Logo

Logo

‘Freebie’ flayed

The name of Rev Zelhou Kayho would hardly ring a bell in political/electoral circles, yet the general secretary of the…

‘Freebie’ flayed

Representational Image (Photo: Getty Images)

The name of Rev Zelhou Kayho would hardly ring a bell in political/electoral circles, yet the general secretary of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council ~ a body to which are affiliated close to 1,500 congregations in the largely Christian state ~ has done more than the Election Commission or any political party to maintain the sanctity of the poll process.

He has asked voters not to be tempted by the promise in the recently-released BJP manifesto for the upcoming assembly poll that offers 50 senior citizens every year a free trip to Jerusalem, which Christians perceive as the heart of the Holy Land.

The Council has called upon parties to desist from “cheap politics” and focus on development activity: everyone talks of that, seeks votes on different grounds. True that in terms of sheer numbers the Holy Land offer invites little comparison with the ‘Haj’ pilgrimage Muslims undertake ~ the decades-old subsidy on that practice has been scrapped, saffron party workers had condemned it as “appeasement” ~ but the signal is unmistakable, an electoral inducement.

Advertisement

The move is in sharp contrast with the manner in which Christians in other parts of the country are deemed “suspect”, and often pay heavily for alleged conversions. Worth recalling is that not so long ago the BJP had condemned a Congress manifesto that had promised governance in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ. Has the wheel since turned full circle?

It is a matter of concern that the otherwise pro-active Election Commission should have ignored that aspect of the manifesto. Does Nirvachan Sadan back-off rather than join issue with the Central government? Or is it that it deems elections to the Nagaland assembly too insignificant to “rock the boat”? That would run counter to the determined efforts of the BJP to establish itself in the North-east.

Would such a religion-flavoured poll promise have been deemed acceptable in another context? The “incident” may be seem trivial in the larger national context, but it does serve to condemn the depths to which electioneering has sunk ~ across the political spectrum. This policy of win-at-all-costs is ominous, it divides society on its fault-lines though politicians prefer the description of “polarisation” and hinders a truly “national” response to a crisis situation.

Indeed “national” has now assumed a dubious connotation. That divisiveness militates against the proposed simultaneous polls to the national and state legislatures: any landslide victory would mean an end to one of the checks and balances so critical in a democracy.

Back to Nagaland. Elections in the region have always been subjected to undesirable pressures, money-power wields more influence there than elsewhere. A free trip to Jerusalem for 50 elders would appear benign, a welcome “outreach” gesture. Alas, the way politics is now played renders almost every move “off-side”.

Advertisement