1

C. Cho-o

James Kalong

“N

N

MARCH2013

Opinion is a theme-based supplement published on the third saturday of every month. Here you are the artist, the writer, the photographer, the storyteller and the creator of your own opinion. The articles do not reflect the position of the newspaper.

“Nagaland for Christ” is, I guess, a slogan born out of a good motive but with bad reasoning. The phrase itself denotes human initiative. What really matters is not what we can do for Christ but knowing what Christ has done for us by grace, so

that we can respond in obedience through faith. Jesus Christ is God himself, and God is all power-ful, all sufficient, and all knowing. As a matter of fact, He doesn’t need our help. Therefore, the best thing we can do to God is obey him. Our action can ruin our motto no matter how good the latter may be. That is exactly what is happening with “Nagaland for Christ.” Under the banner of “Nagaland for Christ” how many children are orphaned? How many mothers are widowed? How many precious lives are elimi-

nated? How much enmity among the brethren is created? The use of this beautiful slogan has become a mockery in our actions. This is a sin-ful act because the name of the Lord is not only used in vain but to do unthinkable evils. We have grievously trivialized God. The term “pocket god” is not foreign to Naga Christians. The name of God is being manipulated, used, or controlled by many Chris-tians in multiple ways. A common practice is, asking God to bless our plans without planning with Him. Or do anything we like and claim that God has blessed us. No wonder one of the fa-vorite choruses of many Christians is “If I have I white box, I’ll put Jesus in; take Him out, smack, smack, smack; put Him back again.” “Nagaland for Christ” is not what is happening with the Nagas in reality but “Nagaland against Christ.” We’ve mixed spirituality with politics resulting in trivialization of God, For instance, (as cited

above) in their struggle for sovereignty, some freedom fighters who are also Christians, under the banner of “Nagaland for Christ” eliminate the lives of their own brothers and sisters who do not abide by their political principles. They fast and pray before they venture out to commit homicide and, perhaps, return to give thanks to the Lord after their own brothers and sisters are mercilessly gunned down and murdered. Thus Christianity is reduced to a kind of civil religion. In Naga context, the invocation of God in politi-cal speeches, the quotation of religious texts on public occasions by political leaders, the religious gatherings called by political leaders (which are all marks of civil religion) is not new. There’s nothing wrong to call on the name of God or quote religious texts by any person or organiza-tion; however, when it is done to suit one’s own aspiration and dream is terribly wrong. Hence, what McCullough calls the “god-of-my-cause”

(where God is not involved at all) is exactly hap-pening among many Naga Christians. In this way God is mocked than glorified. “Nagaland for Christ” is supposed to glorify God. The appropriate way would be “Christ for Nagaland” for He is for every nation. No na-tion can find true freedom without Christ the Liberator. Only if we amend our ways and reaf-firm that nothing is going to happen to our na-tion that God and us together cannot handle to-gether, then will we experience the difference in our struggle for identity and sovereignty. Using Christ to achieve our dream will only do more harm to ourselves and to others, but allowing Christ to use us in our struggles will definitely yield positive result. God is more eager to liber-ate us than our own desire to be liberated be it politically or spiritually. Do you believe that Christ can do anything for Nagaland? If so, let’s act likewise!

“Nagaland for Christ”A Good Slogan with Bad Reasoning

Nagaland will be a better place if the gov-ernment strives for “Nagaland for Christ” rath-er than “Naga-land – the land

of Festivals.” (SASHIAKUM)

“Nagaland for Christ” in itself is a wonderful phrase. But failure to live up to it demeans the name of Christ. It is such a bold statement but people ought to think twice before making such a statement. (GAI)

“Nagaland for Christ?” What does it mean? What are we Na-gas doing for Christ? With more than 100 years of Christianity in the land what transformation has it made till now that we claim “Nagaland for Christ”? Or even the claim “Christ for Nagaland” as some would like to reverse. Even this claim is misleading be-cause Christ is for the entire hu-man race and not only for the Na-gas exclusively. Today Nagaland is synonymous with corruption, kill-ings, rape, hatred, and disunity. How can we claim “Nagaland for Christ” or “Christ for Nagaland”? It is better not to claim anything but rather live our lives like true Christians in words and deeds and make a small difference in the spaces we live. (YOTSA)

What sense does “Nagaland for Christ” make when there is kill-ings, rape, extortions, corrup-tion, and hatred among our own brothers? Are these what Christ taught his followers to do? Ab-solutely “NO.” Or is this a state-ment used to whitewash all our inhuman activities in the society? Maybe, “YES.” If we look at the present scenario of the Naga so-ciety it contradicts the very state-

ment “Nagaland for Christ.” Why don’t we do away with such a statement if we can’t live upto it? (ACHA CHANGKIRI)

Why not “Nagas for Christ” and live like Christlike and bring change in the land? Why the “land” and not the “people”? (MANNYA)

Although Israel enjoyed the privi-lege of being the “chosen peo-ple” of God, never had she had the audacity to claim a slogan like “Israel for God.” Rather, the Israelites spoke about “God for us.” Therefore, I think it will be more proper to talk about “Christ for Nagaland” instead of “Naga-land for Christ.” (APONG)

The expression “Nagaland for Christ” is tantamount to declar-ing Christianity as a civil religion. The confusion for the people however is whether this expres-sion is a political claim or a faith claim! Perhaps both. Equally preposterous is to pride about Nagaland as a “Christian state.” Just because the faith of the ma-jority is Christian does not make the state “Christian.” Nonethe-less, citizens should know that state-sponsored religion hinders people’s ability to practice their faith “faithfully.” So also, religion should not dictate what the state should do lest it usurp the place of the statecraft and politicize its faith. As for Christians, it is prop-er that the church should always remain the conscience of the state. And for all those who are “the powers that be” in Naga-land Christian faith must inform all their political decisions about development, equality, human rights, justice, peace, race rela-tions, environment, education, division of wealth, and respect for democracy.

Nagaland For Christ

ILLUsTRaTION by SÜngKÜM

Nagaland for Christ or is Christ for Nagaland?To pledge to Christ implies, embracing His domain,His domain is in the hearts of men, not on any land,He carried His cross and refused the king’s crown.

Christ preached justice, love and compassion,He chose to be a servant and shunned the title master,He moved with the lowly to build up His nation,To the proud and the rich He bode disaster.

He searched for the lost, leaving aside the ninety-nine,He visited Zachaeus, the infamous tax-collector,The evil spirits fled and rushed into the swine,

He lashed at the Pharisees, revealing their character.

“Build up your treasure in heaven”, He remarked,“Where no moths eat nor thieves can steal,And where your treasure is there will lie your heart”.This in gist will spell Nagaland’s deal.

Christ is for Nagaland if Nagaland is for Christ,The Christ with His cross, not just the glory or the crown,Christ of the Beatitudes, of Calvary and not Thabor,Christ, who fed five thousand after His sermon on the mount.

Nagaland For ChristDaVID

2

sUNgJemmONgba JaMir

VezHOyI Lohe

A perspective on ‘Nagaland for Christ’akHayII KoMou

T

A banner of days gone by?

W

The word ‘Christ’ is so powerful and holy to every Christian. Jesus Christ is the Lord and the way of salvation. It is not easy to de-scribe and com-

ment about ‘Christ’. The word Christ is very deep and vast. Christ is not meant for political gain, vested in-terest, economic interest, revolution, etc; but He is a way of salvation to every human being. Without proper-ly understanding and digesting the whole chapter of the Holy Bible, it is not easy to refer and justify the mat-ter. The way of life, system of society, concept of ideology, faith, politics, economy, etc are not same in all the times. The circumstances of society in olden times, medieval and mod-ern are different. And therefore, every one of us needs to ask what the Christ was, is and will? And the most important question is that; is it right to quote ‘Nagaland for Christ’ in political system? When Jesus Christ came on this earth, He preaches salvation

and shows good example of life to every human being. He transforms the spiritual and philosophy of hu-man life. He transform from Old Tes-tament to New Testament. One of his examples is; in Old Testament, it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth which means love our near and dear ones and own people but hate the enemy; But Jesus Christ taught us to love our enemy as you love yourself. Christ teaches us good moral character so that every one of us receives salvation. Faith, love, kindness, patience, justice, sharing, respect, equality, discipline, humble, forgive, repent, honesty, etc are the words and teaching of Christ. It is not worth to write about Christ by a sinner like me. Christ is perfect and holy whereas you and I are not. When there is suppression, exploitation, ill-treatment, brutal-ity, enslaves, etc; then there is move-ment of freedom, independent, revolution, renaissance, reformation and transformation. In such case, the process of movement can be justi-fied and acknowledged. In the initial stage of Naga movement, a person can judge it in a positive manner. But

at this stage, things are so demoral-ized and corrupted. An iron which is new and shining is slowly corroded and damaged as the time goes on. A water vapour and an air surround-ing react with the surface and get it corroded. In the same manner, the role of judicious movement can be demoralized and corrupted as the time goes on. When a person says he is for Christ, what kind of logic and ana-lyzing does you and I think about. Christ is for peace and salvation to all human beings. Christ preaches and practices his preaching. He speaks against hypocrites, pride and evils. Now when we compare to our environment, what do we think about. The question is the teaching and the words of Christ. We know Pharisees were good at preaching but do not practice their preaching. Jesus speaks against them and calls them hypocrites. He loves every hu-man being. He forgives every sinner. He speaks justice for all. Almost all Nagas are Chris-tian. Naga national figure has declared as Nagaland for Christ. Hundreds of Nagas missionary are

producing to preach message of Christ to the outside world. Naga people follow Christ so that the life and system of society is related to the words and teaching of Christ. But in reality, what do we think about the people and the society. Is it corruption, self righteousness, hatred, ill-treatment, gun culture, tribalism, misunderstanding, extor-tion, indiscipline, silence etc related to the words and teaching of Christ? The value of Christianity is very doubtful in our surrounding society. Daily prayers and regular practice of service does not make sense if there is no practice and follows of Christ teaching and Christ wills. Every one of us says, ‘we are Christian’, but in reality, we practice the opposite to the words of Christ and his teaching. For example, a person prays for love, forgive, bless, share etc, but after sometime he or she speaks against an individual, tribe and other communities. This is very common in Naga society. The dignity of work is seems to be very poor in the society. Laziness and an idle mind can create all kinds of problem in the society and environ-

ment. In a football match, when both the teams are concentrated on ball, discipline and goals, then the play looks beautiful and interesting which bring cheerful and satisfac-tion to every spectators. When both the teams play rough and indisci-pline with wrong attitudes; then, the game leads to crises and trouble-some. Do you agree the concept of Nagaland for Christ in the political system? Hypocrites and habitual ser-vice of Christian doctrine may not re-late to the sense of Christianity. The culture of pride, money, guns, tribal-ism, self righteousness, vested inter-est, muscle power, extortion, killing, suppression, etc are not related to the words and teaching of Christ. If Naga people accept, obey and practice the words and teaching of Jesus Christ; then the concept of Na-galand for Christ would have been recognised and respected. It is the choice, acceptance and the wisdom of an individual to analyze and view the concept of Nagaland for Christ. Hope that Nagaland for Christ is con-nected to the words and teaching of Christ.

This is not Nagaland for Christ when:

When we read about the past, be it about the history of India, Europe, Japan, etc we could make out that peo-ple during those times had a harsh life where

people were bound by strict laws. We all know about the caste system in In-dia and the feudal system in Europe-an countries. We remember hideous atrocities like the practice of untoucha-ble, sati system which are slowly fading away but it’s still here with us. It was in many ways like living in an invisible prison with an invisible barrier. Just like the caste system we seem to have cre-ated a world similar to that. Looking back in to those things even though we as Nagas brag that we treat our brothers and sisters with fair-ness it is not. We get to hear, see and experience injustice every second of everyday. When you get through a job interview and suddenly some group cause havoc and your job gets taken away by some spoiled rich kid not be-cause they earned it but simply because they feel it’s theirs and I am sure many of you may have gone through a simi-lar incident. When you are being har-assed by some people for being born of a particular race it seems to hurt our sentiments and it makes us cruel, the times when someone threatened you at gunpoint whose only fault was that you weren’t ready to give your hard-earned money because you had a fam-ily to take care of. Don’t we see such

cruel acts every day? During the year 1960 the Ao community decided that they should be united under the banner of Christ. Within a few years this spread to the rest of the Nagas and the banner “Na-galand for Christ” was born which we still use it. The irony of our past is that, we the younger generation see it nothing more than a facade. A ban-ner of days gone by when people were honest and truthful. Where brave and honest men led the way. We see our society now and we see splinter groups of freedom fighters implementing ri-diculously high amount of tax fees on the people. We see our government giving jobs to people who aren’t quali-fied for the job. We hardly see anyone talking about the importance of Christ instead we have numerous people act-ing holier-than-thou. I am sure there were countless cases of some members of the church getting busy helping a particular group of the political party. I thought the church were supposed to be fair and neutral. Where were the so called Youth Association, Naga hoho or mother’s/women’s association when there was violence in some area of Nagaland? Whether we like it or not we seem to live in a world where the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. Of course that is just the tip of the ice berg because if we look deeper then we see an even darker world full of de-ceit and betrayal. I am sure many of the youth or even the elders will remember those

days during the late 80’s and early 90’s when there were curfews all around Nagaland because it was deemed a sensitive area. I was too young to know why it was imposed. There must have been more than one incident where the army fought with the NSCN in a residential area where the civilians were the first casualties. It was like hell on earth for all of us. Even though the NSCN don’t fight the army anymore due to the cease fire agreement there are nevertheless small incidents of firefight between the splinter groups which not only endanger the non com-batants but also the economic welfare of our society. Tribalism will not go away in fact it’s here to stay until and unless we change our outlook towards each other. It is a sensitive issue and most of the time we learn about it from our el-ders. The backward tribes are ignored by the government which will affect all of us. Whether we like it or not there is no such thing as fair and just society because we see a particular tribe at-tacking another tribe. If you haven’t forgotten it happened just last year. Day after day we get to see more and more injustice done to us by us. We are ourselves to Evil and our children will learn it from us. When we have forgotten who Christ really is how can we expect our children to fol-low Him. I hope that the fathers of to-day are a living example of being Fair and Just because if it’s not so then the Sins of our Father will drown us.

• anelectedMLAwhousedunfairmeanstogetelectedthankandpraiseGodsayingitwasHisblessing.• peopleextortmoneywiththenameofGod.• students&parentscheattheirrealincomeforafewthousandsinScholarship.• copyingorcheatinginexamisnotaseriousoffence.• corruptedarmiesguardsthecitizens.• .lazinessmakesyouthsunemployed.• leaderpersonalneedssupersedestheneedsofthecommonpeople.• wehavedifferentDateofBirth.• wereviveourforefathersfestivals.• waterflowsoverdryland,floodingdrunkenness.A.W Tozer says: ‘The basic trouble with the church today is her unworthy concept of God... Our religion is weak because our God is weak. Christianity at any given time is strong or weak depending on her concept of God.’

ILLUsTRaTION byaTong roThrong

3

“Nagaland for Christ” is quite ironical to the circumstances

that is in Nagaland. Are we Nagas really representing

Christ? What good differences could we find between other

States and Nagaland for Christ? It is for Christian religion is

major in Nagaland? We are not for Christ if we live corrupted lives, for Christ is love, kind, patience and fair. Let’s not

defame the name of Christ by our default. Our religion should be less of a theory and more of a

love affairs. Let us pray to God to grant us the courage to change

the things we can and the wisdom to choose the right.

ABOTY CHISHI

The slogan “Nagaland for Christ” is a renowned slogan ever since decades and we are proud that

Nagaland is a Christian dominated state whereas, is

Nagaland really in track with the slogan? Why there are so many untold violence, crime, immoral activities, corruption and so on. “Nagaland for Christ” should not be stagnant with devilish nature

but we need to revitalize with true Christian value.

ADABE. Z

AKUM ANGH

ASHIKHO CHAKRE

Is Nagaland really for Christ???... if it is so than why

all these conflicts, hatred, regionalism, enmity etc among

the Nagas. Are those the principles of Christ?? If we really means to claim that Nagaland is

for Christ than we must first change our negative attitude and

adopt an attitude that is filled with mercy, kindness and love

because ‘God is Love and he wants us to love one another’.

Why everyone are so busy making money & weapons

inspite of knowing the fact that it is his own brothers & sisters that

will become the victim of the weapons that are being made.

Why people use money & muscle power against one another. As we seen in 1Timothy 6:7, ‘we

brought nothing into the world and we will take nothing out of it’. Many people go to church every Sunday but cannot be

identified as Christians the rest of the week. If God love us so we also ought to love one another. So, people of Nagaland, lets join our hand & make the Nagaland

real for Christ.

ASANG C CHANG

Why hatred and envy one another???

When Christ says ‘Love one another because God is

Love’.Why murdering and

harming one another???When Christ says ‘Do not harm any living creature,

even to the smallest insects’.Why ill treating and

adultery???When Christ says ‘Respect one another as we are all

children of one father’.Why partiality among one

another in every circumstances???

When Christ says ‘You can yield good fruits without

partiality and without hypocrisy’.

So, how ‘Nagaland For Christ’ When everything we do is against the will of ‘God’.

SOHILE J. TEP

Everyone of us know our Nagaland is for Christ as declared. But, not all of us seem to understand what Nagaland for

Christ means. You question yourself, ‘how relevant is Christ to you’? I

believe, the proponents did not propose the slogan just to gain confidence from the believers or to gain a place to in the Christian world, nor were they merely filled with emotions. Rather, it was the

spiritual pact with God which we all need to uphold, as a citizen of this land and as a Christian We can clearly see in what direction our Nagaland is landing

with time. Corruptions, kidnapping, illegal taxes, extortions, rape,

favouritism, pride and divisions even among the villagers. Is this a right

direction? Do we see e worthy future? If you personally know Christ is in you and your relationship with Him is in

reality, than may be you know the importance or need of this declaration.

‘Nagaland for Christ’ will be real and practical when each individual can say I am for Christ, and that will be the time

when the proponents (of this declaration) vision will be fulfilled, the

time when God’s plan for Nagas will start to work.

As a Naga we are blessed to be a Christian. But as a Christian we need to build a trend of common

brotherhood among ourselves. We hope for peace and tranquility. Since

the inception of our Slogan ‘Nagaland for Christ’ during the

seventies we have failed miserably to uphold the Slogan much to our disappointment latest example

being the recently concluded General election. But Hey! People of Nagaland! Wake up! Nagaland isn’t

finished yet! We still have a long way to go. You and I can bring a wind of

change; you and I can bring positive results if we start waking up now.

Stop complaining, Start contributing. As a Christian, it’s

advantageous for us to play along the slogan and commit ourselves to

Christ. Isn't it such a good motivational drive? It’s time to revive the slogan “Nagaland for

Christ” and proudly proclaim Nagaland a true Christian state. God

bless our Nagaland.

Is it right for us to use the word “NAGALAND FOR CHRIST?” Majority of

the people in Nagaland are Christians but still then we find no ‘PEACE’ in our land. There is no word called “LOVE” among the people. There is hatred, Jealousy, Murders, Sexual assault between own

people. We are forgetting the law of GOD and allowing the EVIL to rule over us. So, why don’t we make a STRONG BOND with

Christ and overcome all those evil desires and proudly proclaim “NAGALAND FOR CHRIST”.

Most young Nagas today will simply brush off the banner Nagaland for Christ

as a remorseful cliché, causing to a long-condemned regretful idea. While

our Christian-state price tag will always hang around, we know too well that, that

‘solid’ theme is hardly reflected in our praxis mirror for others to see. While the

proponents of this famous (now infamous?) theme must have meant

good, church history tells us that ‘declaring’ a state Christian can actually

take away the truth, the sheen of Christianity and turn it into simply a religion. Nothing more. Looks like the

kingdom of God doesn’t work on a legislation from the kingdom of man! Historical parallels aside, one cannot

miss the Christian-religion culture minus the practice prevalent in

Nagaland today. While we have certainly not forgotten our Nagaland (93% of

electorate voted in the recent elections) perhaps we have forgotten our Christ. A Nagaland for Christ can only stand when

under-girded by a Nagaland in Christ. Unless we are IN Christ first, we cannot

be anything FOR Him. As a Naga Christian, the ‘obligation’ to set the

priority straight lies within each of us.

DR. K. WHISO

VESTY H YEPTHO

Everyone says Nagaland for Christ. It was once and now no more…..It was once when people were there for one

another but these days people are running after worldly pleasures and

wealth. It was once when people go to churches with inner beauties but

these days people compete for outer appearances. It was once when people

love and respect one another but these days there are hatred and

disrespect among one another. People claim “NAGALAND FOR CHRIST” but they instead waste their life making

and collecting things. Whereas Christ say that “we brought nothing into the world and we will take nothing out of it”. I really wish to go back those days where I can proudly pronounced that

“Nagaland for Christ”.

IMLINUNGLA LONGCHAR

voices onNAGALANDFOR CHRIST

I am not quite sure of its origin. But I find difficult to comprehend when

people associate it with Naga political struggle like that of Jews waiting for earthly political freedom from their coming Messiah, because Christ in

his profundity weighs even the whole world against a single soul and the latter is found to be more valuable

than the former. His mission to redeem the fallen world is obscured

or hindered when His name is wrongly implied for temporal gain.

No doubt we need to pray for His mercy in our earthly pursuits but

keeping in mind the Lord’s own mission. Whether it means

declaration or status of Naga Christianity, we fail Christianity

because we leave it untried. Christianity when reduced to Dos

and Don’ts religion is an impossible proposition. It is indeed living

dynamic relationship with Eternal God in Christ, where our obedience results from love for the fullness of

our joy in Him. We cannot imagine of a Christian state where there is

terrible decline in biblical literacy, biblical preaching, expositional

preaching, theology and doctrine so that everything is watered down to such an insipid level that you have

people thinking Christians who don’t know enough gospel even be saved

and you have Christians trying to live a Christian life without the means of

grace, without appropriate understanding of the depth of the

word of God. The minimilization and marginalizing of Theology and

Doctrine is making our state ‘Haven for heretical teachings’. I personally don’t use the phrase ‘Nagaland for

Christ’ in discourse but it remains my firm prayer

DAVID KOZA

4

and

a PRODUCTION OF

write to us at opinion2mex@gmail.com

Are you a writer, photographer, illustrator, or just have an opinion?

We want to hear from you!Submit an article, photo or illustration by

April 14, 2013 and see your work in print!

The Morung Express monthly supplement ‘Opinion’ will be published on the third Saturday of every month. In the Opinion, you are the storyteller. Please share your story by responding to the theme of the next issue:“SuggeStiOnS fOr gOOd gOvernance tO the nagaland gOvernment”

Contributions can be in the form of photography, illustrations, photos of artwork, essays, first-person accounts, poetry, reported articles, and any other form of expression that can be printed.

Issue Theme for april:Suggestions for good governance to the nagaland governmentDeadline for submission: april 14, 2013Date of Publication: april 20, 2013

TeXT & PHOTOs: mIReUyI herie

Is Nagaland really for Christ?

Is Nagaland really for Christ? Are we true Christians? Are we truthful to Christ? Are we truthful to our parents, neighbours, friends and ulti-mately are we truthful to our-selves? That’s a million dollar question one ought to ask! Most of us tend to laugh

and mock the moment ‘Nagaland for Christ’ is mentioned; it has become more like a cliché and we tend to ignore it the more. With the passing of days and years we are becoming lazier and getting distracted and not following the ways of Christ and the foremost reason is that we take him for GRANTED! We always keep Christ as ‘not’ the first but the ‘last’ resort when we are troubled or in need. But still there are some good Christians who are earnestly praying and shedding tears seeking forgiveness from God for the Nagas. There is a belief that its always the bad people who easily influence the ‘good’ or the virtuous ones but there lies the misconception. In the present scenario the ‘good’ one’s can shoulder the responsibility and take a challenge to do the vice-versa. It is more like a wakeup call for the Nagas as no one can escape the judge-ment day. The slogan for Nagaland for Christ is more or less dead now, so to revive it we have to shake ourselves well and try to be in touch with the words of God everyday and then only we can bring Nagaland for Christ in reality. Na-galand is really for Christ, let us not play with Christ name. God bless my Nagaland.

I

NIekHOTO CÜrhah

OOnce upon a time Nagas were brave, innocent, kind, polite, humble, faithful and God fear-ing people. God love them and

they love God. Perhaps it is for this very reason that our early leaders had brought the idea of “Nagaland for Christ”. It is appro-priate and beautiful. However things had change radically. In the 1953 Indi-an general election, none of the Nagas cast their vote but in the recent held election there is kill-ing among the Nagas. Sadly Na-galand is no longer for Christ. Our land is corrupted and immoral. The people were hypocrites. Leo Tolstoy says “everybody thinks of changing the world but nobody thinks of changing themselves”. This is exactly the problem of the Nagas. Everybody is wise in their own eye so it is difficult to come to term with each other. Our so called national worker under the banner “Nagaland for Christ” killed each other. They extorted the people and openly participated in the political affair of the Indians. We are in a state where we no longer fear our en-emy (Indian) but our own people (factions). In the early days rape and prostitution was an alien words to the Nagas but now it is

practicing frequently. A friend of mine once told me that a couple of months later after the hornbill festival many young girls used to visit their hospital for abortion. Devil claimed rock music as their music. The hornbill music beat contest has largely contributed for the development of heavy metal music which is purely sa-tanic. After all Nagaland is a land of festival and hornbill is one of them. In our state capital there is no place to shit but on the contrary our Honorable chief minister had built an internation-al cricket stadium. What a pride to our state huh..!! Not forget-ting our pastor driving BOLERO and only BOLERO..!! After witnessing all those evil things it is ashamed to con-clude that Nagaland is a Chris-tian state. God is HOLY. If one has to dedicate something to God it must be holy and pure. Naga-land is therefore no longer wor-thy to be called as “Nagaland for Christ”. However I would like to conclude that Nagas will someday transform to their original self when they were patriotic and love freedom, when they love their own culture, when they were unique and special, when they love each other and when they love God and obey Him. Hope-fully God will answer my prayer as He always does. KUKNALIM

Nagaland Is No Longer For Christ

Withered SpringkeNILO KenT

I hung to a cherry branchTossing sweetly in the trees.An old swallow fills her lungAnd blows sweetly to the breeze.

The drooping squirrel drops downHer oak-apples to my head,And cherries in full springs’ gownDrops downwards the grassy bed.

I tossed to the breezy noteMerry as a loosened kite,

The budding oak blossoms whiteTo the swallow’s happy lot.

Farewell merry hours, murderedToo soon and our days numbered?Alas i’ve nor voice: witheredIn chains, unheeded, unheard!

So I strum my unsung notesIn shadows quiet: unchained hopesThat I’ll lie with my Creator;No man can bribe his Creator;

Lea

I am sadThat I never saw a paisaOf the great flood of cashReleased by the election this yearThough I did hear of householdsWhere each member was worthTwo thousand at least to each candidateSo I did the mathAnd understood whyOurs is the land of festivities still.But since no aspirantOf the sixty coveted thronesCared to cross my palmsWith cash or appeal or promiseI kept my vote to myself. I read in the papers That our dis-honorable so and so Had some crores in his car &itmademewonder If so much in his car Then how much at home Or in the banks - of nepal? &iwonderedifdbulletswere For those who wanted more Or those who wanted better.I also readThe Church cried“Clean Election, Clean Election!”

&itmademewonderHow are we then to getThe lakhs that we needTo enter your special hallsOr feed your thousand minions abroad&fundyourworkers’fancyexposuretrips. &thenIsawthat ‘One man-one vote’ Being given the Naga-twist ‘One man-one village vote’ And I said to myself Let no God put asunder What Election hath united.Sofivemoreyearsofgorging&fatteningforsomeFivemoreyearsofsteaming&schemingforothers&fortherestofusFive more years beforeWe shall be worth two thousand each again.&ifIwerearealistI might conclude“My Nagaland: Our Religion: Building Churches Our Democracy: Selling Votes Our Development: Fashion Dressing Our Future: Pothole-fishing”But I am still a dreamerSo I plead“Wake up Nagaland, for Christ’s sake...”

‘Nagaland for Christ’