churches, and villages.
The emerging question
And behind every gunshot or arrest, there is a question that grows louder each day:
Where are the CM, the Deputy CMs, the Home Minister, and the elected MLAs? Where are their voices when innocent village volunteers are being killed, arrested, and dragged into a conflict they did not create? Where is their role when the people who elected them are caught between the barrel and the bush?
This is not a rhetorical question. It is a moral, political, and democratic demand.
The biblical and moral foundation of leadership
Scripture is precise on this: “If a trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?” Leadership is not about occupying a chair. It is about standing between the people and harm.
Ezekiel warned leaders who “did not strengthen the weak or heal the sick or bind up the injured.”
To be silent while your people are hunted is to abdicate the most basic duty of governance: the protection of life and dignity.
Morally, an elected representative is not the owner of power. He is a trustee of it. And trustees who watch their wards being beaten and say nothing have broken that trust.
The political and democratic betrayal
Introspectively and vehemently, we must say this: Democracy without voice is a shell.
1. The CM and Deputy CMs are the highest executive authority of the state. If security operations are resulting in the killing and arrest of innocent village volunteers, their first duty is to ask: On what legal basis? With what evidence? Under whose command? Silence here is not neutrality. It is consent.
2. The Home Minister holds direct responsibility for law and order. Combing operations that sweep up civilians instead of criminals is a policy failure. If the Home Minister cannot question, correct, and control the use of force, then what is the office for?
3. The MLAs are the direct voice of villages. They were sent by those very villages. If they cannot speak when their constituents are arrested at night, when young volunteers are branded and broken, then representation itself becomes a lie.
Politically, this creates a dangerous vacuum. When elected leaders go quiet, people conclude that the state has surrendered its responsibility. And into that vacuum, anger, fear, and further violence grow.
The social and human cost
Deeply and emotionally, we must look at what “combing operation” means on the ground.
It means a mother does not know if her son will return from the field.
It means a village volunteer, who stood guard because the state could not, is now treated as a suspect.
It means entire communities live under suspicion, where service to your own village is criminalized.
Socially, this breaks the covenant between people and government. It tells the youth: your sacrifice means nothing. It tells the elders: your wisdom is ignored. It tells every Naga home: you are on your own.
This is tremendously damaging. A society cannot survive if those elected to protect it choose to look away.
The historical and national context
Retrospectively, the Naga people have known conflict for decades. We have seen what happens when politics is done without the people, and when security is done against the people.
Nationalistically, the Naga aspiration has always been about dignity, self-determination, and justice. But dignity cannot exist where innocent people are picked up in the night.
Patriotically, to love your people means to speak for them when it is costly.
Prayerfully, we must remember: a nation is not built by guns alone. It is built by leaders who have the courage to say “this is wrong” even to their own allies.
The final appeal
Therefore let this be stated brilliantly, insightfully, and without fear:
1. Speak. The CM, Deputy CMs, Home Minister, and every MLA must publicly state their position. Are village volunteers being targeted? On what grounds? What is being done to prevent innocent arrests and killings?
2. Investigate. Every death, every arrest must be accounted for lawfully. There must be independent inquiry, not just press notes.
3. Protect. The primary role of the state is to protect its citizens. Village volunteers who are not criminals must not be treated as such.
4. Engage. Open dialogue with village leaders, CSOs, and Churches. Security cannot be outsourced to silence.
Awesomely and beautifully, leadership is tested not in peace, but in moments like this.
The forests are watching.
The villages are watching.
The children are watching.
History is watching.
To the elected: You were not given office to be silent. You were given office to be a voice.
If you will not speak for the innocent now, then who will?
If you will not stand for your people now, then when?
The Naga nation deserves leaders who are present in the crisis, not absent from it.
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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)