
The pledge taken by the Nagaland Christian Forum to work for a clean Naga society through the Clean Election Campaign is must appreciated and needs to be applauded by all. The campaign will need to evolve a practical and realistic praxis, understandable by the common people, if it has to be relevant; and hence meaningful. In other words, the Clean Election Campaign will need to critically engage with the powers that be, if it is to be purposeful; and therefore transformative in its intent. There is little doubt that power has become the determining factor in all spheres of Naga life; and at the root of power has been the wanton use and abuse of money. In essence, money has assumed the ultimate position of power, which defines the socio-political and economic behavior of Naga society.
The Nagaland Christian Forum is correct to point out that bribery in Naga society is being justified, and one in which receiving bribe has become a culture with satirical note. Its assessment to identify corruption as a menace in the state election, and to further connect the intimate relationship between the use of money and electoral results in Naga society is refreshing. In doing so it implicitly questions the democratic legitimacy of past and present electoral processes which may have been determined by power and money. The subtle implication however lies on money at the root of a corrupted culture and the fact that Naga society has placed money at the pinnacle of its affairs. In other words, the idolatry use of money has put Nagas at risk.
The description of corruption as a culture, itself implies that a substantial number of the Naga population is indulging in practices that are otherwise dishonest; and deemed corrupt. In essence corruption is a behavioral problem that has become habitual. Money is only an object; it is the currency through which power is exercised. It is pertinent for the Clean Election Campaign to focus on the behavioral aspect that leads to corruption; and to alter the existing idolatry perception of money. Any campaign against corruption is tricky, because it risks the danger of laying too much negative emphasis on money, per se. It would be misleading to state that money has no value in the well being of people.
In the modern world, money is a necessity; it is the central object through which enables transaction of goods and services. It is essential that a campaign against corruption imbibes values to foster right relationship and responsible attitude towards use of money. What is important for the campaign is to empower a person, a community, a society to earn their livelihood through honest and fair means. In other words the people must be at the heart of the campaign against corruption. In the Naga context, the church is the best option on how value based attitude towards life can be nurtured. Yet, since the church is the people and a large section of the people are already in the culture of corruption, it is not logical to assume that the existing church will take strong practical measures in addressing corruption.
The Nagaland Christian Forum by taking the noble pledge to fight corruption may actually find the need to first engage with the existing church and to enable its transformation to a Christ like church, so that a clean Naga society is made possible. It is in cleansing and renewing itself, that the Naga church may redeem its relevance.