Democracy In Nagaland

Though there are varying terms for the definition of democracy yet the most influential term known to us is the definition given by Abraham Lincoln, “Democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people”. Independent India was also formed based on this definition and today India is the largest democratic country in the world.

In order to ensure free and fair election, the Election Commission was formed on 25th January 1950 and ever since its inception; it has been working round the clock so that every legitimate voter exercises their franchise rightfully.

Nagaland came into existence as the sixteenth state of the Indian Union on 1st December 1963 so constitutionally Nagaland is a democratic state however in reality it is not.

The one man, one vote was largely stressed but here in Nagaland, it proved futile.

While the NBCC was busy with the clean election drive, on the other hand, the Village Councils and surprisingly some NGO’s who instead of being the backbone of NBCC came out openly declaring their unflinching support to one particular candidate on behalf of all the people wherein it stated that it was doing for the general welfare of the people. Any right thinking citizen can see what good it brings forth by issuing such statements.

How could those leaders who were elected to represent the people commit such dastardly act?

It is in the knowledge of every person that our vote is our birthright and it is the de-jure of every person to whom he wants to vote for. No one has any right to interfere in the decision making of any individual granted by the constitution. How could those leaders sell away our birthright so easily? It is no way justifiable.

Though the casting of vote by the head of the family is not democratic but it is somehow acceptable because in most of the cases, it is the result of mutual agreement among the family members but the declaration to support one particular candidate by few vested individuals on behalf of all the people is in no way democratic and should be shunned by any means. In fact, the ECI should amend new rules and incorporate it as such not to allow daily papers to publish such statements. Such declarations are only a mockery to democracy.

In order to ensure that one man, one vote is enforced, Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) was issued for the first time and CCTV’s installed at certain polling booths. Though the installation of CCTV’s helped to check bogus voters from playing an active role to some extent but the issue of EPIC was a total flop. Also Democracy was brutally butchered by Village Councils and certain NGO’s. Apart from those shameful public declarations, this year’s Parliamentary election was marked by rampant proxy voting, large scale booth capturing et cetera.

Unlike other states in India, the Parliamentary elections isn’t given due importance probably because of the lone seat and this was proven during the recent Lok Sabha election held in our state.

During the first few hours into voting, there were only few people queued to cast their vote which continued till afternoon. However at the end of the day, the voting percentage shot up at an instant like Price Rise. This shows that there were malpractices in the system. The NBCC’s clean election campaign turned a deaf ear to many despite the fact that most of us are Christians.

According to Ecclesiastes, everything has its time and so the evils that are prevalent in our society will eventually come to an end one day. At that time, I urge the Youths of today to walk the talk. The zealousness to root out corruption can be sensed in every sensible young bloods. The flame should be kept burning and put into action at the right time.

Let’s surprise the devil by making a clean sweep of the past and by turning over a new leaf.