Missiological Understanding on Clean Election in Nagaland (NBCC Advocacy and its Critical Analysis)

A free and fair election is the foundation of a democratic form of Government. As a citizen of a state and a country, we cannot do away with politics as long as we are part of the society. There was a time when the Nagas held leadership as a sacrificial service to the community and it was shameful to claim to be a leader by oneself. But, looking at the current scenario of the Naga society, leadership has become an opportunity for leaders to perpetuate their earthly kingdom. A land where all the politicians, aspirants, and almost all the voters are Christians, the values and the Christian standard of living are not visible during the process of election. Elections in Nagaland have been linked with unethical and rampant malpractices which led Nagaland to be socially corrupted, morally bankrupt, and politically visionless. Therefore, every eligible person must do what is right according to the biblical truth by avoiding all forms of election malpractices, and the churches as an agent of change need to play a vital and prophetic role to heal and to bring peace and harmony to our land and in the society.

Eyingbemo M. Odyuo hails from Nagaland belonging to Lotha/Naga community. He did his Bachelor of Divinity (BD) at Trinity Theological College (TTC) Thahekhü, Dimapur and his Master of Theology (MTH) in Missiology from The United Theological College (UTC), Bangalore. Presently, he is serving as the Youth Director at Tiyichan Lotha Baptist Church, Wokha, Nagaland.

I was honoured when Mr. Eyingbemo M. Odyuo, who is serving in Tiyichan Lotha Baptist Church, Wokha Town wrote to me and requested me to write a foreword for his forthcoming book. He was my student (M.Th) in the United Theological College in Bangalore and finished his studies in 2019. His well-researched thesis is the main content of this book. As his research is innovative and very little is known about the engagement of churches in clean election campaigns in Nagaland, I welcome very much the move to publish his thesis by the publisher Christian World Imprints in New Delhi. Although, Nagaland can be called a Christian state as the large majority of its inhabitants are Christians, this is by no means reflected in times of election. They cannot be called democratic because they contradict Christian lifestyles and principles. The election system in Nagaland has become so entrenched in evil practices which are associated with criminal and unethical activities causing immeasurable destruction of the well-being of the people. Against this backdrop, the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) initiated the Clean Election Campaign (CEC) to uphold the spiritual values of every citizen of the land, as well as to maintain the sanctity and propriety of the election process. The study in front of you particularly looked at the Clean Election Campaign initiated by NBCC in four districts of Nagaland-Mokokchung, Kohima, Wokha, and Zunheboto. Despite a lot of efforts and the slogan "one man - one vote" and a lot of talks with the civil organizations, politicians who are also church members; the campaign was only partly successful as women were also missing as elected members.

Eyingbemo M. Odyuo is encouraging the churches in Nagaland to follow the prophetic path and to continue their engagement in the Clean Election Campaign like the prophets in the Old Testament. The church should not only be concerned with faith but also with the life circumstances of its members and society and continue to better them. Hence, his book is another stepping stone in the increasing literature coming out by North East authors about the particular problems of the North East. Thank you Christian World Imprints for giving a young author a chance.

An election is a process in which people vote to choose an individual to be their political leader or representative in the government. Generally, people vote to effect changes in their socio-cultural- economic and political landscapes. Nagaland as the sixteenth state of India was officially inaugurated on 1" December 1963 at Kohima by the then president of India, Dr. S. Radhakrishna."

There are sixteen tribes in Nagaland. As Bendangjungshi opines that "From the beginning of the Nagaland state, the fight for the control of state administrative power is nothing more than for the thirst of money among the Naga politicians." Hence, looking at the current scenario of the Nagaland state, there have been large-scale malpractices during elections in Nagaland, which is associated with criminal and unethical activities causing immeasurable destruction of the wellbeing of the people. Election malpractices are rampant and corruption has been deeply rooted in the socio-economic, religious, cultural, and political aspects of the Naga society. In the light of this, the Clean Election Campaign (CEC) was revived in the year 2012 ahead of the 12 Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) election by the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC) with the aim "to awaken the moral conscience of the people in the process of elections and to root out all kinds of evil as well as to maintain the sanctity and propriety of the election process. But, regarding the NBCC initiative for CEC, there have been mixed responses from the people of the state. A certain section of the people believes this movement as "good initiation and see hope in this movement," while some people opined that "the church should not involve itself in the political affairs." Nonetheless, making its stand clear on the CEC during the state level seminar on the clean election (CE) organized by the CE Core Committee of NBCC, the General Secretary of NBCC, Rev. Dr. Zelhou Keyho said:

The church body is neither against election, politicians, political parties nor is influenced by any political agenda within or without. But, it is deeply concerned with the electioneering system that has gone corrupt in our state, and he further states that the intent of the Church was not to point fingers at any individual or party, but to educate and speak against the corrupt system of election in our state and appeal to the publicto use their 'God-given birth right without monetary or any other means of influence.

NBCC had worked in collaboration with civil societies, government bureaucrats, and churches conducting seminars from district to village level. It had also approached the Naga Political Groups/Organisations to restrain its cadres from involving int election matters and malpractices. The slogan of CEC was also widely disseminated through the use of mass and social media. But, despite all the initiatives and efforts, the result of the past elections was not so much promising. The CEC was a failure and the 2013 election is considered to be one of the most corrupted events in the history of the NLA election. Therefore, some of the significant objectives of this research were to critically analyze the CEC initiated by the NBCC and to develop Missiological approaches by the church in guiding the people towards right conduct during the process of election and also to develop operational models to further enhance the CEC in achieving its intended goals. Because the church as a prophetic community and the agents of change has a major role to play in this movement.

**Contents and Sample Pages**