Kaka D. Iralu
Christians are supposed to be followers of Jesus who had said: “I am the way and the truth and the Life.”(Jn. 14:6) Christians also profess to believe what Jesus said when he declared: “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” (Jn. 8:32) Now, I suppose that every Christian will agree with me in acknowledging that “the truth” here does not mean “only religious truth” but also scientific truths, political truths, historical truths, legal truths and all other truths under heaven. If this is not the case, and truth does not apply to law for example, then there cannot be any justice in the world. In such a situation, injustice will rule the world and justice will be trampled by lies.
However, coming to the context of our so called Christian State of Nagaland and her commitment to truth, it appears that truth applies only to religious matters and has no relevance in other social, political or economic matters of our lives. For example, in our social and economic lives, in today’s rampant escalation of prices of essential commodities in Nagaland, everything from vegetables to cars are selling above the rates of “their true” economic value. Here, not to talk of the crore of rupees that are embezzled and misappropriated at the government levels, even at the level of something as freely given by God as wild vegetables (e.g. Mechina pata), the price of a handful begins with Rs 20 and may even shoot up to Rs50 at the end of the season. To this example, add the price of kerosene or black market gas or cement or firewood or beef or chicken or whatever, and one finds only exorbitant prices throttling the very existence of the poor Naga customer and consumer.
And for me, as a Christian, the most irritating thing is that most of these businessmen indulging in these inflated rates are Naga Christians. All these Christians can be seen on Sundays headed for church with their Bibles clasped in their hands. But on other days, their Christianity seems to have no connection to their business lives. Sometimes seeing all these Christian businessmen back on their seats in the market places on Mondays and through out the week, selling their goods at exorbitant prices, I am really tempted to overturn their tables just as Jesus did in the temple of Jerusalem. Jesus resorted to this violent action when he found that the Jewish businessmen had turned the temple into a “den of robbers.”(Matt. 21:12-13) Like these robbers of Jesus’ days, many Naga Christians are today robbing the poor by their exorbitant prices and making huge profits for themselves. In today’s Nagaland, one can go on citing example after examples of how dishonesty has crept into the very warp and woof of our society corrupting our whole economic and social system. In the end, it is not only the business folks of Nagaland who are guilty of not practicing their Christianity in their businesses but almost all other Nagas are also guilty of not practicing their Christianity in their respective professions. For most Nagas, Christianity and its principles seems to be principles confined only to the four walls of the Church.
But far more bankrupt than our businesses and professions, is the bankruptcy in our politics. In today’s Naga national politics, there is almost a total indifference to the truth of our Naga national identity and right to nationhood. To begin with, our political identity and our right to nationhood are a right and truth accruing from the very throne of God. We find this truth and fact written in Acts 17:16 where the word of God declares: “And he (God) made from one (Adam) every nation of man to live on the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their habitation.”
True to this definition of our political identity, our forefathers, including many of our own grandfathers and fathers fought against overwhelming odds to defend this truth. But tragically, with the exception of a few Nagas, today, most of us have become political opportunists ready to sacrifice our political identity and become anybody else if we can gain some economic benefit out of the deal. Most of us are interested only in the personal economic benefit of the here and now and do not care what will become of us and our children in the future.
And here, I believe that if we are willing to compromise at the very foundational level of our existence-that is at the level of who we are, then I am afraid we will also be unfaithful in all the other levels of our social existence. In other words, if we are untrue to who we are, then we will also be untrue in our politics, our religion, our economic dealings etc. I think if we are to be true to ourselves, we have to admit that we, as a nation, are today in a mess, both politically and economically. (We of course have some big political as well as economic giants in our midsts!) In the political level too- be it national or State politics- many of our politicians have made their millions out of dishonesty and even treachery.
In conclusion, I believe that fidelity to truth often has a price to pay which is often paid even at the cost of blood and tears. But in the end, fidelity to the truth always brings in a rich harvest of political economic and social stability. On the other hand, infidelity to truth may bring in some quick economic and political benefits and a false sense of peace, but in the end, it will always bring in a harvest of social political and economic destruction to a nation. To these two choices that lie before us today, every Naga Christian has an obligation to be true to the truth.
