Hindu-Christian row mars rise of Naga woman to Indian parliament

India

BJP politician Phangnon Konyak has dismissed linking Hindutva to her party’s work in the northeast

Religion is back in business in India’s Nagaland state. The strongly perceived Christian identity of the indigenous Nagas is making headlines.

Nagaland is a Christian and tribal-dominated province in the northeast where guerrillas are still seeking independence.

S. Phangnon Konyak, a Naga Christian woman who heads the local women’s wing of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha or upper house of parliament by her party.

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As expected, BJP leaders called it revolutionary and empowering for women, especially in the context of a state that has so far not elected a single woman legislator to the local legislature.

Phangnon is only the second woman parliamentarian from the state and the first female among Nagas to be elected to the Rajya Sabha.

However, the episode has gradually become a Hindu-versus-Christianity issue, at least for some individuals and political players. Curiously, one church leader has jumped on the bandwagon.

“The people’s government with Christian votes has shamed and destroyed the image of every Christian and that of the Christian state”

“In the context where the majority are Christians, if Christians do not involve themselves in politics, there is a 100 percent chance that we are giving an opportunity to a non-Christian government in a Christian-dominated state,” said Dr. Villo Naleo, dean of Shalom Bible Seminary and committee convener of the Clean Election Movement under the Nagaland Baptist Church Council.

The remark could have been possibly dismissed as an exceptional statement. But the developments suggest there is a thought process which does not feel comfortable with the growth trajectory of the BJP in Christian-dominated Nagaland even as the saffron party has sought to promote women.

“The people’s government with Christian votes has shamed and destroyed the image of every Christian and that of the Christian state,” said Nagaland Congress chief Kewekhape Therie.

He was perhaps more displeased as no individual or party among the 60 Naga elected members of the Legislative Assembly opposed the “Delhi move,” resulting in the uncontested election of Phangnon Konyak.

Her candidacy was supported by two provincial outfits, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party and the Naga People’s Front.

“All the 60 legislature members did not hesitate to vote for the BJP, thus they have converted Nagaland into a Hindutva state government,” said Therie, a former state minister.

But Nagas have always been sensitive about their Christian credentials and in the past even suspicions about communist influence in Naga life and politics have been debated

Therie’s statement could be attributed to political motives and efforts to gain mileage when his party — once a dominant outfit — is now a marginalized entity in the state.

But Nagas have always been sensitive about their Christian credentials and in the past even suspicions about communist influence in Naga life and politics have been debated.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Naga militant groups were compelled to use the slogan “Nagaland for Christ” after the guerrillas received support from China. In fact, even underground militant groups often make references to the Bible when issuing press statements.

One such statement came in March 2001. It was related to a Naga group’s efforts to justify levying taxes on civilians, quoting Matthew 22:22: “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.”

Of course, from the government’s point of view, these were plain extortion demands and have been deemed illegal.

In the 1990s, Naga militant groups also issued statements saying the “good of communism” need not be discarded. One such statement was: “Mad dogmatism should be discarded. Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought are scientific socialism.”

The Clean Election Movement was formed by Baptist leaders to clean up Nagaland’s notoriously corrupt and sleazy political system. Church leader Naleo also lamented that rampant corruption and unfair electoral practices in Nagaland are “sacrilegious to Christian ethos and principles.” Naga Christians have “failed miserably in upholding Christian values” in the political arena, he said.

“I am a devout Christian and my family elders were reverends and pastors. Hindutva has nothing to do with politics. Religion is personal”

Corruption and the influence of money are well-known menaces to the election system in Nagaland, as in other parts of India.

“Corruption is eating into the inherent virtues of simple Naga people,” Father John Kavas of Kohima Diocese and principal of Don Bosco School in state capital Kohima, said in 2018.

Earlier that year, the BJP had fielded 20 candidates in alliance with a regional partner for assembly polls and was able to win as many as 12 seats.

The BJP — often dubbed one of the most resourceful parties — now shares power in the state and also has a deputy chief minister and its ministers holding key portfolios including home and health.

The impact of Hindu influence on Naga politics remains to be seen. Nagaland is getting ready for yet another round of elections in early 2023. And the BJP — notwithstanding its Hindu chauvinism image — is here to stay in the state.

Phangnon Konyak for her part has dismissed linking Hindutva to the BJP’s work in Nagaland. “Instead my party is doing politics of development and empowerment of women. I am a devout Christian and my family elders were reverends and pastors. Hindutva has nothing to do with politics. Religion is personal,” she told UCA News.

* The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.

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