Former Deputy Chief Minister and one of the pioneers of Nagaland State R.C. Chiten Jamir passed away after a brief illness on March 20, 2011. He was 85. With the passing away of R.C. Chiten Jamir, an era has come to an end given that he was the last living member of the Interim Body set up in 1961 as a prelude to Statehood. Later he was appointed as one of its four Executive Councillors, equivalent to the rank of a Cabinet Minister. The other members included Hokishe Sema, Akum Imlong and Mr. J.B. Jasokie. The Chief Executive Councillor was P. Shilu who went on to become the first Chief Minister of Nagaland. Late RC Chiten was seen as playing a major role in the achievement of Statehood. Indeed his overall contribution as a politician and social thinker is notable. While RC Chiten did spend many years in politics, both as a senior Minister and Congress party ideologue, many people, especially the younger generation like the Morung Express will remember him for his insightful and passionate writings on Christian ethics and leadership. Our newspaper was privileged to publish his articles and hopefully many of our readers would have benefited from his writings. At a time when Nagas are facing a moral crisis whether in politics or social life, what was espoused by RC Chiten in his numerous writings not only showed his concern about our present degenerating state of affairs but was also a source of encouragement to live and practice the Christian ethics.
At a time when we are talking about the need for responsible and effective leadership in our social and political life, what people like RC Chiten wrote about becomes even more relevant for us to pursue—injecting values into our politics. In fact in his numerous writings, Late RC Chiten spoke about the need for Christian leadership. In one of his article he wrote that “A Christian leader is the true replica of Christ who does not seek great things for himself—power, money, wealth”. Further a Christ-like leader will not try to “become rich over night at the cost of the people” and that he is “not corrupted who loves Christ and His people”. For RC Chiten, this was “truly the type of a leader, the Nagas desperately need”. “Do we have God fearing, dedicated, solid and reliable Naga leaders in the church, the state and the community? A Christian state, a Nagaland for Christ-ought to have distinguished and excellent leaders of Christian ethics and character”, Late RC Chiten questioned in one of his inspiring message. He was also dismayed by the present trend of dishonesty, hypocrisy and the insatiable greed for wealth. He once famously wrote that materialism has become a substitute God for many Nagas.
For those who believe in the status-quo power whether of the Church or polity, the reformist zeal with which he espoused his philosophy may not find many takers. For instance RC Chiten wanted the church to “awaken from its passivity” pointing out that the church must make the “lives of the people meaningful, worthwhile, purposeful and useful for existence now and for an assured future”. He also wrote that “the church must seize every God given opportunity to build Nagaland as a real Christian state”. As a pioneer of Statehood, he believed in the “uniqueness of the Nagas-state identity”. He was on record as stating that Nagaland as the 16th state of India positioned itself in December, 1963 as a Christian state. As far as politics was concerned, RC Chiten espoused the thinking that politics was a “play ground where the Christians are scrutinized and tested as to exhibit their worthiness”. He wanted Christians to take part in politics so that moral values could be incorporated into public life and discharging responsibilities towards transparent, clean, accountable and good governance. For him, the right thing morally was always the right thing religiously, politically, socially and economically. Anything which is morally wrong cannot be politically right. We need such a theology of politics as Late RC Chiten espoused during his lifetime.
At a time when we are talking about the need for responsible and effective leadership in our social and political life, what people like RC Chiten wrote about becomes even more relevant for us to pursue—injecting values into our politics. In fact in his numerous writings, Late RC Chiten spoke about the need for Christian leadership. In one of his article he wrote that “A Christian leader is the true replica of Christ who does not seek great things for himself—power, money, wealth”. Further a Christ-like leader will not try to “become rich over night at the cost of the people” and that he is “not corrupted who loves Christ and His people”. For RC Chiten, this was “truly the type of a leader, the Nagas desperately need”. “Do we have God fearing, dedicated, solid and reliable Naga leaders in the church, the state and the community? A Christian state, a Nagaland for Christ-ought to have distinguished and excellent leaders of Christian ethics and character”, Late RC Chiten questioned in one of his inspiring message. He was also dismayed by the present trend of dishonesty, hypocrisy and the insatiable greed for wealth. He once famously wrote that materialism has become a substitute God for many Nagas.
For those who believe in the status-quo power whether of the Church or polity, the reformist zeal with which he espoused his philosophy may not find many takers. For instance RC Chiten wanted the church to “awaken from its passivity” pointing out that the church must make the “lives of the people meaningful, worthwhile, purposeful and useful for existence now and for an assured future”. He also wrote that “the church must seize every God given opportunity to build Nagaland as a real Christian state”. As a pioneer of Statehood, he believed in the “uniqueness of the Nagas-state identity”. He was on record as stating that Nagaland as the 16th state of India positioned itself in December, 1963 as a Christian state. As far as politics was concerned, RC Chiten espoused the thinking that politics was a “play ground where the Christians are scrutinized and tested as to exhibit their worthiness”. He wanted Christians to take part in politics so that moral values could be incorporated into public life and discharging responsibilities towards transparent, clean, accountable and good governance. For him, the right thing morally was always the right thing religiously, politically, socially and economically. Anything which is morally wrong cannot be politically right. We need such a theology of politics as Late RC Chiten espoused during his lifetime.
