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A theocratic democracy W hile in India, the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA ) continues to attract strong resentment expressed through protests since the past few months, the issue has also attracted intense scrutiny of the international fora. United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCR) in a statement last month, described the CAA as "fundamentally discriminatory in nature" while other UN as well as the European Union (EU) guidelines on human rights called on the Indian government to "repeal the discriminatory amendments". The Strasbourg-based European Parliament was expected to vote on a final joint resolution on CAA put forward by more than 500 of its 751 members from five different groups, on grounds that it was discriminatory against Muslims and violates India’s international obligations. It is undeniable that the Act attracted the attention of the international fora not because there are continuing protests only but because there are enough grounds to conclude that it goes against the democratic and secular description that India has been known for. Also the Act is controversial on other counts of being unabashed anti-Muslim and exposing itself as anti-democratic. The Act in effect, rejects any notion that a Muslim can ever be persecuted in his or her own country. There’s enough evidence of Muslims being persecuted in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. For example, neither the Ahmadiyas, who are undoubtedly persecuted in Pakistan, nor do possible asylum seekers like the Rohingyas from Myanmar or Tamils from Sri Lanka have any place in the CAA . For instance, Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen being one of the prominent examples, but the Act excludes them from its purview. There are many Muslims like Taslima Nasreen of Bangladesh who has been blacklisted and banished from the Bengal region (both from Bangladesh and the West Bengal part of India) for her religious beliefs that are seen to be against Islamic tenets. It needs to be reiterated that India a great nation because its Constitution and laws guarantee equal rights to all irrespective of religion, creed, caste or gender. Today,in order to create fear and communal hatred in the guise of resisting Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism, if India starts behaving like any other religious country, then it will not be able to claim any difference from the undemocratic Islamic countries of the Middle East. What reason will then exist to be proud of India? The pro-CAA backers especially political leaders of the ruling BJP in India have not mentioned that the CAA serves two purposes- first polarise India along religious lines and create a vote bank of illegal Hindu Bangladeshi immigrants in the north east who would become the party’s vote bank after being granted Indian citizenship even without first having been recognised as refugees who have been persecuted in the neighbouring countries. Not everybody who opposes the CAA can be described as pro-Muslim as anyone who supports it can be described as anti-Muslim. The massive protests against the CAA by all communities throughout India itself proves that such an Act does not resonate with the multi-religious and multi-ethnic society. This has been reflected in the UNHCR and EU parliament debate on CAA .

Daily Devotion

The Call of God Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel… —1 Corinthians 1:17 Paul states here that the call of God is to preach the gospel. But remember what Paul means by “the gospel,” namely, the reality of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are inclined to make sanctification the goal of our preaching. Paul refers to personal experiences only by way of illustration, never as the end of the matter. We are not commissioned to preach salvation or sanctification— we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (see John 12:32). It is an injustice to say that Jesus Christ labored in redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God. The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption. If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.

The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the gospel of God. He welcomed heartbreak, disillusionment, and tribulation for only one reason— these things kept him unmovable in his devotion to the gospel of God.

On 24th January 2020, members of a very seriously concerned Senior Citizens of Nagaland (henceforth referred to as SCAN for brevity) gathered at the MC Hall of Red Cross building at 1.00 pm to discuss issues that would invariably impact the Naga Society now and beyond. The two immediate subjects of concern focused upon were on: (1): CAA and; (2): Pan Naga Hoho...and its long term implication to the Naga society of Nagaland. The deliberated views of the Senior Citizens are as follows: 1. CAA : After a very divergent candid discourse, SCAN arrived at a conscientious conclusion that CAA is an unethical legislation on the part of the BJP led Government of India which violates and infringes on the fundamental rights and Secular spirit of the Constitution of India... as is widely being debated and condemned across the country. It is obvious that one of the minority communities, the Muslims, is being discriminated upon. While this issue may not have an immediate ramification per say against the Naga Christian minority community, if such a law can be imposed against the Muslims....ask ourselves: what stops the Hindu Majority in Parliament from legislating other Laws like that of CAA that would destroy the very fabrics of Secular foundry of Indian Democracy where majority and minority share equal rights in the eyes of Law at present? The present Naga leaders find short-sighted comfort of sheltering under false feeling of security that CAA is not applicable to the State of Nagaland...and therefore our Member representatives of both Houses of Parliament disgracefully voted in favour of CAA... just so as to remain in power and gain budgetary favour of BJP Government at the Centre...individually or collectively. In the first instance, the question is not very much as to whether CAA is applicable to the State of Nagaland or not. It is of critical importance that the Nagas see the larger picture very sensitively as long as we remain within the India Union as a minority. The BJP Government has made it blatantly and rampantly clear through their RSS ideologue for the past several years that India belongs to the Hindus and Hindu Rashtrya and Hindutva philosophy must be established at all cost now rather than later. CAA is a step closer towards fulfilling this overall intention. The whole purpose is to import and distribute an artificial overwhelming Hindu voting population to drown the entire minority community in the country whereby the Hindus can dictate terms by legislating Laws such as CAA and emasculate the minorities for all times. CAA with a sharp Hindu focus includes other minority faith like the Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities...just so as to attempt a semblance of a crude balancing act to salvage a non-discriminatory face to the International community...but can the Christian minority in India feel comfortable and safe within this devious evolving scenario? The very fundamental commitment of Christian faith and duty is to “go forth and spread the Gospel”. The BJP Government may tolerate the existing Christian minority in the Country but have already started a war against conversion of other faith to Christianity. Laws are bound to be created eventually whereby anti-conversion Laws will be enacted by the Hindu majority in Parliament against other faiths to ensure non-conversion and make it a punishable offence by laws. The Hindus majority in Parliament can enact such a law in the same way as CAA. So whatever be the population of Christians in India... they will be tolerated only if Christians abstain from trying to convert others into Christianity...which necessarily means Christianity in the long run will die a natural death. The clock is being reversed to the period of Roman history and persecution of Christians. It’s a long term end-game being played to wipe out the minority of other faith to ultimately make India purely a Hindu Country in the end. That is the larger picture here. The fragmented picture that our present State Government leaders are standing on is to proclaim that the State of Nagaland is assured of being outside the purview of CAA...quoting Article 371A and the BEFRA (Inner Line Pass) as our insurance. Firstly, Article 371A has no direct linkage with CAA...other than the broad land law disallowing non-indigenous /non locals from buying or owning landed property in our State. Despite this fact...the Government of Nagaland has already made desperate attempt to convert the foothill sector into a Special Development Zone circumventing all legal impediments to allow settlement of nonindigenous persons in this zone to acquire land and develop it. When we have such a Government wanting to tear down even those small protective walls, we can imagine what the scenario can be. The Special Development Zone could well become the landing ground of 20-30 lakh new Hindu rehabilitees with Indian citizenship from Afghanistan/Pakistan/ Bangladesh flooding our territory with voting right within our boundary. Further, Laws can very well be bent whereby other nonlocal Indian citizens who may not be able to buy or own landed properties on a permanent basis but can very well own land through lease for 100 years at a time for instance for setting mega projects that the State Government wants to generate. The whole demographic scenario can undergo a drastic change overnight with BJP lapdogs ruling the roost in the State. This is not just conjecturing. This can and will happen if the present trend of corruptive norms of governance is taken seriously. Nagas are more than ready to slip on a one rupee note. There is no denying that ILP could play a major role in controlling and restricting non-locals entering Nagaland. However, the present mechanism of ILP management in place is but a poor joke at best... in the matter of issuing ILP. It’s but a source of earning pocket money by those placed responsible to issue it. The Nagas ourselves are the ones callously violating the norms by bringing outside labourers under ILP and after work is done, let them loose whoever they want and continue to stay in Nagaland for years on end getting their ILP renewed without a question being raised. Many of them are already enrolled in the electoral roll with voting right as an Indian citizen. The fact of the matter is that the majority comes to Nagaland claiming their origin in Assam. Therefore, when Assam is in trouble and is rightly agitated against CAA it is the same cancer that will impact Nagaland. We therefore need to show solidarity and stand with Assam on this issue as well. But the bottom-line view of SCAN in this is that the Government must consider with utmost seriousness to upgrade the ILP sector as a dedicated Department to the level equal to the status of National Passport placing senior officers with authority and responsibility with a whole lot of regulatory checks and balances being put in place. 2 . PA N N A G A HOHO (PNH): The Senior Citizens of Nagaland sees PNH as a very unnerving gray area within the ambit of the final solution being proposed by the NSCN (IM). If we are to go by the ‘Competency Clauses’ read out to the people present in meeting at Hebron by the NSCN (IM)...it has serious ramifications. Firstly, PNH will be a statuary body created through Act of Parliament...supposedly for cultural and emotional integration. This body will comprise of all Nagas from Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam...including Nagaland...but is silent about the membership composition criteria of this House. What is absolutely certain however is that, like the present Naga Hoho and the NSF for example, the Nagas of Nagaland will be a minority in this establishment with 16 Tribes as against almost 50 Tribes from everywhere else. NSCN (IM) has been pressing hard to ensure that this body will have an advisory role in matters of Education and Development. When questioned during the meeting with the Governor of Nagaland in this regard, the Hon’ble Governor categorically stated that PNH will be a statutory body since it will be created through an Act of Parliament, and will be funded independently by the GoI, and that the advisory role of PNH in matters of Education and Development would be the same as any other NGOs where they may advise the Government in such matters but that the Government will have the final authority to accept or reject such an advise. If this is truly the case, what one fails to understand is: why enact such a clause of no consequence at all as a part of the final deal? The added unease sets in when NSCN (IM) says that the rules and regulation to manage the PNH will be worked out only after the Body physically comes into being. There is no stopping the PNH to create rules and regulations to make their advisory role into a more mandatory one in nature. What is additionally unpalatable is that our Naga brothers in Manipur and Arunachal will have their Regional Autonomous Council independently exercising their authority within their respective area without any scope of interference by any Nagas from elsewhere...but that by virtue of their being members of PNH they can dictate terms within the State of Nagaland “that will cease to exist”? The Nagas of Nagaland may be stupid but not stupid to the extent of accepting such nonsense! Finally, we have been made to understand that NSCN (IM) is pressing hard to have PNH established in and around Hebron with an earmarked 1000 acres of land as a starter. Nagas of Nagaland did not sustain a movement for the past 73 years to finally fail to salvage sovereignty or integration and at the fag-end even lose territory that is already ours. The Nagas of Nagaland may not necessarily object to the creation of PNH per say purely for cultural and emotional integration but in the absence of physical integration, its (PNH) interference into the affairs of the State of Nagaland is absolutely absurd and totally uncalled for...leave aside having such a body being established within the State of Nagaland. Since the majority representation will comprise of our Southern Brothers...let the PNH be set up within their majority jurisdiction for better management. Let it be made very clear that their continued presence and interference through PNH in any manner within the State of Nagaland without physical integration is completely and totally unacceptable. Period!

Khekiye K. Sema IA S Retd; President; Senior Citizen’s Association of Nagaland and Medoselhou Keretsu; General Secretary; Senior Citizen's Association of Nagaland Views of SCAN ON CAA and Pan Naga Hoho

Reader’s note: Articles or letters published in any of the columns do not reflect the view of this newspaper nor that of the Editor in any manner. Reader’s Post (From previous issue)

Thus the suspension of Kenye from the NPF gets most curious considering that the animosity between TRZ and Kenye had been almost palpable after the infamous Midnight Meeting of February 15, 2017 when the latter mustered all the NPF legislators and convened a meeting with the then Chief Minister TRZ at the Banquet Hall around 11.00 pm and demanded that he, TRZ, pave way for the party president to take over the reins of the State. TRZ was compelled to resign; Dr Shurhozelie was sworn in; but to appease TRZ, Dr Shurhozelie appointed his predecessor as the Advisor, Finance with the rank of a Cabinet Minister.

Five months later, when Dr Shurhozelie was asked by party rank and file to contest and continue as Chief Minister till Assembly elections of 2018, TRZ literally pulled the proverbial rug from beneath the feet of Dr Shurhozelie by taking away majority of the MLAs to Kaziranga and maneuvered his way into the arms of the then Governor PB Acharya. Dr Shurhozelie recused himself, so to speak, from participating in a Vote of Confidence, and well, the rest is his story… TRZ’s story.

Anyway, Hell hath no fury like a Chief Minister toppled and Dr Shurhozelie painted his face with a grim sneer and went on a warpath. From his Advisor, Finance, TRZ became “that Heraka Boy”; from the BJP being the NPF’s “natural ally” since 1978 when the regional party allied with the Jan Sangh (BJP’s predecessor), it became the very Devil replete with horns, tail and the trishul to pierce the heart and soul of Christianity and the Naga way of life. This warpath, understandably, did not endear the NPF to the BJP, and on the eve of the 2018 Elections, the BJP leadership did not want to have any truck whatsoever with the Uneasy calm within the NPF Upgrade services Sir,

I would like to make a request to the Jio and Idea operators to kindly improve their network quality in terms of speed and coverage area as many consumers at CRPF Camp Area, Lerie, Colony Kohima, since last year, are facing slow internet connectivity (Below 5 KB/s or sometimes even less then 1 KB/s) starting from evening till midnight. As a result of which out of 1.5 GB/day, an average user consumes only 250-350 mbs/day due to slow Internet Connectivity.

I therefore, would like to request the aforementioned operators to kindly improve/upgrade their services soon, so that the consumers are well benefited from their efforts.

Joel, Lerie Colony, Kohima T here was a news item in the local papers of 30thJanuary 2020, that the Indian paramilitary force the Assam Rifles were to inaugurate a war memorial in Mokokchung town, honouring those AR and Indian army personnel killed during insurgency (against Naga freedom fighters) as “martyrs”. Hearing that this “memorial” shall be inaugurated on the 3rd February, we agonize with regret. Why, because these evidences can never be erased from the world’s history and it shall particularly be forever etched in our Ao Naga history. Surprisingly, it has learnt from a reliable source that the Memorial is being inaugurated today (1-2-2020) instead of earlier scheduled for which the reason best known to the Assam Rifles.

1. While struggling for our Naga freedom, starting from 1954 now for more than 60 years, there are innumerable cases of our Aos and Naga villages being burnt to ashes, innocent citizens tortured, raped our womenfolk and our church and school buildings desecrated. Over and above these, countless precious lives were killed, our wealth and resources destroyed, but yet, the Indian Army has never admitted to any of their wrong doing.

2. The Aos and particularly the citizens of Mokokchung town did not commit any crime against anyone, but yet the Indian Army on 27th December 1994, burnt down the heart of Mokokchung town – 89 shops, 48 houses were burnt down. 17 vehicles and 7 two wheelers razed to ashes, excluding those destroyed by gunfire and shelling. 7 civilians were gunned down, another 5 burned alive including a child and dozens of women were raped at gunpoint. Till now the people of Mokokchung town remembers this day of infamy with bitterness in our hearts.

3. Today, the Indian Government has accepted that the Naga struggle for freedom is a political issue and the talks are still ongoing.

During such a time, the Indian Army’s attempt to cover up their years of atrocities in the form of a “Martyr Memorial” in Mokokchung town is an insult to the Ao Nagas. In fact, the Naga National workers irrespective of groups should not allow to build such war memorial in our land as the construction of our enemy’s war cemetery in our own soil is unethical and therefore it is unacceptable. They say “friends of the hill people” however they are shameless aggressors under the shadow of AFSPA. We strongly feel that the Ao community in particular and the Naga people in general must ponder seriously and take befitting steps.

On behalf of Ao Concerned Citizen Forum Moa Emchen; CoConvenor and O.Wati Jamir; Secretary An insult to the Nagas and a diabolical distortion of our History NPF despite the latter’s outrageous flirtations with the BJP for a prepoll alliance. The come-hither coy winks and endeavours of the NPF extended to the BJP in the middle part of 2019 were snuffed out by BJP leadership in Delhi like a smoker does to cigarette butts, even though the NPF Party President had, a week or so earlier, given a free hand to his disenchanted Legislators wriggling in acute discomfort staying in the Opposition bench, to work out any political move that would enhance their, and ostensibly the party’s, position in the State’s political firmament. However, the NPF legislators returned from Delhi empty-handed with their chins on their chests like unwilling school children returning home with poor report cards. It is a speculation worth mentioning if Kenye’s suspension from the party indicates the growing clout of TRZ in the NPF camp, and also the gradual isolation of the Grand Old Man of regional politics from the party he literally breast-fed all these decades. If this is so, we political spectators can expect in the not-so-distant future, considering the proximity TRZ has with BJP leadership, a concoction of Galho laced lavishly with Saffron. In this eventuality, the swan-song of the oldest regional political party in the region is nigh.

All said and done, sagging morals reign supreme in the crumbling citadel of the grand old regional party in the State, and the forthcoming bye elections to the two Assembly Constituencies may spring up more than a few surprises.

Mean time, we spectators of the political arena can only rub our chins raw wondering if the two power houses within the NPF party would pull each other down causing a massive cataclysmic implosion, or march ahead holding each other’s hands so that they do not stab each other in the back once again. This uneasy calm prevailing within the NPF party could be the proverbial calm before the storm. And this storm, if at all it takes place, could be apocalypse for the grand old regional party.

(Concluded) Sebastian Zumvu (The writer belongs to a political party. These are his personal opinions)