Fr. Abraham Lotha, Ph.D.
The Deputy Commissioner of Kiphire has rightly issued an order on 23rd July to the village councils in the district stating that the Anatongre Village Council’s resolution to deny the right to some of the village members to become Catholic and the consequent dismantling of the Catholic church under construction by the villagers on 9th July has no legal sanction because it goes against the fundamental rights of the citizens.
The story of Anatongre didn't start this year; the village council even mentions past incidents, the first one in 1973 and the second time in 2001. What keeps happening is that some of the villagers are very intolerant towards the Catholics because of the wrong indoctrination. The hard truth is that the people responsible for it are Baptist fanatics with deep anti-Catholic convictions. The NBCC's press release in the media stating that the recent incident at Anatongre was blown out of proportion, that the Catholic Church was actually not destroyed, and that it was not a case of Baptists against the Catholics but the Village Council against the Catholics, etc., is like refusing to see the elephant in the room. The fact is that the Catholic Church that was under construction was dismantled and the construction materials were taken and kept in the village council hall.
Anatongre village in Kiphire district is no exception. The truth is that anti-Catholicism is still the staple food for many people in Nagaland.
I worked five years in Kiphire close to Anatongre. I have walked to many of the villages and am very familiar with the people and the area. I remember the first time I was there. The day after I reached, the priest in-charge went to one of the villages at the invitation of some of the villagers who wanted to know about the Catholic Church. Well, as soon as he reached the village, even before he got down from the jeep, he was asked to go back at gun point by the hardcore Baptist fanatics. At another village, the people were told by the some Baptist missionaries that one day a devil would come disguised as a man in a white cassock. So, one day a Catholic priest reached that village and the people began to throw spear at him. Fortunately, these people have gotten over the wrong indoctrination and now one of the villages has a Catholic church.
Interestingly, arguments have been made by some that Article 371A of the Constitution gives the Naga village councils the right to make any resolutions that can deny the fundamental rights of its citizens. For example, the editorial of the Nagaland Post (25/7) argued that Article 371A of the Constitution accords and recognizes the Anatongre village council’s decision because Naga villages “are still deeply rooted to traditional culture and practices.” The editorial went to the extent to say that “it would be incorrect to draw a parallel” between Anatongre’s case and the happenings in the rest of the country where Christian churches have been destroyed because the issue in Anatongre is denominational. How an editorial of an esteemed newspaper, unlike its other editorials, can make such uneducated interpretation of Article 371A to side with the Anatongre Village Council’s decision is difficult to comprehend.
Another argument put forward is that in Nagaland, one has to keep in mind the culture of the Nagas to preserve the unity of the villages. Specifically, an argument put forth by some Nagas is that allowing a section of the people to become Catholics will destroy the unity, communal peace and harmony of the village. This kind of argument reeks of double standard practices, a misunderstanding of culture, and an abuse of culture for one's advantage. According to my observation, in many parts of Nagaland this reasoning is applied only when some people want to become Catholics.
When in the late 1800s and the 1900s the Baptist converts in Nagaland were suffering a similar fate from the non-Christians, the Baptists didn't say they were dividing the village. In some cases, the Baptist converts had to establish new villages but in most cases they remained in the village and acted like salt in the gospel to make the community and the village better. Why is it, then, that when some people out of their own volition decide to become Catholics, they are denied their fundamental human right saying it will destroy the unity of the village? Why not use the same standards for both Baptists and Catholics? After all, Christianity is not an indigenous Naga religion even though Nagas today profess it as their religion.
It is a good thing that the NBCC sends missionaries to many parts of the country as well as to countries such as Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, China, etc. The NBCC even has a target of sending 10,000 missionaries to different parts of the world. But if these Naga missionaries are destroying the cultures and unity of these mission areas, then they should be brought back immediately. Nagas should not be associated with destroying others’ cultures.
Nagas have to seriously examine the rationale of such a flawed argument. The villagers cannot be blamed for such misunderstandings after all they are only acting out their belief taught to them by their leaders. The root cause for this problem in the Naga areas is the anti-Catholic indoctrination by Baptist church leaders beginning with the earlier missionaries who transplanted anti-Catholic elements from the United States.
Statements by some Naga Baptists about respecting Naga culture sounds like an oxymoron. In reality, when the Baptist church began in the Naga areas, Naga culture was the first victim. Anything Naga was considered as that of the devil.
The negative attitude towards Naga culture was so clear in the writings of Mary Clark, the wife of the pioneer missionary E. W. Clark: “Every form of demon worship, open or suspected, was attacked – Sunday-breaking, rice-beer drinking, licentiousness, and all social vices. …Instead of congregating promiscuously at different houses to sleep at night, singing objectionable songs, telling doubtful stories, and engaging in lewd conversation, these young reformers separated themselves and built a dormitory for their own accommodation, in which purity and holiness should reign.” Conversion to Christianity also meant conversion to American Protestant Puritanism.
The words of Mary Clark best described the colonial paradigm of the missionaries when she wrote, “the Nagas, once civilized and Christianized, will make a manly, worthy people.” Influenced by such evolutionist thinking, some Naga Baptist leaders have often used the slogan ‘from darkness to light’ to describe how the American Baptists helped Nagas become ‘civilized.’ Actually the slogan, ‘from darkness to light’ is an insult to Naga culture and value system. Naga values like respect for elders, hospitality, sociability, forgiveness, care for each other, etc., are not contrary to the gospel values nor are they characteristics of ‘darkness’.
The effects of such indoctrination against Naga culture were seen, for example, in the Lothas’ use of the terms ‘dhorum ekhi’ (those who accept religion) and ‘otssüng-olung ekhüm’ (‘wood-stone worshipper,’) to distinguish the Christians from the non-Christians respectively. Naga rituals in the traditional style were not considered religious because they were thought to be associated with worshipping ‘wood and stone’. According to this view, true worship was to worship the Christian God through Jesus Christ. In other words, Christians had religion but Nagas did not. To have religion was to become a Christian. Even if one was educated, one was looked down upon if one was a non-Christian. When the Catholics first came on to the scene in the Naga areas, the Naga Baptists did not even consider them as Christians because of the anti-Catholic brainwashing that had taken place. And this is one of the root causes for the anti-Catholic attitude among many Nagas even today which has resulted in many Naga villages making similar discriminatory resolutions as the one by Anatongre Village Council in the name of unity, harmony and respect of Naga traditional custom.
Missionary work in the Catholic Church has existed centuries before the beginning of the Baptist church; the missionary work of the Catholic Church in Nagaland is not new either and will continue. Many Nagas now go out of the state and the country and see that there are other alternatives in being a Christian - not only Baptists but that there are other churches too. Many such people and those who have come to know the Catholic faith well have become Catholic or at least have come to be more tolerant towards other churches. One does not become less Naga by becoming a Catholic. The reality is that the people are still Nagas to the core, and Christianity - Catholics or Baptists - has yet to get to the marrow.
What has happened in Anatongre is not a 'progression' from 'darkness to light' even by Naga Baptists’ standards but 'a digression to dark ages' by Baptist fanatics with anti-Catholic sentiments sugarcoated in the language and the structure of the village council.
The Catholic Church, in keeping with the command of Jesus, will continue to preach and evangelize. That doesn't mean one should be forced to become Catholics or Baptists. One thing is clear, Catholics are not taught to hate, but they will stand for their right to their faith. As a result, many have died as martyrs for the faith.
Fortunately, in many Naga villages, Baptists and Catholics co-exist together in harmony. There are three churches in my village, including the Seven Day Adventists, but that hasn't divided my village or the Lotha community. There has been a healthy competition and, as a matter of fact, it has been a blessing. When someone is sick, or when someone needs a helping hand in the field, or when it is the common concern of the village, there is no question of Catholics or Baptists. All the people are still proud citizens of my village.
We have come a long way towards acceptance and tolerance of each other, but the sad truth is that anti-Catholicism is still rampant in many Naga areas. Talks about respecting the rights and protecting minorities don't seem to apply within the Naga society. It is actually a farce for Nagas to talk at national and international forums about their rights not being respected when the rights of the minorities such as the Catholics within the Naga society are trampled upon by a good section of the society. May be at these international forums represented by the Naga Churches, Naga Hoho, Naga People Movement for Human Rights, etc., Nagas should now begin to speak against such abuse and repression of fundamental human rights within the Naga society.
I hope for the day when Naga society will become more enlightened and Christ-like to respect the religious rights of the Nagas. I strongly feel that church leaders, including myself, have a lot of homework to do.
