216020 CONSEJERÍA DE MEDIO AMBIENTE Y ORDENACIÓN DEL TERRITORIO

Militarization of the region created fear. According to Mullick, ‘two Divisions of the army and thirty-five battalions of Assam Rifles or armed Police were in operations’ in the region.215 _{A division in the Indian military has 15,000 soldiers while a battalion has 1,000} soldiers. Thus, the total number of military personnel deployed in the region was 15,000 x 2 + 1,000 x 35, which amounts to 65,000. Looking at it in the light of the total Naga population at the time, which according to Census of India 1951 was 213,000,216 _there

210 _{Linyu, Christian Movements in Nagaland, 149.}

211 _{Longri Ao, ‘Greetings from Wakching Hills, 10 December 1964’}

212 _{‘Speech of Longri Ao, Inaugural Service of the Nagaland Peace Council, Chedema, 29 May 1974.’} 213 _{Quoted in Rao, Longri Ao, 80.}

214 _{Linyu, Christian Movements in Nagaland, 151.} 215 _{Mullick, My Years with Nehru, 312.}

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was one security personnel for every 3.28 Naga. The situation was amplified by the empowerment of the military personnel by a draconian law, the AFSPA. In April 1996 a 14-member Fact Finding Mission consisting of, among others, lawyers and journalists visited the states of north-east India where the AFSPA was under operation. The mission’s report summarized the condition of the civilians under the Act as follows:

In all the states, the teams met with countless people and heard accounts of the harassment that they face regularly in the ‘safe of their own homes’. At times like this women and children are manhandled, and the men most often, beaten up and taken away for ‘interrogation’.

It was found that during this kind of harassment, the women are doubly victimised. Even routine road checks have sexual overtones, and molestation and rape by security personnel is frighteningly rampant. In many rural areas, women no longer dare to go to the fields, the market or even customary gatherings alone …217

Military outposts were established by the Indian army and paramilitary forces in every village with check-posts every few miles.218 The public suffered the most through frequent frisking and interrogation for suspicion in these check-posts. Writing from his own personal observation of the treatment of the common people by the security personnel in Nagaland, Indian sociologist, Walter Fernandes, noted:

More than once I have had the experience of a bus, in which I was travelling, being stopped by security forces at the Nagaland border and all the Nagas and their luggage being searched. But two of us non- Nagas were not examined, thus the local people are treated as foreigners in their own land.219

Thus the whole society lived with constant terror of being frisked, interrogated or even killed by the armed personnel. It was in this context that the so-called 1950s Naga revival began and spread among the Naga Baptist churches. The Jubilee Souvenir of the Nagaland Christian Revival Church (NCRC) summarized the context of the 1950s revival as follows:

The overall political situation was very dark … Almost all the villages were burnt down and people of different villages were grouped together in new places. With no shelter, food and other basic necessities

217 _{Where ‘Peacekeepers’ have declared war: Report of violations of democratic rights by security forces}

and the impact of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act on civilian life in the seven states of the north- east (New Delhi: National Campaign Committee Against Militarisation and Repeal of AFSPA, 1997), 96-

97.

218 _{‘Main roads are often nothing more than a series of check posts, where locals are subjected to the}

harassment of identification, questioning and even detention without being furnished any reasons.’ Where ‘Peacekeepers’ have declared war, 96.

219 _{Walter Fernandes, ‘Limits of Law and Order Approach to the North-East,’ Economic and Political}

of life with atrocities, they suffered untold sufferings. Thus, a spiritual bankruptcy, coupled with the turbulent political situation, the people cried for a new visitation of God.220

Thus, it was in the context of the socio-political uncertainty and the conflict situation that the 1950s Naga church revival occurred. In this predicament, many found solace in the Christian message of hope. People turned to the churches for spiritual succour and spent time in fellowship ‘that lasted for many hours of praying and singing, crying and confessing of sins.’221 _{The revival, noted Bendangjungshi, was ‘a herald of salvation, a} longing for heaven and release from present tyranny.’222

However, it would be wrong to speak of the 1950s revival as simply a reaction to the socio-political predicament. It was also, as noted by NCRC in the above quotation, an attempt to deal with ‘spiritual bankruptcy and stagnation’ that many felt needed to be dealt with. Already in 1943 American Baptist missionary, JE Hunter had expressed concern over the spiritual condition of the Naga Baptist churches: ‘The Spiritual condition of the churches leaves much to be desired. A revival is greatly needed. Legalism and ritualism are two tendencies that work even in Baptist churches to hinder their spiritual life.’223 _{Rikum Ao, whose ministry triggered the revival movement, also noted how many} people at that time, like him, were Christians by virtue of being born in a Christian home without an actual ‘personal’ experience.224

According to the existing literature, the revival movement could be traced back to the teaching of the aforementioned American Baptist missionary, Hunter, from whom Rikum Ao learned about the revival.225 This was based on Rikum’s own statement: ‘From 1949 late Dr. C.E. Hunter showed the way. He was filled with the Holy Spirit … Through Scripture and song, he taught about examination of sin, seeking the Holy Spirit, filling

220 _{NCRC, Revival, 2.}

221 _{Chase-Roy, Women in Transition, 156.}

222 _{Bendangjungshi, Confessing Christ in the Naga Context, 90.}

223 _{JE Hunter, ‘Digest of Field Reports: Impur’ ABMC (November 5-9 1943), 18.} 224 _{Ao, 1952 nungi Naga Revival, 2.}

225 _{Longkumer, Akumla. Revival in Nagaland: Fact or Fallacy? Aolijen: CTC, 1986; NCRC, Revival:}

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with the Holy Spirit, seeking the power of Pentecost, persistent prayer, believer’s witness everywhere by everyone’ (English translation mine).226 _{Rikum had worked with Hunter} at the Impur Mission Centre for two years, from 1949 to 1950.227

However, Rikum also wrote that it was only while attending the ‘Allahabad Holy Spirit Revival’228 _{that he had the practical experience of the revival. Rikum did his} theological study at the Allahabad Bible Seminary during 1950-51. Temsu Imchen, Rikum’s son, also noted during the interview that it ‘was after he returned from Allahabad that he started the revival.’229 _{This brought to question the key role attributed to Hunter in} the beginning of the 1950s Naga church revival. There is no doubt that Hunter and Rikum shared the same concern for the poor spiritual state of the Naga Baptist churches of the time, and that the former must have mentored the latter in his pursuit of a response to it. But the charismatic nature of the revival clearly indicates a Pentecostal origin. Hunter’s name was thrown into the mix possibly in an attempt to present a missionary origin of the revival. In a context of transition, where much emphasis was given on continuing the missionary legacy, this was a key bargaining power. Thus, it can be argued that although Hunter might have spoken about the need for revival, the 1950s Naga church revival traced its root to the Pentecostal revival at Allahabad. This locates the 1950s Naga church revival in the global Pentecostal movement.

When the Pentecostal movement started in the early twentieth century, there was much opposition from the mainline churches. However, by the middle of the twentieth century, Pentecostal beliefs and practices were finding their way into the mainline churches. Many outside the classical Pentecostal churches were by then exposed to

226 _{Ao, 1952 nungi Naga Revival, 1.}

227 _{They were also neighbours. Interview of Temsu Imchen, Dimapur, 20 October 2016. Temsu Imchen is}

the son of Rikum Ao.

228 _{From the 1940s, a charismatic revival, characterised by ‘all night prayer meetings’ and emphasizing the}

work of the Holy Spirit swept the city of Allahabad. ‘The Allahabad Pentecostal Church: A Brief History’ Available at http://allahabadpentecostalchurch.com/our-church.html (Accessed on 21-10-2015).

Pentecostal experiences through contact with Pentecostal ministry or literature. This resulted in what came to be known as the charismatic movement in the mainline churches. This often resulted in division within the mainline churches resulting in formation of charismatic churches, which though sharing many of the Pentecostal beliefs and practices, do not consider themselves to be Pentecostal. The charismatic revival among the Naga Baptist churches in the 1950s was one such incident.

In 1952 Rikum began to teach his new-found experience calling people to ‘total repentance.’230 _{In the month of June he visited Longkum Baptist church and held an} evangelistic meeting. His preaching in the village Baptist church resulted in church services characterised by prayer and crying in repentance.231 _{Seven members of the church} also declared to have received the Holy Spirit. They were: Ayimneken, Armakba, Lanuwati, Ngangshimeyu, Tsupongngangchet, Tsuinloin and Tiameren.232 _Ayimneken, one of the first ‘seven’, shared during the interview that Rikum’s message at Longkum Baptist church in 1952 had two components: first, repentance, which when true will be experienced as a ‘cold’ sensation (mekong mekonga) by the penitent; second, receiving of the Holy Spirit, which the recipient will feel as ‘warm’ sensation (lem lema).233

The revival was charismatic in nature, and many spiritual happenings were reported. Phuveyi Dozo, an eyewitness of the movement, summarized the nature of the 1950s revival as follows:

Miracles were performed, revival songs were heard everywhere, reconciliations were made, Christian love was restored, vision, prophesy, ecstasy and glossolalia (languages) were phenomenal, non- Christians rushed to see the miracle and became Christians in individuals and groups. Churches were all packed. Food, sleep and farming were all forgotten, but the believers lacked nothing; Church extensions became necessary in so many places.234

230 _{Ao, 1952 nungi Naga Revival, 3.} 231 _{Ao, 1952 nungi Naga Revival, 3.}

232 _{Interview of Ayimneken. He is presently the only surviving member of the ‘seven’.} 233 _{Interview of Ayimneken.}

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As such, the 1950s revival introduced for the first time a charismatic element to the Naga Christian spirituality. It is also very significant for the development of Naga Christian theology. For the first time, it challenged the Naga Christians to wrestle with the differing doctrinal understandings of the third person of the Trinity. It led to the first theological controversy among the Naga churches.

The message of the revival was repentance and experience of the Holy Spirit. This message found fertile ground for acceptance in a context where people lived in a state of fear, both temporal and eternal. People look beyond their daily misfortunes and yearn for a deeper experience of the divine. In such a context, the Christian message of hope, both temporal and eternal, was found attractive.