NO TAKERS FOR GOOD CITIZENS!

October 14, 2017 660 Views No Comment

On September 23, 2017, the Kevichusa Foundation, a charitable foundation of the family of A. Kevichusa, organized the inaugural presentation of the ‘A. Kevichusa Citizenship Award (KCA)’. Mother’s Hope founder Moamenla Jamir was the recipient of this noble award, which carried a citation, an engraved medallion, and cash prize of 3 lakh rupees.

Briefly, A. Kevichusa was himself an illustrious Naga citizen. Of his many achievements a few may be mentioned here. He was the first Naga graduate, the first Naga Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer; founding member and Chairman of the first regional party of Nagaland, the Democratic Party of Nagaland and also a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha).

We only worship money-power-status

The recipient of the award, Moamenla Jamir of Mother’s Hope is a simple and hardworking person, not known to many people because that is the way she works—behind the scenes with quiet determination and steadfast love for the cause—serving the underprivileged section of society. In a way Mother’s Hope is more popular than its founder. That speaks volumes about her self-sacrifice.

Coming to the specific work of Mother’s Hope—it’s a shelter home for pregnant girls undergoing crisis pregnancies, providing a permanent home for newborns and infants, a home for young girls who are victims of sexual abuse. Mother’s Hope is a non-profit organization run on donations. All services are free including adoptions.

For those who may not know, the shelter home has been working tirelessly for the last 16 years against all odds. As the Founder Director while receiving the award said, “the initial response from people and the churches was not encouraging. People viewed Mother’s Hope as a total failure from the beginning”.

There are many prominent leaders and groups who could have been selected for this award. The Kevichusa Foundation has done well to give the citizenship award to someone who works for humanity. And the work that Moamenla does with her team through Mother’s Hope is quite extraordinary. It’s actually the stuff of legends.

Only that most of us are failing to recognize it. Just consider this. Since the award was announced on September 23, 2017, there has been no visible public acknowledgement to her achievement, not that this is important but it is just a poor reflection of the troubled state of our Naga society and the moral deficit we are faced with as a people.

In contrast our newspapers in Nagaland are splashed with self-congratulatory messages ‘for my tribesmen or members belonging to my village, range or khel’. Our Naga public also favour and praise those who have power, money and status even if these people do no good. We therefore honour political defection and all forms of corruption but fail to recognize good works by citizens.

We only want to glorify, talk about and yes, give undue publicity to our own personal success or achievements. Our failure to understand and act on the common good is leading our Naga people to the path of selfishness and all its accompanying isms and ills— intolerance of the other; narrow-mindedness in our thinking and action; arrogance of power; nepotism in our functioning.

The Naga Republic hangs its head in shame to this utter failure we have brought to ourselves where we have come to only worship money, power, status and those who flaunt them with no morals. Our society gives a damn to the poor, the orphans and those who have no voice to be heard. We don’t recognize and honour good works done by honest people.

Hopefully an award like the one mentioned above will restore some hope for an ailing society that is in crying need of moral overhaul.

“…For 16 years, this woman has silently and relentlessly gone about her life’s calling- to saving lives, especially saving lives of the most vulnerable section of our society. Her life and work reminds us that every life- even the most vulnerable should be valued. By giving her this award, Nagas and Nagaland will continue to go on, we have a future and we can be a civil people in a civilized society”.

A quote for the recipient of the Citizenship award by the Kevichusa Foundation