Outgoing President of the People’s Republic of China has warned that corruption in the ruling Communist Party could prove “fatal” to its 63-year-long grip over the country and that “if we fail to handle this issue well, it could prove fatal to the Party, and even cause the collapse of the Party and the fall of the state”. Hu, was speaking during the once in a decade leadership change Congress as he stepped down as President and General Secretary of the CPC. China is also facing simmering public discontent over the ballooning wealth gap under the leadership of the Communist Party which swears by Marxian ideology. While all of us have seen the emergence of China as a dominant power rivaling the United States, however, corruption seems to have become a concern. However unlike us, there is the political will at the highest level to take on corruption. And this is something that we in Nagaland can learn from—to walk the talk on corruption. We try to project ourselves as ‘holier than thou’ even though we are not. In fact Nagas are so fond of preserving not only our culture but also our self-image. We often tend to blame the system for our corrupt act but in reality we should blame ourselves. And even if for the sake of argument we blame the system, then why can’t we change and reform the system. This will require sincerity and a demonstration of political and Christian will. But we have so far lacked these qualities.
Look at the Chinese. Even though they are communists, at least they have the guts and moral resolve to clamp down on corruption. Christians in Nagaland preach a lot but don’t act. Recently disgraced Chinese top politician Bo Xilai was formally expelled from the ruling Communist Party. The disgraced Chinese politician faces multiple criminal charges, including abusing power, taking massive bribes and maintaining improper sexual relationships with several women. We can safely conclude that in Nagaland we will perhaps have many more Bo Xilai and his ilk. Interesting but what is the state of our political parties? Should they be doing more to discipline party leaders and come out with a moral code of ethics? Can we have a prescription like the Communists that “all those who violate Party discipline and state laws, whoever they are and whatever power or official positions they have, must be brought to justice without mercy”. Perhaps this is not possible because corruption in Nagaland has become a cancerous growth eating into the vitals of our political parties, churches, village bodies and society at large. Our political parties will therefore never be able to crack down on corruption because doing so will expose the party itself. And so unlike the Chinese, Christian Nagaland on the other hand is a compromising people. We don’t like the truth. We are good at manipulation, more lies and our own selfishness. The only remedy we see is to wipe out the present system and the corrupt who run it. Democracy is hardly the answer to our current predicament although we tend to give too much importance to it. We need to get back to substance of political reform.
