T Senka Ao

T. Senka Ao is a writer, editor, educator and social worker from Mokokchung district, respected for his part in making peace during communal disputes. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2022 in the field of literature and education, from Nagaland ^[1].

Editor of Ao Milen

Senka Ao was born on 6 June 1945 and graduated from St Anthony’s College, Shillong, in 1969 ^[2]. For twenty years he was editor-in-chief of Ao Milen, founded in 1933 as the first newspaper in Nagaland and the first in the Ao language ^[2]. In its pages he created “Alokba”, a character known for witty comment on social and current affairs ^[2].

He has written ten books in Ao, among them Kongro Lijen and Kishi Teztilen, and his books are on the Ao language syllabus of the ICSE and ISC boards and of the Nagaland school board ^[2]. He is an examiner for the highest Ao language examination ^[2].

Schools and peace

In 1972 he founded the Model Night School in Mokokchung, set up so that members of underground groups who had surrendered could continue their education; it now teaches homemakers, domestic workers and others who missed school ^[2]. He was joint secretary of the district’s voluntary adult education campaign from 1975 to 1979 ^[2].

He served on the peace committee that settled a feud between the Ao and Sema tribes in 1981, and on another after the violent clashes between Nagas and people from Assam at Merapani in 1985, helping form a joint people’s forum of both states ^[2]. He received the Nagaland Governor’s award for literature in 2016 ^[2].