Khekiye K. Sema
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he present internal political tournament being played within NPF at the centre-stage with the DAN III pre-poll partners further smudging the canvas, allowing NPCC to happily swim in these murky uncertain waters despite the lack of viable numbers, has every kitchen and street corners wondering which of the warring Ali Baba camps will come out tops. The common spectators know without doubt that the outcome of this tournament will have absolutely no positive relevance or benefit for them either ways... yet as sports loving people, all are making an educated guess as to which camp may score the ‘sudden death’. Whether Mr. T.R. Zaliang continues as the Chief Minister of Nagaland or Mr. G. Kaito Aye forms the new Government...the primary question, nestled in the minds of most intellectuals, is: will anything really change for the better in its aftermath? A truthful answer to this question would require one to take a step backward in time to recognise the critical fault lines that is causing this kind of tremor.
The fundamental driving motivation behind the present turmoil is all too transparent...to take over the reins of power...knowing that this ‘power’ will help generate ‘personal revenue’ to ‘recuperate’ the ‘election investment’ plus a little more for the next round. Without this ‘power’, many a gambling candidate would be buried deep under their election debts (even as a winner), never being able to get back on their feet with confidence. As mere mortals, no winning candidate, after spending crores, would want to desperately end up with compromised monetary avenues, thus resulting in the ongoing mortal combat among the elected members. Handicapped with a mandatory downsized Ministry, no Chief Minister of Nagaland can ever hope to satisfactorily water the Sahara Desert of his party MLAs enough to make it productive. On the other hand, we as a people must also evaluate our individual contribution(s) in it all, one step at a time and have the Christian ethics to firstly admit to our own defaults and have the courage to right the wrong that has caused this vicious cycle.Remember the time when we Nagas went through the electoral process of exercising our democratic franchise on 23rd February 2013 for the Nagaland Legislative Assembly like all the other election years in the past? In the latest chapter, the hallowed Church loudly campaigned for a “free and fair” election. When the first glaring mega case of violating their proclamation happened at Wokha on 18th February 2013 by the then ‘very Honourable’ Home Minister, (the Law keeper)... caught red-handed with Rs.1.10 crore ‘vote purchasing budget’ in his possession; when this ‘very Honourable’ Home Minister was caught red-handed violating the Arms Act with unlicensed arms and ammunition capable of waging a mini war; when this ‘very Honourable’ Home Minister was caught red-handed violating the Prohibition Act with liquor stock in his car, capable of knocking out a battalion of donkeys; For all this high profile lawless antics, he was rewarded with a plumb Ministerial berth instead when the new Government was formed. A prominent high mast flag was hoisted by the then Chief Minister of Nagaland, glorifying crime. With all of these developments happening before our very eyes, the ‘All Supreme Church’ kept very silent, Oh! sssoooo silent, that one could have heard a pin drop! Mr. T.R. Zaliang then committed a mortal sin by Naga moral standards when he dropped this ‘Crime Poster Boy’ (CPB) from his ministry. Today, Mr. T.R.Zaliang is paying for his political sin because this CPB has become a thorn in his flesh, pronouncing the ethics of governance and the welfare of the people as a spokesperson of one of the Ali Baba camps on the opposite side with a straight smiling face...without a trace of compunction or guilt. This generally portrays the overall sick political Frankensteins we, the people of Nagaland have helped to create. An all-round lesson needs to be learnt from events such as these.
Lesson number one: For better or for worse, the Church remains the cornerstone of our Naga Christian community. We are however, ‘blessed’ with a Church that fears man more than it fears God. We enjoy the distinction of a Church that loves money more than it loves God. The hypocritical ‘man-fearing’, ‘money worshiping’ Leadership of our Churches have spawned hypocritical offsprings down the line ... the Pastors, the Deacons and by extension “US”, their ‘Christian’ congregation. It would seem like the God of our Naga Churches invariably go on an extended vacation during the election season, out of reach even on cell phone. In broad daylight the prayerful Christians lead the “vote selling” charge during the election... making Christmas wishes in February? After exiling God to an incommunicado status, the grave-faced Christians then kneel down sans conscience and solemnly thank their Good Lord for the manna droppings that they have received... from the contesting Father Christmases. Indeed, there are very many decent, truthful, faithful God fearing Church Leaders, Pastors and Deacons still in existence without doubt. Sadly however, their number is grossly overshadowed by the Big Bad Apples in the basket commandeering the Mission at various levels in the likeness of our NPGs standing smugly under the fluttering banner of “Nagaland for Christ”. It is not an idle saying that “money is the root cause of all evil”. Now, if we want to break the vicious cycle, selling votes must end! The Church has a pivotal responsibility to end it, starting from within their ranks. As a Christian State if this picture is not repainted on a fresh canvas with a true colour of Christian faith as God intended, we are on a downhill journey to our peril.
Lesson number two: The Nagas have yet not learned in real terms, the deadly consequence(s) of vote selling. When we go to a shop and buy ‘something’ and then destroy it right in front of that shopkeeper, he dare not question our action because what we destroy has already been purchased. He would no longer have a right to object to what we do to that ‘something’. The analogy is the same. When we sell our votes, we lose our rights to question the candidate how he uses that authority he derived from it. If he chooses not to visit or develop his constituency for the rest of the term in office, that would be within his prerogative to do so. Yet today, the print media is filled with complaints about the bad roads that we travel; the third rate corruption infested infrastructural development efforts that need repair before the work is even completed etc. Etc. ... without bothering to remember that we sold our votes, sold our rights to question the Minister in charge. Why then complain? Travel on that “money” that was received for the votes that was sold during the election! We have no right to demand or complain!
Lesson number three: The bottom line is that this simple sounding word called ‘election’ is in fact the mother of all gambling and the starting source of our undoing. All the contesting candidates beg, borrow and mortgage every property that they own including those they do not own, to buy our votes in order to win. Mind-boggling crores have been invested. Many a losing candidate would be seen walking the streets in their faded worn out election attires, unshaven (even if they have just three hairs between their upper lips and nose) looking dazed like an unfed zombie as an aftershock reaction. As for the winners, they would streak-zoom like F1 racer to Kohima HQs for one determined objective...to get inducted into the Ministry by hook or by crook, if they belong to the majority party. Being inducted however, is still not satisfying enough if he gets a low budgeted Department like Arts and Culture/ Labour & Employment or some such departments from where it would be impossible to recover their election expenditures... let alone make more. His followers would gang up; break few windowpanes in their party HQs in agitation to make their point and their dissatisfaction clear. These supporters too are acutely aware that ‘droppings’ for them would be awfully scanty under such circumstances. On a fractured election result with no single party majority, the good old ‘Independents candidates’ would have a field day street-hawking for plumb portfolios with ‘huge budget’ and be willing to cross the ‘allegiance’ bridge every other minute to achieve this end. In the absence of intellectual and political maturity, swayed by power and greed factor alone, the trustworthiness of each elected member falls under the shadow of dark suspicious clouds. This necessitates creation of ‘camps’ to keep the flocks together under tight security to ensure that those within the enclosure do not freely go out portfolio hunting. The present ongoing “camp” drama depicts this reality. In this entire mad, hectic high-tension environment, where does ‘public welfare’ really fit in? It is extremely tiresome having to listen to all the camouflaged political garbage and read all the sanctimonious expressions like “stable Government for the welfare of the people and all round development”. The only ‘all round development’ that the people are likely to see is the overfed ‘all round bellies’ that the elected members are likely to develop in course of their term in office. The one and only primary objective for these warring political animals, is to salvage authority to recuperate the election investment and make more for the next round...nothing more nothing less... period! It is as simple as that...even a new born with eyes yet not opened can see through it all. The people are nowhere in their mind frame. Yet, we the people of Nagaland asked for it and therefore we have an Ali Baba band of ruthless, heartless, self-seeking representatives taking sides and waging war against each other for that all important prize...power ...to line their bottomless pockets. Of course, we can hardly blame them for doing what they are doing. In their place we would probably be doing just the same if we too were manufactured from the same factory. We have a Government we deserve. The treacherous corruptive cycle must be halted.
Perhaps the Nagas need a moment of quiet reflection to thoroughly understand this vicious cycle we have self-created and entrapped ourselves in. Perhaps a President’s Rule (PR) would serve this purpose of introspection and allow the true Christian Leaders to work out ways and means to clean up our kitchen and stem the rot before the next round of election. Perhaps a fresh beginning could be made where upright, trustworthy, dependable characters with integrity get the opportunity to represent the Nagas through an honest free electoral process that our first generation had had the privilege to experience. That day may never come but it is imperative and extremely important that we make sincere efforts to stop the recurrence of this vicious cycle ...stop the sale of votes if we really want to see a better day.
The writer is IAS (Rtd)
Forest Colony, Kohima.
