Kaka D. Iralu
In this article, we will begin from the universal level and later come to the Naga level. Now at the universal level, if we look into the Bible, we will discover that man (or humankind) has an inescapable destiny with the soil and politics.
MAN AND HIS DESTINY WITH THE SOIL
With regards to the soil, the Bible reveals that man was made from the soil. After making this “soil made” man in his own image, God breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils and man became a living being (Gen.2:7). But after making man out of the soil, God warned Adam that if he eats the forbidden fruit from the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil,” he would die (Gen.2:17). Adam disobeyed God and brought death into the human race. After the entry of death, this is what God said to Adam: “…for dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return” (Gen.3:19). God further said: …”cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground for out of it you were taken...” (Gen.3:17b-19).The inescapable destiny of all mankind to the soil is therefore one of: FROM THE SOIL; BACK TO THE SOIL and in the intermediate period, DEPENDENT ON THE PRODUCTS OF THE SOIL. In this context, humankind, however advanced his technology can become, will never be able to produce a synthetic plastic food for the sustenance of our physical bodies. We also cannot eat our computer or car parts when it comes to cooking our food!
This universal truth is both an anthropological and scientific fact. If we make a scientific analysis of the chemical elements found in the soil and the human body, we will find that all the chemical elements like potassium, chlorine and iodine etc are found in both the human body and the soil. The Bible is therefore not making an unscientific statement when it reveals that man was made from the soil. As for a human corpse, if one digs up any old grave, one will discover that the dust (the human body) had returned to the dust again. This universal fact is true not only with regards to the human body but also with regards to the whole of nature including even the stars and the galaxies. In the end, if it were not for the promises of God for a new heaven and a new earth in his redemption plan, the dust of death indeed covers everything in the whole universe (See Rom.8:18-25 for our future hope in Christ). That, then, is man’s inescapable destiny with the soil.
MAN AND HIS DESTINY WITH POLITICS.
After sin had entered the world and the first murder was committed between brothers, this is what God said to Cain who had killed his own brother Abel: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it “(Gen.4:7). Again, after the world wide flood, God’s commandment to Noah was like this: “Whosoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his own image” (Gen.9:6).God next gave the Ten Commandments to Moses so that civil administration and the dispensation of Justice can be executed on the basis of his laws (Ex.20). Finally in Romans chapter 13 of the New Testament, we are told that God has instituted civil administrations to dispense his laws and order in a fallen world.
Now, politics being the “art and science of government” (Oxford dictionary), no human being on earth can run away from politics. We are told in the Bible that God on his part “did not create the world in chaos but created it for our habitation” (Is.45:18).But when man tries to evade his political duties and obligations, chaos develops in human societies and even nations. Therefore, in order to have a just society and a just government, man has an inescapable destiny with politics. Alas,there are many Naga Christians who would boast about their disinterest in politics and even seeming to project that, to be so minded, is a sign of their spirituality and Christianity! Well, let me remind these people that if our politics goes wrong; life on earth becomes a foretaste of hell right here- ON EARTH.
If we examine the relationship between a people’s culture and a people’s politics, we will discover that a people’s politics is shaped by a people’s culture. Naga politics is rooted to Naga culture and Naga culture is in turn,rooted in the Naga soil. As a result, Naga culture and Naga philosophy of life are all deeply rooted in the soil. For example. just look at all our festivals. Are they not rooted to the soil in the cycle of planting, harvesting and celebrating the first harvests etc? What about our unique land ownership system or our purest form of democracy and our legal system? Do we not call upon mother earth and father heaven to bear witness, when we take our solemn oaths like our oath of allegiance to the Plebiscite of 1951 as well as on lower personal, clan and inter village land dispute cases of oath taking? If we look back at our history, we will discover that we are basically an agricultural Nation with an intimate attachment to our land (soil). In fact our people’s attachment to our lands were such,that even during the burning of our villages and granaries by the Indian army in the 1950’s where we were compelled to flee into our mountains and jungles, there was never any refugee problems where we fled into neighboring states. The case was simply one of those who fled into the mountains, fleeing into still higher mountains and those who fled into the plains, fleeing further into the plains and valleys even as destruction and death pursued us from every direction. But all these flights were undertaken within the boundaries of our own lands. Even today, while peoples from the Middle East are fleeing into Europe, for us, even in.-spite of 68 years of political conflict with India and Burma; our people are still standing in our lands and defending our rights.
As for our political rights, we have stated to our neighbors as well as the whole world, what needs to be stated in writing. These memorandums were submitted and declared long before India and Burma became sovereign states in 1947 and 1948. On top of this, we have also executed every political and legal actions that is necessary for the establishment of a modern nation state.
But tragically, after doing all these things, we, the present generation of Nagas have been mostly, just standing and observing, even when very wrong political developments overtook our nation from the mid 1960’s to the present. Even at the present moment, even when political developments that would take away our land and our nation from its valid existence are taking place right in front of our eyes, many of us are still standing and watching. Most of us seem to be either unaware or are simply indifferent to these developments.Therefore, I would warn that the time for reckoning may not be very far away. Tragically, for the present generation of Nagas, it seems that only the sound of gunfire and exploding bombs will re-awaken us from our very deep selfish slumber of 60 years- i.e. 1960-2015.
