It is a known fact that when wars are waged the most affected by it all are women and babies. The perpetrators of any form of aggression are by and large, male. I know this is a generalisation and some one might fill up my comments section with examples of women waging wars. But I stand by what I have said. It is recorded in history. And what happens to the men? They die or get miamed. There are no right causes or wrong causes. As someone once said “If Hitler had won the war, he would have been the benevolent and visionary leader”. So lets not even begin with justification of causes. I personally feel that Raj Thackeray who idolises Hitler hopes to win his war and a page in history books of posterity….. and may be a statue for birds to shit on.
Nagaland is going through severe unrest. My friend is badly affected as her husband is the Vice Chancellor of Nagaland University. The causes I feel are unimportant but the way these causes are being fought for are so horrifying. All in all it is terrorism – and the victims are people like you and me. Dr. Kannan is an educationist and he lives in a part of our own country where security guards hover around him day and night. It is like being under house arrest. I am not surprised that his health is suffering due to constant tension, lack of privacy and the fear of being gheraod or shot.
I am giving below Jayshri’s letter to the Nagaland Press that is heckling and attacking her husband
Good Morning Nagaland!
I am Jayshri Kannan wife of the much pirouetted Prof Kannan V.C .Nagaland University. I am a professional writer and do not write on political or personal issues ever. My writings are largely on the Subject of my expertise and I enjoy doing just that. Then why am I writing here at all? To a Press that is so irrational in its behaviour? To a State which has torn my family life apart? To a state we developed affection for and actually became social ambassadors but in return got only hostility and stress. Well sometimes we do things which we normally do not do and this is one of them. On the spur of the moment I just feel like sharing…recalling my life and the events that shaped them. This is not about Nagaland University… it about my husband and me.
I have come to Nagaland many a times since my husband joined the University. I have enjoyed every visit of mine and have made some very special friends who seem to have become friends for life. I carry back with me umpteen souvenirs which my friends and relatives have admired. So I do carry some very warm memories of this place.
I go t married to Kannan 28 yrs back when he was only a PhD student studying in the Imperial college of London. Very early in my marriage I learnt I was married to a man completely dedicated to his profession and I was only his second wife, his profession being his first!
To cut a long story short we were holidaying on Chilka Lake, Orissa, when we got a phone call from the President of India’s office saying Kannan had been appointed as the Vice Chancellor of Nagaland. I was shattered. Al I knew of Nagaland was from an Uncle in the Army. He had lost two fingers in some war or maybe some accident. He said many things to make us laugh and he always told us that a Naga had chewed off his fingers. That was all I knew. I knew, if nothing I would have a husband without fingers, if Kannan went to Nagaland.
Well Kannan did go to Nagaland while I continued with my work and family duties in Delhi and everyday awaited for the news of his fingers being chewed off. Finally I had the time to come and visit him and Nagaland .The first thing I noticed in the airport was that his fingers were intact…and i turned around and thought maybe it’s my fingers turn now?
Nothing of that sort ever happened but I realized I had loaned my husband body and soul to Nagaland University for all he had to talk to me and the children was about the people in the University, its working…blah blah. I also saw some members were loving and caring and was greatly reassured that though I away from my husband, he was being cared for. The Naga culture, hospitality, tribal divergences fascinated me and my trips to Nagaland gradually became more frequent.
Months rolled by and I realized it was not fair on my part to pressurize Kannan to come back to Delhi. He had so much to offer to Nagaland. It had become his obsession and driving force. The establishment of the Engineering College was proof enough. He was now dreaming of establishing a Medical college, a Veterinary college, a nursing college and so on. Ten steps forward and some unrest would make him mover 20 steps backwards. I saw my husband extremely pressurized by the unrests. I worried about his Blood Pressure. I worried about this food habits. I gradually trained him into meditation /yoga and other forms of de-stressing. But eventually I was beginning to wonder if his presence in Nagaland was worth the trouble at all. Will the people understand his commitment and allow him to proceed with progressive work? I am not yet too convinced. I have loaned my husband to Nagaland for the time being and I want him back in the same condition… not battered and shattered!
Some where in the comments column i read “t laaast!!!! a photo of the two devils!!” hopefully they have learnt their lessons” ( spellings and language as shown on the comments page morungexpress September 27, 2008 10:04:00), commenting on the handshake picture ..Devil he is… But I am the one caught between the devil and the deep sea or should I say deep mountains of Nagaland!
This is our country – and we are supposed to have the right to live and work anywhere within the country – that is why we do not need passports or permits to travel from state to state.
Who are the most affected by the modern day politics of terror?
- Babies who get orphaned
- Young men who get miamed and die
- Young girls raped or/and forced into prostitution
- Widows who are also raped or/and forced into prostitution
- Aging parents who have lost their bread winners
- The state which has not seen development or steady growth because of these wars
- All of Us, the citizens of this country who are tolerating such actions and behaviour of our leaders.
I do not know what is happening …. may be we deserve what we are getting because of our apathy and our “kee fark painda” and “mere baap ka kya jaata hai” attitude.
