Pakinrichapbo, Advocate
Samziuram village, Peren
Nagaland goes to election next year; elections are not only fought in Nagaland but celebrated like it’s the biggest festival which comes after every five years. Hornbill festival though rightly dubbed mother of all festivals stand no chance in comparison to the aura created by the election festival also not forgetting the fact that not all individuals can go to Kisama to celebrate hornbill festival. Unlike hornbill festivals election is a true festival where everybody irrespective of financial status celebrates in their own ways. Well, we all know how much the people of Nagaland welcome its election and the drama it unleash. Through this article I like to discuss on the clean election campaign and also how young politicians should strive to bring reforms in elections by not just blindly following the trend.
The word ‘breed’ seems too vulgar and disrespectful to address the politicians of our state but the idea of using it comes to one’s head automatically when you walk passed that particular stretch of wall for a year with a particular lines “wanted a new breed of Naga politician” sprayed on it.
Nagaland clean election is a topic of much debate and discussion in all form of media and in every nook and corner yet last general elections shows that the people has failed to find a cure to its dirty practices. Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) though a leading crusader of clean election or say lone crusader among hundreds of organizations in the state could not do much through its clean election campaign. In fact NBCC campaign often starts right before election like some sort of face saver or reminder that the largest church body is dead against dirty and corrupt election. One interesting remark which I learn from one theologian friend who took part in a clean election campaign is that while visiting and talking to residents of one particular village the villagers told them at first the election in the village were clean with no money and alcohol involved, it is only after towns people came in and start distributing them.
Like there is constant supply for every demand on any products, we never know for how long the corrupt practice of buying and selling of votes will continue in Nagaland. In almost every write up we came across the phrase people get the government they deserve, which is partly true in Nagaland context. But the question here is, had there been enough political education given to the mass on the merits and demerits of selling their votes. After all the role or duty to give such awareness belongs to which organization? In a country like China which follows single party system, the party educates the people on its political beliefs and system. Whereas India follows multi party system, so no political party will dare to give real political education to the mass another reason why elections across India are still mostly fought on the line of caste, religion and language. So now discussing on Nagaland, one does not see any political party starting a campaign on clean election. But what if particular party dares to undertake such project and succeed in creating a new breed of voters, I believe real change will come through such effort.
While discussing on clean election I once held the view that if clan body, village /town council tribe apex body pass resolution on clean election warning with severe penalty to those violators, the matter will end there but I was so wrong. Such organizations can come together and cooperate on any matter except on clean election campaign.
Younger generation often discuss on new breed of politicians coming into power but what the younger population never discuss enough is what type the new breed should be. As time passed by old generation politicians will be replaced by new generation politicians, but what if young politician copy and follow the same method of their predecessors. Such actions will put us back to square one, where corruption in government will exist for infinity. Again people will say you can never win election in Nagaland without spending crore of rupees. Well, contemporary history says, once upon a time in Nagaland, candidates won election without spending such huge amount of money, younger generation can make that reality again by building a new breed of voters at the same time utilizing our state literacy rates to its real use, building a new breed of voters on the foundation of political ideology alone not on clan, village or tribe entity. Only through this way, government run by a transparent new breed of politicians could bring real development in the state. If such thing did never happen in the near future, inequality in resources distribution, absence of transparency in the government will heap more misery on the shoulder of the common people.
