Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho
General Secretary, NBCC
On the 55th Peace Day
As the state observes September 6 as peace day, Nagaland Baptist Church Council appeals to the believers to say a pray on this day and the churches in Nagaland to intercede for peace this coming Sunday, September 8 for permanent peace in Nagaland. The signing of the ceasefire on September 1964 did not come easy.
There was virtually a war between the Indian security forces and the Naga army where thousands of lives, including the innocent civilians, and atrocities like mass rape, burning of villages and other inhuman acts were rampant. Within this context, ceasefire was established.
Peace should not be made only as a day to be observed, it has to be lived. This is the hard reality the Nagas in general are facing. We have become talkers and we use verbal rhetoric to destroy each other. We observe, we pronounce and yet peace has not really settled in us, in our attitude and in our action. Today, we must weep and cry for true peace to dawn upon us. This is the real need of the day as we observe “Peace Day.” War may have ceased but killing and Cold War continue among us.
For true peace to be established verbal war must cease and mutual understanding must prevail . Therefore, on this day we should generate a deep sense of responsibility to God and upon ourselves to live in peace with one another. We must also make a deliberate effort to respect each other even with those whom we chose to disagree if it would serve the greater purpose of achieving peace.
As we observe peace day we must also realize that on the one hand, true peace is in want in our situation. On the other hand, we are standing at the threshold of what might happen in our history. We can only expect the future by coming together in unity and with high ethics of mutual respect and tolerance with those whom we do not agree, less we continue to destroy ourselves in our selfishness and disunity.
Peace is a common property, it belongs to all of us and we must own it. True and lasting peace must be internally experienced and exhibit externally in our relationship with people outside of us. The Nagas have come a long way in our struggle and we must not allow this feeling to once again turn deeper into a sense of insecurity and self pity. As a Christianity community we must learn to forgive and accommodate each other in our journey to the future. For much too long we have been suspicious of each other and because of this we are losing mutual trust for mutual benefit.
May God grant us the grace to overcome the impossible so that our celebration of peace will be practically realized in all of us-in our attitude and and in our relationship with one another. On this day, as we pray for peace, let us also pray for our leaders. Let us pray that God will grant wisdom to our political leaders and leaders of Naga political groups who are at the forefront leading our people in the decision making. Pray that our leaders will be humble in listening to what is right and what is honorable to God and not only to us, in the fulfillment of His purpose and the will of the people.
