
Morung Express News
Bade | December 11
At a time when Nagaland State is precipitating with an ever-increasing level of multifaceted social, economic and political challenges, there is a pressing responsibility for theological institutions to don the role as truth-telling institutions.
This was a clarion made by Dr Aküm Longchari, Chief Editor of The Morung Express to theological students at the 3rd Annual Lecture of the Oriental Theological Seminary (OTS), Bade Village, Dimapur on December 9. The lecture, which centered on the book written by Dr Longchari, ‘Self Determination: A Resource for JustPeace’ was organized by the Foundation for Church and Society, which is an initiative of OTS and is part of the yearlong activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Seminary.
In such a stage of historical conflict, discord, subjugation and dominance by the rich and powerful, Dr Longchari said theologians cannot stand as mere spectators. He said they (theologians) ought to become the credible voices and to confront those oppressive structures of domination, which has been denying rights to the people.
Dr Longchari said theologians or its institutions are not “naming the powers that be” whether be it in the political, cultural or social spectrum and have only been raising voices in veiled languages. “Is it possible for theologians to even begin by naming the powers that be?” Can theologians create an opportunity to engage the powers that be,” he challenged.
Emphasizing that theological seminaries, divinity schools should be institutions of truth telling and its students to engage their research and sermons on truth telling, Dr Longchari believed that it is for theologians to “name the truth, open the eyes of mercy, help us understand that justice is not revenge, but right-relationships and above all taking a position of peace.”
Moreover, at this juncture when Naga’s journey to self-determination is headed to an unknown destination, Dr Longchari, addressing the OTS students said it is all the more pertinent for theologians to enable consciousness by creating a space of envisioning a shared Naga future and leading the Naga people forward. “We should begin soul searching to encounter truth, so that the truth could be a spark in the dark,” he said.
An alternative imagination of self-determination
Giving a talk on his recently released book, Dr Aküm Longchari mooted for an alternative imagination of self-determination on the Naga history.
Likening the Naga political issue to a Naga caravan, which has been steered off course by external forces while on its journey towards self-determination, Dr Longchari said the more the Naga caravan travels, the farther it goes away from its original destination and therein lays the peril of more confusion among the already confused Nagas.
He said the Naga political issue was already in a stalemate, confounded with uncertainty on how the different Naga individuals can collectively express the will of the people.
Dr Longchari suggested that the Naga peoples could create an alternative imagination of self-determination on the Naga history instead of following the conventional ‘past-present-future’ trajectory on its journey to a common solution.
The idea is for Nagas to reconceptualise time by first looking at the future instead of engaging from the past. “There can only be hope, vision and aspiration if we start from the future,” Dr Longchari asserted.
If the Nagas were to start looking from the past, there are too many truths and polarized interpretations that would make it a thorny affair for the people to come to a shared understanding and arrive at a consensus.
He therefore suggested a ‘future-past-present’ paradigm of time by agreeing on a shared and inclusive vision to address the burdens of the past in a constructive way. The encounter between the future and the past, he stated, will inform us what needs to be done in the present.
After the lecture, OTS students Kayilu Pfuze, Niirii Kapfo and Vitoka Chopi gave spoken responses to Dr Longchari’s book, followed by interaction with the students and teachers of the Seminary.