A Kaisii
There is no reason to deny the fact that HIV/AIDS is increasingly become a major social disease, which is threatening the very survival of humankind. In this universe, no individual, society or nation can escape from its impending social catastrophe. It would be utter foolishness and ridiculous on the part of any individual/society to consider this as someone’s problem. The issue and its impact is as such that it requires collective effort and mass participation to contain the menace. When no society/community is isolated from the issue, how can the Nagas themselves escape? Even though there may be no exact figure on HIV/AIDS among the Nagas, the fact is that there are already a considerable number of individuals who are infected and affected with this disease. As a result, it would be just a click of time that the disease may spread beyond controllable, if the society continues to remain indifferent and apathetic towards the issue. In other words, it will be too much for anybody to wait till his/her loved and near ones are affected. Perhaps, nobody will come to your rescue on the day when you realize that your loved ones have been affected, if you remain aloof and detached from such an alarming issue. It is, therefore, everybody’s responsibility to keep a watchful eye to keep the society protected and shielded from this social epidemic.
Let the Nagas not undermine themselves since they have already done a considerable amount of work in this field. From all nook and corner, voices have been raised. There is no denying the fact that awareness level among the people is also steadily increasing though a lot still needs to be done. Today the biggest challenge however, is how to effectively and constructively contain the menace from getting from bad to worse. In this regard, the existing strategy and mechanisms to fight the menace has interestingly given a certain amount of confusion to the society and particularly the youth, who are the most vulnerable social group. There is strategy bankruptcy and inadequacy of mechanism to contain the predicament. On the whole, the youth are placed in a confused situation regarding what is/are the right mechanisms to desist from this disease. This is more so because Naga society is a Christian dominant society. Up till date, there has been a lack of comprehensive and inclusive approach that can aptly convince the youth, by not forgetting the youth’s tendency to violate acceptable norms and their rebellious nature, to abstain from this issue. It is fitting to note that the church on its part has miserably failed to derive workable and acceptable approach, which is theological sound and contextually applicable, to combat this social catastrophe. Instead, many churches have remained dormant and maintain steadily silent on the issue. Likewise, a large section of church leaders, mission workers, evangelists and priests has tended to take a different position when it comes to the issue of HIV/AIDS. The Naga society, by and large, is yet to systematically concretize and contextualize an approach on HIV/AIDS that is confronting the younger generation in a big way.
It is up to the Nagas to either conform to the NACO (National AIDS Control Organisation) guidelines or to frame their own model, which the latter may perhaps have better impact. In this regard, every rational being will not object to the fact that after so much of consultation and research, the NACO has finally come out with the guidelines to wrestle HIV/AIDS. Keeping the vast diversity of populace and diverse culture in mind, the NACO has conceptualized the model with the aim to minimize the growth of HIV/AIDS, if not to neutralize it. It is the responsibility of every rational individual to make the best use of the format for the betterment of the nation.
The point to be noted is that there are certain guidelines, which is in direct contradiction with the principles of Christianity, which the Nagas have accepted as theirs. As noted earlier, this is where the actual confusion and dilemma arises when it come to the process of implementation. ‘Have Safe Sex’, for instance, which is prominently figured in NACO guideline is not at all in compliance with the Christian principles. Similarly, another point ‘Use Condom’ is as good as propagating that one can have sex, provided s/he uses the condom, which is not sanctioned from the theological version. There is no dispute from the biblical perspective that other than his/her own spouse, the issue of sex partner is totally unethical to Christian principles. Anything, which is outside the institution of family bonded by marriage, so as to solemnize ‘flesh of my flesh and bones of my bones’, when it comes to the issue of sexual intercourse is strictly forbidden in the Bible, which the Christians consider as their life and breath. Among others, these are some few points, which go directly against the teaching of Christianity.
On the other hand, Nagas are proud to mention that theirs is a Christian society. It is a non-debatable reality since 96% of the Naga population has converted to Christianity. Nevertheless, when it comes to real challenges such as HIV/AIDS, what different approach/mechanism do the Nagas have to show to the outside world and Indian society in particular, which is predominantly dominated by the Hindus? Are the Nagas practicing Christians or just followers? There is urgent and immediate need to formulate a strategy based on the Christian perspective regarding the issue of HIV/AIDS. Without doubt, this will give a straightforward and persistent message to the younger generation, who continue to face the biggest hit from the HIV/AIDS episode. Otherwise, in the absence of dynamically concrete and convincing approach/model the youth will continue to suffer from strategy bankruptcy in containing the issue. The fact is that what they have learnt from their home and churches will hardly bear fruit, if it is contradictory to the messages they receive regularly from their social surrounding. For this very reason, it is utmost essential that learning both within and outside the home and churches needs to correspond with one another.
It is everybody’s knowledge and wide open to all that some NGOs/societies are run and managed by the Nagas, which are directly or indirectly taking initiative in combating the menace of HIV/AIDS. Out of these, there is no doubt that many proprietors/directors will be from a Christian background and may even profess to be devoted Christians. One may wonder whether these individuals/societies are following the approach and guidelines given by the NACO or whether they have derived a model of their own based on Christian teaching while handling the issue. When it comes to real challenge and situation, it is not difficult to ask such question as: where is the stand of the Christian? Have they been swept away and consumed by the wave due to their lukewarm attitude or are they able to stand and witness even in hard situations such as HIV/AIDS?
When it comes to combating the issue of HIV/AIDS, the Naga society is many years behind other societies. This is mostly noticeable in the form of being yet to formulate an adequate approach of its own, on the one hand, and passive followers of various models, on the other. The apathy is that the Nagas can neither develop their own approach based on Christian principles nor can they suitably contextualize other models in their favour. Till date, when it comes to the issue of HIV/AIDS, the Naga society is therefore, neither here nor there. This is one of the primary reasons why the outputs of the various HIV/AIDS projects/programs are not up to the mark even after so much of hard-work and resource being invested. In addition, it would be unsurprising to know that there are NGOs/societies not so much because of the impending problem of HIV/AIDS but more so to fill up one’s pockets.
It is time, therefore, that Nagas, being a Christian dominant society, need to assemble their own dynamic and conceivable approach to contain the problem of HIV/AIDS. It requires nothing less than active participation and contribution of all right thinking individuals, which include intellectuals, scholars, church leaders, social workers, social activists, public leaders, officials and mission workers. The need is urgent and immediate since the proliferation of HIV/AIDS does not sleep. HIV/AIDS may be a new issue altogether, but one cannot entirely rule out that indigenous model is far inadequate in aiding to wrestle this problem. Along with this, contextualization of the theological version can give the much needed option to fight the hazard of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Naga society.
