KOHIMA, JULY 22 : Carrying the important message about the ‘power of one single vote’ and the impact it has on the society, a clean election campaign organized by the youth department of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) commenced today at the Kohima Science College in Jotsoma, near Kohima town.
Addressing students, the general secretary of the NBCC Rev Dr Zelhou Keyho said that the church was not a 'holy angel'—it has its own share of failures. However, he said, 'We cannot blame each other’ as according to him ‘we are responsible and we have not carried out that responsibility well. We have failed as the church and as leaders’.
He also pointed out that there can be no solution if people continued to keep on blaming each other and not act. Therefore, he said, realizing the need to 'begin the change,' he said ‘in our many failures we muster our strength to take the step of leading the campaign’.
He made it clear that the church was not the 'owner or custodian' of the clean election campaign. ‘All of us are the owners and custodians. The church holds no vote but you and I, are the voter,’ said Dr Keyho and asserted that people must start to act and do what was right.
Calling the students the ‘present future generation’ and ‘the intellectuals’ that can reason and not only be moved by emotion, Dr Keyho said that the movement should touch the 'core of our ethos and our ethical sense and mind to realize what is right from what is wrong’.
The clean election movement or campaign, he said, was not an emotional issue, but 'something which is evil and unknown to our culture and practices that has deeply taken root in our society, permeating into the very existence of our society and in every area of our existence.'
The church leader said that corruption and malpractices during elections have robbed ‘our rights and privileges, stolen our shares, messed up our future and made us voiceless’. It has, he said, 'swallowed everything and given us nothing.'
Stating that the 'past-present generation’ has created the mess, Dr Keyho asserted that the 'current future generation' were the hope 'who have the power to change the present, in order to build a better future.'
The students were urged to be the voice of the people ‘the present-future voice of our society’ by commitment and involvement in the 'movement toward a brighter future.'
He also maintained that politicians should not be blamed 'as we often like to do, while noting that we all have used our birthright wrongly like a machine gun: ‘one vote amounting to multiple votes’. He, however, asserted that it was time to rise to the occasion and say ‘enough is enough': enough of corruption in election, enough of evil practices during election and enough of talks (but) time to act.
Dr Keyho strongly asserted that unless the 'vicious cycle election system in our land' is broken, 'We will all perish as nation, as people and as fools.' he warned: ‘We are already perishing’ considering the present situations and circumstances.
While calling the clean election campaign a wake-up call to take the 'journey to a better future,' Dr Keyho said the impact of one’s birthright in a single vote had the power to change the course of the society and to unlock 'our future into a world of hope and happening.'
He pointed out that election was about decision-making and making the right decision. Therefore, called upon the students to utilize what they had at their disposal by educating the people and helping the people to take the right decision.
Citing examples from the story of Esau and Jacob from the book of Genesis, Dr Keyho said, ‘Today we are angry people because we have sold our birthright’. He also pointed that ‘to those whom we sold our birthright, they become the cheater by taking advantage of us. When we sell our birthright we allow people to cheat us. We allow people to continue the cycle of cheating people’.
While strongly asserting that this vicious cycle of 'selling, cheating and anger' must stop ‘here and now’ Dr Keyho urged upon all to be the agents of change and resolve against 'selling their birthright' during elections.
‘We must take the journey to reconcile our people’ said Dr Keyho as he called upon the students to start setting things 'right and clean our system without blaming anyone.' That way, he said, in the near future we will be able to see ‘a bright Nagaland—a bright generation’.
The NBCC's youth department has envisaged taking the message of clean elections to all the colleges of the state starting today.
Awa Loring, assistant CEO of Kohima also spoke about clean electoral drives; Vikuo Rhi, youth secretary of NBCC gave the introduction. Power Faith, a band, performed for the gathering.
Later in the programme, students signed the clean election pledge card pledging to take active participation in the process of clean election 'towards good governance, socio-political reform and Just-peace in the society.'
