By Z. Lohe
We are apprised of how five clean election activists were physically assaulted in 21-Tuli Assembly Constituency as highlighted by Eastern Mirror on 24.2.2017. Similar incident elsewhere was reported earlier. The people of Langpangkong Range in Mokokchung District are the first to resolve to have clean and totally democratic election in its jurisdiction in 2018. The Diezephe Village Council in Dimapur followed in action by deleting 274 bogus entries in its Village electoral roll on its own volition. The NBCC has sounded its concern for a cleaner election in Nagaland during 2018. The Aoyimti Village Council and Baptist Church also voiced against ‘ails and evils of election’. However, the rest of the tribal organisations, the youth organisations, the students’ bodies and concerned public organisations have been playing evasive on the issue of clean election.
Whereas, the assaults of the clean election activists including the recent case at Tuli is nothing but to sabotage the movement for change. Those who carried out such daring attacks on fellow citizens in the name of democracy are no other than mercenaries sponsored by politicians. Those political leaders who used to breed private army similar to that of jihadis do not believe in the democratic principles and its values in practice though they too profess in theory. Those politicians believe that violence is the best and the surest way by which one can go to Assembly. Those leaders do impart and train their mercenaries with all type of tactics as to how to subdue the gullible voters through coercions with both psychological and physical treatments. We have the instances of how even women were not spared in the harassment spree in the past elections. Those politicians in Nagaland who believe in violence as the best means for election are never true leaders but pseudo. Those leaders lacked confidence in themselves and what they are afraid of is free and fair elections. Those pseudo leaders have no gut to face normal, peaceful and free election knowing themselves that in such non-perverse election they lack confidence to win.
Those leaders have common election tactics though they may not necessarily belong to a single political party. They do determine to purchase community leaders, Village Council members, student and youth leaders, women organisation leaders including the fragile Church leaders to be kept at the back and call. And we all know the result of high stake business in undemocratic and repressive community and village resolutions. These leaders look for brutal and menacing forces belonging to NNPGs with huge expenditures and post election promises for huge financial benefits. Those leaders are the ones who used to raise the rate for votes. And those pseudo leaders are responsible for destruction of the democratic establishments of both its election and its governance. For all these reasons, 180 candidates spent Rs. 937,82,67,500.00 (Nine hundred thirty seven crores, eighty two lakhs and sixty seven thousand rupees), the figure I got from private party who unconventionally assessed, in 2013 Assembly election in Nagaland. And the people of Nagaland have been enjoying its consequences all through these years.
The modus openrandi of those who threatened, assaulted and abused the clean election campaign activists at Tuli was terror tactic in nature though my observation is based purely on the paper report. Similar tactics were used by which several leaders were elected in the past. I do not want to brand any Honourable Member of NLA as the leader of terrorism, and yet the strategies several candidates adopted for the elections in the past were found to be of terrorism in nature. Lest the political leaders realize and desist from adoption of terrorism style, a day will come where the beautiful Nagaland, the land which is for Christ, will be placed in the category of Pakistan and Afghanistan for the reason that our elected representative will be no less that Taliban and Mujahedin leaders.
The victims, as per the paper, appealed to parent bodies as LKMCECC, ABAM and NBCC to intervene and protect the Samaritan campaigners. Perhaps the concerned authorities are in the process of examining the ground realities of the incident for which none has raised a voice even after almost a week has past since the Tuli incident was reported by Eastern Mirror. I hope the activists will not be left in the lurch after having deployed them in the forefront. It will become the saddest story if the clean election campaign is allowed to be ended with Tuli story of February 2017.
Whatever said and done and whatever may be the intention of few right thinking individuals in their respective capacities are trying to educate, encourage and whip up the sentiment of the citizens of Nagaland to stand against the evils, it is not encouraging to have hope. The fact is that we, the Nagas of Nagaland, have receded to animal mentality. Though none will remember my article carried by Eastern Mirror dated 8.7.2015 in which I compared the elections in Nagaland to that of African Zoo as I used to see very few humans during campaigns. The voters in Nagaland are like drug addict and alcoholic. Those drug addicts and alcoholics know themselves that the drug and the liquor are injurious to their health, and yet they failed to resist and reject the substances. Their desire for drug and alcohol always overpowers their mental strength of realization and therefore they go back to square one, that is, the evil.
Similarly, who the Naga voter does not know that selling vote is evil and sin? Who does not know that selling vote has brought ruin to every home, clan, village and tribe? Who does not know that selling vote is ruining the future of our children? Who does not know that at this rate we will be cursed by God? Yet, the Naga voters have become vote sale addict. No matter who advocates for Christian election, meaning God fearing election and love Jesus election, prayerful election and the selection of the honest representative, no voter will listen to those clean election campaigners. Finally, the tribal Hohos, the youth organisations, the students’ organisations and the vocal community leaders will hobnob with Taliban and Mujahedin leaders and the clean election campaigners will be reduced to insignificant and helpless minority and to be laughed at. The greed of the voter for money and the mentality of sycophancy used to become un-resistible just as the desire alcoholic and drug addict. Ultimately, what the Nagas of Nagaland cannot escape hereafter is to force our children to become beggars, vagabonds and outsiders in our own land. May God help the honest minority.
