HELPING YOUNG MINDS grow is not a luxury; it is essential to the future of any society. When we give young people good mentorship, the freedom to ask difficult questions, and the space to explore ideas, curiosity becomes knowledge and knowledge becomes meaningful action. These are the minds that will shape our policies, advance knowledge, preserve our culture, and imagine new possibilities. Supporting young scholars today means giving the next generation the courage not simply to repeat old answers, but also to ask better questions and create better ones.
Since its establishment in 2010s, the Naga Scholars’ Association (NSA) has provided a space for scholars to engage in meaningful conversations on Naga society and the wider world. One such recent initiative was the screening and discussion of ‘A Sacred Place’, a documentary by Prof. Dolly Kikon of the University of California, Santa Cruz, held on 15 September at Nagaland House, RK Puram, New Delhi. Such initiatives remind us that when we create spaces for young minds to think, question, and engage, we are not merely organising programmes but we are quietly shaping the future of Naga society.
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The screening brought together established academicians, writers, publishers, filmmakers, and Naga scholars and students from different parts of the country. It also reflected the Naga Scholars’ Association’s continuing effort to connect Naga scholars and young minds with intellectuals from universities and institutions across India and beyond.
‘A Sacred Place’
A Sacred Place takes us to Makhel, a village in the Mao Naga region of northern Manipur, traditionally remembered as a place of shared Naga origin. But the film is about much more than a place. It reminds us that land is not merely territory or a resource; it carries our ancestry, identity, memories, knowledge, and relationships. Its deeper message is that preserving culture is not simply about protecting objects or monuments. It is about preserving the relationship between people and land, elders and youth, memory and place, and human beings and the natural world.
Makhel may be one sacred place, but the questions it raises belong to every Naga village: What do we remember? What are we losing? What will we pass on to the next generation? Perhaps the most powerful lesson is simple: when we lose a place, we lose more than land; when we lose its meaning, we lose a part of ourselves. That is why ‘A Sacred Place’ is not merely a documentary about Makhel. It is an invitation to the Naga community to remember, listen, document, question, and take responsibility for the cultural and ecological inheritance we leave behind.
Space with a Purpose
The invited resource person, Prof. Dolly Kikon, a renowned anthropologist and Director of the Centre for Asian Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, was accompanied by her husband, Prof. Sanjay Barbora. Both are accomplished academics whose scholarship and mentorship have contributed to intellectual life in India and across the world, including among many young Naga scholars.
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The NSA organised this programme with a simple but profound purpose: to give young Nagas an opportunity to understand their roots, engage with difficult questions, and see their society and the wider world with greater depth.
The screening of ‘A Sacred Place’ and the conversation that followed were profound, intellectually engaging, and warmly received by students, scholars, and other participants. More importantly, the discussion created a rare space for young minds to reflect on heritage, identity, memory, place, and the complex realities shaping Naga society.
Even after the formal programme ended, many students and academics remained to interact personally with Prof. Kikon and Prof. Barbora, seeking guidance and discussing their academic interests and future work. This, in itself, demonstrated the value of such intellectual spaces. It was during these meaningful interactions, according to participants, that the two well established scholars were subjected to verbal assaults by employees of Nagaland House, RK Puram, Delhi.
Public Responsibility – Protecting Intellectuals
The humiliation of distinguished scholars in the presence of students and members of the academic community is deeply troubling. Whatever the circumstances, a place meant to serve the public should never become a space where intellectual engagement is met with hostility or disrespect.
Prof. Kikon and Prof. Barbora may have initially chosen silence out of restraint and dignity. But when disrespect continues, silence can no longer be expected to carry the burden of tolerance.
An institution that claims to serve its people must understand that welcoming scholars, encouraging dialogue, and protecting intellectual spaces are not privileges but they are part of the public responsibility.
When a society respects those who ask difficult questions, it protects its own capacity to think. When it humiliates them, it risks silencing not only two individuals, but the young minds who came to listen, learn, and imagine a better future.
Now the question is what kind of society are we living in if public intellectuals are humiliated and embarrassed? A healthy society must protect its public intellectuals because they help society think beyond the obvious.
Scholars and researchers document history, question injustice, preserve culture, influence public policy, and bring neglected issues into public discussion. Their research can improve education, their ideas can shape better policies, and their work can help communities understand their identity and protect their heritage.
Their ideas may sometimes make government uncomfortable, but that discomfort can lead to understanding and progress. Hence, protecting public intellectuals like Prof Dolly Kikon and Prof Sanjay Barbora, and the scholar’s community means protecting society’s freedom to think, question, learn, and evolve. Unfortunately, the incident soon travelled far beyond the walls of Nagaland House.
The Greater Public Purpose
In today’s deeply connected world, when an established scholar with relationships across universities, communities, and countries faces an alleged public humiliation, news travels quickly and naturally draw wider attention. Public intellectuals and academics from different parts of India subsequently expressed concern. The reaction was particularly strong among intellectual circles in Assam, given Prof Sanjay Barbora’s deep academic and personal connections with the state and his standing among students and fellow scholars. But beyond the controversy lies a much larger question: What role should a State House in the national capital play in the intellectual and cultural life of its people?
Nagaland House is a public institution. It should not merely provide accommodation or administrative services; it can also become a space where ideas, scholarship, culture, and meaningful conversations are welcomed. What greater public purpose can such a facility serve than creating an environment where young people can engage with history, identity, society, and the challenges of their time? Hence, the screening of ‘A Sacred Place’ was not an attempt to challenge protocol. It was an exercise in learning, reflection, and dialogue.
Giving young people the opportunity to question, listen, and think critically is not a misuse of public space, it is precisely the kind of engagement that strengthens a society. The real lesson, therefore, should not be about one unfortunate incident alone. It should be about what kind of intellectual culture we want to create.
A State House should never become a place where curiosity feels unwelcome. It should become a place where young minds feel encouraged to ask difficult questions, scholars feel respected, and ideas are allowed to breathe. A society grows when its public institutions become bridges between knowledge and people. Nagaland House has the opportunity to become such a bridge.
The Way Forward
A very important question that has emerged from this incident is also about a deeper reflection on the seriousness of Government of Nagaland in the training process of enhancing soft skills of the employees, because such government institutions like Nagaland House are vital for warm hospitality as it represent the state at the national capital. In fact, the employees are in many ways an ambassador of the state to the outside world. Are we conveying a negative message to the outside world where our public intellectuals are treated with such humiliation? Perhaps, this incident provides an opportunity to the state government to reflect and enhancement of soft skills to the employees.
The state government must address the lack of basic etiquette among administrative staff at public institutions. Providing professional training in soft skills, hospitality, and civic engagement will transform employees into genuine assets for the government.
When young Nagas spend their time discussing their roots, identity, history, and shared future, they are not wasting time. In fact, they are investing in tomorrow.
In a 21st-century world driven by knowledge, creativity, and global competition, the greatest responsibility of leadership is to nurture minds that can think deeply, question fearlessly, and contribute meaningfully. The State government should, therefore, create and protect spaces for academic dialogue, cultural reflection, and intellectual exchange in Nagaland Houses across major metropolitan cities where Naga students, scholars, and professionals live and work. A brief extension of a meaningful academic conversation should not be viewed merely through a bureaucratic lens.
What matters is what those extra minutes produce: new questions, new ideas, confidence, and a deeper sense of responsibility.
The real tragedy is not that young people spend a few extra minutes in serious discussion; it is when their immense potential is lost to indifference, distraction, or pursuits that add little to their lives or society. Nagaland House and similar public institutions can become more than administrative spaces. They can become nurseries of knowledge, dialogue, culture, and critical thought places where young Nagas meet scholars, examine difficult questions, understand their heritage, and imagine a better future.
Hence, the way forward is simple:
-Institutionalise such engagements
-Encourage scholars to interact with young people
-Provide accessible spaces for discussion
-Treat intellectual curiosity as a public asset.
A government that truly believes in the future of its people should not merely manage public spaces but it should also be encouraged to use them to cultivate human potential.
(The views expressed are personal. The author is a Professor, School of Social Sciences, IGNOU, New Delhi)
