Naga Students' Union Delhi ~ For the welfare of the students

Too often, students’ leaders are put in the sideline. Notwithstanding the fact that they work for the welfare of the community, I am often skeptical about Students’ Unions or Associations.

But the heart of the matter is often something else genuine that needs to be appreciated, just as the President of the Naga Students’ Union Delhi (NSUD), Boveio Poukai Duo says, “it is a Big Responsibility”. I agree, primarily because being a students’ leader in the capital of India with over 22000 registered members could never be an easy task.

He says, the challenge therein lies “expectation of the people” as he goes on to express “people expect so much from us…any incident and everybody starts calling up.” This, regardless of whether they have the answers or not. It makes it all the more challenging with Delhi being dubbed as the rape capital of India and our people have been victims of various crimes in this place.

To this end, he strongly feels that as Nagas residing in the Capital of India, “it is our responsibility to understand their culture” while pointing to instances where Nagas tend to party late till 3:00 to 4:00 AM in the morning. He went on to explain that “this is something our people never do at home”. He also emphasizes that “they must not forget that they are not in their actual homeland, not a foreign country as such”, and states, ‘take for instance, a Punjabi or a non-Naga trying to act smart in our place….perhaps when we try to place ourselves in their shoes, we will also realize our mistake and act responsibly”, he adds.

He maintains that crime can take place anytime or anywhere while expressing that there is stealing, discrimination or rape everywhere and affirms that “the only thing I can say is we must understand the culture of the place we are residing at and live accordingly”. On the other hand, he feels that 80% of the problem faced in Delhi is from the non-students, especially people who are neither working nor studying.

Towards this end, he asserts that parents do have an important role to play. While it disheartens him that elders most often brand those who join students unions ‘as a bunch of hopeless people’ (in his words), he firmly states that it is not a last resort and avers that it takes so much sacrifice, time and commitment to be involved. “I feel we are people with a dream to serve our people in the long run”, he says.

Expressing that parents keep telling their students not to be part of the organization but concentrate only in their studies, he finds it disappointing that the Union is however held responsible and answerable when their children land up in trouble. “We are at the receiving end”, he dejectedly says, while bringing back the challenge of living up to the expectation of the people which, he pointed out is their desire for “NSUD to be the rescuer to every problem”.

But one thing is certain even as he puts it this way- “not only in good times but in bad times, NSUD as an organization working for the welfare of the students’ community, is trying our best to bring all round development”.

The 48th President of Naga Students’ Union Delhi personally has a dream to work for our people. “A wonderful Nagalim”, according to him and to realize this dream, he says, “NSUD is the best platform…this is some place where I am given a chance to be tested- whether I’ll be successful in the long run or not”. He is happy that most of his executives are committed and dedicated and have been working for the students on a full-time basis during their tenure.

This year, the Union assisted over 1500 fresh students, most of them Nagas for admission to various colleges and universities in Delhi. Established in the year 1963 on 25th August, the Naga Students’ Union Delhi has come a long way as one of the biggest and oldest organizations in the capital.

Some of the activities it holds annually are Freshers’ Meet, Nagas’ Nite, Sports Week and conducting at least 4-5 seminars based on several topics of social, economic and political importance.

During Boveio Poukai Duo’s current tenure as the President, an Information Handbook on basic rights has been launched and the latest project being the NSUD Newsletter, a first of its kind by Nagas in Delhi.

The Union does the painstaking task of visiting the Police Station at least thrice a week, and sometimes more, either to bail out somebody or make a compromise. Besides, its participation is seen in several other seminars and workshops, or rallies of different kinds so long as it stands for a social cause or a democratic rally.

One of the many things they do also include efforts to keep the Nagas from Myanmar in Delhi connected to the Union. The Union professes to function for the promotion and upholding of cultural heritage, educational development, fraternity and integrity of the Nagas and above all to secure the unity of the Union.

For one last measure of thought, and the President gratefully states that the NSUD is privileged to have Mr. Kuole Mere, PRO Nagaland House & Advisor to NSUD, and Mr. Wezope Kenye, DRC, Nagaland House for their unceasing support at all times.