Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the first Prime Minister to have won the hearts of the Nagas. He was the first PM who recognised the ‘unique history of the Nagas’ and provided a developmental package for the State. But one does not know if his soul would appreciate the recent imbroglio that took place in Nagaland over the immersion of his ashes in the State rivers. Following the directives of the BJP party at the centre, the State BJP President Imna Along brought the ashes of Late. Atal Bihari Vajpayee in order to pay our last respects to the beloved leader by immersing his ashes in the State. On this, the church leaders ,tribal organisations and opposition parties stood in unison to oppose the act for reasons such as Nagaland being a Christian state and that such practices are alien to Naga culture and traditions. But the bigger question here is, does
Christianity teach disrespect and intolerance to other religions? How are we justifying being a Christian when we form prejudiced opinions ourselves without understanding the intentions behind a person’s actions? It was clearly mentioned that the rituals were performed by a priest, and others were present to give their respects to the national icon.
The vehement opposition against the immersion of ashes in the State only shows the bigotry of the Nagas to the outsiders. What if tomorrow a State like Uttar Pradesh oppose Christian graveyards to be built in their land claiming that it is a Hindu majority State?
We have people from all religions living in Nagaland and hence we are not alien to seeing Hindus immersing ashes in the rivers here. One cannot overlook the fact that Mizoram being a Christian dominated State carried out the immersion of the ashes peacefully. And that speaks a lot about the mindset of the people. Being a Christian State, we should set examples to the people of other faith.
I cannot comment on if it was a political stunt by the BJP and Imna Along but besides all of that, one cannot question the beliefs and integrity of a person just by looking at a picture of him giving his respects to Vajpayee’s ashes. There is a thin line of difference between worshipping and respecting something, which one should be able to differentiate before forming biased opinions.
The church plays an important role in shaping the thoughts and beliefs of the Naga society. However, when a person in the higher rank goes on to give a discriminatory comment such as on the body size of an individual, it is highly unacceptable.
We take pride in calling the State as “Nagaland for Christ,” and hence we should cohesively follow the teachings of Christ and not forget our purpose on this earth.
Kaka Humtsoe
