Easterine Kire
I have a limited circle of friends, but in that circle I did not notice anyone wishing the other person ‘Merry Good Governance!’ on the 25th December or before or after that. And thank God for that. One would have thought that after the dismal failure of observing Good Governance Day last year, the idea would have fizzled out. It is disappointing that attempts were made again this year to observe it. It has made one thing very clear. In spite of our factional differences and irreconcilable denominational paths, we Nagas are quite agreed on one thing: we are Christians, we celebrate the birth of Christ on the 25th December, go to church, feast, and spend the rest of the day with family or friends. That pattern has not been interfered with since we came to the light a hundred and forty-four years ago. Not very likely things will be modified before the second coming. Yes? No? All of the above? Call a friend?
At this season, we can also celebrate a prominent characteristic of the Naga personality: our steadfast and stubborn devotion to a tradition. Although a high degree of immovableness indicates inability to change (for the better) this time it has done us good. Suddenly our faith became stronger when it came under subtle threat. There has been no outward persecution or martyrdom. But the determined attempt to transform Christmas day to Good Governance day and declare it a working day equals religious persecution. It puts the government above faith. Faced with that kind of choice, most people would choose faith over governmental diktat. Examine history.
What a very misguided route to take. It is one bound for ridicule and disaster. In many ways, the Naga community is like a sleeping giant, unmoved by continuous abuse until it awakes roaring and itself brings semi-Armageddon. I write that by way of warning. Christianity is a peaceful religion. Its history shows repeated martyrdoms, pogroms, and the creations of modern-day saints who have endured all kinds of persecution – believers have been stoned, thrown to the lions, burnt alive, crucified, you name it, at some point in history somewhere a believer would have suffered it. Yet persecution has always ended in producing adverse results: instead of snuffing out faith by using fear tactics, it ends in building up faith so that the resistance is even stronger than before. This is what makes Christianity beautiful. It makes it so much more than a religion. I guess it shares something of the fundamental element with Islam in this area.
Having said all that, let us consider what good will good governance on Christmas day do in Nagaland? Not much good but certainly a lot of harm and unnecessary resentment. It will make the people suspicious of the government and its representatives. It will create otherness and interfere with trust. It has definitely made the people very cautious about what the centre is up to next. It keeps people on their guards against what they can or cannot say in public. Behind closed doors, they speak the truth. In public, they are very likely to show duplicity. Is that what the centre really wants? To rule by fear and intimidation and stepping on the rights of religious minorities and dictating how they should observe their religious days? I don’t question the politics of it as politics has become the new eight-letter word whose initiatives are always suspect. But any right-thinking citizen should question the humanity of it. Can the world’s biggest democracy really hope to create better citizens by interfering with their holy days? I doubt it very much. It is in line with ‘water-cannon policy’ even if it is not being applied as aggressively. A good government has the grace to accept that every time a citizen writes or talks about it, it is not necessarily an anti-national action. The citizen is exercising his or her democratic right and fundamental right as set out in the Fundamental Rights of the Indian constitution. To see a real change, how about working with the desires and aspirations of the people instead of against them?
