Police torture kills 1,184 persons in custody

Police torture kills 1,184 persons in custody in India in the last eight years – Maharashtra records the highest deaths in police custody – http://www.achrweb.org/press/2009/IND0209.html
FCC South Asia, New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) in its report
Torture in India 2009 released to the media today stated that in the last eight years (from 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2009), an estimated 1,184 persons were killed in police custody in India. Most of the victims were killed as a result of torture within the first 48 hours after being taken into custody.
The highest number of custodial deaths was reported in Maharashtra (192 cases) followed by Uttar Pradesh (128), Gujarat (113), Andhra Pradesh (85), West Bengal (83), Tamil Nadu (76), Assam (74), Karnataka (55), Punjab (41), Madhya Pradesh (38), Bihar and Rajasthan (32 each), Haryana (31), Kerala (30), Jharkhand (29), Delhi (25), Orissa (24), Chhattisgarh (23), Uttarakhand and Meghalaya (16 each), Arunachal Pradesh (11), Jammu and Kashmir and Tripura (9 each), Puducherry and Chandigarh (3 each), Himachal Pradesh (2) while Manipur, Goa, Sikkim, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli recorded one case each.
These deaths in custody do not however represent the actual number of deaths in police custody in India. A number of cases of custodial death taken up by ACHR with the NHRC show that the NHRC was not informed by the police about these custodial deaths. While the NHRC has expressed its anguish against the failure to report these cases of custodial deaths but the NHRC’s guidelines on reporting custodial deaths within 24 hours continue to be flouted, stated Mr Suhas Chakma, Director of ACHR.
Further, deaths in the custody of the armed forces and the Indian Army under the control of the Central government are not reported to the NHRC as it does not have jurisdiction to investigate violations committed by the armed forces under Section 19 of the Human Rights Protection Act, 1993. ACHR itself has filed 50 complaints of extrajudicial killings from 2003 to 2009 from Manipur alone. Many of these alleged extrajudicial killings were indeed deaths in the custody of the Manipur Police Commandos but since the Manipur Police Commandos claim to be conducting operations jointly with the central armed forces, the deaths in the custody of the Manipur Police Commandos are not reported to the NHRC€ ¢’´ further stated Mr Chakma.
The report stated that high number of deaths in custody exposes the abject failure of the 1996 DK Basu Judgment that provides the procedures to be followed while making arrests.
Further, one of the key failures of the DK Basu guidelines is that its compliance is confined only to cases of arrests made under Sections 41 (when police may arrest without warrant) and 74 (Warrant directed to police officer) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (as amended up to date). It does not apply to those who are summoned but not formally arrested, further stated Mr Chakma.
Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008 is a sham:
The Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008 being brought by the government of India is a sham. The Bill contains only three operative paragraphs relating to definition of torture, punishment for torture and limitations for cognizance of offences falls.
The Prevention of Torture Bill 2008 falls far short of obligations that the States ratifying the CAT must undertake. It provides € ¢’³narrow and restrictive definition of torture´ with no reference to death as a result of torture. It provides for lenient punishment for torture contrary to the punishments provided under the Indian Penal Code for similar offences. Further, the six months bar for taking cognizance of offences under the proposed Bill is contrary to the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973.
Asian Centre for Human Rights recommended that the Supreme Court should amend the Guidelines issued in the D K Basu judgment to apply from the moment of summons issued by the police or detention with the police when acting in an official capacity; the NHRC should distinguish in its statistics between custodial deaths through natural causes and custodial deaths resulting from abuses of human rights; the government of India should send the Prevention of Torture Bill, 2008 to Parliamentary Standing Committee for organizing public hearing to ensure its conformity with the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the government of India should ratify the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and its Optional Protocol; and the government of India should extend an invitation to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Liberhan Wanted To Extricate Advani

“It Was Apparent That Justice Liberhan Wanted To Extricate Advani From The Babri Demolition”
In 1999, Anupam Gupta, a respected lawyer of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was appointed counsel for the Liberhan Commission set up to inquire into the Babri Masjid demolition. He left it in 2007 when serious differences cropped up between him and Justice M.S. Liberhan over the role of L.K. Advani in the demolition. Known for his activism against corruption in the judiciary, it was he who raised the stature of the commission from an obscure fact-finding body to the investigation juggernaut it later became, kindling expectations that its final report would be objective, comprehensive and hard-hitting. Stipulated to submit its report within six months, the commission took 17 years and a record 48 extensions to finally submit its report on June 30 this year. Shortly after, Gupta spoke to Chander Suta Dogra on his days with the commission and his differences with the justice over Advani.
For the complete story with pictures please click
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MangaloreanCatholics/message/17935

Babri report: You actually took 17 years, Mr Liberhan?

By Anand Soondas
To be brutally honest, it is a sheer and blatant travesty of “investigation” to take almost two decades to close what was little more than an open and shut case. Leaders were seen inciting mobs to tear down the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on a day that may have permanently changed for the worse the psyche of large sections of people in India – both in the minority and majority communities.
Come to think of it, BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders were caught on tape, caught on camera and caught in the eyes of thousands of people exhorting frenzied crowds to bludgeon and batter the masjid. Ek dhakka aur do – give one push more – had been the battle cry for many in the Parivar, each as obsessed as the foot soldiers they were leading not just to destroy a place of worship but the very fabric of communal harmony that clothed India.
This case did not need investigative prowess and intelligence gathering acumen as much as it needed the courage of conviction, grand principles of justice, an acute sense of what’s wrong and right – on the part of the governments, then and those that followed, and on the part of those handed the enormous responsibility of pinning blame on the clutch of people responsible for what must surely rank as one of India’s biggest blotches – along with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and the Godhra violence.
It’s also startling and reeks of great indifference on the part of respective governments that the Liberhan Commission wasn’t given a strict deadline to finish off a probe that always tottered and never walked straight with the determination of direction. Or that MS Liberhan, the former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, himself wasn’t changed when there was little to show for things even after a decade. That the end has come after a staggering 17 years, 48 extensions, 400 sittings and Rs 9 crore of public money is a marvel on its own. This can perhaps be tolerated only in India.
In his defence, Liberhan has said he got little cooperation from people who mattered. Though he added he will not name them right away. We may or never know who these people were, but don’t bet on it. Under the Commissions of Inquiry Act, the UPA government has six months to share in Parliament Liberhan’s findings and the action taken report. But, as TOI reported today, “tabling of the report in the two Houses will depend on how swiftly the government wants to act on the recommendations”.
If you ask me, the government will be in no hurry. Some players in the sordid saga are already dead, others too infirm, yet others have been completely marginalized during the time this report has seen the light of day. Taking action, even if this government gathers the guts to do it, will not mean the same anymore. Justice, like all things else, is only relevant when the injured party is agonizing about it. I get the feeling that the modern Muslim and the modern Hindu just wants to wash his hands of the blot, use a sanitizer to let go of the stench and move on. Good for the country. So, here’s hoping a place of worship is never attacked in India again, but in case there is such a tragedy, let’s hope the government works on a time frame to deliver its verdict on the sully, if not justice
Source: Times of India

First Malayalam TV Reporter Dies

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Kerala (SAR News) – Malayalam Television’s first reporter passed away 29 June at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala’s state capital. He was 48 years old. Survived by his wife and daughter, John Ulahannan was interned at his home parish in Kidangoor near Pala (Kottayam District), 1st July.
His body was kept for public viewing both at Doordarshan Kendra and Press Club Thiruvanathapuram, 30 June. Cutting across Kerala’s political divide several political leaders and ministers paid homage. The Kerala Chief Minister as well as the leader of the opposition also expressed their condolence as well as high words of praise.
“It was really sad to hear about John Ulahannan’s demise. He [was] a very familiar face for everyone who used to watch DD news. He was really talented journalist. Now, I can’t see any T.V reporters around in Malayalam who can be compared with him, in personality and presentation. We will miss him,” says Jo-ban commenting on blog news about Ulahannan’s demise.
The first Malayalee Television reporter, Ulahannan was popular among Doordarshan (state owned television channel) viewers at the time when no other channels were available.
Alumnus of St. Thomas College Pala and Press Club Thiruvananthapuram he started his career with Enadu group’s first English language daily Newstime at Hyderabad in 1985 and joined Doordarshan Thiruvananthapuram in 1989 to become the first Malayalee Television reporter.
Joining Doordarshan’s Malayalam channel, Ulahannan had a meteoric rise as television journalist. He was a familiar face among the Doordarshan viewers for his style of reporting and news presentation.
He reported Gulf War for Doordarshan and was winner of the prestigious “Statesman Award for Rural Reporting” established in 1979 by India’s oldest newspaper The Statesman, Calcutta.

Spiritual Adoption of Priests!

Year for Priests Special: A Worldwide Campaign
Priests are the greatest benefactors of humanity because it is through them that Christ continues to re-enact his unique sacrifice for the salvation of humankind. It is through them that he extends his forgiving hands and opens his heart full of Divine Mercy. Called to be the living monuments of Christ’s love in the world today, the priests spend their whole life, for God and His people. They need prayer support to live heroically their priestly commitment and mission in today’s challenging world.
Spiritual adoption consists in offering up of prayers and sacrifices, during this year of priests, for a specific priest who will be assigned to you. Sign up by sending an email to adoptapriest@gmail.com if you or your family would like to adopt a priest spiritually (your name, address, country, email ID required). The priest whom you adopt will pray for you in return. More details will be provided on request when you sign up.
Priests who would like to be adopted spiritually, please write to adoptapriest@gmail.com submitting the details:  Priest’s name, address, country, year of priestly ordination, present ministry, email. You will be informed about who would be adopting you spiritually.
The aim of this ministry is to strengthen the sanctity of priests through spiritual adoption by religious and lay people. We want to let every Catholic priest of the world know that someone has adopted him spiritually during this year of priests (June 19, 2009 to June 19, 2010) declared by Pope Benedict XVI.
How can I spiritually adopt a priest?
Adopting a priest spiritually is very simple. You can adopt a priest spiritually by offering up to God various spiritual deeds for the sanctification of a particular priest.  Given below are a few examples. Praying and interceding for the priest (see below some model prayers which could be used daily).
This is the core of spiritual adoption.
1. Praying the rosary.
2. Praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
3. Participation in the Eucharist.
4. Offering Masses for the intention of the priest.
5. Making Visits to the Blessed Sacrament.
6. Making Eucharistic adoration.
7. Offering up to Almighty God your little sacrifices, sufferings, privations of life, etc for the sanctification of the priest whom you adopt.
8. Fast, abstinence, penances, mortifications, etc.
9.  Making a sincere examination of conscience and a good confession.
10.  Doing acts of reparation for the sins of the priest.
11.  Doing acts of kindness to the priest including gestures of appreciation
12.  Visiting holy places like Marian shrines, grottos, places of pilgrimage.
13.  Doing acts of charity for the needy.
14.  Speaking well of priests in spite of their imperfections.
15.  Avoid listening to and spreading gossip about priests.
Whatever you do, do it out of love for Christ and his priest.

Pakistani Christian Murdered for drinking tea from a Muslim Cup

International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that radical Muslims running a tea stall beat a Christian man to death for using a cup designated for Muslims on May 9. The young man, Ishtiaq Masih, had ordered tea at a roadside stall in Machharkay village, Punjab, Pakistan, after his bus stopped to allow passengers to relieve themselves. When Ishtiaq went to pay for his tea, the owner noticed that he was wearing a necklace with a cross and grabbed him, calling for his employees to bring anything available to beat him for violating a sign posted on the stall warning non-Muslims to declare their religion before being served. Ishtiaq had not noticed the warning sign before ordering his tea, as he ordered with a group of his fellow passengers. The owner and 14 of his employees beat Ishtiaq with stones, iron rods and clubs, and stabbed him multiple times with kitchen knives as Ishtiaq pleaded for mercy.
The other bus passengers and other passers-by finally intervened and took Ishtiaq to the Rural Health Center in the village. There Ishtiaq died as a result of spinal, head, and chest injuries. The doctor who took Ishtiaq’s case told ICC that Ishtiaq had excessive internal and external bleeding, a fractured skull, and brain injuries. Makah Tea Stall is located on the Sukheki-Lahore highway and is owned by Mubarak Ali, a 42-year-old radical Muslim. ICC’s correspondent visited the tea stall and observed that a large red warning sign with a death’s head symbol was posted which read, “All non-Muslims should introduce their faith prior to ordering tea. This tea stall serves Muslims only.” The warning also threatened anyone who violated the rule with “dire consequences.”
A neighboring shopkeeper told ICC on condition of anonymity that Ali is a fundamentalist Muslim and all his employees are former students of radical Muslim madrassas (seminaries). Ali kept separate sets of cooking-ware for Muslims and non-Muslims at his stall. Ishtiaq’s family said that they immediately reported the incident to the police and filed a case against Ali. Though the police registered their case, no action has been taken to apprehend Ali or his employees. When ICC asked the Pindi Bhatian Saddar police station about the murder, the police chief said that investigations were underway and they are treating it as a faith-based murder by biased Muslims. When asked about Ali’s warning sign, police chief Muhammad Iftikhar Bajwa claimed that he could not take it down.
However, the constitution of Pakistan explicitly prohibits such discrimination, and the police could take strong action against the warning sign. But because the police are also Muslim, Ishtiaq’s father claims that they are being derelict in their duties to prosecute the murderers who are still freely operating the tea stall. Do contact the Pakistani embassy to protest this heinous crime.
Pakistan High Comission , India
2/50 G, Shantipath Chanakyapuri
New Delhi 110021
Phone: +91-11-2611-0601 / +91-11-2611-0603 / +91-11-2611-0605 / +91-11-2467-6004 / +91-11-2467-8467
Fax: +91-11-2687-2339 / 2688 8330 / 2688 8353
Email: Pakhc@nda.vsnl.net.in

Brain washing of Meghalaya kids in varna system

Shimoga, Jun 19:  Sri Raghaveshwara Bharati Swamiji, spiritual head of Ramachandrapur Mutt Hosanagar, has provided shelter and is trying to rekindle hope besides driving home a sense of security among a hundred migrant children from Meghayala state. He has taken upon himself the responsibility of tending and educating them.
During his visit to Meghalaya some time back, the Swamiji was approached by local nomads there, who expressed their concern about the safety and security of their children and sought guidance from him. In tune with the assurance given by him then, Raghaveshwara Swamiji has arranged for providing them the Indian ‘Gurukul’ system of education.
The children, whose average age is between four and five years, arrived at the land and language to which they are strangers, on June 13. The teachers of Gurukul have taken upon themselves the challenge of acclimatizing the children to the new environment, language and customs. The Swamiji is of the opinion that Indian culture can be conserved only when one accepts such challenges. The teachers and students are trying to pick up the language of Meghalaya so that the children would feel at home.
The children from Meghalaya have been provided accommodation in the main building of Hosanagar Mutt. The Swamiji is of the opinion that the Indian way of life can be spread to Meghalaya once the children get education here and go back to their roots to guide the society there?
Daijiworld Media Network – Shimoga (SP)
http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=61467&n_tit=Shimoga%3A+Tiny+Tots+from+Distant+Meghalaya+finding+Hope+in+Ramachandrapur+Mutt

USCIRF Regrets Absence of Visas for Visit to India

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) regrets that visas have not been issued by the Indian government for a USCIRF visit to discuss religious freedom conditions with officials, religious leaders, civil society activists and others in the world’s largest democracy.
As a U.S. government body, visits by the Commission must have official status. USCIRF obtained U.S. State Department support, made travel arrangements, and requested meetings with a variety of officials. Despite this, the Indian government did not issue the USCIRF delegation visas. The Commissioners were to have left the United States on June 12.
The aim of the long-requested trip was to discuss religious freedom conditions in India, home to a multitude of religious communities that have historically co-existed. India has experienced an increase in communal violence against religious communities in recent years and the USCIRF Commissioners sought to discuss the Indian government’s responses to this, and its development of preventive strategies at the local and national levels. According to information before USCIRF, the Indian justice system has prosecuted only a handful of persons responsible for communal violence and related abuses since the mid 1980s.
In 2002, USCIRF recommended India be designated a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) following events in Gujarat that resulted in an estimated 2,000 deaths. Although India was removed from the CPC list in 2005, USCIRF has continued to monitor, report, and comment publicly on events in the country, including last year’s violence in
Orissa, attacks in Mumbai, and other events.
The Indian government did not offer alternative dates for a visit. USCIRF first tried to obtain visas for India in 2001. This would have been the Commission’s first visit to India. India joins Cuba as the only other nation to have refused all USCIRF requests to visit.
“We are particularly disappointed by the new Indian government’s refusal to facilitate an official U.S. delegation to discuss religious freedom issues and government measures to counter communal violence, which has a religious component,” said Commission chair Felice D. Gaer.
“Our Commission has visited China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and over 20 other countries. India, a close ally of the United States, has been unique among democracies in delaying and denying USCIRF’s ability to visit. USCIRF has been requesting visits since 2001.“
USCIRF issues its annual report on religious freedom each May and this year’s India section was delayed because of the planned USCIRF trip
“We wanted to hear from all sectors of Indian society, and allow these diverse perspectives to shape our report,” said Gaer. In the absence of in-country travel, USCIRF will release a report on India later this summer.
USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government commission.
USCIRF Commissioners are appointed by the President and the leadership of both political parties in the Senate and the House of Representatives. USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State and Congress.
To interview a USCIRF Commissioner, contact Tom Carter, Communications Director at <tcarter@uscirf.gov>
June 17, 2009, http://www.uscirf.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2524&Ite\
mid=1

Amazing Auto Driver in Mumbai*

Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai.
Last Sunday, my wife, kid and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different?
As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver’s back rest. I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel. My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked around again, and discovered more -there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths‘ from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.
I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished. I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer’s plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell. “Sahab, ghar mein baith ke TV dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega.” (Sir, what’s the use of simply sitting at home and watching TV? If I earn some income, then it will be useful in the future.)
We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: 25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs50. He also said that his auto was mentioned on Radio Mirchi twice by the station RJs. The Marathi press in Mumbai knows about him and has written a few pieces on him and his vehicle.
My wife and I were struck with awe. The man is a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect. I know that my son, once he grows up, will realise that we have met a genuine hero. He has put questions to me such as why should we help other people? I will try to keep this incident alive in his memory.
Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai my temporary home. We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man.
He has got a first aid box on the left and a newspaper box on right (which had all hindi-english- marathi-gujrati and economic times).
He has got a tv on the top with cable (I was watching colors channel) and below that is the tissue box. On the left is the mandir types and don’t miss the “Only gandhigiri” written there, below that is the calendar and a notepad and pen along with a blue fan (which is blowing towards the customer who sits) 25% discount for handicapped!! Who on this earth can expect something like this from a rickshawala yaar!!
It’s amazing there are people still alive like him in this world! I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr. Sander Bache in his auto rickshaw.
* Posted by: “Suita Dissolve”, MangaloreanCatholics@gmail.com, Wed Jun 17, 2009 2:18 am (PDT)

Orissa: Memmorandum to National Minority Commission

The Hon’ble Members of the Minority Commission, Govt. of India, New Delhi, 10^th June 2009
Dear Madam / Sir,
On behalf of Orissa United Forum of Churches I would like to appreciate your concern and constant support for the affected people of Kandhamal. After the communal violence, the members of the Minority Commission have visited Kandhamal and also met various stakeholders, including the leaders of the Church to get to know first hand information of the situation. While I thank you for all your efforts, I take this opportunity to brief you on the present status and the views of the Orissa United Forum of Churches.
Security threat still looms large:
Even after 9 months after the second violence on 23 August 2008, over 4,000 people are either in the government run camps or in village camps. Despite the efforts of the district administration still in some GPs the situation is tensed and people cannot return to their villages. On 6 June the BDO of Raikia block took the people from Raikia camp to villages. As the villagers did not allow the people to enter the BDO had to bring the people back to the camps. The main reason is that the perpetrators of the violence are still scot-free and continue to incite the ordinary people. While the district administration focuses on humanitarian aid it did not keep up its promise in taking stern action against these culprits.
The leaders of the Church are of the opinion that unless the culprits are arrested and legal action is initiated, peace will not be established in Kandhamal. The district administration may be able to maintain law and order in the towns but in villages the condition is precarious. It is the responsibility of the State to provide security of life and property of all its citizens. If people have to have faith in the administration it is a must that the culprits are arrested immediately. Moreover, the culprits block the entry of NGOs, Church leaders and humanitarian agencies.
Food security:
While the government run camps are being provided with dry ration, those who were forced to leave the camps by the district administration and could not get back to the villages live in market places or outskirts of villages. They are over 2000. Their living condition is pitiable and many do not have enough food to eat. Basic food security must be ensured for the next few months by the state as people have lost everything and in the process of rebuilding their houses and livelihood.
Housing:
Providing houses to the victims is the primary responsibility of the Government. What the government has given is much less in terms of compensation. The Churches and humanitarian agencies are willing to play a supportive role in the house construction to the district administration. But the district administration must ensure safety and security of volunteers, aid workers and the materials. For example, in the first week of June when the members of the Church went to assess the damages in two villages in G Udayagiri they were not allowed. The district administration need to ensure housing for the people as the rainy season is fast approaching. If housing will take time then the district administration has to prepare itself to meet the emergency needs of the people during rains.
While we appreciate the efforts of the district administration in issuing advance land possession documents the process need to be quickened especially in Tikabali and G.Udayagiri Blocks.  Issuing Pattas (ROR) to those who have been given advance land possession document is also need to be speeded up.
Lack of support from local officials:
Yet another concern is that the support provided by the local administration to the villagers is weakening day by day. The peace committees are not functioning. We have requested the district administration to organize regular peace meetings as well as meeting among local officials, communities and aid workers so that the peace process could be speeded up.
Invitation to NGOs and INGOs:
The needs of the affected people in Kandhamal are enormous – food, shelter, health, livelihood etc. We do not know the plans of the government to address these concerns. On the other hand humanitarian agencies are hesitating to come forward to work in Kandhamal since in the initial stage the state denied admission to human rights and humanitarian organizations. If the administration can send out an open invitation to humanitarian agencies many of them are willing and ready to support the housing programme and various needs of the people. We make an appeal that that the state in collaboration with district administration could organize a state-wide consultation on ‘Peace building in Kandhamal’ inviting all humanitarian organizations, so that many agencies will come forward to work in Kandhamal.
Compensation package to people:
The compensation package provided to people is minimum. Given the fact that the people could not involve in normal activities for the past 9 months, a good portion of the compensation provided by the state for housing is already spent by the people on various basic needs like medicine, education, food etc. The state must ensure that people are provided with employment opportunity so that food security can be ensured.
Compensation package to religious and public institutions:
The compensation offered to partially or fully damaged Churches, religious places and other institutions is far too less of the actual need.  Hence once again we appeal to you to help us to provide with reasonable compensation support by the state and centre to these religious places and institutions.
We the members of Orissa United Forum of Churches believe that you would use your good office to get justice to the affected people.
Thanking you for your support and understanding.
Yours faithfully,
Fr. Joseph Kalathil
For Orissa United Forum of Churches, C/o Archbishop’s House, Satyanagar, Bhubaneswar – 751 007

Indian Priests & Religious Hold Vigil For Sr Alphonsa

The Vigil Service for the canonization of Sr Alphonsa, on Saturday 11th October to be held in the 17th century Church of SS. Biagio e Carlo ai Catinari, near Torre Argentina, is organized by the Indian Priests, Sisters and Brothers Union (IPSBU).

The two hour programme starting at 5 pm will consist of a short documentary film on the life and message of Bl. Alphonsa followed by a Lectio Divina and a reflection by Dr. Jacob Srammpikal SJ director of Centre for Communication Studies at Gregorian University and former director of NISCORT (National Institute of Social Communications Research and Training), New Delhi.

“His eminence Cardinal Ivan Dias, Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, Major Arch Bishop Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis, and Mother Ceelia the FCC have assured their presence at the meeting,” says the newly elected president of IPSBU, Fr. Thomas Marottipparayil OCD doing doctoral studies at the Gregorian.

“We would specially pray for the persecuted church in India, particularly in Orissa, reeling under the pain of the communal carnage which is taking place since 24 August,” adds the Carmelite priest representing IPSBU established in 1950 and has over 1,700 members in Rome.

Salesian University Hosts Religion Today Film Festival

For the first time, the Salesian University Rome (UPS) Social Communication’s Faculty (FSC) has teamed up to host Religion Today Film Festival in Rome. The RT-FSC festival collaboration started in December 2006. Last year, a controversial film by Iranian director Nader Talebzadeh entitled Jesus the Spirit of God, had its world premiere at FSC (8 Oct 2007).

“We consider it our privilege to host RT festival in our faculty as we are interested in Cinema, Religion and Peace. Besides we have about 200 students from 35 countries,” said FSC dean Dr Franco Lever. Indian professor Dr Peter Gonsalves at FSC is the Executive Coordinator of the RT-FSC festival.

 

The festival at FSC is scheduled to be held 24-26 October with two morning sessions for students from the Communications faculties of Roman universities who will watch films and interact with film directors. There will also be three afternoon screenings and panel discussions with cine personalities and religious reps.

Archbishop Exposes Sangh Parivar’s Fears

Archbishop Dominic Jala of Shillong did not mince words in the memorandum submitted to Mr LK Advani who went to Shillong (29 Sept) to garner tribal and Christian votes for BJP Party a partner in the Orissa State Government where anti-Christian violence continues unabated since 24 August 2008.

 

The Archbishop reminds Advani, that ‘our beloved country has been known for its ancient civilization and for upholding values like Ahimsa, Truth, Tolerance and Respect for Religions. This picture has been very badly tarnished’.

 

‘We perceive the allegations of forced conversions by Christian communities as a strategy developed by vested interests in order to prevent Christian services of health, education, poverty alleviation and development on behalf of deprived communities. Conversion by force, allurements or deception goes against the teaching of the Catholic Church. Does not the Hindutva opposition to Christian activities come rather from the fear that many of the deprived communities may be so empowered as to assert their own rights and resist exploitation? All our works are carried out because we believe that Jesus Christ calls us to build a society founded on love, justice and social harmony’.

‘Given the record of attacks on Christians in various States ruled by the BJP (right wing Hindu party), we express our great doubts and anxiety for our future if our Country is governed by such a party again. Will the Christian communities ever feel secure and safe in their own home land? Will their rights ever be respected?  Will those who feel protected by such a government feel free to unleash waves of violent attacks and persecution on the helpless communities?  Verbal assurances are of no use to guarantee a safe and secure existence in our country.  We will keep praying that God may preserve our country and lead it along the path of peace and harmony among all people’.

Conversion business, by Khushwant Singh

Recent incidents of violence and vandalism against Christians and their churches deserve to be condemned unreservedly. They have blackened the fair face of Mother India and ruined the reputation of Hindus being the most religiously tolerant people in the world. At the same time, we must take a closer look at people who convert from one faith to another. To start with, let it be understood that these days there are no forced conversions anywhere in the world. India is no exception. Those who assert that the poor, innocent and ignorant of India are being forced to accept Christianity are blatant liars. A few, very few educated and well-to-do men and women convert to another faith when they do not find solace in the faith of their ancestors. Examples are to be found in America and Europe of men and women of substance turning from Judaism and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism.

 

There are also men and women who convert to the faith of those they wish to marry. We have plenty of cases of Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Sikh inter-marriages. However, the largest number of converts come from communities discriminated against. The outstanding example was that of Dalit leader Bhimrao Ambedkar who led his Mahar community to embrace Buddhism because they were discriminated against by upper caste Hindus. This is also true of over 90 per cent of Indian Muslims whose ancestors being lower caste embraced Islam which gave them equal status. That gives lie to the often-repeated slander that Islam made converts by the sword.

 

An equally large number of people converted out of gratitude. They were neglected, ignorant and poor. When strangers came to look after them, opened schools and hospitals for them, taught them, healed them and helped them to stand on their own feet to hold their heads high, they felt grateful towards their benefactors. Most of them were Christian missionaries who worked in remote villages and brought hope to the lives of people who were deprived of hope.

 

To this day, Christian missionaries run the best schools, colleges and hospitals in our country. They are inexpensive and free of corruption. They get converts because of the sense of gratitude they generate. Can this be called forcible conversion? Why don’t the great champions of Hinduism look within their hearts and find out why so many are disenchanted by their pretensions of piety? Let them first set their own houses in order, purge the caste system out of Hindu society and welcome with open arms all those who wish to join them. No one will then convert from Hinduism to another religion.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

[mukto-mona] Khushwant Singh: Conversion business

http://dailyalochona.blogspot.com/2008/10/mukto-mona-khushwant-singh-conversion.html

 

http://deccan.com/Columnists/Columnists.asp#Conversion%20business

Anti-Christian Violence Spreads to 12 States

24 August – 4 October 2008

ORISSA: 14 (of 30) Districts affected,  300 Villages damaged, 4,400 Houses burnt, 50,000 Homeless, 59 People killed including at least 2 pastors, 10 Priests/Pastors/Nuns injured, 18,000 Men, women, children injured, 2 Women gang-raped, 151 Churches destroyed, but attacks continuing and 13 Schools, colleges damaged.
BIHAR: 1 Church damaged
CHHATTISGARH: 4 Nuns assaulted
JHARKHAND: 1 Church attacked and attempted ‘reconversion’ of Christians
KARNATAKA:  4 (of 29) Districts affected, 22 Churches damaged or destroyed, still attacks continues, 20 Nuns, women injured by police
KERALA: 4 Churches damaged
MADHYA PRADESH: 4 Churches damaged and 4 schools vandalized
NEW DELHI: 2 Churches damaged and 4 attempts made
PUNJAB: 3 Christians harassed and imprisoned by police on false charges
TAMIL NADU: 4 Churches damaged
UTTAR PRADESH: 3 Pastors and a pastor’s wife beaten
UTTARAKHAND: 2 Christians murdered (priest and employee)

 

Released by Madhu Chandra, Regional Secretary, All India Christian Council New Delhi

aiccdelhi@gmail.com, www.aiccindia.

Religious Leaders’ Role in Trouble Times

“Religious leaders have a special responsibility to act as perceptive and committed leaders within the social fabric of a nation,” says Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati, a special invitee to the Synod of Bishops currently in progress in the Vatican. Reflecting on the current anti-Christian persecution raging in Orissa’s Kandhamal district and to eleven other Indian states he insists that, “they ought to be particularly leaders in the world of thought and of values.”

Politically motivated people tend to embellish and interpret the event according to their own political allegiance. Reporters are tempted to serve particular political or commercial interests. A wrong interpretation or presentation of a case of violence spreads anger and anxiety and can lead to further violence.

Religious leaders who rush in and take public stands before issues and events are clear, may be taking the risk of finding themselves on the wrong side or emphasizing a less important aspect. They make the mistake of those over-ardent justice-fighters I have mentioned above. That is why time and energy spent on study, reflection, analysis (I am referring to realistic analysis, not mere ideological analysis in which facts are forced to fit in with theories) and interpretation are never wasted. A good cause has a sturdiness of its own even before any battle is waged.

Mao thought that political power flowed from the barrel of the gun. Mahatma Gandhi’s political power flowed from the strength of his ideas and the rightness of his cause. This intelligent, righteous and balanced approach won him both admirers and followers on every continent.

The greatest contribution of religious leaders in times of crisis is to help people to discern the right manner of handling the problem that they are facing. Though many social activists today would consider denunciation of evil is the right manner of exercising their prophetic mission and the main contribution of religious leaders, I would consider inviting people to think and helping them to make intelligent and value-based decisions as the more important responsibility and the more useful assistance.

Salesian Surprise at FMA Chapter

At the end of the second week of Salesian Sisters’ 22^nd General Chapter (3 Oct) Fr. Carlos Garulo of Barcelona from the Salesian Generalate Rome and in charge of IUS (Salesian University Institutes) presented his book of poems comparing the life and deeds of St. John Bosco with the message of the different books of the Bible. His first volume is entitled “The Heart Beat of the Forest:: Genesis – Book of Origins and Germination” (El latido del bosque  Génesis. Libro de orígenes y germinaciones).

 

The presentation of his poems in Spanish language had four moments. After the reading of a textual commentary, author presented its corresponding poetic version. Third interactive moment consisted of question and answers with the author which led into the fourth moment, the recitation of another poem in which the audience joined, creating a counterpoint like in a Greek tragedy.  The poem referred to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians as an emblematic temple, and during this reading some of its images were projected.

 

The moment of surprise that totally floored the Chapter members was the rendition of an unscheduled poem – Portrait of Mother Mazzarello. It will be part of the author’s third book: The Heart Beat of the Forest.  Narrations and Chronicles.  Book of Figures and Stories, which will be published in 2010.

 

14 Indian Sisters at FMA GC22

During the Chapter which will end on 15 November, the 191 chapter members will elect a new Superior General and her Council. Of 14 chapter members from India (12 from six Indian provinces, plus one General Councilor and an East Africa provincial) 12 Sisters are attending a GC for the first time.

 

Most of the Indian Sisters will be at St Peter’s Square joining some 10,000 compatriots for the canonization of the first Indian woman, Clarist Sister Alphonsa, 18 October.

 

The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians founded by Don Bosco and Mother Maria Domenica Mazzarello in 1872, number 14,324 and are present in a variety of educative, social and evangelizing centres in the five continents (Africa-Madagascar: 465, America: 4.585 Asia: 2.185; Europe: 7.042; Oceania: 47).

Rosary Campaign for Persecuted Christians in Inida

During this month of the Holy Rosary, Salesian Fr. T.C. George, director of Visvadeep, Kristu Jyoti College Bangalore has launched a Rosary Campaign for the persecuted Christians and persecutors of Christians in Orissa and in other parts of India!

 

“You can join this powerful prayer campaign by pledging yourself to say as many rosaries as you can during this month of October dedicated to the rosary,” says Fr George professor of Dogmatic Theology.

 

“Together with Mother of Jesus who, in the company of the apostles, awaited the descent of the Holy Spirit, we contemplate the salvific mysteries and pray for an outpouring of the same Spirit on our country, India. Let the Mother of God usher in a new era, a springtime for God’s reign on our land,” he adds.

 

Volunteers may join this campaign by emailing their pledges in the following format:

I would like to join the Rosary Campaign by praying … … number of rosaries for the persecuted Christians and persecutors of Christians in India.

Your name: ……………

Place (state/country): ……………     to rosarycampaign@gmail.com .

 

“The rosaries said by you will be offered up during a special Marian Eucharistic celebration conducted on November 1, 2008, in Bangalore during which you will be specially remembered (for this reason we need your name) and will be lifted up to our loving God through the sacrificial offering of His Beloved Son Jesus Christ,” explains Fr George.

 

Historical Background

Apart from the signal defeat of the Albigensian heretics at the battle of Muret in 1213 which legend has attributed to the recitation of the Rosary by St. Dominic, it is believed that Heaven has on many occasions rewarded the faith of those who had recourse to this devotion in times of special danger.

 

More particularly, the naval victory of Lepanto gained by Don John of Austria over the Turkish fleet on the first Sunday of October in 1571 responded wonderfully to the processions made at Rome on that same day by the members of the Rosary confraternity. St. Pius V thereupon ordered that a commemoration of the Rosary should be made upon that day, and at the request of the Dominican Order pope Gregory XIII in 1573 allowed this feast to be kept in all churches which possessed an altar dedicated to the Holy Rosary.

 

In 1671 the observance of this festival was extended by pope Clement X to the whole of Spain, and somewhat later pope Clement XI after the important victory over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene on 6 August, 1716 (the feast of our Lady of the Snows), at Peterwardein in Hungary, commanded the feast of the Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church.

Power of the WORD Translated into Action

Indian Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati, a special invitee to the Synod of Bishops 2008 on the WORD OF GOD presenting the report on Asia, said that while Christianity was born on the continent, its declaration as the official religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century identified it so closely with the West that most Asians resisted its message. When Asians are drawn to Christianity, he said, they are attracted less by preaching than by the “‘word’ translated into action.” Offering health care and education, helping the unemployed and the oppressed, caring for people with AIDS or drug addictions, fighting the caste system and discrimination against women, Catholics have shown Asians the true meaning of the Gospel, the archbishop said. “Even where the Gospel is resisted most, the evangelical witness of socially relevant works finds welcome,” he said. “Silent but sincere service has an eloquence of its own.”

The Salesian archbishop referring directly to fundamentalist Hindu attacks on Christians in India recently, as well as other situations of pressure or outright persecution, Bishop Menamparampil said, “the patience manifested by the community, the restraint shown, the moderation in response, the spirit of forgiveness — all these have an evangelizing power.”

 

Gandhigiri* for Naveen Patnaik’s B’day

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is celebrating his 62nd birthday on Oct. 16. There is a discussion among some Christian groups to greet the chief minister on the occasion.

“Since we love those who hate us, please do not fail to send him special birthday greetings from the Christian community, especially from those who are impressed by his efforts to uphold the honour of women (by taking up the rape case of the nun in Orissa 40 days after the incident and coming on TV channel personally assuring her protection) and enforce the rule of law in his state,” they say.

You could email the Chief Minister’s Office: cmo@ori.nic.in (attn: Shri Naveen Patnaik)
We could flood his email box with birthday greetings and copy journalists you know like barkha@ndtv.com so the media gets to know how many blessings he gets from the Christian community.

Meanwhile, Missionaries of Charity Superior General Sister Nirmala Joshi, who succeeded Blessed Teresa of Kolkata met him in Chief Minister’s Office, 7 October. After expressing the Church’s concern over anti-Christian violence in the state, Mr. Patnaik, Sister Nirmala and local Missionaries of Charity superior Sister Suma prayed together Saint Francis of Assisi’s famous prayer, “Lord make me a channel of your peace.”

His postal address:
Shri Naveen Patnaik, Naveen Niwas, Aerodrome Road, P.O. Bhubhaneswar,
District Khurda, Orissa 751 001

If you would like to phone or fax him here are his numbers:
+91.674.2531100 , +91.674.2535 100, +91.674.2531 500
Fax: +91.674.2400100
Home: +91.674.2590299

 

 

*The term Gandhigiri (Gandhisim) highlights the fact that in an unjust world, change necessitates the use of force. It also emphasises that Gandhiji stood for action in the face of oppression. Not passive contemplation or individual salvation. The term “Gandhigiri” was popularized by the 2006 Hindi film, Lage Raho Munna Bhai  starring Sanjay Dutt.

 

 

National Convention Against Fascism,* 25-26 October, New Delhi

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India predicted that “Fascism will come to India in the form of communalism.”

Hindutva terrorist groups, like the Bajrang Dal, openly claim attacks on Christian institutions in front of television news cameras. Yet no action is taken against them!

Throughout the country Muslim youth are being targeted, without any or little evidence, as responsible for terrorist attacks. There is a concerted attempt by the Indian police, sections of the media and certain political parties to portray all members of the Muslim community as ‘terrorists and extremists’ – to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured and killed in fake encounters.

On the other hand hard evidence available against Bajrang Dal and other Sangh Parivar outfits about their direct involvement in terror attacks is not only being ignored but actively being pushed under the carpet by the state.

The areas yet uncolonized by the RSS network are decreasing by the day. The threat from the fascist forces is not only to the survival and dignity of India but undermines the very concept of Indian nationhood.

“We feel that there is urgent need to call for a national convention to challenge the forces of fascism. We had sent out sms messages to about 40 organisations to get a response from them about the possibility of organizing a national convention on 25 and 26 October, 2008 in New Delhi. Thirty NGOs endorsed the National Convention Against Fascism,” says Shabnam Hashmi of ANHAD.

 

“ The two-day programme is being finalized. You may send in suggestions.  The venue and the final schedule for the convention will be informed as soon as it is finalized after hearing from more groups/ individuals.” adds Hashmi giving his contact number and email id: Tel. 011.23070740/ 23070722 or anhad.delhi@gmail.com

 

*Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology brought into popular usage by the Italian founders of Fascism, Benito Mussolini and the Neo-Hegelian philosopher Giovanni Gentile. It opposes communism, conservatism, liberalism, and international socialism

Sr Alphonsa, 1st Woman Saint of India

Pope Benedict XVI will declare Bl. Alphonsa, the first woman saint of India at a canonization ceremony in St Peter’s Square, Sunday 12 October. Two Malayalam language television channels (Jeevan & Kairali) will broadcast live the event starting at 10 am Rome time (1.30 pm IST). About 10,000 pilgrims have come from India to participate in the Vatican event. Starting with a vigil service on Saturday, three-day celebrations will conclude with a thanksgiving Eucharist on Monday morning.

The Reserve Bank of India will honour the Kerala-born Sr Alphonsa with a special commemorative coin.

Sister Alphona was born in Kudamaloor near Kottayam on August 19, 1910 as the fourth child of Joseph and Mary Muttathupadath, in the parish of Kudamaloor, Palai diocese. A person who suffered various physical ailments since childhood, she opted for a religious life and took her perpetual vow in 1936.Her tomb at Bharananganam, near the convent where she spent her religious life, is visited by large number of devotees. Click teh link below to see a 42-minute video with Malayalm devotional songs on Sr Alphonsa and English language commentary on her life and times by Webindia123.com
http://video.webindia123.com/pilgrimagespots/bharananganam/blaolphonsa/index.htm

Sr Alphonsa was declared Blessed by the late Pope John Paul II in 1986 and last year Pope Benedict XVI signed the decree approving the miracle that took place through her intercession, paving the way for her canonization.

The Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) was founded in Kerala, India, on December 14, 1888, by Bishop Charles Lavigne of Kottayam Diocese, Kerala.  At present the Congregation has about 7,000 members spread out in 19 provinces and three regions in seven countries.

Other shorter YouTube links for a quick dekho on the life and times of St Alphonsa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4yeFpEoEGc&NR=1 CNS tv Eng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbUwT99HuFU&NR=1 NDTV Eng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRUhsxspehw&feature=related
India Video Org – Music background
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozmomP1fOnM&feature=related Webindia123.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18fmCuZLq7A ASIAnet Malayalam

LORD Baffles Miscreants*

This May 2008 incident narrates God’s mischief with mischief makers.

 

A big and beautiful Church was built by Fr. Reimus Morra an Italian Salesian missionary in 1962 at Barpeta Road (Assam) to accommodate 600 to 700 boarding boys and girls. As you enter the Mission gate, the word D.O.M. can be seen written on the facade of the Church. Since then (1962) curious onlookers continue to enquire about its meaning. The letters are from the Latin words: Dominus, Optimus, Maximus, meaning: The Lord: the Best and the Greatest. It is a wonderful way of making known and proclaiming the Lord to all and also of inviting all peoples and nations to praise Him Who is the Best and the Greatest (Ps 117).

 

The incident took place on 11^th May 2008 – only to teach us and others what and who DOM is or stands for. It was Sunday night when some miscreants entered the Church through the back door. From the disorder and the destruction caused, it appears that they tried desperately to find the Tabernacle key. Since they failed, they tried to break it open. They failed again. When they tried the third time it seems their tools went into pieces. Confused and defeated they smashed a paten, a chalice and took to their heels with a monstrance as their only booty.

 

The sacristans had in fact forgotten to remove the Tabernacle key after the Sunday Benediction. It was left in front of the Tabernacle and yet it remained hidden from the eyes of the wicked. It seems that the DOM was holding the key in His hand and would not give it to them and thus prevented them from profaning the holy of holies. We pray for their conversion and thank the Lord for displaying his power.

 

 “Give thanks to the Lord because he is good…
It is the Lord who helps me and I will see my enemies defeated…
Many enemies were round me but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord.
They were around me on every side but I destroyed them by the power of the Lord.
They swarmed round me like bees…
By the power of the Lord I destroyed them” (Ps 118).
D.O.M., praise the Lord!

*Narrated by Salesian Fr Andreas Panna in NewsLine, Guwahati

Ten Thousand Indians Witness Sr. Alphonsa’s Canonisation At Vatican

VATICAN CITY (SAR NEWS) – Over 10,000 Indians both from India and overseas gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City for the canonisation of Sr. Alphonsa, the first Indian woman to be declared a saint, October 12. Nine Syro-Malabar bishops joined the ceremony presided over by Pope Benedict XVI.

Pilgrims thronged the Vatican Square carrying their national flags, banners and caps very early in the morning awaiting the official opening of the Square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica to entrance card holders at 8 a.m. Each pilgrim was given a 180-page booklet which contained the canonisation rites in Italian, English, Spanish and portions in Malayalam and Greek languages. The open-air event started at 10 a.m.

“Arriving early this morning to Rome by Alitalia flight from New York, I was surprised to see so many Indians in the airport. On hearing it was the canonisation of Sr. Alphonsa, I cancelled my onward flight to Milan and dumped my bags in a hotel,” said Steve Joseph who was on a business trip to Milan and a first- time visitor to Rome.

Speaking to SAR News, the Rome correspondent standing next to him in the line, for over one hour for security clearance to the piazza at the Vatican City’s Sant’ Anna gate, Joseph got his entrance ticket from someone who had an extra card.

After x-raying handbag and passing through metal detector he joined the people seated on plastic chairs in the blazing October sun for preparatory prayers for the canonisation of four Blessed, including Sr. Alphonsa. The 45-minute prayer consisted of a reading from the writings of the four saints who were scheduled for canonisation and a prayer with a song interlude. It started at 9.15 a.m. (Rome time).

The Ceremony:

At 10 a.m. (1.30 pm IST) the Pope and the concelebrants came in a procession to the open-air podium and altar in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. Four giant television screens set up in the piazza helped the faithful to follow the events in detail.

While the Vatican Television supplied live feeds, the Vatican Radio covered the events live in Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish and English languages in short and medium wave as well as on FM transmissions.

The canonisation procedure started with the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation
for the Saints, Salesian Cardinal Angelo Amato, reading a brief biography of the four saints (Italian Father Gaetano Errico, Swiss Sister Bernarda Butler, Indian Sister Alphonsa and an Ecuadorian laywoman Narcisa di Gesu Martillo Moran) and presenting them for canonisation. The litany of the saints sung in Latinfollowed by the Pope proclaiming them saints. While the choir and assembly sang Alleluia, relics of the saints were solemnly brought to the altar.

Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) Mother General Sister Ceelia carried a small piece of Sister Alphonsa’s bone in a highly ornate monstrance flanked by vice postulator Father Francis Vadakkel and lay representative and senior Kerala politician K.M. Mani.

The solemn Eucharistic celebration continued with the singing of Gloria in Latin.

The FCC Delhi provincial Sister Joncy read the second reading at from Paul’s Letter to the Philippians (4:12-14,19-20) in English.

14 Indian Saints and Blesseds:

Sister Alphonsa is the second from India to be canonised in the Catholic Church. The first was Vasai-born Gonzalo Garcia, a Franciscan monk born to an Indian mother and a Portuguese father.

             He was killed in 1597 in Nagasaki during missionary work. Garcia was canonised along with 25 others in 1862.

Currently there are 14 Indian or India-connected causes for canonisation in various stages of investigation. Among the beatified are Kerala-born Father Kuriakose Elias Chaavara,

 Thevarparambil Kunjachen of Ramapuram, Sister Mariam Thresia and Sister Euphrasia; Blessed Joseph Vaz and Venerable Agnelo de Souza from Goa and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
            The Vatican took more than 50 years to scrutinise Sister Alphonsa’s life and work before conferring sainthood on her.

The Indian Church, believed to be founded by St. Thomas, one of the apostles, in A.D. 52, makes up 2.3 per cent of the billion-plus population of the country. The Roman Catholic Church in India, spread over the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites, constitutes nearly 70 per cent of theIndian Christian population, according to Church authorities.

Pope Mentions India Six Times During Canonisation

VATICAN CITY (SAR NEWS) – Alluding to the ongoing anti-Christian persecutions in India, Pope Benedict XVI alluded to India six times, both directly and indirectly, in his brief address to the pilgrims who came from India.

Each time the Pope mentioned the name Sister Alphonsa or India, the Indians in the piazza went wild some waving the tri-colour they carried with them and others clapping their hands. The Vatican Television captured those rapturous moments on the giant screens.

In the first instance, commenting on the parable of the guests at the wedding banquet and the sufferings of persecuted Christians the pope said St. Alphonsa was convinced that “such a cross was the very means of reaching the heavenly banquet prepared for her.”

The Pope also mentioned the 12-member Government of India’s official delegation which included Ministers like Oscar Fernandes, Moncy Joseph, M. Jacob, K.M. Mani, Dr. Jancy James, Cyriac Thomas, P.C. George and others.

In the third instance, the Pope said: “Her (St. Alphonsa’s) suffering reminds us that God always provides us the strength to over come every evil.”

He further said, “I wish to assure them (persecuted Christians of India) of my prayers during this difficult time, commending, commending to the providential care of Almighty God persons (who) try for peace and reconciliations.”

The fifth time, in a strongly worded pleading, he appealed, “I urge the perpetrators of the violence to renounce that, join the brothers and sisters to work together in building a civilisation of love.”

In the last instance before the Angelus prayer, Benedict XVI recalled the “violence against Christians in Iraq and India, “whom I remember each day before the Lord.”

German Youth Cycle for Peace in North-east India

.A group of five university students from the Ruhr region of western Germany has set out on an unique cycle expedition throughout the North-east India from 13 October. The KarmaRiders, as they call themselves, hope to be harbingers of peace and hope at a time when a part of Assam is reeling under the pain of ethnic violence.

The Don Bosco Institute (DBI), North-east, in collaboration with the Childaid Network of Germany is organizing the bicycle expedition through Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur.

The five German youth arrived in Guwahati, 11 October — M Schppen, K Meyyer, C Dominik, O Schrenk and M Baucer— are of the age group of 25 to 30 and are experienced in social and youth work. They also participated at the press meet at the Guwahati Press Club, 12 October.

“The other objective of the programme is to support various programmes for street children of this region as well as build bridges and remove the stereotype of the North-east as a land of insurgency and conflicts,” said Fr V.M. Thomas, executive director of the DBI, addressing the press.

Fr Thomas informed that, “the expedition will start from Guwahati on 13th October and will culminate in Imphal on 6^th December, covering at least 2,500 km across the north-eastern States.”

“A 60-km cycle tour across Guwahati city is scheduled on October 19 involving about one thousand cyclists including students from various educational institutions,” he added.

The tour across Guwahati will be flagged off at Latasil Field at 7 am and will culminate at Nehru Stadium.

First-ever Syro-Malabar Service Held In Rome Mother Church

ROME (SAR NEWS) — The post-canonisation thanksgiving Eucharist for Sister Alphonsa made history with the celebration of Eucharist for the first time in Syro-Malabar rite in Christendom’s Mother Church in Rome, October 13.

The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral of the Church of Rome and the official ecclesiastical seat of the Bishop of Rome, the Pope.

The Mother of all Churches in Rome and the world, the basilica was founded by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, during the time of Pope Silvester (314-335). Though it has been destroyed and rebuilt many times, the current basilica dates from the 17th century.

“Probably this is the very first time that a Syro-Malabar rite liturgy is celebrated here with so many Indian nuns and priests,” said Dr. Scaria Thuruthiyil, professor of Philosophy at Salesian University Rome, hailing from Sister Alphonsa’s own parish Bharananganam, Kerala.

A conservative estimate puts the number of faithful in the celebrations at St. John Lateran at 3,000, including about 500 priests and some 2,000 Sisters, along with hundreds of devotees who came from India and around the world.

Archbishop George Valiamattom of Thalassery (Kerala) presided over the Eucharist in place of Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil of Ernakulam-Angamaly who is hospitalised in Rome due to heart problems.

The Redemptorist Cardinal, who is also the president of the Kerala Bishops’ Conference and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, was absent from Mass Sunday October 12, when Pope Benedict XVI canonized Sister Alphonsa.

Though his condition is stable, he has cancelled his public appearances.

The three-day celebrations in honour of the newly declared Indian saint Sister Alphonsa concluded October 13 with a thanksgiving Eucharist.

Canonisation Impact In The Time Of Persecution

ROME (SAR NEWS) — The persecution of Christians that kicked off in Orissa August 24 and spread out to 12 other Indian states continues unabated. The unprecedented incidents have brought discredit to the secularist credentials of the country, the world’s largest democracy, drawing upon it the ire of the civilised world.

Christians, who hold the Indian values of ahimsa and tolerance, grapple with the senseless violence heaped on the hapless victims by the rightwing activists.

“Jesus paid for our redemption with his life. There is a price we need to pay for the grace of our discipleship after 2,000 years of faith life in India,” says the Consultor for the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Father Franco Mulakkel.

According to Father Franco, “St. Alphonsa is telling the martyrs in Orissa that eternal reward is awaiting them, as they are the chosen and privileged ones to bear testimony to the cross for Christ with their very life.”

“Since the time the Church announced the canonisation of Sister Alphonsa, persecution of Christians has increased,” according to 84-year-old Kunjettan (little brother) who participated in the canonisation ceremony of Sister Alphonsa, dressed in his white mundu (loin cloth) and shirt. He founded the Mission League Palai in 1947, a year after Sister Alphonsa’s death, to promote missionary vocation in Kerala.

“These persecutions will continue and spread all over India giving a wake-up call to all of us to the practice of a radical Christianity.”

“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity,” added the founder-editor of Kunju Missionary (Little Missionary) magazine (estd. 1961), recalling the prophetic words of the Church Fathers.

Speaking on the significance of Sister Alphonsa’s message of embracing the cross of Christ in one’s life, another white mundu and shawl-clad swamiji sporting an unkempt beard, called Sahodaran Aniyan (younger brother) participating at the Rome canonisation ceremony says, “We people don’t want any more the cross (suffering). We only want to glory in the cross.”

He insisted that these persecutions will bring about greater unity in the divided body of Christ (Church denominations and Rites) in India and “purify us of our seeking for comfort, reckless activism and alcoholism.”

In 1991, Sahodaran Aniyan started this Pious Association in Myladumkunnu, Thrissur district, Kerala. His magic remedy to stay off the anti-Christian demonic forces is the practice of “72 hours of adoration of the Holy Eucharist.”

Dalit Author of India’s Constitution Converted To Buddhism

The All India Christian Council (AICC) celebrated “Dhammadiksha”, the day on which Dr. B.R. Ambedkar freely chose a new religion on October 14, 1956 in Nagpur, Maharashtra. The author of India’s Constitution showed that conversion is not a crime, but fifty-two years later voices inside India want a “moratorium on conversions.” The AICC is united in support of the freedom of religion and the freedom of conscience which includes conversion. The AICC President, Dr. Joseph D’souza writes.

 

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar commented in a speech, “Mukti kon pathe?” (Which path to liberation?), published on June 20, 1936, “To remain in a religion because it is ancestral is only suited to a fool. No thinking man can take such a policy. Remaining in a situation in which one finds oneself fits an animal; it cannot satisfy a human being.” Under Ambedkar’s leadership, millions of people embraced Buddhism.

 

Seven states have passed “Freedom of Religion Acts” and five are enforcing it, but, today, there has not been one conviction for conversion by allurement, fraud, or force. Even if wrongful conversions do exist in India, major religious leaders – especially from Christianity – have condemned them and believe this type of conversion is not legitimate.

 

Legitimate, legal conversions are now on the table for debate. On Oct. 8, 2008, Roman Catholic leaders in New Delhi agreed to meet with the senior BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader, Mr. L.K. Advani, along with a delegation. Mediated by Swami Chidanand Saraswati of Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, a joint press statement discussing conversions was issued after the two hour dialogue.

 

John Dayal, AICC Secretary General and member of the National Integration Council, said, “The AICC welcomes true dialogue. It is the cornerstone of our everyday life and Christian witness. But a dialogue presupposes free will, a peaceful platform, a structured agenda, a common goal for peace through mutual respect, and acknowledgement of each other as equals. Religious leaders should dialogue with other religious leaders in bilateral and multilateral fora. Parliament provides the forum for political dialogue. Civil society is the best platform for a larger, continuing dialogue and debate. These are fora we trust.”

 

Dr. Joseph D’souza, AICC President, said, “Dialogues don’t identify the killers, arsonists, and rapists of Christians in India. Calls for moratoria on conversion don’t put the onus of the violence where it belongs – on government structures which are guilty of inaction in saving victims, and, in many cases, of supporting the violence against Christians. Dialogues will not save Hindu fundamentalist organisations from facing justice.”

 

India has signed the United National Universal Declaration of Human Rights which says, in Article 18, people must remain free to choose their own religion. India’s Constitution, in Article 25, guarantees the right to propagate religion, which will naturally lead to conversions.

 

D’Souza said, “As long as laws of the land are respected and other faiths are not denigrated, each person has the right to convert. And other Indians have the right to tell fellow citizens about different choices in religion so they have the knowledge and options to convert. We believe each Indian citizen must be allowed to shop in the marketplace of religions and choose a faith. We appeal to Indians of all religions to protect this freedom. Conversion is the sign of a healthy democracy. Conversion is the ultimate symbol of freedom of conscience.”

 

The All India Christian Council (www.christiancouncil.in), birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The AICC is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.

Moratorium on Conversions: Who Decides?

Dr. Joseph D’Souza,* President of All India Christian Council (AICC) identifies that those who are asking for conversion debate are the micro minority population of Indian upper caste, who want to decide the fate of the most dehumanized group of people in human civilization.

 

In the first wave of attacks on Christians in modern India during the late 1990s, a Christian leader flinched under the pressure of Hindu extremists and called for a five year moratorium on conversions. Extremist Hindu forces have repeatedly said Christians are engaged in forced and fraudulent conversions and this is the chief reason for ‘spontaneous’ violence against Christians. The Christian leader apparently succumbed to the incessant propaganda campaign.

 

During the rule of the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government, the emboldened RSS maneuvered to bring various Christian denominations and associations into a dialogue that would result in a public agreement to end conversions among the downtrodden castes of India. Major Christian organisations were forced to come to the table due to political pressure and veiled threats. After every meeting with the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), the spokesperson of the RSS informed the media that the Christians had agreed to their agenda of stopping conversions in modern India.

 

In the midst of this theatre of the absurd, the AICC was one of the main groups that refused to dialogue with the RSS.  This aligned with the position of major civil society leaders and human rights movements in India. This decision was also taken in conjunction with Dalit-Bahujan leaders. The AICC differentiated between a genuine dialogue with non-Christian religious leaders and the sham of ‘discussions’ with Sangh Parivar outfits who have already decided, before the meeting begins, what they want the outcome to be. The AICC supports a genuine dialogue with other faiths out of our respect for our neighbours – Jesus said we must love our neighbour as ourselves – and in order to maintain civil law, decency, and peace.

 

Currently, the issue of a moratorium on conversions has emerged in the media in fulfillment of the propaganda of the Sangh Parivar. If the Hindu nationalist parties come to power in New Delhi, I suspect Christian organisations will be forced to come to the table again. Once again the AICC will refuse any dialogue on the issue.

 

Why? Who ultimately decides the issue of conversion?

 

According to the India’s Constitution the freedom of religion is given to every individual Indian citizen. He or she has the freedom to believe and practice the faith he or she chooses. The freedom of speech enshrined in the Constitution gives every Indian citizen the right to propagate his faith as long as civil norms and decency are maintained.

 

In the context of the caste revolt in modern India, a revolution which began with Mahatma Phule, Ambedkar, and Periyar, there is another logical reason.  If our country does not give the Dalits, tribals and the OBCs (Other Backward Castes) the right to choose their faith, we have effectively imposed permanent slavery of the caste system on them. It was Ambedkar who said that ‘I was born a Hindu but I will not die a Hindu’. In 1956 he fulfilled that promise with hundreds of thousands of followers. Since then, rightly or wrongly, the liberation of the oppressed castes is fatefully tied with the choice to convert out of the religion that imposes the caste system on them.

 

The Indian State tried to deal with caste discrimination by banning the practice of ‘untouchability’ in the Constitution. With affirmative action provisions through reservation programs, the State tried to lift up the low castes of our society.

 

In contrast, the Hindu fundamentalist groups led by the RSS only revived and enforced casteist religious practices that demean both the Dalits and also women. These extreme groups have done nothing to enforce the banning of the caste system within their religious systems. It was the Vice-President of the VHP who said the life of a cow is more valuable than the life of a Dalit.  This was immediately after five Dalit young men were lynched to death in Jhajjar, Haryana, for skinning a dead cow.

 

Hindutva groups tried to revive the practice of Sati and have distributed books which contain the Law of Manu which codified the caste system in ancient India.

 

So who decides on a moratorium on conversions?  The RSS?  The media? Those who come to the table and dialogue on this issue?  Or the oppressed Dalit and low caste person in India? Dare we take away this final and most basic of human rights from the most dehumanized group of people in human civilization?

 

Those of us in the AICC movement – we are a coalition of many Christian groups from mainline to Pentecostal – refuse to strip this right from the Dalits or any oppressed group. And we acknowledge there are two sides to the coin. Thus, we refuse to take away this right even from those who are Christians but may choose another faith. Simply said, we believe that, without the freedom of conscience, all other freedoms become meaningless.

 

We unconditionally condemn all forced and fraudulent conversions and we consider the terms themselves as oxymoron. We condemn proselytizing or any effort to denigrate another faith.

 

The targeting of Dalits who turned to Christianity in Orissa is now out in the open. This is blatant violence against Dalits who exercised their freedom of conscience. The Dalits are not stupid in matters of conscience.  Their leader Ambedkar has shown them the way. They neither need the State nor upper caste religious leaders to tell them how to make their choices.

 

The AICC is determined to protect and serve the Dalits. We have stated long ago that we will love and serve them unconditionally with Christ’s love whether they are Christians or not.

 

The Dalit Christian ethnic cleansing of Orissa must be contested by every means possible under the Indian Constitution and the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The freedom of religion must be supported in every corner of our beloved country.

 

*Dr. Joseph D’Souza is President of the All India Christian Council (www.indianchristians.in) Birthed in 1998; the Council is a coalition of thousands of India’s Christian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders.

Indians Bag Awards at Salesian University Rome

Two Indian Salesians bagged awards for outstanding academic performance at the Salesian Pontifical University (UPS) Rome`s Inauguration of the Academic Year 2008-2009 ceremony held 15th October. Some sixty awards were given in three categories: Doctoral, Master`s and Bachelor`s.  Dr Charles Maria Antonisamy (INM) and Dr Peter Gonsalves (INB) both from Social Communications Faculty doctoral programme were awarded the UPS medal and citation. Some 20 students also received Euro 500 (INR 33,000) scholarship towards their academic fees for outstanding performance in the annual exams.

 

Indians in the UPS Staff

Out of 251 professors teaching in the University, only nine professors come from India. Two professors who joined UPS faculty this year are Dr. Edison Fernandes (INB)and Dr Peter Gonsalves (INB). Fr Scaria Thuruthyil who started teaching in February 1989 became the first Indian dean of Philosophy Faculty. Fr Cyril DeSouza is Coordinator of the Department of Youth Pastoral and Catechetics and part of the 25 Member Academic Council. Other professors include Frs Jerome Vallabaraj, Anthony Francis Vincent, Sagayaraj Devadoss, Jesu James Pudumai, Joshtrom Kureethadam.

 

Solemn Inauguration of the Academic Year

Over 200 priests, about 20 deacons, some 100 religious Sisters and hundreds of students joined the Vicar of the Rector Major Fr Adriano Bregolin for the Solemn Eucharistic Celebration at the University Parish Church. There was also a delegation of the Diplomatic Corps attached to the Holy See in attendance.

 

Unlike last year, this year, a 50 member UPS students’ choir animated the liturgical singing. A 40 member Inter-University choir under the baton of UPS Professor Maestro Don Massimo Palombella SDB rendered three magnificent Latin renditions (Tu Es Petrus; Credo; and Esultabo) at the academic year 2008-2009 inaugural function held at UPS Paul VI Hall.

 

Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, gave the inaugural address on the theme of “University and Education“. In the words of Benedict XVI, the cardinal called on both the professors and students “to preserve the flame of hope.”

 

Fr. Bregolin on behalf of UPS Chancellor Fr Pascual Chavez the Rector Major declared open 69th Academic Year and handed over the awards. Also present at the event were the General Councillor for Formation Fr Francesco Cereda as well as the Economer General Br. Claudio Marngio. The UPS Chancellor, the RM of the Salesians Fr Pascual Chavez was absent as he is a member of the Synod of Bishops currently under way in the Vatican.

 

The UPS Milestones

The Don Bosco University for Youth started in Turin in 1940 as a papal Salesian Athenaeum with three faculties: Theology, Philosophy and Canon Law. Two more faculties were added (Sciences of Education, Christian and Classic Literatures) when it was transferred to Rome in 1965. In 1973, the Athenaeum was raised to Salesian Pontifical University and 15 years later the Faculty of Sciences of the Social Communications was born in 1988 to mark Don Bosco`s death centenary.

The University houses three communities of professors and three communities of students. About 2,000 students from about 100 countries including Mainland China attend the six faculties.

Kolkata Plans Solidarity Action for Orissa Riot Victims

The Religious (CRI), the Catholic Media association (SIGNIS) and India’s oldest Catholic lay association (CAB) of Calcutta archdiocese have initiated a number of steps to express solidarity with the victims of dastardly crimes in Orissa and elsewhere in India. Salesian Archbishop Lucas Sircar of Calcutta has endorsed the following action plan spread out in October-November.

1. An Audio Visual (AV) presentation has been compiled by SIGNIS West Bengal, based entirely on media reports. This will help us understand better, the chain of events that originated in Kandhamal, Orissa on 23 August 2008 that spread to five more states and is still continuing today.  This 20 minutes AV presentation may be screened during all major Sunday masses in October, preferably after the penitential rite. The homily may be suitably modified to reflect on the violence and to formulate a Christian response to the same, bearing in mind “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”. For screening in your parish please call Sunil Lucas (SIGNIS) 98300 23564, or Alexander Anthony (CAB) 98310 12962.

 

2. Continuous adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in all parishes on Sunday 26 October 2008 from 8 AM to 8 PM.

3. The same day (Sunday 26 Oct) shall be observed as a Day of Prayer and Fast in all the parishes. You could encourage the laity and the communities in your parish to turn to the power of the Blessed Sacrament to restore peace in the hate filled regions of the country. The various parish groups like SVP, Legion of Mary, Parish Council, Youth groups, etc may also be motivated to participate in large numbers to express solidarity with the unfortunate victims of this senseless violence. The proceeds from the fast could be forwarded to Archbishop House to be sent for the grieving families in Orissa. For further details please call Fr. Reginald Fernandes (SKC) 98300 29752, Sr. Vianey (SCCG) 64569069 or Sr. Celine Anthony (FMM)

 

4. Relay Fast led by Bishops at the Metro Corridor, from 8 am Friday 07.11.08 to 5 pm, Sunday 09.11.08. The purpose of this public demonstration of solidarity with our suffering brethren is to reassure them that their leaders are resolutely with them in their hour of crisis. We are trying to ensure participation of as many Bishops as possible and other Christian denominations are also lending their support to this endeavour. The active support of our own organisations and groups like CAB/ CRS /DBDOC/ SKC/ ABCD/ CTG/ AFJ/ etc is solicited. Please make it a point to personally lead your flock to the venue on all 3 days so that large turnout may force the powers that be to notice and take necessary action. CRI West Bengal will be spearheading this effort and their president Fr George Pattery sj will be the convenor for this event assisted by Mr Sunil Lucas (SIGNIS) 98300 23564 and Fr Reginald Fernandes (SKC) 98300 29752. Any assistance / cooperation extended to them will be highly appreciated.

 

5. Human Chain on 09.11.08, the last day of the Relay Fast, from 5.00 pm to 5.10 pm starting from the fast site stretching as far as possible. As we join hands with one another let us pause for a moment and remember the sufferings of those innocent victims and pledge to ensure that another Kandhamal never happens again. We need to create a mass movement of all right thinking people to stand up and condemn mob attacks. All those who are not near the fast site will gather near parishes or schools and join hands to form a human chain for 10 minutes.

DB Past Pupil Wins Booker Prize

Don Bosco Egmore, Chennai past pupil 33 year old Aravind Adiga emerged winner of the prestigious Man Booker Prize for 2008 for his debut novel “The White Tiger.” In its 40^th year, The Man Booker Prize for Fiction promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. Adiga won a cheque for 50,000 pounds ($87, 283) in prize money.

“Adiga’s book is extraordinarily accomplished. The tale of an Indian servant who kills his boss, it’s written with wit and panache and crackles with a kind of joyfully subversive energy. Yet it is also a shocking portrait of Indian corruption and social injustice at a time when the media has tended to focus on sunnier tales of the nation’s economic transformation,” says Time report telling about its former New Delhi correspondent.

Mr. Aravind hails from Mangalore and did a major part of his schooling in Chennai. His extended family still lives in Mangalore. Sydney is where his father, a surgeon, is now settled.

Mr. Aravind’s cousin Ramesh Kumar Mohan Rao says the writer, who was born in Chennai, was very good at academics. “His house was next to ours on Poonamallee High Road, we grew up together and went to the same school, Don Bosco, Egmore. He studied here till 9th standard after which he moved to Mangalore where he completed his schooling.”

After his family moved to Mangalore, he joined the Canara School in 1981-82 for standard XI. He joined St. Aloysius primary school in 1983-84 and completed his SSLC in 1990. He secured the first rank in the State in SSLC.

Mr. Aravind did most part of his education at St. Aloysius group of education institutes, barring the two years of primary education at Canara English Higher Primary School, Dongarakery.

Sr Alphonsa’s Canonization: What Did Not Get Reported

Media reports can be distorted with regard to the number of participants. Several reports said there were roughly 25,000 Indians. An equal number said 5,000. Definitely there were more than the latter number; it could easily be seen from the Indian tricolour waved in St Peter’s Square. Indian delegation was far numerous than any other of the three countries: Italy, Ecuador or Switzerland whose saints were canonized. The Italians with over 20 big buses coming from Naples could not counter the Indian population gathered from America, Europe, India, locals and elsewhere. Their call to Rome seemed very motivated as one from the U.S. told quite emotionally, “I have never been to Rome, I did not come to see Rome, but I could not think of staying back home when my sister is being raised to the highest honour in the church.”

 

Latin Ritual Greek to Syro-Malabar Rite

Many missed out on the central point of the canonization as the declaration was read out in Latin after the brief life sketches were presented by the Cardinal Prefect. The applause at the very mention of the name of the saint drawing earlier was more than what was received at this point. Many thought the carrying up of the relics of the saints to the altar accompanied by the vice postulators was the main point.

 

The ceremony as a whole mostly in Latin, was packed ritual, which to some people lacked devotion. For the people who milled around the piazza before 8.00am (awaiting 10 am show), it was a celebration, all round joy was visible. Even the non-concelebrating priests in the enclosures were seen often waving to the camera while it was turned on them. TV camera men could refrain from focussing on the audience from the front, in close ups, but could do so largely in long shots and from the back and overhead.

 

Every now and then we had large groups of tourists walking in, speaking loudly in their language. One wonders why tourists can not be stopped from entering inside the piazza during the two hours of the ceremony. Obviously the many policemen patrolling the areas simply can’t silence the tourists who see St. Peter’s merely as a tourist spot.

 

Most of the Malayalees, about 10, 000 (according to a very conservative estimate) were Syro-Malabar people who did not even follow the structure of the Latin mass. At Gloria one guy shouted to his chum right from below the altar “thudangiyitte ullado” (just started only man). Some other guys were seen constantly standing up on the chairs and talking on their cell-phones, presumably reporting live from the piazza. It was really interesting to see Syro-Malabar people attending Latin mass (more so, it was in LATIN itself) like at an ulsavam (festival) in Kerala. Like our chettans (elder brothers) at a temple ulsavam. 

 

The ceremony was just two hours 10 minutes long — short much though– one could see a visibly tired Pope rushing a bit towards the end.

 

To many the pope giving communion on the tongue to people kneeling was a strange sight. One asked, “Could we argue, may be Jesus did the same at the last supper?”  “No comments” on that!

 

Alphonsa’s  Aluva (Kerala) based Franciscan Clarist Congregation (also founded in Aluva) is the largest congregation in Kerala, so also in India.

 

Finally is Alphonsa the first Indian saint ‘? Some people want to say so, as Gonsalo Garcia, the only other Indian saint had a Portuguese father (himself a capuchin brother-catechist unlike many media reports who called him a Jesuit) was part of a group of Jesuits hanged in Nagasaki.

 

Vigil Service
As regards the vigil programme organized by the Indian Priests, Sisters, Brothers Union (IPSBU) probably things were better as a prayer experience, because Jesuit Fr. Jacob Srampickal director of Communication studies at Gregorian helped everyone pray for some 90 minutes.

 

Fr Srampickal had a 24-minute documentary on Sr Alphonsa’s life made from two fictional videos from Kerala which set the tone for the evening. He followed up the prayerful starter with a short reflection on why Sr Alphonsa took to suffering and stressed the importance of her life for today’s people.

 

We had a few bishops too plus the Indian delegation of 8 minsters and ex-ministers led by Oscar Fernandes, the superior general of the FCCs (Sr Alphonsa’s congregation), the Indian Ambassador plus about 4,000 people packed inside and outside  the church . Coincidentally, the same church was booked by the Gaetano Errico group from Naples for their prayer service, for the saint from Italy, to be canonized along with Sr Alphonsa.  And so Indians had to conclude their prayer within 90 mts. 

 

Mr Oscar Fernandes, Bishop Chittilappaly, and the FCC Superior General Sr Ceelia spoke briefly before the conclusion. Some fine hymns well sung in English, Hindi and Malayalam enhanced devotion and helped prayer. The FCCs gave flags to be waived at St Peter’s square the next day. The IPSBU did a commendable job in their effort to bring together all the rites in such short notice at the start of the new scholastic year.

 

On a sour note

 It was indeed a moment also to unite the various rites together. The Government had sent Oscar Fernandes as the official head of the Indian delegation.  It was a pity that he played hardly any role at the canonization ceremony. Mr Oscar could have been the one carrying one of the lights to accompany the holy relics (instead of Mr KM Mani). And even when Oscar did really speak at the Vigil Service his message was ignored by Catholic media that was mostly controlled by the Syro-Malabar personnel.

Prayer for the persecuted Christians in India was put in the appendix, missing a golden opportunity of solidarity in the context of the “glorification of the sufferings of Sr Alphonsa”. We could also have collected 4,000 signatures and submitted it alnog with a memorandum on behalf of IPSBU to the Indian Ambassdor who came for the programme. 

AICC Wins Renewed Pledge, Massive Support

About 200 pastors assembled in the Church of North India (CNI), church at Rambagh, Amritsar, 16 October 2008. It also had several women as well as local political leaders like Mr. Hamid Masih, Mr.Ayub Masih, Mr. Jaspal Masih, Mr.Yakub Masih, Mr. Anwar Masih, Mr. John Kotli and Mr. Sucha Masih to name a few without mentioning their political affiliations. All of them spoke and made suggestions and pledged support for the All India Christian Council (AICC) cause.  Founded in 1998, AICC is a nation-wide alliance of Christian denominations, mission agencies, institutions, federations and Christian lay leaders.

 

Dr John Dayal Secretary General of the AICC, shared with the audience the reason for the birthing of AICC, its aim, purpose, history and the track record. He gave facts and statistics of the state of Orissa as well the atrocities done against the church in the rest of the country. He also explained the social and political reasons for the attacks on christian establishments and the church. He very fearlessly alleged that the attacks were perpetrated in a manner by the fundamentalist outfits like Bajrang Dal and other like minded entities to physically as well as ideologically weaken the Christians. First the businesses were attacked and burnt to weaken the Christians economically; women and children, raped and killed ,to create terror and to weaken physically; houses and churches burnt to cause harm morally and physically and the dead paraded as trophies, all this done in a phased and according to a plan which can only be labeled as ethnic cleansing. He further went on to urge the audience to be aware of the rights of every citizen of India. He detailed the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Democratic and Secular India and also urged each to teach the same to our Christians. He said it is very important to avoid saying and doing things that would be considered unpatriotic, unlawful, inflammatory and would hurt the sentiments and feelings of people of other religions.

 

The situation in many states is far from normal, Dr Dayal said. In Orissa, the situation remains so critical that even the Central Reserve Police Force, meant to guard the Christians and ensure peace, had retreated in the face of Sangh aggression.  He said we welcome religious dialogue as much as collaboration with Civil Society institutions. But surely there cannot be a dialogue with criminals and those who have no faith in the Constitution of India, who do not abide with the rule of law, who openly espouse ideologies of hate that have been proscribed internationally since the defeat of Nazism and Fascism in the Second World War.

 

There is no place in a civilised country for such barbarians. It is for the state to act, enforce the law of the land, and gives them the punishment due to them for the murder of innocent people, the rape of women and the elimination of a people from their homeland.

AICC Secretary for Public Affairs.Dr. Sam Paul, spoke that it is important that we spend time in prayer and ask for power and guidance from God at the same time we need to be united. We should work on creating and maintaining networks inter denominationally as well as build network and cordial and good relationship with government and civil authorities. He said the need of the hour is to be united and be together, and recognise and shun the forces that are trying to bring differences and wedges between the Christians and also among different communities. Dr Sam Paul said the issue of conversion, forcible and with allurements, raised by fundamentalists and the Sangh parivar is a mere excuse, fabrication  and false propaganda. National Integration Council chairman Mr Qureshi when examining the claim has rubbished it as nonsense for no state government’s machinery has reported any civil or criminal suit against any Christian organization on that score.

 

Dr Bernard Malik, President, Federation of Indian Christian Organizations of North America, USA, was also present and in his speech he described the purpose and aim of the FIACONA and also commended the AICC for it support to Christian community in India. While pledging his support to AICC, he urged the people to rise above petty issues be it  doctrinal, territorial, or denominational and forge into a cohesive Christian fraternity sharing and bearing a common goal of uplifting the community.

DB Past Pupil Elected President of Calcutta Press Club

It is hat trick time for Don Bosco Past Pupils in India. Coming on the heels of DB Calcutta alumnus physicist Souvik Das on the Bing Bang Project (LHC), the Booker Prize 2008 winner Aravind Adiga a DB Egmore (Chennai) alumnus and now DB Liluah past pupil is elected President of the prestigious Calcutta Press Club.

Mr. Shyamal Baran Roy (DBL 1980 batch), 20 years with Press Trust of India is currently Principal Correspondent in Kolkata. Roy`s news beat includes West Bengal State Secretariat, State Assembly, Defence, Railways, Diplomatic Missions, Corporates, Politics and Religion.

 

“This is the oldest press club in Asia and I am its youngest president so far,“ says 43 year old Roy who secured 98 votes more than his nearest rival in a four-cornered contest.

“My agenda is to improve services to encourage more members to visit the club and increasing the club profile in India and abroad,“ tells Roy spelling out his plans.

 

Some Scoops

“A story on the plight of Skeleton Exporters of Kolkata, the decision of the USSR authorities to allow opening of a Ramakrishna Mission centre in Moscow, the arrival of Hillary Clinton for Mother Teresa`s funeral (I was lauded by the American Centre for this scoop) and several Mother Teresa related stories,“ recalls the senior reporter confessing “I have lost the will of late to do scoops for PTI.“

 

Roy had also the distinction of interviewing church luminaries like Mother Teresa,  controversial Jesuit theologian (Fr Dupuis) after the Vatican re-instated him; first Indian Salesian Mission Councilor (Fr Francis Alencherry) as well as first Asian tribal Cardinal Telesphore Toppo.

   

Roy`s areas of special interest are: Peace, Conflict Resolution and inter-religious dialogue. Being single, he has ample time to engage in social activities as Rotarian (member of RC Salt Lake Uptown, district 3291) and Member of Amnesty International, India.

 

Maidan Tent Calcutta Press Club

Situated on Maidan Tent, Press Club Path, The Calcutta Press Club is the oldest club exclusively for the working reporters in India. Established in 1945 the Club`s founding members led the movement for the upliftment of the status of a journalist and also for the freedom of press.

 

Former Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi liked to attend the press conferences held at the Press Club. In fact there is a swing still there in the club that Ms Gandhi was very fond of. During the club`s diamond jubilee (60 years`) celebration, the club was graced by the presence of former President of India Sri Abdul Kalam and Prime Minister Sri Manmohan Singh.

 

“This is a club that every journalist of the country would like to be associated with. It is one of the few clubs left in our country with tradition, glory and history,“ said Kalyan Moitra, a member of the club. “Press Club, Kolkata feels like home. It is `our` place where we can be comfortable and relax after a hard day`s work. It is very centrally located as well,“ he added.

 

The Press Club does social work as well as hold cultural events for its members. It takes part in the annual Kolkata Book Fair exhibiting books written by journalists and other press members. This club is also known for its National Press Day Celebrations where discussions and debates based on media or current affairs are held. Members of the club can also book railway tickets as the club has its own booking counter.

 

e-Mail contact: shyamalbroy@gmail.com

Countering Fascist Forces: Defending the Idea of India

Several NGO’s and minority groups along with All India Christian Council are holding a two day National Convention, 25-26 October at Constitution Club Lawns, New Delhi.

 

The Convention will be attended by social activists, common citizens, academicians, intellectuals, media and political leaders from various mainstream and non-mainstream political parties.

 

Each session will have 3-4 speakers to initiate the discussion.

 

On the second day the first session is only for Youth Speakers under 30. There would be an informal interaction with all those young people who wish to speak at the session and the coordinator of the session on 25th evening after the main sessions are over. 

 

Formation of National Legal Network

There is a meeting proposed on the first day in the evening for lawyers and activists to discuss the formation of a National Legal Network for the victims of communal violence and victimization. This has been proposed by a Human Rights organization from Kerala. There are a number of legal networks and organizations who are doing this work. The convention will facilitate this meeting and hopes that various existing networks as well as other independent lawyers and activists would join hands to find the possibility of a dedicated legal cell for such cases.

 

The Convention Background

The RSS and organizations under its umbrella have mounted a vicious campaign against the Christian community across India. Over 10 states have seen violent attacks on the Christian community, their institutions, religious places, property and businesses. The Hindutva terrorist groups like the Bajrang Dal are openly claiming responsibility for this communal violence against Christians and are yet being allowed to go scot-free.

 

Again, throughout the country Muslim youth are being targeted, without any or little evidence, as responsible for the various bomb blasts taking place in the country. There is a concerted attempt by the Indian police, sections of the media and certain political parties to portray all members of the Muslim community as ‘terrorists and extremists’ – to be arbitrarily arrested, tortured and killed in fake encounters.

 

The Indian state is also cracking down hard on ’soft targets’ like human rights and social activists and the fundamental rights of life, liberty, freedom of speech, religion and dissent guaranteed to all citizens by the Indian Constitution are being shred to pieces right in front of our eyes.

 

On the other hand those destroying the secular fabric of the country are extolled as ‘nationalists’ and it is clear that the Indian police, bureaucracy and judiciary – instead of upholding their neutrality- are going soft on the crimes of Hindutva terrorists. Hard evidence available against Bajrang Dal and other Sangh outfits of their direct involvement in terror attacks is not only being ignored but actively pushed under the carpet by the Indian state.

 

 It is a state of affairs that calls upon all those who value Indian independence, democratic rights and social justice to come forward, take responsibility and resist the onslaught by fascist and imperialist forces on the foundations of our national values and existence.  This convention is an initial effort in this direction.

 

Convention is organised by: Academy of Public Understanding of Science, All India Christian Council, All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch, All India Quami Mahaz, All India Secular Forum, Alternatives, Aman Biradari, Aman Samudaya, ANHAD, Antarik Visthapit Hak Rakshak Samiti, Anweshi, Arya Samaj, ASHA Pariwar, Asmita Collective, Awaz e- Niswana, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bihar Social Institute, BUILD, Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms, CACIM,CEHAT, Centre for Youth Development and Activities, Chattisgarh Jan Vigyan Vikas Sangthan, Centre for Information, Training, Research and Action, Commission for Religious Harmony, Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights , Countercurrents.org, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Danish Publishers, Darpana Academy, Disha Social Organization , Ekta, Foundation for Educational Innovations in Asia, Global Gandhi Forum, GRAVIS, Holy Cross Convent, Human Rights Law Network, Indian Social Institute, Indian Social Action Forum ,INSAF Bulletin, Institute for Minority Women, Institute for Secular Democracy, Jadugoda, Janadhikar Samuh, Jananeethi, Janvikas, JUDAV, Lok Sangharsh Morcha, Lokshakti Abhiyan, Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, MASUM, Media Action Group, Minorities Council, Muslim Women’s Forum, National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights, National Economic Forum for Muslims, Nazareth Mahila Samiti, NCHRO, Nishan, North East Support Centre & Helpline, Orissa Development Action Forum, Orissa Seek, Save & Development Society, Oxfam India, Popular Education & Action Centre ,People’s Movement against Nuclear Energy, People’s Research Society, People’s Watch, PRASHANT, Religious Harmony Commission (CBCI), Roshan Vikas, SAFAR,Saheli, Sahrwaru, Sajhi Duniya, Samarpan, Sanchetana, Sandarbh, Sarva Dharam Sansad, Shambhavi, South Asia Citizens Web, South Asians for Human Rights , SUTRA, Tamilnadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam, Udayan, Urja Ghar, Vikas Adhyan Kendra, Yuv Shakti and several others.

Don Bosco Musical Launched from Rome

ROME (SAR News) – Don Bosco the Musical designed by director of famous  Italian musicals had its premiere, October 18, at the Teatro Olimpico in  Rome.

Celebrated singer Marcello Cirillo plays the lead role of Don  Bosco. The twenty-member cast includes Our Lady, Don Bosco’s mother Mamma  Margaret, co-foundress of the Salesian Sisters, Mary Mazarello, Cardinal and  his secretary, Devil and a group of 12 boys and girls.

“We decided on this new venture because Don Bosco is so very much  up-to-date,” said Piero Castellacci, the show’s director. Castellacci has a high reputation in the world of Italian theatre, for successful shows  including the life of St. Francis of Assisi, Cristo 2000, and Mother Teresa.

“Don Bosco was a priest who lived among the people, on the streets. A priest  who taught values and saved youngsters from a life of crime,” the director  added.

“One hundred and fifty years ago, Don Bosco dreamed a charter of rights for
adolescents forced to work at an early age, making him a sort of forerunner of trade unions today.

“He was a priest who lived among the people, you may call a street priest,  with a simple heart and great humility so much so he named the Order he  founded the Salesians after Francis de Sales, a French bishop lived in the  sixteenth century.”

Though it all sounds very pious, equally renowned producer Elia Faustini has
ensured that the show does not lack the glitz and glamour needed to sustain audience interest in a 135-minute musical.

The music and lyrics were designed by Castellacci based on a text by Renato  Biagioli, in collaboration with Olimpio Petrossi (producer of several  Italian chart-buster audio albums).

The choreography is by super dancer Claudio Meloni and the lights and sound
is by internationally acclaimed Pepi Morga.

The company has shows lined up all over Italy during this season.

 150th years: The year 2009 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Salesian congregation.

Rector Major Father Pascual Chávez declared it “an year of grace” which should help the Salesians to remember their origins and destinations to which the Salesian Family is called. In the same year the relics of Don Bosco, enclosed in a special urn, will begin a pilgrimage through the 8 regions of the congregation, thus initiating the process of preparation for the celebration of the bicentenary of the birth of Don Bosco in 2015.

The Don Bosco Musical will be one of the popular ways of getting to know the
genius of Don Bosco – the father and friend of youth.

The Hindu Right fears not conversions but equitable society

By UDIT RAJ,* Chairman of All India Confederation of SC/ST Organisations

RIGHT-WING HINDUS never had any issue with Christians or with conversion when it came to using — and exploiting — Christian institutions. They have had no problem in availing Christian medical facilities. No abhorrence has been evinced toward convent schools, where the so-called upper castes were taught the English that got them jobs abroad and enabled them to articulate their views at global fora. That changed around 1998, when the BJP came to power. Targeting Christians became politically useful. A massive campaign was launched against Sonia Gandhi, making an issue of a person of foreign and Christian origin wielding power over a Hindu majority country. It culminated in the hatred for Christians, who are now seen as villains instead of the gentle community they had hitherto been known as.

Wisdom lies in understanding the causes which escalate the processes of hatred. So it becomes our responsibility to fathom the mystery of conversion, usually assigned as the basis for attacks on Christians. The RSS, Bajrang Dal and VHP blame those said to offer inducements to convert; they also accuse the global Church of pumping money into India to influence the country’s have-nots. In such a context, the word ‘conversion’ becomes synonymous with ‘terrorism’, a connotation that could not be further from the truth. What does conversion mean except the choice of another faith or ideology? Laws against conversion are in operation in several states and, to date, not one case has been reported where a conversion was made in the greed for inducements.

What worries the Sangh Parivar is not the welfare of dalits but a possible reduction in upper-caste Hindu numbers. Their prejudice is so entrenched that they are not in a position to sense the agony of those who suffer under the caste-based system. In general, Hindu believers treat the disadvantaged as sinners reaping the fruits of a past life. Thus, a leper is to be shunned; the exploitation of dalits is justified. On the contrary, a Christian finds an opportunity for spiritual fulfillment in serving the leper and healing the sick. Before they build churches, Christians normally build schools and hospitals. Why do major Hindu religious establishments involve themselves only in collecting donations and not in performing such community services?

Let us examine the few hopes still left for Hinduism. Are dalits, tribals and members of backward groups allowed to become priests? Tall claims are made of dalits being trained to become priests or being welcomed to take up Hindu rituals. But, on the ground, the traditional situation has not changed. Though physical untouchability receded in the 20th century, the mental block remains.

The Hindu Right and the so called upper castes see ‘saving’ Hinduism as their mission. But, in this competition with Islam, Christianity and Buddhism, the superficial brotherhood shown by right-wing Hindu organisations toward tribals and dalits does not ultimately win their hearts. Unless the problems inherent to Hinduism are addressed, conversion can never be stopped. A Christian marries his or her co-religionist; a Muslim does the same. Is that possible for Hindus across caste? Are the upper castes ready to welcome reservation for their Hindu brothers? Is their society ready for inter-dining and for inter-caste marriages? Without these conditions being fulfilled, no one on earth can stop the rejection of Hinduism by the so called lower castes. The so-called upper castes can only stop conversion if they introspect, eradicate the evil in the caste system, and visualise themselves in a situation where they and their families are carrying human excreta on their heads. Then, they will feel the suffering of those condemned to do so for life.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne251008proscons.asp

*Udit Raj is a dalit activist

DB School Kolkata Among India’s Top 10

According to a nationwide survey conducted by C fore – a Delhi based market research agency Don Bosco School Park Circus Kolkata is among the top 10 in the country.

 

Other Kolkata schools leading the grades are La Martiniere for Boys second, its counterpart La Martiniere for Girls fourth and St Xavier’s Collegiate School eighth among 250 of the most high profile schools in India.

 

In co-curricular education, Don Bosco Park Circus, St James and Loreto House have bagged pride of place.

 

Don Bosco and South Point have also made it to the top 10 in the ‘competence of faculty’ category.

 

Along with Don Bosco and Loreto House, Ashoke Hall has bagged a place on top in infrastructure.

 

While La Marts Boys and Girls and St Xavier’s Collegiate School have made it to the top positions in various parameters, other schools like South Point, Patha Bhavan and St James, have made it to the top 10 list in “academic reputation”.

 

Along with Ramakrishna Mission Vidya Mandir Belur, St James and Patha Bhavan have made the top-10 list in the survey titled ‘India’s Most Respected Schools’ for honesty and integrity.

 

In the results published in a Bangalore-based education magazine, The Shri Ram School, Delhi bagged the top position.

 

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/3_Kolkata_schools_in_nations_top_10/articleshow/3625720.cms

Mechanism to face SOS situations

The Christian community need to put in place a mechanism to face such SOS situations. Catholic Christian Secular Forum  (CSF) Genral secretary Mr Joseph Dias says, “we need to concentrate less on empowering others and more on equipping ourselves.” The anti-Christian violence has exposed weak links in the existing church and laity structures. Therefore -

1. The church & the community need to go back to the basics in the Bible. India is fast becoming like the West, in terms of most of us being Christian only in name. Of little importance, in the rush of modern living, are things like – the Great Commission, love & concern for our own, tithing or giving to God’s work, supporting the poor, sick, orphans, widows. Unless we put Christ back among Christians, our faith will be no less shallow than that of those in the “developed” countries – facing an economic meltdown for being selfish & ignoring God ?
 
2. The church & the community needs to introspect & support notable activist initiatives, for the tasks at hand are huge, needing much financial & professional resources. Most of the initiatives are dependent on private & personal funds, which will dry out in time.  Soon, yet another anti-Christian attack will not create a big stir, like anti-Muslim riots don’t today. Rather, many more activists would rise to the cause, if they are supported financially, since or else they would have to do so, at the cost of their jobs or small businesses.  We need to organize ourselves into a network – to take on a major community development exercises.
 
3. The church & the community needs to demand reservations for Christians in education / employment & Scheduled status for Dalit Christians. If we had done so at the time of Independence or during the Mandal Commission agitation, Christians would have been in a better position today. In case of such communal violence or discrimination, we would have had at least a handful of community members in the police, government, judiciary, administration, civil & defence forces, etc. to help us out. The Govt of India NSSO survey clearly states that Christians are in some cases, the poorest. What does the Church or urban Christians plan do about it.

Examples to learn from 

The Parsi, Sikh & Jain minorities, who are just a tiny fraction of our numbers, have shown the way economically & politically. The Muslims too can teach us something in this regard. The Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) has put out an appeal for the better blessed Muslims to each contribute a little Zakat (tithe) annually and is working towards a 25 Million U$ Dollar / Rs.100 Crore community development fund. Details on http://www.unitedislamicaid.org/ Christian clergy, intellectuals, professionals, ex-servicemen, financially better-off laity … need to think on these lines.
 
If we don’t watch out & take urgent steps, our churches will be reduced to muesuems and vocations will stop happening. We are thoroughly ill-equipped to face the onslaught & dangers to come. If we have been spared to some extent is because, we have internationalized the issue. But this too has its limitations.
 
The CSF is making a humble beginning by setting-up a major DATABANK, which will be of great service in meeting the challenges we are presently confronting. Nothing of this kind exists in India & the expenses for the same are expected to be at a minimum Rs. 2,50,000 or US$ 5555 approx. This will be for staff, office, systems, stationery, communication, etc. We are looking for partners, who are prompted or blessed by the LORD to help us out. If you feel called to assist in any way, please send your contact details to the csf.ceo@gmail.com

 

The CSF also has Dr. Peter Rodriques specifically looking into the issue of reservation – a subject very close to his heart. We invite others to contact The CSF and contribute (ideas, contacts, influence, volunteer…) your mite - assistance in kind is more valuable, than cash !
 
The CSF would also like to promote a national-level Federation of Christian NGOs & activists, to meet under one roof to see how best to organize the community effectively & come out with an action programme. We need to use the internet to tell the world and compel the Government of India to act. We have therefore put up a petition to the UNITED NATIONS & HEADS OF STATES and will follow it through internationally. We are closing this petition by 31 October ‘08. If you haven’t as yet signed in, please do so at http://www.PetitionOnline.com/thecsf17/petition.html

Servant of God Salesian Cardinal Hlond Honoured

In a thanksgiving Eucharist marking 60^th death anniversary of Cardinal Augusta Josef Hlond the primate of Poland was celebrated at church of St Stanislaw on via delle Botteghe Oscure Rome, 22 October.

The assembly also recalled another Polish servant of God, Pope John Paul II, marking 30^th anniversary of his taking charge in the Vatican.

The Secretary of the Congregation for the Cause of the Saints Archbishop Edward Nowak, another son of Poland, presided over the celebration in Polish language.

There were 31 concelebrants and some 120 Polish faithful crowding the little Polish Church. A Polish language choir too was in attendance.

During the Eucharist a two-volume hardbound books containing Cardinal Hlond’s  POSITIO (Case) were made public. The Congregation of the Saints case number of card. Hlond is number 1808. Both volumes together contain 1,654 pages of text and 15 pages of photos.

The members of the organizing committee included:  Bishop Stephan Wesoly, Superior General of the Society of Christ for the Polish Immigrants Fr Tomasz Sielicki, Salesian Postulator General for the Cause of the Saints Fr Enrico dal Covolo and Fr Stanislaw Zimniak in-charge of the historical research on Card. Hlond at the Salesian Historical Institute, Pisana.

After the Mass a 51 minute film on Cardinal Hlond in Polish language was screened.

All three brothers became Salesians
Augustus was born at Brzechowice, Poland on 5 July 1881. Attracted by the fame of Don Bosco, already at the age of 12, Hlond followed his elder brother to Italy to be ale to consecrate himself in the Salesian Congregation. This encouraged two more of his brothers to do the same. 

Distinguished path of leadership
He was admitted to the novitiate and received the clerical habit from the hands of Blessed Michael Rua, in 1896. Having completed his studies in the Gregorian University, he returned to Poland for his regency (Practical Training) at Oswiecim. Augustus was ordained a priest on 23 September 1905. He was appointed Rector of the new house of Pizemysl (1907-09) and later that of Vienna (1909-19). In 1919 when the Austro-Hungarian province was divided, he was made Provincial (1919-22). In two years the young Provincial was able to found some ten new houses. 

Bishop of Katowice, then Cardinal
having worked as Apostolic Administrator, he was ordained Bishop of Katowice on 3 January 1926. On 24 June of the same year, Bishop Augustus became the Primate of Poland. In the following year on 20 June, the Pope nominated him Cardinal. He was also in charge of the Polish people dispersed in various parts of the world. For this he founded a Congregation named ” Society of Christ for Polish Immigrants”.

The Calvary years of war
With the Second World War his Calvary started. Cardinal Hlond was forced into exile till the end of the war, at first in Rome from where he started a courageous defence of his fatherland. It intensified in France when he took shelter at Lourdes. >From there the Nazi police deported him to Paris so that he could form a Polish government favourable to them. But the Cardinal resolutely refused it. Hence the Nazis imprisoned him, first at Lorene and later at Westphalia. However, the Allied Forces freed him and was able to return to Poland where he was appointed Archbishop of Warsaw. Earlier he had defended his people from the horrors of Nazism, so now with his vigorous pastoral letters; he continued to defend them from Bolshevist atheism.

Triumph in death
God protected him from more than one attempt on his life, reserving for him the death of a great Patriarch on 22 October 1948. His funeral was a real triumph. For the first time in the history of Poland the internment took place in the cathedral itself.

Salesian Sisters Elect First Non-Italian General

Sr. Yvonne Reungoat, aged 63, a French national, is the first non-Italian Superior General of  the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. She succeeds Mother Antonia Colombo on 24 October.

“Having lived and worked beside her in the General Council for the past 12 years, I know her to be a person of strong faith, deep prayer life, ardent hope and true salesian joy,” says Sr Wilma DeSouza, Visiting Councilor.

“Deeply rooted in the spirit and charism of our founders and at the same time a woman of vision, she is enthusiastic and determined about leading the Institute towards a renewed understanding and living of our charismatic identity so as to respond adequately to the challenge of educating young people today,” adds Sr Wilma.

 

Commenting on the new Mother General’s qualities of the heart Sr Wilma says, “She has a profound capacity for listening and empathizing with the person she is listening to. Very thoughtful and attentive to the needs of those around her, she reaches out with sisterly care and  affection, very often going out of her way to help someone in need.”

 

“An enterprising, daring and courageous person, she is undaunted by challenging situations; she is able to find ways and means of solving problems and achieving goals. A warm-hearted person, very human in her ways, affectionate and sisterly in relationships, she will certainly touch the hearts and the lives of our sisters around the world as she begins her visits to the different provinces,” says Sr Wilma listing new General’s leadership qualities.

 

Sr Bernadette Sangma currently working in Rome adds, “through her missionary experience in Africa, she has a first hand knowledge of the challenges posed to the FMA communities in the developing countries. Her experiences in intercultural relationships during her years in mission-land and during the last six-year term as vicar general and in-charge of the FMA international communities in Rome will certainly enable her to delve into the complex intercultural and interreligious reality of India. This of course is the need of the hour for the FMA communities in India as we face the challenges posed by communal violence in our nation.

She has been to Guwahati in 2006..

Nun’s Rape Case Statement to Media

Orissa Police Failed to protect me from rapist and attackers. I lost my trust in Orissa Police” Sr. Meena

Civil societies disappointed at Supreme Court’s refusal (22 Oct) to order CBI Enquiry on nun’s rape case in Kandhamal, Orissa

On 24th August, around 4:30pm, hearing the shouting of a large crowd, at the gate of Divyajyoti Pastoral Centre, I ran out through the back door and escaped to the forest along with others. We saw our house going up in flames. Around 8:30 pm we came out of the forest and went to the house of a Hindu gentleman who gave us shelter.

On 25th August, around1:30 pm, the mob entered the room where I was staying in that house, one of them stopped me on my face, caught my hair and pulled me out of the house. Two of them were holding my neck to cut off my head with axe. Others told them to take me out to the road; I saw Fr. Chellan also being taken out and being beaten. The mob consisting of 40-50 men was armed with lathis, axes, spades, crowbars, iron-rods, sickles etc. They took both of us to the main road. Then they led us to the burnt down Janavikas building saying that they were going to throw us into the smoldering fire.

When we reached the Janavikas building, they threw me to the verandah on the way to the dining room which was full of ashes and broken glass pieces. One of them tore my blouse and others my undergarments. Father Chellan protested and they beat him and pulled him out from there.

They pulled out my saree and one of the stepped on my right hand and another on my left hand and then a third person raped me on the verandah mentioned above. When it was over, I managed to get up and put my petticoat and saree. Then another young man caught me and took me to a room near the staircase. He opened his pants and was attempting to rape me when they reached there.

I hid myself under the staircase. The crowd was shouting “where is that sister, come let us rape her, at least 100 people should rape.”
They found me under the staircase and took me out to the road. There I saw Fr. Chellan was kneeling down and the crowd was beating him. They were searching for a rope to tie us both of us together to burn us in fire. Someone suggested to make us parade naked. They made us walk on the road till Nuagoan market which was half a kilometer from there.
They made to fold our hands and walk. I was with petticoat and saree as they had already torn away my blouse and undergarments. They tried to strip even there and I resisted and they went on beating me with hands on my cheeks and head and with sticks on my back several times.

When I reached the market the market place about a dozen of OSAP policemen were there. I went to them asking to protect me and I sat in between two policemen but they did not move. One from the crowd again pulled out from there and they wanted to lock us in their temple mandap. The crowd led me and Fr. Chellan to the Nuagaon block building saying that they will hand us over to BDO. From there along with the block officer the mob took us to police outpost Nuagaon, other policemen remained far.

The mob said that they will come back after eating and one of them who attacked me remained back in the police outpost. Policemen then came to police outpost. They were talking very friendly with the man who had attacked me and stayed back. In police outpost we remained until the inspector in charge of Balliguda with his police team came and took us to Balliguda. They were afraid to take us straight to the police station and they kept us sometimes in jeep. In the garage, from there, they brought us to the station. The inspector in charge and other government officers took me privately and asked whatever happened to me. I narrated everything in detail to the police, how I was attacked, raped, taken away from policemen paraded half naked and how the policemen did not help me when I asked for help while weeping bitterly. I saw the inspector writing down. The inspector asked me “are you interested in filing FIR? Do you know what will be the consequence?” At about 10:00 pm I was taken for medical check-up accompanied by a lady police officer to Balliguda Hospital. They were afraid to keep us in police station, saying the mob may attack police station. So the police took us to the IB (Inspection Bungalow) where CRP men were camping.

On 26th August around 9:00 am, we were taken to Balliguda police station. When I was writing the FIR, the I I C asked me to hurry up and not to write in detail. When I started writing about the police, the I I C told me “this is not the way to write FIR, make it short”. So I re-wrote it for the third time in one and half page. I filed the FIR but I was not given a copy of it.

At around 4:00 pm the inspector in charge of Balliguda police station along with some other government officers put us in the OSRTC bus to Bhubaneswar along with other stranded passengers. Police were there till Rangamati where all passengers had their supper. After that I did not see the police. We got down near Nayagarh and traveled in a private vehicle and reached Bhubaneswar around 2:00 am on 27th August.

State Police failed to stop the crimes, failed to protect me from the attackers, they were friendly with the attackers. They tried their best that I did best that I  did not register an FIR, not make complaints against police, police did not take down my statement as I narrated in detail and they abandoned me half of the way. I was raped and now I don’t want to be  victimized by the Orissa police. I want CBI enquiry.

God bless India, God bless you all.
Sr. Meena

INSAF’s Orissa Fact-finding Team Report

The Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF) led a four member fact finding team along with reps of four major media groups on a four day fact finding mission, 22-23 October. Here is their report.

24 October: Bhubaneswar – The attacks carried out on Christians living in the villages of Kandhamal district, Orissa were planned and executed by the Hindu fundamentalist groups VHP, RSS and Bajrang Dal. With the BJD-BJP combine in power, the state machinery did nothing to stop the criminals from having their way and the violence spread to other parts of the district, which are largely inaccessible. The murder of Laxmananda Saraswati was used as a trigger to instigate large scale violence. A visit by a team from Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF) in the affected areas on October 22-23, revealed the atrocities carried out on the people who have also been living in the same areas with their neighbours from other communities for the last few decades. Though Maoists have claimed responsibility for the killing of Laxmananda Saraswati, the state government so far has yet to make any breakthrough in the case. Nor has it been able to pinpoint who carried out the attacks.

 

From the night of August 23, mob shouting slogans for Bajrang Dal and proclaiming a Hindu Rashtra went around the villages carrying arms before attacking houses belonging to Christians. In most of the cases, outsiders guided by a section of the villagers led the attacks. Though, the district administration claims to have arrested around 650 people involved in the riot, some of the master-minds are still at large.

 

The attackers didn’t spare women and handicapped (one of whom was burnt to death in Gadaragam). Houses were ransacked and set on fire, belongings stolen. Remains of churches at Rupagam bore grim evidence of the hatred with which the attackers carried out their plans. A woman Salima Pradhan of Gadaragam couldn’t flee from the village and is living in the ruins of the houses where her relatives once lived. The woman has received no assistance from the administration and is begging for food.

 

Another case in point is Beheragam where as many as 40 houses were burnt. The residents managed to escape to the adjoining forest areas and survived. Hardly any of them have been able to return to their homes. Though, the administration has closed down one camp at Bariguda (where the refugees have returned home) in the rest of the camps like the ones in G. Udaygiri it will still take some time for the villagers to feel secure and return home. Those staying in the camps are afraid of another round of violence and don’t want to return home. Even the presence of CRPF has done little to boost their confidence. Some of the camp dwellers told the fact-finding team that only those who converted to Hinduism are being allowed in. They told the fact-finding team that their relatives were forced to tonsure their heads and go through a purification ritual before they were allowed to return. Posters claiming that the a Hindu country is for Hindus still remain. In a burnt down house at Gadaragam, one such poster still remains.

 

There are some more villagers who have fled to Bhubanaeswar and living in camps. None of them are willing to go back to their homes right now.

 

The refugees point towards a school Gurukul Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya started by Laxmananda Saraswati at Chakapada from where the anti-Christian feelings are being encouraged. They believe the villages in Kandhamal won’t be any safer till the school remain.

 

At the camps, the people are surviving on the bare minimum. For a family of 10 only two blankets have been provided. There are no less than 3000 people staying in filthy conditions. Among them are the elderly, sick and pregnant women. As many as 40 schools are closed down and the students about to appear Board exams face an uncertain future.

 

The team urges the Government to immediately: 

• Arrests all culprits and restore rule of law
• Provide adequate facilities in the relief camps
• Institute a Judicial inquiry by a sitting Judge into the event
• Provide adequate compensation to all victims
• Provide proper rehabilitation of all displaced.

 

Composition of the team:

1. Chittaranjan Singh, writer/Human rights activist, National Organising Secretary -PUCL, Uttar Pradesh
2. Dr. Ms. Shiamala Baby, gender activist – Director, Forward, Tamil Nadu
3. Dr. Ms. Saroop Dhruv, poetess/writer/activist, Ahmedabad
4. Dhirendra Panda, activist, Bhubaneswar.

 

Accompanied by media team of:

1. Arnab Ganguly, Special Correspondent, Times of India, Kolkata
2. Ms. Bala Chauhan, Chief of Bureau (investigation), Deccan Chronicle, Bangalore.
3. Prashant Nanda, Special Correspondent, IANS, Delhi
4. Bhupen Singh, writer & news producer, ZEE NEWS, Delhi

 

INDIAN SOCIAL ACTION FORUM (INSAF)

A124/6 1st floor, Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi 110 016. INDIA

Tel: +91-11-26517814/ 65663958, Email: insaf@vsnl.com.

Website: http://www.insafindia.org

 

Countering Fascist Forces: Defending the Idea of India

The two day National Convention on Countering Fascist Forces: Defending the Idea of India concluded 26 October. About 750 activists from 18 states and 90 NGOs attended the convention and resolved to fight the fascist forces who have attacked on the idea of India which was invented by Mahatma Gandhi, explored by Jawaharlal Nehru and redefined by Dr. B. R. Amdebkar.

Prominent among those who spoke at the convention include: Abhay Sukhla, Achin Vanaik, Amit Sengupta, Ani Choudhary, Apporvanand, Colin Gonsalves, Deepak Bundele, Digant Oza, Dr. Sandeep Pandey, Dr. Sayeda Hamid, Harsh Dobha, Iftikhar Gilani, Jaya Mehta, John Dayal, Justice A.M. Ahmadi, Kamala Bhasin, Kavita Srivastava, Kerala, Ksitij Urs, Kuldip Nayar, Manisha Sethi, Manoj Sharma, Pooja Patel, Poorprekha Joshi, Prasant Bhushan, Prof KN Panikkar, Prof Mushir Ul Hasan, Prof Upendra Buxi, Prof Rooprekha Verma, Satya Sivaraman, Sanjay Sharma, Shabnam Hashmi, Subhash Gatade, Sumshot, Suresh Khairnar, Swami Agnivesh, Tanika Sarkar, Vineet Tiwari, Yogi Sikand, Yusuf Shaikh, Safar Agha.

The delegates and participants resolved as follows to:

1. Call for resignation of Shivraj Patil, Home Minister of India for his abject failure to prevent bomb attacks in major India cities; take action against Hindutva terrorist despite evidence provided to him by civil society groups; stop the Sangh Parivar’s attacks on Christian populations in Orissa, Karnataka and other parts of India; and for using face police encounters and false evidence against Muslim youth to save his political career;

1. Call for dismissal of M.K. Narayan, National Security Adviser for incompetence and all the intelligence lapses leading to rise in to both terrorist and communal violence;

1. Demand prosecution of all members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and ABVP who have links with Hindutva terrorist organizations, such as the ones implicated in the Malegaon bomb blasts.

1. Condemn the UPA government for falling prey to the Hindutva agenda while paying lip service to secularism.

1. Demand the setting up of a time-bound judicial inquiry into the Jamia Nagar ‘encounter’ headed by sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

1. Review major cases of ‘terrorist’ attacks and immediately release those against whom there is no evidence of any kind; implementation of NHRC instruction regarding independent investigation into all deaths in police custody and in police encounters over the last 5 years;

1. Call for a ban on RSS, The Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad for terrorist, anti national activities and seizure of their national and international assets; a White paper on terrorist activities of these organizations;

1. Demand the presentation of a White Paper on the scope of India ’s “war on terrorism” and the level of its cooperation and collaboration with US-led war n terror;

1. Enact the Communal Violence Bill after through revision in consultation with citizen’s bodies, human rights groups and anti-communal organizations across India;

1. Provide immediate relief and compensation to the victims of communal terrorism in Orissa and other states including reconstruction of destroyed private property and restoration of livelihood. Set up a permanent statutory body to deal with such issues in future.

1. Demand the formation of a strong statutory body like election commission (or extend the scope of the EC) to monitor pre-election conduct of political parties and their leaders which generally leads up to polarization of vote banks. Such a body should have right to disqualify party and/or its functionaries or elected representatives in the legislature in the wake of a breach of conduct;

1. The immediate release of Human Rights Defenders, such as Dr. Binayak Sen, who have been arrested for exposing police atrocities and state violence against innocent citizens.

1. Demand a White Paper on misuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Kashmir and the Indian North-East and the immediate withdrawal; search for a political rather than military solution to the Kashmir problem;

1. A National commission of inquiry into the misuse of special security laws by the police to arrest members of the minority community in false cases of terrorism. END

Indian FMA Elected Visiting Councillor

Sr. Lucy Rose Ozhukail, Superior of St Mary’s Guwahati and province delegate to the Chapter was elected a Visiting Councillor, 27^th Oct afternoon just after 4.00 pm. She is the second Indian/Asian to be elected to the FMA (Salesian Sisters) General Council. Hailing from Kerala, India she was born on 20^th May 1952. She has been an FMA for 29 years and first provincial of the Guwahati province from 2000-2006. Earlier she was also Novice Mistress for 6 years. Besides being a teacher with B.Ed degree in Salesian Spirituality (Rome) Sr Lucy Rose served as High School principal.

Bold Initiatives with Vision

“As community animator and novice-mistress I gathered that she was much esteemed and appreciated by her sisters and chosen several times as Delegate to the PCI Annual meeting.

During my visit to the ING province I had the opportunity of closer and more frequent contacts with her. I saw her as a simple, open, respectful person, calm in her ways, very dedicated to her mission of animation and governance of the province and enthusiastic about the educative mission among the young, especially the poor,” says Sr Wilma DeSouza of Mumbai the first VC commenting on the newly elected VC.

“Being the first provincial of Guwahati province, Sr Lucy was able to get her Council to work as a team in order to organize and build up the infrastructure necessary for the working of the province. With vision and foresight she and her council also searched for a suitable piece of land for the construction of the new provincial house and this too became a reality in early 2006 just before she concluded her term of office. The mid-term evaluation meeting of the Indian FMA provinces in January 2006 was the occasion for the solemn inauguration of this new provincialate in the presence of Mother General and four other general councillors,” adds Sr Wilma.

With the increase of vocations she saw the need for a separate novitiate for the new province and had it opened at Kohima in Nagaland.

Daring Ventures for Youth

It was during her term of office that the province first ventured into the apostolate among children and young girls at risk in Guwahati city. A day-care centre for these children was opened in the slums of the city. Later, towards the end of her term as provincial in January 2006, a centre was built near the community of Holy Child Krishnagar to offer shelter, care and education to street girls. As provincial her main concerns were the formation of the sisters, animation of the communities and care and education of the poor children, particularly the disadvantaged ones.

“As Visiting Councillor she will no doubt widen her vision, open her heart and extend her loving care and accompaniment to all the Indian provinces and to the whole Institute the world over, particularly to the provinces where she will be sent on visitations by Mother General. We wish her a joyful and fruitful term of service in the General Council and accompany her with our good wishes and prayers,” assures Sr Wilma.

Asian Award-winning Kokborok Film ‘Yarwng’ to open Indian Panorama

Newly released Kokborok Film ‘Yarwng’ (Roots) has brought unprecedented honour to Tripura by being selected to be the Opening Film of the prestigious Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). The announcement made by the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, Shri Anand Sharma, comes on the heels of another announcement from Mumbai that Yarwng, was awarded the ‘Jury Special Mention Award’ along with the Israeli film ‘Foul Gesture’ by Tzahi Grad at the recently concluded 7th Asian Film Festival, in Mumbai.

The Jury of the Indian Panorama headed by noted filmmaker K.N.T. Shastri selected the 25 Indian films to be showcased at the International Film Festival of India, Goa. The list features latest films by Adoor Gopalakrishnan (Oru Pennum Randaanum) and Girish Kasaravalli (Gulabi Talkies), S. Priyadarshan (Kanachivaram), Suman Mukhopaday (Chaturnaga), Ashutosh Gowariker (Jodha Akbar) and Aamir Khan (Taare Zameen Par).

It is noteworthy that the Opening Film of the section is ‘YARWNG’ (Roots) in “Kokborok” language of Tripura, in which films are rarely made, as the tribal who speak the language virtually have no access to cinema.

The film has also been selected for screening at the forthcoming Kolkata International Film Festival in November.

‘Yarwng’ (Roots) is the second feature film of Don Bosco Sampari Pictures Tripura.  The first film, ‘Mathia’ was also in the Indian Panorama of the 35^th International Film Festival of India in 2004, besides winning an award in Poland and being screened in many international festivals.

The story of the 95-minute feature film revolves round the large-scale displacement that happened in Tripura when the newly built Dumbur Dam submerged huge areas of arable land in the fertile Raima valley about 30 years ago.

The lead actors of Yarwng are Meena Debbarma, Nirmal Jamatia and Sushil Debbarma.  Supporting actors include Jeshmi Debbarma, Bimal Sing Debbarma, Amulya Ratan Jamatia, Surabhi Debbarma, Madan Debbarma, Manohari Jamatia and Rabindra Debbarma.

The technical crew of the film from Trivandrum include cameraman Kannan, Sound Recordist Krishna Kumar and Associate Director Sajiv Pazhoor.  The music is by Bikash Roy Debbarma and background score by Abhijit Basu. The film, directed by Joseph Pulinthanath sdb is produced by Fr. KJ Joseph sdb of Don Bosco Sampari Pictures Tripura.

Orissa: First Catholic Priest Dies of Assault Injuries

Fr. Bernard Digal who was attacked during anti-Christian violence in the month of August in Kandhamal district of Orissa died in a Chennai hospital, 28 Oct succumbing to injuries. Archbishop Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhuabaneswar was beside Fr Bernard before he died. Perhaps Fr. Bernard is the first catholic priest to die in the attacks by VHP cadre since the ongoing Aug 08 communal violence unleashed on Christians.

 

Sources reaching from Rev. Harichandra, PRO of AICC, Orissa reports that Fr. Bernard was attacked in Kandhamal is last August. His jeep was burnt and he was brutally beaten and left in the open field. He was taken to the local hospital in Bhubaneshwor, then taken to Mumbai and later to Chennai. He died for his faith and in the service of his Master at Chennai.

 

The anti-christian violence reported by Orissa government of coming to the normalcy is due to the fact that there are no more Christians left in the once Christian villages to be attacked and killed by Hindutva forces and no Christian home and church also left in those villages that Hindu fanatics can burn down.

 

15,000 refugees in relief camps and 40,000 refugees in forest, refuse to return back to their respective homes and villages for the fear of being attacked and killed or forced into convert to Hinduism. Orissa has Freedom of Religion Bill which bans the conversion, but the conversion to Hinduism is not considered a crime even if force, fraud and inducement is used by the Hindutva brigades to convert Christians to Hinduism.

First DB University to focus on uplift of underprivileged

Don Bosco University, Assam’s first private university and the first such venture of the Salesians of Don Bosco in India, will be formally inaugurated by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi at Tepesia on October 31.

“Providing quality education and making it accessible to the disadvantaged sections of the society are the twin objectives of the university. Empowering the society and contributing to the socio-economic progress of the North-east is our long-term goal,” Fr Stephen Mavely, Don Bosco University Project Coordinator, said at a press conference.

 

Fr Mavely said that a number of new courses would be available in the university, with thrust on professional subjects for ensuring employability of its products.

 

“Our goal is to mould young persons into intellectually competent, morally upright, socially committed and spiritually inspired citizens,” he said.

 

The initial study and research programmes will focus on three broad areas: technology sector, service sector and social sector. “The criteria for selection of these courses will be – focus on cutting-edge contemporary technology, employability of graduates, and the capacity to transform and empower society,” Fr Mavely said.

 

The university, which already has an engineering college under it with 240 students, will be set up using the infrastructure already available with the Don Bosco Society at Azara, Kharghuli and Maligaon, while additional facilities will be built at the permanent campus at Tepesia.

 

Fr Mavely said that the fee structure for the students would be quite affordable, and there would be no capitation fee. “In fact, the fee for our engineering college is less than that of any of the similar colleges in the region,” he said, adding that it had also tied up with some banks for facilitating easy study loans to needy students.

 

Fr Mavely said that the university would not have the authority to bring other institutions under its affiliation under the Assam Private Universities Act-2007, but “we will be having constituent study centres.”

 

Fr VM Thomas, director, Don Bosco Institute, said that the reason behind the launch of the university in Assam was the “tremendous demand” for such an institution and the backwardness of the North-east region.

 

He said that special initiatives of the university would include distance education programmes, socially-relevant outreach programmes, and programmes to ensure equity and access.

 

“Another highlight of the initiatives would be a fully-sponsored residential school within the university complex for 1,000 underprivileged, especially tribal, children,” Fr Thomas said.

 

Noted economist Dr Jayanta Madhab, who also addressed the press conference, lauded the initiative, saying that any move to spread education needed to be welcomed. “We hope the university, with its focus on professional courses, will boost the education scenario of the State,” he said.

http://www.assamtribune.com:80/scripts/details.asp?id=oct2708/at04

Student Director Bags Best Short Film Award

Debut director Salesian Fr Jiji Kalavanal of Bangalore province doing masters in Cinema and Television in Kerala won the Signis Award for best short film at the Religion Today Film Festival held in Rome. Earlier this year, the film Seasons of Love had won a special mention in the feature film category, at the 23rd International Catholic Film and Multimedia Festival Niepokalanow, Warsaw, 1 June 2008. The award consists of a golden rose and citation.

“I am absolutely thrilled with the honour of being recognized in an international festival,” says Jiji who was in Rome for a four day Religion Today workshop for film directors.

 

The 11th Religion Today (RT) International Film Festival concluded in Rome with the Award Ceremony held at the Marconi Hall in the Vatican Radio building, 29 October. The six city festival started on 16 October. Marking 80^th year of its foundation, the World Catholic Communications body (formerly Unda/OCIC) had a three member jury which judged 22 films in the feature film, short feature and documentary categories.

 

Of 220 films that came to the festival, 78 films were short listed for the festival screenings in six RT festivals in Italy, Among them were four entries from India: 26 minute short film “Seasons of Love” by Salesian Fr Jiji Kalavanal and three documentaries, 28 minute “In Touch with the Divine” by Jesuit Fr Rappai; 41 minute “Traveller in the 3 Worlds” by Priya Patel and 47 minute “The Last Rites of the Honourable Mr. Rai” by Jayasingji Jhala.

Indian Wins Best Short Film
The Signis award for the best short film went to Fr Jiji Kalavanal for “Seasons of Love.” The film shows how a group of college students respond to the rejection of one of them suffering from AIDS, both by parents and society.

“It is a gripping film professionally made by a college student with promising talent,” says Mrs Magali Van Reeth, a jury member from France.

 

In the feature films section, the Signis Award went to Gianluigi Calderone for 200 minute “Don Zeno” a feature film made for Italian television showing the conflicting social and political context of the 30’s. Zeno, a passionate young man from the Catholic Action dedicates his life to the poorest in the most radical ways of the gospel.

“It is a powerful film with a story and characters that sustain the drama with a strong meaning for today’s television audience,” comments Fr Kamal Correya of Signis Bangladesh.

 

The Signis special mention was awarded to Mohamed Ismail for 85 minute film Goodbye Mothers which tells the story of Morocco in the 60’s where long time friends and neighbours of different religions cope with political exclusion. The script weaves individual family stories with a moving interpretation of their tragic destiny.

 

Several other awards by international Jury, Audience Awards too were conferred at the festival.
e-Mail: jijikalavanalsdb@gmail.com

Home Village Burial Denied to Slain Priest

Fr Bernard Digal, procurator of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese who survived a murderous attack on him by Hindu bigots succumbed to his injuries on the evening of October 28 at St. Thomas Hospital in Chennai. Though the initial plan was to bury him
at Raikia in Kandhamal – hi

s native place, under pressure from Orissa police and government, the diocese is compelled to bury him in Bhubaneswar, 31 October.

I believe Fr Bernard had a right to be buried in his native village.

Here is a moving account by journalist Anto Akkara reporting for Catholic News Service on what happened to Fr Bernard:

Mumbai (CNS) 9 Sept – The Holy Spirit Hospital in Mumbai witnessed emotional scenes when archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Bhubaneswar visited his seriously injured priests who had been flown to the Catholic hospital from troubled Orissa state.

Father Bernard Digal, Bhubaneswar archdiocesan procurator, broke into tears and sobbing as archbishop Cheenath met him for the first time on Sep 6 afternoon.

Archbishop Cheenath reached Mumbai taking a break from his camping in New Delhi meeting with federal government heads including Indian Prime Minister and President and shuttling to the supreme court demanding security to the hounded Christians in Orissa.

Fr Digal had been severely thrashed by Hindu fundamentalists and left to die in Kandhamal jungles on August 26 night before he was moved by local people and police to government hospital and airlifted by anguished church workers to the Mumbai hospital along with two other seriously priests.

After overcoming his initial outbreak of emotions, the archdiocesan procurator elaborated to archbishop Cheenath how he was tortured by the Hindu bigots who were on the prowl looking for church targets following the murder of their leader Swami Lakshamanananda Saraswati who had been shot dead at his centre on August 23 night.

The orchestrated anti-Christian violence since then has left two dozen Christians dead, 4200 Christian houses burnt and dozens of churches and Christian institutions ransacked or torched, and over 50 000 Christians – half of the 100 000 Christians in Kandhamal district with half a million people – fleeing their homes.

“I was sleeping inside a burnt (Protestant) church thinking nobody would come there when we lost my way. Then, they (Hindu mob) came and started beating me up,” recounted Father Digal who is unable to move as both his legs have severe fractures.
With all his strength, Fr Digal pushed the assailants off and ran for life to through the bushes in pitched darkness. But, after few hundred metres, the Hindu bigots managed to catch him.

They hit on his head with iron bar leaving him semi-conscious at the Dudurkagaon village.

“I lost all pain and saw them beating me all round and stripping me off my clothes,” said the priest. After some time, the left the profusely bleeding priest saying, “he is going to die and let us go.”

With his legs broken, Fr Digal remained in the jungle tract motionless for the while night of August 26 with jackals howling around him.

“I was so thirsty that I had to drink my own urine with great difficulty,” said the priest who heard some movement around and cried for help after the day break.
An old lady came in and finding him naked and bleeding, she fled.

Much later, a passing boy heard his cries for help and informed local villagers who carried him to some distance called the police to rush him to nearby government hospital before reaching him to Orissa capital Bhubaneswar.

Fr Digal had halted for the night with his driver at the ‘Seva Sadan’ (house of service) at Sankarakhol – 240 kms from Bhubaneswar – where 73-year old Father Cheralamkunnel Alexander was managing the parish when the news of the murder of Saraswati came in.

He decided to stay on with the elderly priest as the funeral procession of the slain swami was carried across Kandhamal for two days with huge motorcade and Christians became apprehensive.

As the huge procession passed the church centre on August 25 afternoon, local Catholics reported that the Hindu fundamentalists wanted to burn the church and the nearby convent as the procession passed but they decided to torch these targets after the funeral.

“First they (Hindu mob) burnt the convent just after the nuns left. Before they reached our place, we also fled,” said Fr Digal.

The mob did not even spare the two dogs at the centre and traced his van parked in a remote place and burnt it while the priests and church workers fled to jungles.
“Father Alexander was finding it difficult to trek to the jungles and so, I thought of getting a (motor) bike to take him out of Kandhamal,” recalled Fr Digal.

Since he was very familiar with the area, Fr Digal along with driver and a local youth decided to walk 15 kms to Padhampada to the nearest house of a priest where there was a bike.

“From a distance, we could see the house was on fire and so, we moved to another Christian village,” Fr Digal said.

With the all the houses burnt down in the village, Fr Digal and his companions moved on.

Since it was dark and they could not proceed further, they decided to halt at the burnt Protestant church at Dudurkagaon presuming that nobody would bother to come to the burnt church in the night.

“I had dozed off when they came and my companions called me and started running. I could not run fast and fell into their hands,” recounted the 45-year old priest hailing Kandhamal jungles.

When Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai visited him at the hospital bed and consoled him, Fr Digal told the Cardinal “I am lucky and ok now” despite both his legs fractured.

“But, I am worried about the people there (in Kandhamal),” he added.

While he was at the government hospital in Phulbani – headquarters of Kandhamal district, Fr Digal said there was a seriously injured boy and his mother on the beds near him while the dead body of the husband was kept outside for post mortem.

“The suffering of our people is hurting me more than my own pain,” Fr Digal told Catholic News Service. END

Think Novel Christmas Protest

Gerald Castelino, a Catholic Advocate from Mysore reflects on the recent attacks on Christians in India and makes some bold suggestions for an appropriate “Christian Protest”. He satrts off by narrating a small incident which took place during the atrocities which took place in Mangalore.

 

I was sitting beside a middle aged Hindu Advocate who asked me why are the Christians not protesting in Mysore (there was a procession arranged but had to be cancelled because the Police did not give permission – it’s another matter again) ? I just asked him one question, is it right what is done to Christians in Orissa and Karnataka ? He condemned the brutalities and felt very sad about the whole episode. I just told him, this is what we want, let the right thinking people know what was done is right or wrong.

 

I further told him, Christ was persecuted for having committed no crime, now Christians are persecuted for having committed no crime. He was stunned! He appreciated the services of Christians to India… Our silence and deeds should be greater protests than the processions!

 

Further, all of us have seen the way the Crucifixes being broken, either leg or hand of Christ is broken, all these churches must preserve them preferably with a note explaining what, when, why and how it happened, in the local language as well as Hindi and English to remind the atrocities we may have to face.

 

Why are we celebrating Christmas this year? Let there be no external celebration When our brothers and sisters are killed and thousands persecuted for their faith. Is it justified that we celebrate Christmas in grand manner?

 

If we keep our celebrations to Mass and family affair two messages would be clear.

First, We show our solidarity and our pain to the nation, in turn the world.

Second, Stop all external celebrations – save money and send to the victims . This affects thousands who make business. Think of cakes, sweets, decorations and parties out of Christmas are not Christians – it will affect them.

Third, we save money to help the ones who are affected.

 

It would be nice to do so all over India if not at least in Orissa and Karnataka. Hope our regional Bishops’ Conferneces and Ecumenical bodies would take this as a joint initiative out of repect toward the riot victims. At the same time it would send a strong peaceful message to the world.

Time to Contain the Indian Facists

Fascism arrived in India around 1925 with the arrival of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). These right-wing Hindu elements did not make a “serious” dent on wider Indian society (apart from killing Mahatma Gandhi), until it entered its modern avatar when L. K. Advani began his Rath Yatra from the Somnath Temple in Gujarat in 1990. Since then, the country has never been the same. The destruction of the Babri Masjid in 1992 is a watershed in the communal and divisive politics of the Sangh Parivar with its many affiliates.

At first, many of us Christians thought that the attacks were only against “them” (meaning, the Muslims). However, 1998 – 99 truly exposed the ideology of the Sangh Parivar, wherein they systematically attacked and even killed Christians and attacked several Christian institutions in different parts of the country. Gujarat is a classic example of how effectively they sought to decimate a miniscule minority. They have been relentless in their campaign so far, be it in Orissa or Karnataka, Maharashtra or Chattisgarh, with their vicious agenda, “to divide and rule” and to spread their tentacles of hate everywhere. The recent investigative exposures of their role in terrorist activities in different parts of the country clearly indicates that “they stop at nothing”.

Some Christians have very naively fallen into their trap, providing them with the legitimacy they hanker for : “dialoguing” with them, signing peace accords, “agreeing” on the way they defocus the reality with non-issues, etc. Over the years, in very manipulative ways, they have called the shots, setting the agenda for us.

They have made of us “reactionaries”, creating panic and fear in the ranks, proving (because of our fear of them) in no uncertain terms that many of us really “have no faith in Jesus”. They have hit us in vulnerable spots and in many ways, we have also demonstrated to them that “we have no roadmap of our own”.

We have a duty to preserve the integrity, the diversity and the secular fabric of our country. As citizens of this great land, the onus is clearly on us to safeguard the rights and freedom of every single citizen of this country. Today, we have no choice. We have to get our ACT together now. We have to set our “agenda”. We can possibly do so through :

1. AWARENESS
- to make everyone aware of their Constitutional rights and freedom
- to expose the divisive and hate agenda of some political parties and their terrorist outfits
- to campaign that every single adult citizen has his / her name on the Electoral Roll and is able to cast one’s vote for a political party that is not communal and / or fascist
- to make people realize that they cannot be treated as second class citizens anywhere in this country
- to get involved in advocacy issues

2. COLLABORATION
- to collaborate with all men and women of goodwill
- to join secular / civil society movements, for a more humane, just and peaceful India
- to defend the rights of the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalized
- to work together with our other Christian brethren and ensure the formation of a United Christian Forum for Human Rights in every State
- to become more of a “Communicating Church”
- to broad base our efforts
- to be in touch with our Alumni, Parent Teacher Associations and demand that they stand up for the rights of all
- to ensure that we do not “re-invent the wheel” but are able to use effectively what is already in the common domain

3. TASK FORCE
- to set up immediately, a Task Force (Think-tank / coordinating and monitoring mechanism) in every Diocese
- this Task Force should consist of not more than five to seven members who are competent, capable and committed. At east half of them should be from the laity (including women)
- this Task Force is not a new organization nor a controlling / extra-constitutional authority but an empowered group that is able to work in cohesion, effectively respond to crisis and to communicate with all
- working together with this Task Force, should be four collaborative units :

• i) legal / human rights
• ii) media communication / PRO
• iii) research and documentation
• iv) relief and rehabilitation

- these units may be “housed” either in existing structures / Commissions / Congregations within the Diocese (eg. Relief and Rehabilitation could be with the Diocesan Social Works Office, Legal and Human Rights could be with the Justice and Peace Commission, etc.)
- if needed, these units could operate separately, provided they don’t duplicate or create conflict with other established mechanisms (taking into consideration that these latter are actually effective)
- each of these four units (of not more than three members each ) will have their own  networks, database, contacts, etc. (eg. the Legal and Human Rights unit will be in contact  with and will access several lawyers, human rights activists across the State)
- each unit will have their responsibilities (eg. training) clearly chalked out and will ensure that they complement one another and work as an effective mechanism
- the Task Force and its units will widely propagate the names, details like telephone numbers, emails and their respective roles and responsibilities
- if possible, the Task Force should have a website with their complete details
- for effective coordination, the Task Force and related units should be under ONE ROOF (and preferably NOT in the Bishop’s House)
- all Dioceses will revisit Church documents on Social Teaching in the Church and the mandate which the CBCI has given to itself on various issues like communication, education, women, etc.
In order to get our ACT together, we have to set the agenda and have our own “roadmap”. This “roadmap” must include the following elements :

• PRAYER – the way Jesus taught us to pray
• PREPARATION – meticulous and detailed, for the tough journey ahead
• PARTICIPATIVE – as Vatican II of the Church desires
• PROPHETIC – which is “the role” of the disciple of Christ
• PRAXIS – because “not all who say Lord, Lord….”

Yes, it is high time, we get our ACT together, and reclaim the lost space which is legitimately ours. (* Fr. Cedric Prakash sj is the Director of “Prashant”, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace) – sjprashant@gmail.com

Orissa Bishops’ Pastoral Letter

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
“The Lord is my Shepherd there is nothing I shall want”

In this time of crisis and conflict, we come to you through this pastoral letter to express our solidarity with you, to pay homage to those brothers and sisters who have laid down their lives for the sake of their faith, to comfort those who have been injured, to be with those who have been traumatized by the violence and mayhem unleashed on Christians, to do everything in our ability to ensure rehabilitation of those who have lost their houses, property, churches, institutions etc, to stand by those whose rights have been violated, and to assure that justice will be done to all who have suffered by the violence against the Christians of Orissa.

We are humbled by your strong adherence to your faith and by your trust in Jesus Christ as the Saviour and Lord. We are humbled by your willingness to go through all kinds of humiliations, trials and even persecutions for the sake of your belief. We are proud of you for your ability to withstand all forms of intimidations and threats. We pray with you for the continued strength from Jesus our Saviour and Lord so that we all may continue to carry forward his mission of compassion, love, unity, justice and peace.

Though a bit late, this pastoral letter comes to you to express our solidarity with you in this time of deep crisis and conflict; to share our own concerns about the violence that is done to us Christians; to condemn all forms of violence; to demand from the Government that adequate security be provided to all, relief and rehabilitation be undertaken in full measure, life in the relief camps be made more human; to demand from the government that the guilty be punished; to demand from the government that an adequate compensation package be announced and undertaken.

We condemn in strong words the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and demand from the Government that the culprits be identified and punished. We reiterate the fact that no Christian, no Church Institution or leadership is involved in this murder. We also condemn in unequivocal words the violence that is unleashed on the Christians as an aftermath of the killing of Swami Laxmanananda. We condemn in strong words the lies that are propagated by some vested interests that the Christians were behind the killing of the Swami. Instead we reiterate the fact that the loving and the compassionate mission of the Church continues irrespective of the persecution.

We understand the factors and forces behind violence against Christians. The Church has been standing by the side of the poor and the marginalized. Through education, health, housing and employment programmes, the Church has been bringing in awareness and awakening among the vulnerable communities. They in turn are demanding their rights. This is not liked by the powers that are since they fear their position being challenged by the poor people. Hence, they have taken to violence. But we condemn this and restate our resolve to continue the services of the church.

We appreciate the many initiatives taken by many individuals, organisations, civil society organizations, media persons and houses, NGOs, academics, political activists, conscious citizens and people from all walks of life of Orissa and India to stand by the Christians who were victimized for their faith. We are moved by their sense of solidarity and unity with all those who are affected by the ongoing violence in Orissa. Inspite of the fear of being identified by the fundamentalist forces, these people have stood by us as citizens of the same country, though our religions may be very different. We express our gratitude to them.

We also want to express our gratitude to all those organizations – both national and international – that stand by us in this time of crisis and conflict and provide various supports. In your name, we also thank the individual Christians, parishes, Dioceses, CBCI, other churches, church institutions all over the country and abroad who raised their voice against the violence on us and provided solidarity and support.

Above, all we want to express our gratitude to people of all religions of Orissa and India, who inspite of the efforts by the fundamentalist forces and some political parties to divide them and create conflict between them, upheld the Indian traditions of communal harmony and national integrity. As always, we promise to continue our tradition of communal harmony and collective destiny.

With you, we are agonized over the tardy manner in which both the State and Central Governments have responded to the ongoing violence against Christians in Orissa. We are sorry to state that both these governments have failed miserably in discharging their constitutional obligations. Hence, we call upon them to use all the powers bestowed on them by the Constitution of the country and ensure that peace and harmony prevail in the area and that the guilty be punished and the affected people be protected and adequately compensated.

We also acknowledge and appreciate the efforts taken by many officials, government departments, committees and commissions, politicians and political parties to ensure law and order, to ensure peace and harmony and to establish rule of law. We are committed to work with them at all times. Our appreciation is also extended to friends from the media who reported the unfolding of violence, the root cause and its impact in an unbiased manner.

Once again we want to express our pastoral sentiment that we are humbled by your adherence to faith in this time of conflict and crisis. We join with leaders of all the churches of Orissa to express our solidarity with you. Like Jesus, we pray for the perpetrators of crime. We pray with you that the Holy Spirit may give his wisdom and courage to the officials, government machinery and the governments to act immediately and to act in a non-partisan manner and bring life to normalcy for all in Orissa. We also pray with you that the Life, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus may strengthen us in this time of crisis so that we may continue to live our Christian life in this country without any hesitation. May Mother Mary guide our every step so that we may seriously, courageously, systematically and sensibly respond to the violence committed on us!

We are going to meet with the representatives of the Church of Orissa and would reflect about the violence and come out with short-term and long-term plans to respond to violence.

We send this pastoral letter with every spiritual blessing.

In Christ,
+ Most Rev. Thomas Thiruthalil CM, Bishop of Balasore and Chairperson of Orissa Bishops’ Regional Forum
+ Most Rev. Raphael Cheenath SVD, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar
+ Most Rev. Alphonse Bilung SVD, Bishop of Rourkela
+ Most Rev. Lucas Kerketta SVD, Bishop of Sambalpur
+ Most Rev. Sarat Chandra Naik, Bishop of Berhampur
+ Most Rev. John Barwa SVD, Coadjutor Bishop of Rourkela – www.cbcisite.com 
ORISSA, OCT. 31, 2008

 

In World’s Largest Democracy, Tolerance Is a Weak Pillar

By SOMINI SENGUPTA, Published: New York Times, October 28, 2008

NEW DELHI — With national elections only months away, India is reeling from a rash of spiteful religious and ethnic clashes, prompting many in this country to ask why their vibrant, pluralistic democracy tends to encourage, rather than avert, the cruelty of neighbor against neighbor.

Tensions are growing in several corners of the country. The latest dispute was set off in Mumbai last week, when an upstart nativist party claiming to represent Marathas, the dominant ethnic group in the state, pounced on Indians who had come from elsewhere to apply for jobs at Indian Railways.

The party, which calls itself Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (roughly, the Army for the Reconstruction of Maharashtra) and has in recent months attacked northern migrants to Mumbai, wants those jobs to be set aside for local residents. On Oct. 21, the police arrested the party leader, Raj Thackeray, on a charge of inciting riots, after which his supporters went on a rampage across the city and its suburbs. Much of Mumbai was shut down.

A day later, a local court released Mr. Thackeray on bail, setting off a rampage in the northern state of Bihar, the source of the migrants attacked by Mr. Thackeray’s disciples. Protesters blocked trains, wrecked railroad stations and stranded passengers there and in several other parts of northern India.

Meanwhile, violence between Hindus and Muslims erupted elsewhere in Mr. Thackeray’s Maharashtra State, and spread south to the state of Andhra Pradesh, where a Muslim family of six was burned to death in their home in mid-October.

Clashes between Hindus and Christians continued to sweep through eastern Orissa State. In northeastern Assam State, indigenous Bodos fought with Bengali-speaking Muslims, leaving more than 50 people dead.

All the while, Indian cities remained skittish after a spate of terrorist attacks blamed largely on Islamic militants. Other factors include the longstanding Kashmir insurgency in the north and Maoist guerrillas across central India.

The Hindustan Times recently carried a map of India, splattered with red stains to mark current trouble spots. Many more would have to be added in the two weeks since the map was published. In mid-October, speaking to the wishfully named National Integration Council, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called the rash of violence “an assault on our composite culture.”

He added, “An atmosphere of hatred and violence is being artificially generated.”

How can the world’s largest democracy fail to prevent such a fury of intolerance?

Ashis Nandy, a political psychologist and social critic, said that India was a democracy in a far more limited sense than many Indians cared to recognize. In spite of its lively and largely transparent elections, he said, some of the other basic pillars of democracy, including tolerance and respect for the rule of law, were fragile at best.

Perhaps, he went on to suggest, India was gradually becoming less democratic, as a variety of small, factionalized political parties vied to mobilize their caste and ethnic constituencies. National elections are expected to be held next spring, and five state elections are scheduled for November.

“Some amount of virulent, strident rhetoric, as well as violence, is becoming a deepening part of the democratic culture,” Mr. Nandy said. He described it as an inevitable danger of all large, pluralistic democracies. After all, he said, the Ku Klux Klan survives in the United States. And look at the increasingly aggressive campaign messages in the American presidential race, Mr. Nandy said.

Amartya Sen, the Indian-born Nobel Prize-winning economist who argued convincingly for the ability of democracies to prevent famine, acknowledged that those same states, including India, were far less effective at preventing sectarian strife.

In the case of hunger, a lively public debate can quickly generate enough political capital to prevent famine. Stopping demagogues from fanning hostility is another matter, he said. Just having a democratically elected government, he said, is insufficient.

“The role of democracy in preventing community-based violence depends on the ability of universalist political processes to subdue the poisonous fanaticism of divisive communal thinking,” he wrote in an e-mail message. “Much will depend on the vigor of democratic politics, not just the existence of democratic institutions.”

Dipankar Gupta, a sociologist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, said India’s leaders had become so focused on wooing votes for the next elections that they were losing sight of how to protect citizens, regardless of which caste or community they belonged to. “Religion is important,” he said. “Caste is important. Of course it’s important, but so long as it does not offend the basic principle of citizenship. In India, we have forgotten it.”

The unrest has cast a pall over October, a holy month for Hindus and Muslims alike.

As Tuesday’s observance of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights and gift-giving approached in recent days, markets and temples were guarded by a phalanx of police officers and metal detectors. Islam’s holiest festival, Id al-Fitr, passed somberly earlier this month, after a spate of terrorist attacks across India for which Islamic militants were largely blamed. Then, in mid-October, closed-circuit cameras kept a watchful eye over Ramlila, the epic play of good and evil re-enacted every year from the pages of Hindu mythology.

One of the most celebrated Ramlila pageants happens each year in the 15th-century walled city of Delhi, on lawns pressed hard against the Mughal era Red Fort. This year, attendance was visibly lighter and the organizers, for the first time, had arranged for a live Webcast of the play for those who were nervous about coming to a crowded fairground.

Unfolding over 10 days, Ramlila pits the clever demon Ravana — so smart that he has 10 heads — against the virtuous Ram. This evening, even Ram, played by a  rofessional model named Honey Sawhney, 20, had to walk through a metal detector at the gates of the fairground.

Vivek Gautam, known as Vicky, this evening’s Ravana, sat on a chair with his legs splayed, his hirsute and heavy girth pouring over a shimmering black nylon dhoti at his waist. He ruminated over the troubles of the times, saying it was in keeping with what Hindu legend called the Kalayuga, or the dark age.

“It is just the start of the Kalayuga,” he warned. “Once it reaches its climax you cannot imagine what it will be like. There will be no friendships, no relationships, not even between fathers and sons, only crime.”

Ravana’s cellphone trilled. As for the strife now erupting across his country, he said cryptically, “Our own people are betraying us.

Fact-finding report says 500 Christians killed in Orissa, cites govt officer

A Communist Party of India [CPI (ML)] fact-finding team visited Orissa’s Kandhamal District on 15-16 October, 2008. The team visited affected villages and relief camps, after facing interrogation by the Orissa Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The team also met District Magistrate (DM) and various police officials of Kandhamal district. Below is a report by team member J P Minz.

1. The District Magistrate’s (DM) Statement: The DM told us that Kandhamal had been peaceful for the preceding ten days. Whereas there used to be fifteen relief camps, now only seven were operational, having 12,641 people. According to him, breakfast, meals, supplementary food meant for children, and iron and calcium tablets for pregnant women are available in these camps; a doctor is available round the clock; books are available for children and there are regular reading sessions. Blankets, sarees, buckets and mugs and similar essentials have also been provided.

2. Conditions at the Relief Camps: Our team visited Phulbani, Tikabali, Ji Udaygiri and Rakiya relief camps and found that the inmates of the camp are living in extremely bad conditions. In the name of breakfast they get only fifty grams of chura (beaten rice) and rice-dal for meals, which is not enough to satisfy the needs of hunger and nutrition. In the name of supplementary food, the children are occasionally given biscuits. Bathing soaps have been distributed just once in the camps. The doctors do visit but patients are told that there is no medicine. There is no arrangement for pregnant women. The camp inmates sleep on plastic mats on the ground. They have to defecate in the open, which apart from being unhygienic also puts them in danger. One inmate of Ji Udaygiri camp, we were told, was killed when he had gone to defecate.

3. Role of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal: The victims in all the relief camps unanimously told the fact finding team that it is the VHP and Bajrang Dal cadres who have sowed the seeds of communal division in the villages. They used to organize meetings of the Kandha tribals and incite them to attack the Christian hamlets and also provided funds for doing this.

4. Role of the Police and Administration: The anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal started on the day of the bandh called by VHP after the murder of Swami Lakshmananad, and these riots continued for over a month. In the communal fire two hundred Christian villages and 127 Church and prayer halls were either destroyed or burnt. Apart from this, schools, hospitals, hostels and convents also have been damaged. The incidents of killings, rape and loot also were carried out in addition to former incidents. The shocking fact is that all these incidents took place in full view of police and the police remained mute spectators.

The official figure for deaths has been reported to be 31, however, a senior government official on the condition of anonymity informed that he himself consigned two hundred dead bodies – found from the jungle – to flames after getting them collected in a tractor. As per his estimates based on the intensity and pace of killings the number of those killed is over five hundred.

5. Atmosphere of Terror: The Christians continue to experience great terror. The Sangh outfits are campaigning for sending back the CRPF and the Nikhil Utkal Kui community is threatening to launch an armed movement. Riot-victims are frightened to go back to their villages because they have been threatened that if they return they will be hacked into pieces. The rioters are also proclaiming that only Hindu converts will be allowed to return. On the other hand, those in charge of the relief camps are pressurizing the riot victims to return to their villages saying that the life has returned to normalcy and peace has returned.

Conclusions:
1. This violence was a pre-planned anti-Christian communal assault, and in no way was it a ‘clash’ between adivasi (tribals) and dalits. 

2. This violence which had full support from the Biju Janta Dal Government was planned and executed by VHP and Bajrang Dal.
3. The Sangh’s propaganda about ‘indiscriminate religious conversion’ is a far cry from facts, as the Christian population of Orissa is only 2.5 per cent of the total population. It is to be noted that Christian missionaries began working in Orissa 150 years back.
4. Dalits have far less proportion of land in comparison to the Kandha tribals. In Kandhamal 90 per cent land is government land, 5.5 percent belongs to tribals and rest 4.5 per cent belongs to Dalits, OBC and Oriya (businessmen). There is not much difference in the economic conditions of the tribals and the dalits. The dalits are very slightly better off as they engage in small businesses.

Our Demands:
1. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal (BD) should be banned.
2. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik responsible for the violence should tender his resignation immediately

3. The accused for the riots be immediately arrested.
4. The Orissa Govt. must reconstruct all houses, churches, schools, hostels, hospitals and other social-religious structures demolished during the violence and for other damages adequate compensation be granted after a proper survey
5. The relief camps be run for another six months and proper civic arrangements for food, medicine and sanitation be made in these camps.

6. Arrangements be made for registering First Information Reports (FIRs) related to the communal violence at all police stations.
7. Peace process be initiated and guarantees be made for reopening and running of schools, hospitals and other institutes run by the Christian missionaries.

 

* Liberation Magazine, November, 2008.

Websites: [mlint.wordpress.com] and [www.cpiml.org]

“Peace TV” Spawning Strife*

Of late, while watching TV I have come across a channel called “Peace TV”.  The star performer is one Dr Zakir Naik, probably from Maharashtra.  However, the address depicted on the channel is the Islamic Research Foundation based in Birmingham, U.K.  This channel portends to propagate peace by promoting Islamic values.  It seeks to portray the supremacy of Islam, and the scientific / rational nature of the Holy Quran Sharif.  It also studies comparative religion, with references to Christian and Hindu scriptures and scholars.  Apparently quite innocuous.  Not really.

 

I have carefully observed Dr. Naik’s programmes and have grave reservations about the style, content and purpose.  Peace is a misnomer for his show; because he is constantly deriding and belittling Christian beliefs, doctrines and its scriptures.  Since my knowledge of Hindu scriptures is rather limited I consider myself incompetent to comment on his approach to Hinduism.  I would, however, hazard a guess that Naik will tread carefully when talking about Hinduism, because he cannot afford to antagonise the majority community in India.  He would not be able to face the flak from the Bajrang Dal, VHP or even Raj Thackeray.  So the soft target in India is the Christian community.  He seeks to exalt Islam by deriding Christianity.

 

Let us first examine the content of Naik’s teaching. We have no quarrel in his expounding the virtues of Islam and Islamic scriptures.  The problem arises when he begins quoting from the Bible, with chapter and verse.  He picks and chooses texts that suit his trend of thought.  He then goes on to “prove” that Jesus never claimed divinity, or that there is no reference to the Holy Trinity in the Bible.  He quotes various anomalies in the Old Testament to prove its inaccuracies, thereby deducing that the Bible is unreliable and therefore cannot be the Word of God.  He quotes from Genesis and God “resting on the seventh day”, and wondering what kind of a “God” is this, that gets tired and needs a rest!

 

An average biblical scholar would easily answer these allegations/ half truths, if he got the chance.  But no such chance is afforded to Christian scholars of repute, by Peace TV.  Naik also made a startling claim that Christian organisations/ evangelists have tons of money for evangelisation, and they are well trained in the art of communication, body language, etc!  I wonder if Naik ever heard a sonorous Sunday sermon in our churches?

 

Another dangerous trend is Naik’s attitude to civil law.  He advises Muslims in India not to have a court marriage, as by so doing this would be subjugating Muslim Personal Law to civil law.  This is a dangerous mindset.  Perhaps Naik is unaware that Goa, which inherited Portuguese laws, as against British in the rest of India, has a uniform civil code.  Accordingly, all marriages – be they Christian, Hindu or Muslim, have to first be registered in the civil courts, before any religious ceremony can take place.

 

Naik selectively chooses texts to suit his line of thought.  “To choose” in Greek is hairein, which is the root for the English word “heresy”.  One who chooses conveniently is propounding heresy, which is what Naik is doing vis-à-vis Christianity.

 

What of Naik’s style?  Peace TV shows him addressing vast audiences sitting in rapt attention.  The settings seem Indian, but Naik always talks in English!  Why?  How many Indian Muslim masses in his audiences would understand English?  So why does Naik talk in English?  Who then is the real target of his Peace TV broadcast?  Something to think about.  Another amazing thing is that Naik quotes chapter and verse, not just from the Holy Quran Sharif, but even from the Bible and Hindu scriptures like the Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita, etc.  Somebody from his audience asks a random question and Naik has the answer at the tip of his fingers; chapter and verse!  Either the questions are stage managed, or the broadcast is slickly edited to portray Naik as a superhuman brain that can quote ad verbatim from various scriptures.  As he speaks the text with chapter and verse appears as a sub-title on the TV screen.  Gullible audiences just lap this up.

 

So what is Naik really aiming at?  The supremacy of Islam, at the cost of other religions.  His constant appeals for “zakat” and donations to his accounts in the U,K, also indicate that lots of money is involved.  Running an international TV channel on prime time, devoid of advertising revenue, obviously costs a packet.  Even the behemoth Catholic Church does not have such a set up.  None of the preachers on GOD, Miracle, Astha or Sanskar channels can match Naik and Peace TV for techno-savvy wizardry and audio-visual effects.  Naik is master of his medium.

 

But somewhere the bubble must burst.  Naik was to address a gathering in Allahabad recently.  But Shia and Barelvi Muslims protested, and Naik’s meeting was cancelled.  It was to be rescheduled in Kanpur (my hometown) but again the aforesaid sections of Muslims protested, and the Government refused permission for Naik’s programme, citing a law and order problem.

 

For those not familiar with Islamic groups, the Shias are a breakaway group of Muslims, who are relatively progressive in outlook.  The Barelvis are Sunni Muslims with their religious headquarters in Bareilly in UP.  They are also a moderate group that have adopted Indian/ Hindu customs like burning incense and praying for the dead.  Naik seems to belong to the Wahabee group that rules Saudi Arabia. (Remember that Churches cannot be built there, nor can one take a Bible, rosary or Christmas card there.  They are so intolerant of “others”).  In India the Deobandis are akin to the Arabian Wahabees.  Deoband is a small town in Saharanpur district, also in U.P.  It is from Deoband that strange fatwas emanate; like a woman raped by her own father-in-law being told that her husband has now become her son!

 

In view of the above, Christians in India should not allow Naik’s pyrotechnics to go unchallenged.  I have already written a strong letter of protest to him at his email ID zakir@irf.net.  I have requested the AICU leadership to take up the matter with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.  I hope that the CBCI will also act accordingly.  In fact I am amazed at how ignorant and lackadaisical our current crop of leaders is.  May I request whoever reads this article to please watch “Peace TV” to ascertain the truth of what I am saying.  Thereafter readers should express their views to Naik at the aforesaid email ID.  A copy may please be marked to me at noronha@vsnl.com  

 

“Peace TV” is a grave matter.  Let us address it before we find ourselves in the grave, with or without peace.

 

* The author (chhotebhai) is a former National President of the All India Catholic Union (AICU)

Story of a Jain Christian

Twenty-nine year old Sungeeta Jain was born and raised in the United States of America. Born into a Jain family, Sungeeta did not know the Lord until 1990, when her entire family converted to Christianity. Prior to the family’s conversion, on June 14, 1986, Sungeeta and her family were in a devastating car accident that left Sungeeta confined to a wheelchair.

 

At the age of ten, Sungeeta had to relearn how to live her life, from putting on her socks, to moving about using a wheelchair. At the same time, she learned how to believe in herself and trust God.

 

Determined not to let her disability hinder her, Sungeeta graduated from a top engineering college in the US with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. She also went on to get a juris doctorate degree in Law. Out of college she worked as an advisor to two high court judges. She is currently working as an associate in the premier law firm in the United States.

 

Among the many blessings of God in her life, Sungeeta won the title of Miss Teen of Washington in 1993, becoming the first person in the world in a wheelchair. She was also third runner up in the Miss Teen of America Pageant. Over the years Sungeeta, a Jain Christian has had the privilege of sharing her testimony and about how God has touched her with school children, political figures, churches, hospitals, youth groups and community groups both in India and the United States. God has powerfully moved at all gatherings, healing the sick, delivering the oppressed and filling His people with the baptism and power of the Holy Spirit…

 

Sungeeta Tells Her Incredible Story

We were a very religious family and became even more so after the car accident. After the accident, people sent me prayers from all over the world saying, “If you say this prayer this number of times every day, your daughter will be healed.” My mom was praying from day to night, but the only result for her was a constant headache!

 

My parents spent thousands of dollars paying Hindu priests who promised healing by specific dates. But, the dates came and went, and there was no miracle. There was only tension, sorrow and discord in my family.

 

Then we met a Christian man who began coming to our house and telling us about Jesus and praying with us. He told my parents he would pray for my healing, so they invited him to come. As he read to me from the Bible and began to tell me about Jesus, I don’t know when or how, but I started believing in Jesus.

 

The man then introduced us to a Pakistani Christian family which began inviting us to church every few days. My parents were not interested in going to church. However, they decided that the only way to stop the Pakistani family’s constant calls was to go to church and then to tell them we didn’t like it and were not coming back again. So, one night, my Mom, Dad and I went to church.

 

After the service, we were invited to go to the front of the church for prayer. The ladies gathered around me and started to pray with me, telling me to say “I need you Jesus. I love you Jesus.” But, as I was trying to pray, all of the sudden, I found I couldn’t speak.  Soon someone said I was being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Mom didn’t know who that was but figured “Holy” must have been okay. A little while later however, someone said this was not the Holy Spirit, but a bad spirit and that they would have to fast and pray about it, and cast it out.

 

Reluctant Mother

We started attending every church service after that. However, even though church members would repeatedly and constantly pray for me, they were unable to cast out the bad spirit. The fourth time we went to church, Mom was feeling frustrated and angry. So, that night Mom refused to go forward at the end of the service or pray as she was being told to. Up until that day Mom had never really prayed to Jesus. Even in church she had just said her own prayers. But that night she joined her hands together, knelt at her seat and said “Jesus I need you.” As soon as she did this she felt love she describes as melted butter going from the top of her head to the soles of her feet. It felt like all of God’s love was showering down upon her. She said it was the best feeling she had ever felt. She just didn’t want that feeling to stop and said she would have done anything for this feeling never to end. But, the feeling ended about 30 minutes later.  Mom asked others in the church what had happened and was told that she had received a ‘touch’ of the Holy Spirit. They told her that the Holy Spirit was a free gift from God that anyone who asks for will receive. They said that the sign that you have been ‘filled’ with the Holy Spirit is that God begins to pray through you in a language you don’t understand. Mom said to herself, “If this is a ‘touch’ of the Holy Spirit, I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

 

Power of Mother’s Prayer

A week later on Monday, Mom sent us all off to school and work and said she was going to get filled with the Holy Sprit that day. She began to pray and soon she had said everything she could think of saying. She was sitting, waiting on God, with her mouth slightly open, when all of the sudden she began to speak in a language she didn’t understand. Immediately she was filled with such joy, that she danced around the house. When we came home from school Mom was laughing. We hadn’t seen her this happy since the accident. She told us that she had been baptized with the Holy Spirit.

 

That night Mom prayed for each of us and we could feel God’s love through her. Then she prayed for my dad, placing her hand on his heart. Dad had a very bad heart condition. Whenever Mom and Dad went for a walk he would have to stop every block because of chest pain. The very next day Dad walked from his office, 0.7 miles, all uphill, without stopping. Praise God! This was the first physical miracle we witnessed.

 

That night my eldest sister also received the Holy Spirit when Mom prayed for her. Then I said that I wanted the Holy Spirit too, but as soon as I started to pray, again, I couldn’t speak. So, like we had seen in church, we started to cast out the bad spirit. But nothing happened. We called the Christian man who had first told us about Jesus and prayed with him for 2 hours over the phone, but still nothing happened. Finally the man said, “I don’t think this is a bad spirit, I think this is the Holy Spirit. Say ‘thank you Jesus’ and see what happens.”

 

As soon as we thanked God for the Holy Spirit I started speaking in an unknown language. It turned out it had never had a bad spirit; it had been the Holy Spirit all along.  Now that we think back, we see how it was all in God’s perfect plan. The first time we all went to church and I was filled with the Holy Spirit, it meant nothing to my parents. They would never have come back to church. But because they thought it was a bad spirit, they kept going back to church to have it cast it and in the process God worked in their hearts and showed us all who He is. 

http://www.southasianconnection.com/articles/31/1/Sungeeta-Jain—A-Model-Christian/Page1.html

Brace up for Terrorism, Communalism & Regionalism

Under the guise of protecting India from Green Terror, we now have Saffron Terror, with the involvement of Hindu extremists alleged in the Malegaon blasts & the arrests of Sadhvi Pragya & her accomplices. We have encounter cops / retired militarymen, joining parties, like Shiv Sena, which have offered legal & other support to those arrested in the Malegaon blasts. Ex & serving defence persons, as well as defence training institutions (Bhosala) are being used to build-up forces. The Samajwadi & Bahujan Samaj parties have offered similar support / tickets / seats to Muslims, as in blasts (Batla House – Jamia Nagar) or in promoting the Haj pilgrimage.

 

Just as the Majority-Minority issue has the Congress & the BJP in a bind, so also the Marathi Manoos card has pitted the north & south Indians against the Maharashtrians. The Shiv Sena & Raj Thackeray’s MNS are falling over each other to claim the title of saviour of the Marathi Manoos. On this issue all Bihari politicians – Lalu, Nitish, Paswan… stood one to a man, while all Maharashtrian politicians did the same, soft pedaling on Raj and even backing him – in secret or openly. Whom do the Christians have to take-up their cause ? And will they all come together, as the others do, when their own are attacked ? Christians are a divided lot & unless come together in an activist organization, our state will worsen, as it has over the decades.

 

Reconversion & Demand for Reservations

Thousands are still in refugee camps, you & I would shudder at the thought of. The Orissa & other state governments talk of conversion by force or inducement, which are punishable. The re-conversions are under compulsion & widely publicized. The tribal converts to Christianity are now being forced to convert to Hinduism. In Western India, we have Narendra Maharaja doing it. Such re-conversions are illegal & comes under the purview of the anti-conversion law?

There is also pressure on Dalit Christians not to freely practise their faith & the government compels them to show themselves as Hindus or Buddhists, if they are to get official benefits. Christians, who share the same socio-cultural milieu as non-Christians, are being discriminated by the State on the basis of religion, if they are not granted Scheduled status. This again is nothing short of re-conversion by the Police State. In the given situation, wouldn’t we might all be forced to re-convert to Hinduism.

 

As our very own, Dr. Peter Rodriques says – its time to agitate & demand for Christian reservations in Jobs, Politics, Education, etc. We have enough of Government of India data to do so – NSSO & Survey  Employment/Education statistics There is enough ground to take it up legally. In fact, in Maharashtra even the influential Marathas & Parsis are asking for quotas – and may well get it. We also need to forcefully demand that Christians be recognized by the government to get at least OBC status, beginning with the Dalit Christians, pending their case being decided – since its almost a Golden Century that the Church has taken-up their cause. Will some advocate take-up these issues ? The CSF is willing to assist.

 

UPA Still to Act. Anti-Establishment Vote?

Will some one tell us what the Government of India has done on the anti-Christian violence? It has laid the blame at the State Government’s door and said that the Union Government is helpless & reduced to issuing a dozen warnings! Is’nt it that the government in power, no matter whichever political party, takes Christians for granted ? If so, why not vote anti-establishment? The assembly elections are due in 5 states and Parliament elections are around in a few months. Is it not time for Christians to reconsider their position? Surely, if the Opposition comes to power, it would know that the minorities have voted for it. The Opposition need not be the BJP everywhere. It could be the Left, Bahujan Samaj or the Third Front.  Alternatively changing governments, as happens in Kerala with the LDF / UDF or as in USA with the Democrats / Republicans, might help. And Christians will have a better deal, next time around, by God’s grace. Since that is the only reason, we are still around. Think about it.

 

Where is the Church? Has it met on this issue?

The Church’s response has been less than adequate. I doubt there has even been an all India level meeting of all church denominations – 3 Catholic Rites, CNI, CSI….including the Pentecostals & Evangelicals.

The existing Church structures are not equipped to face the situation at hand & will certainly not be able to handle the future. Its time Christians wake up to meet the challenges ahead by supporting / empowering the few Christian activists, we have in the community, who have been effective, in their protests, even with the limited means, at our disposal.

 

We need a NETWORK, with a CORPUS FUND to animate the community.

The Church in India is almost as old as Christianity itself – 2000 years – coming from Jesus’ apostle, St. Thomas and is responsible for a vast majority of the social services – in poverty-eradication, personality development, leadership, education, healthcare, rights, law, etc. Today, the non-Christians are way up ahead in all these areas and many more important ones, like politics, business & employment. We ‘educated’ or ‘treated’ or ‘empowered’ many of our attackers. For instance, Vijendra, the son of Karnataka CM, Yediyurappa allegedly studied in St. Joseph’s College (1994-97) and we could give you a number of VIPs who have passed out of Christian institutions. The silence of the ‘non-Christian’ majority is deafening & frightening.

 

Why do you call yourself a Christian? National Convention / Synod?

But even worse – Where is the Christian leadership? Is’nt it time for serious introspection & action – Has the Church been able to act effectively? Our Catholic & Christian hierarchy, clergy & laity - charismatics, Evangelicals & Pentecostals - sophisticated & elite institutions – church councils & commissions - international contacts – community unions & sabhas - one-man armies…. All built-up by the common Christian - funded by Lazarus’ or widow’s mite, so to say – over centuries. What has been our response ?

Do we have a Disaster Management Plan for the future ? There is a feeling that the true Christian will not miss out, if any of these structures are not there – like the persecuted Church in China or places, where there is no freedom of religion eg. some Islamic nations. Imagine !

The north-east is Christian & we have tribal or women MPs too. Did they even speak-up or do something more than speak-up ? It is time we wake-up to the harsh realities & stop thinking in terms of migrating to Australia, Canada or the West. For not all of us can afford that luxury.

 

The CSF would like to promote National Convention / Synod in Mumbai & we urge you to send us details of Christian activists, volunteers, bureaucrats, professionals, businesspersons & those influential, whom the LORD has blessed.

 

If you don’t help, Christian activists will go back to their work or businesses & pay more attention to it. After all that will help us to some extent, in the face of anti-Christian attacks. And nothing can stop us from praying for all of Christianity. So its time we take a stand for community development, because as the Bible says, “if you are lukewarm, God will spew you out of His mouth.”

Do let us have your thoughts on the above – You can be sure, every word will be taken seriously.

Please be assured of our prayers for you & your loved ones. Requesting your prayers for us, our families & associates too – without which, it would not have been possible for us to do so much.

Your Servant in the Lord’s Service
 
Ln. Joseph Dias, MA (Eco), Ex-Special Executive Magistrate / SEO, Govt of Maharashtra
General Secretary, The CSF
+91 9769 55 56 57 trinity.cmd@gmail.com
Cheques / DDs can be drawn in favour of The CSF and sent to our Regd Office.
Check out these links : http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/sep/22inter.htm and http://www.PetitionOnline.com/thecsf17/petition.html 

Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity ?

Marking 20^th anniversary of its foundation the Faculty of the Sciences of Communication is organizing a conference by Dr Gezim Alpion on his book

Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity at the Salesian Pontifical University Rome.

The conference scheduled for Thursday 20^th November will be in English with Italian translation. Open to all, the programme will start at 4.30 pm and will conclude at 6.45 pm.

 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta was undoubtedly one of the great personalities of the twentieth century. The author explores her significance to the mass media, to celebrity culture, to the church and to various political and national groups.

 

Albanian born Gëzim Alpion currently director of Research Postgraduate Studies, Department of Sociology (Birmingham University) received a PhD from the University of Durham, UK, in 1997. His works include Vouchers (2001), Foreigner Complex (2002), If Only the Dead Could Listen (2006), and Encounters with Civilizations (2008).

Transport from:
TERMINI take bus 90 Express or from Centre bus 80 Express.

Stop at VIMERCATI.

Actress Nagma’s Story

Nandita Morarji (Narmatha Sadhana) better known as Nagma is a somewhat controversial Indian actress, known primarily for her work in Bollywood and Kollywood. At her peak in the 1990s, she dominated Tamil cinema. Born of a Muslim mother and a Hindu father on Christmas Day, she began her acting career in Bollywood and acted in a few movies but shifted south where she met with greater success before returning to Mumbai. Although sometimes listed in film credits as Naghma, she should not to be confused with an earlier actress who went by the same stage name – that mistake is made in her listing on the Internet Movie Database website. Fluent in Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, and English, Nagma is notable for having acted in a broad range of India’s languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, and now Marathi.

Nagma’s biological father was Sri Arvind Pratapsinh Morarji, the late textile magnate. Her mother is Seema Sadhana, who married Morarji in 1972, separating only “a few years later,” as The Telegraph (Calcutta) reported in 2006 when Nagma made the information public.

I was born on Christmas to a Muslim mother and a Hindu father. I went to a convent school from childhood. I was exposed to Christianity from a young age. I went to Mount Mary Convent School in Bandra, Mumbai. There, Mass was a routine feature. I always thought I am very special to God because I was born on Dec 25th – perhaps because the world celebrated the day.

Even though I was not a believer then, I still enjoyed a constant companionship and relationship with Jesus Christ but never really mentioned this as it would have seemed odd then. 

A bit later in life, I came across a book called ‘Conversations with God.’ That confirmed to me that the power that was speaking to me all along was God Himself. Now when I look back, I feel that God’s hand was strongly upon me all along even though I hadn’t realized it then.

As God is just and fair, He has given us a free will to decide and make our choices whether good or bad because of His mercy and compassion.

There was a time in my life when things were going on really well. Yet, there was this big vacuum. There was no all-encompassing peace though life was busy and my job competitive. It went on like this for several years. After 15 years of my career, I started feeling the futility of it all and began asking myself questions like ‘Why am I here?’, ‘What’s God’s plan for me in my life?’ and ‘What’s the purpose of my existence?’ I asked myself these questions when I was doing really well in life just like how King David felt even when he had everything going his way. 

Since I was spiritually inclined I read a lot of books in that genre. I also started practicing meditation. I was teaching Art of Living for nearly 12 years. But Jesus continued to intrigue me. Since one of my aunties was a Christian, I kept urging her to tell me more about Christ. In the year 2000, in one such discussion, I said my salvation prayer.

Nagma opened up about her faith and mission in her life for the first time to the media in an exclusive interview with The Christian Messenger … in 2006, I became ill. I had a viral fever that the doctors weren’t able to diagnose. I had high temperature and was hospitalized. That’s when a Punjabi guy in my fraternity who was married to a Christian woman visited me and gave a CD. It contained a sermon titled ‘Freedom From Fear’ by Brother Johnson, an evangelist in Goa. For the next six months I kept listening to the CD. Like the Bible says: ‘Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God.’ After six months, I told myself: ‘Now, I want to read the Word.’ I began with the New Testament. I told God: ‘I am going to read your Word. Help me and be my teacher.

While reading the New Testament, I realized the importance of baptism and also of joining a church. Therefore, I immediately joined Pastor Shekhar Kalyanpur’s New Life Fellowship in Juhu, Mumbai. I took baptism on Jan 4. Since 2007 was a year of rest I decided to take a break from films and continued my Bible study fervently.

http://www.southasianconnection.com/articles/346/1/Actress-Nagma-Is-A-Christian-And-Christ-Follower/Page1.html

Obama’s Gujarati Aide Has RSS Roots*

HIMMATNAGAR (SABARKANTHA): Gujarati expat Sonal Shah (40), an eminent economist who heads Googles philanthropic arm and has now been appointed an advisory board member by US President-elect Barack Obama to assist his team in smooth transition of power, comes from a family rooted in Sangh Parivar in Gujarat.

Her father Ramesh Shah, who hails from Gabat village in Sabarkantha, has been associated with Vishwa Hindu Parishad for the last 30 years. The family is now settled in Houston, Texas, where Shah founded the Gujarati Samaj.

A mechanical engineer who migrated to US in 1970, Shah has been working with Morgan Stanley as a financial adviser and also playing an active role in VHPs activities in the US, as member of the governing council. In particular, he has headed the Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation which collects funds from US residents to fund tribal schools in India run by Vanvasi Kalyan Parishad.

Sources in VHP here said that Sonals family was a “deep believer in Sangh ideology”, although she did not have any direct links with the RSS outfits in the US. Sonal is now on a panel comprising individuals with significant private and public sector experience who will offer their expertise in their respective fields to Obamas transition team.

Sonal was named person of the year 2003 by India Abroad publication, recognising her role as co-founder of US-based non-profit organisation Indicorps which offers one-year fellowships for Indian-Americans to work on specific development projects in India.

The Shahs philanthropic streak, which is common to both father and daughter, is also evident in Gabat, a village 90 kms north of Ahmedabad and inhabited by 10,000 persons. Shah still visits his house in Uncha Bazar area every year and takes personal interest in a public library named after his mother.

Gabat villagers got in touch with Shahs cousin Mukund Shah on Friday insisting that Sonal should be given a public reception. Her father was immediately contacted and he has promised to bring her over shortly.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Ahmedabad/Obamas_Gujarati_aide_has_RSS_roots/articleshow/3687115.cms  
(* 8 Nov 2008, 0034 hrs IST, Pramod Panwar, TNN).

Mira Bhupathi’s Confession

I was born as a Christian, but a “sleeping” one, who had no time for church or even a Bible study. I spent years of my life being totally worldly and a man pleaser. I went to the lord only when I needed something. Most often I got what I wanted, but soon afterwards I forgot my blessings. I went to college and met with a Hindu boy married him and from then on my religion was forgotten, till one day doctor told me that I could not have a child due to several complications. I immediately started praying desperately and a while later miraculously my son Mahesh was born. After that God blessed my husband and me with Kavita, our beautiful daughter.

I know that when doctors say something is impossible, our Heavenly Father still says, “All things are possible”. After my children grew up we returned to India after spending 15 years in the Gulf. I felt a voice speaking to me, telling me to witness to the world that Mahesh is the Lord’s child. The voice was very clear, but I didn’t want to hear nor obey it. So the Lord had to force on me. He allowed me to feel very lonely and unwanted. One day, after a family feud, I ran out of our house in sheer frustration to kill myself. I was driving my car with the only intention of having a head on collision with a bus or truck. Little did I realize that the Lord had different plans for me.

Suddenly I realized that the steering of my car had turned in my hands and the next thing I knew was that I was parked outside of my church (which I had started attending weekly). I was crying bitterly. Suddenly I heard a knock on my car window and it was a lady who convinced me to come tot her home. I believe that she was an angel from the Lord sent to rescue me in my pain.

She ministered to me and prayed with me. That night she invited me to stay in her home, which I did. Since I was so hurt, I didn’t want to go home. It was that same night that the realization dawned on me that it was my Lord Jesus who had rescued me from death. I committed my life completely to Him and promised my Lord that from that day I would belong to Him.

The next day I went back home and was lovingly greeted y my family who were very worried about me. I realized that it was only the Lord’s intense love for me that had protected me. That was the day that my whole life changed.

I began testifying in the Churches about what the Lord had done for me. This was in March 1997. Although up until that time, my son had been only a national tennis player, on June of that same year Mahesh brought the first international Grand Slam title to India (our country of one billion people). This victory was won on Mahesh 23rd birthday.

From that day until now the fire of the Lord had been burning in me, and a tremendous passion for souls had been kindled in my heart. Since the Lord knows my heart and how much I love Him, He has begun to use me more and more. Already in five countries He has used me to share the Gospel. He had used me in every denominational church in India to challenge the biggest doctors, engineers, business people and even pastors and bishops.

The Lord has lifted me up from being just a very shy housewife to become a successful and confident evangelist for Him. The Lord is using me where no pastor or bishop can reach. As the celebrity mother of Mahesh Bhupathi, I have access to the highest officials in India. I have already been blessed to be able to give the Gospel to two chief ministers as well as to actors and to people in high positions. Mahesh is the only sportsman in India to bring 10 Grand Slam titles to our country, only because of the Lord’s grace and blessing. Today he is a born again baptized believer.

My burden is for India, since in this country we fight with about 33 million other gods. And the Lord is moving in such amazing ways. My walk with the Lord has not been easy. I’ve gone through the fire, but did not get burned. The Lord has always been holding my hand.

I am also very blessed to be associated with ADHONEP (The international association of Full Gospel Businessmen). I am really touched that ADHONEP has such a great burden for India. I am sure that the Lord will do great thing for them in return.

The Lord has blessed us with so much fame, name and position, that I feel I need to give Him in return as a family. Ever since I came to the Lord, He has blessed my children so much.

Right now I know that I am someone who loves the Lord so much that I can give up my life for Him. I was praying that before I reach heaven I will take at least 10,000 souls with me, but now with God’s grace, that number has increases since the Lord has helped me to be an instrument in the salvation of thousands. Praise Jesus! “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Eph 3:20).

Now when we pray I am blessed that so many deliverances take place and even cancers are healed. The Lord is really honoring me. It is four years since I consulted a doctor regarding any serious illness. I believe that the Lord always keeps His word. As I “seek the kingdom first” in my life, in return I am greatly blessed (Matthew 6:33).

The whole world may let us down, but our Lord Jesus will never ever let us down. This is my personal testimony. Not once in these past 10 years has the Lord Jesus ever turned His back on me. He has only lifted me higher and higher.

http://tamilchristians.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=1188&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Orissa Bishops Take on Govt Bluff with C.M.

Shri Naveen Patnaik
Hon’ble Chief Minister
Government of Orissa
Bhubaneswar, Orissa.
Date: 10th November 2008.

Respected Sir,

First of all we want to convey to you our sincere thanks and appreciation for giving us this appointment to meet you. Further we want to place before you the following points for your kind consideration and necessary action on an emergency basis.

1.The Exodus of Christians from Kandhamal District: There is considerable reduction of refugees in Relief Camps (from 24,000 to 11,000). The claim that those who leave the relief camps are going back to their own villages and settling down in their homes is not true. Most of them have migrated to relief camps in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jhanla, Berhampur and also settled down in rented houses and in the homes of relations, friends, acquaintances etc. It is estimated that 10,000 to 15,000 Christians of Kandhamal district are living outside the district.

A large number of Christians of Kandhamal district have gone to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat etc. People in the relief camps of the costal belts, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur etc. want to return to their villages, but are afraid because of the reasons:
(a) They may be attacked on the way or in their own villages
(b) They are forced to become Hindus under pain of death or loss of properties. They are told to become Hindus or leave the village, the district or even India (c) Many are unwilling to return because the criminals are still at large and moving about with swords, guns, weapons etc. as in Kothingia/Tiangia of Raikia block and Sarangodo block.

The Christians who have returned to their own villages and homes are forcibly converted to Hinduism; they are forced to accept Hindu Samskaras under oath and under pain of divine punishment. Their movements and meeting with people are restricted by the fanatics for instance in Padangi, Sankarakhol.

2. Acts of injustices against Christians.
a) Christians are chased away from their homes and villages.
b) Even though the State Govt. had promised to allot land to the landless (after the last attack) it has not yet been done. Many do not get money for the gutted down houses or damaged houses because the administration applies rules absolutely and strictly to the Christians in such a way that the landless will not get allotment of land or they even loose what they have.
c) A man was not allowed to be buried in the village as he did not become a Hindu in village Sarthaguda of Tikabali block.
d) Christians are not allowed to harvest the paddy from their own fields in many Gram Panchayats if they do not become Hindus.

3. Looting of houses, Churches & Religious Houses: As the people had fled out of threat and fear criminals are looting the homes, churches, religious houses, institutions and destroying/burning whatever is left over.

4. Non Acceptance of FIRs: FIRs are not accepted in Daringabadi and Sarangoda Police Stations.

5. Attack on Christians is not an Ethnic Conflict: Hindu Fundamentalist groups have been trying to name the communal violence as an Ethnic Conflict between the Tribals and the Pano Christians. A cursory look at facts reveals that this conflict is a calculated and
preplanned master plan to wipe out Christianity from Kandhamal district, Orissa, in order to realize the hidden agenda of Sangh Parivar of establishing a Hindu Nation. Therefore to keep the hidden agenda a secret they have tried to manipulate the facts:
- That the victims of attack were Christians
-That not only Panos but Christian Tribals also were killed, their homes and properties burned, destroyed and looted (list attached).

6. Fast Tract Court: We are happy that the state Govt. has decided to establish FTC at Kandhamal for expeditious trial of cases relating to communal violence. Looking at the geographical area it is suggested that the said Fast Tract Court may be set up at G. Udayagiri as it is centrally located to all the villages that have been affected by violence. Further it is requested that the Judge of the FTC should be from any other religion other than from Christian or Hindu Religion.

7. Request the presence of Central Forces in Kandhamal Dist: The Hate campaign beginning from 23rd August 2008 has been targeted to polarize religious groups and will affect peace process during restoration stages till the Parliament & Assembly Elections in Orissa are over.

The Christian victims now in relief camps and those who have taken distress departure from Kandhamal are afraid of further attacks as the State Police are few and who even can not defend themselves and their outposts. Hence we request that the presence of Central Forces be extended till the Parliament and Assembly Elections in Orissa are over.

8. Churches be built/repaired by 1st week of December 2008: This will allow Christmas spiritual preparations to begin and spiritual traditions to be observed. This will also help confidence building among the congregations and bury the past quietly as they approach Christmas 2008.

Thanking You
Yours faithfully

Dr. Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar
Dr. T. Thiruthalil, Bishop of  Balasore
Dr. Sarat Nayak, Bishop of Berhampur

Archbishop’s Book “Never Grow Tired” Sold Out in 3 Months

Guwahati Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil’s book “Never Grow Tired” published by the Pauline Publications, Mumbai, India sold out within three months. Two thousand copies of the book released on 28th June contains an anthology of Archbishop’s talks to seminarians, religious, priests, bishops and others urging evangelical boldness, pastoral strategies, and plain good sense. A second edition is already under way.

“His words come from profound convictions and are based on a lived experience of sharing the Gospel,” says his former Secretary Salesian Fr C.T. Lukose.

“Archbishop insists on community building, teamwork, good neighbourly relationships, attention to culture, painstaking effort, austere living, persuasive ways, fearless in opposition and tireless in pastoral commitment,” adds Fr. Lukose Director of Snehalaya, Guwahati, a major ministry for street children.

Archbishops’ Secretary and Chancellor Fr Varghese Kizhakevely states Archbishop Thomas has many surprises for the reader, including simple truths like “make better use to time, be punctual, keep things clean in the campus, cut down on expenses, attend to the environment, don’t forget self-care, accept troubles as normal life, don’t grow complacent with success, concede defeat as a part of a larger strategy, motivate youth, make friends of your enemies, opt for the radical dimension of the Gospel, announce Christ, try for the impossible.”

“This book ultimately turns out to be something like a handbook suggesting practical ways of translating the slogan Passion for Christ, Passion for Humanity into life,” says Pauline Sr Lissy on behalf of  Pauline Publications Mumbai.

Excerpts from Book Review
In his review of the book ‘Never Grow Tired’ professor of Sacred Scripture and Spirituality, Salesian Father Dr. Jose Varickasseril says “with perspicuous dexterity the author cautions against doing things which do not ensure continuity in ministries undertaken, of seeking one’s advantage over that of the people one caters to, of drawing hasty conclusions from one untoward incident, of hurts that are even unconsciously inflicted upon others, and of the dangers inherent in success.”

“In a persuasive style Archbishop Thomas sets forth the benefits ensuing from the appreciation of the past and of not lamenting over the present state of affairs however perplexing they may appear to be,” assures Dr Varickasseril archbishop’s former pupil warning readers “not to take shelter in a glorious past that no longer exists.”

“Admiration for the pioneers of the past without emulating their dedication does not produce anything worthwhile. The author argues that reconciliation and peace are possible. He expresses his conviction that one can preserve freshness of life amidst the monotony one’s daily living,” insists Dr Varickasseril former Rector of Sacred Heart Theological College Shillong quoting the archbishop.

“Rather than speaking disparagingly about the ignorance of faith of the communities that one caters to, one ought to keep in mind that the superficiality of faith or lack of enthusiasm in a given community are a commentary on the type of “follow-up” that pastors are carrying out,” explains Archbishop Thomas who is at his best speaking on the good that issues forth from personal contacts and keeping in touch with Christian communities by visiting them.

Archbishop’s Personal Background
Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil, twenty-six years a bishop at Dibrugarh and Guwahati, was an educationalist and a youth worker in his earlier days. Having worked in Northeast India for more than half a century, he has developed a passion for the peoples and cultures of the region. With several books to his credit, he has written insightful articles on themes like Evangelization, Culture, Peace, Religious Life and Pastoral Ministry. An active evangelizer, he has also made a mark as a peace-negotiator and a prominent leader in civil society. At present he is engaged, among other things, in arousing consciousness about the need for ‘Probity in Public Life.’

Special invitee to the Synod of Bishops for Asia (1998) and the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God (2008), Archbishop Thomas is Chairman of the Evangelization Commission of the Federation of Asian Bishop’s Conference as well as Chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) Commission for Education and Culture. He is a member in the Post-Synodal Council for Asia; Member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and  Discipline of the Sacrament, Rome; Member of the Congregation for Commission Consecrated Life, Rome.) Pope Benedict XVI  appointed Archbishop Thomas member of the 15-member post-synodal (Synod on the Word) council.
Five of his earlier publications and best-sellers through St Pauls, Mumbai, include A Path to Prayer; Let Your Light Shine; Challenge to Culture; Thoughts on Evangelization; and Cultures: In the Context of Sharing the Gospel. END

Politics and Violence in Orissa*

Why have India’s tribal-majority districts witnessed the bloodiest anti-Christian attacks? The answer to this question indicates why at least 60 people were killed and more than 4,500 houses and churches destroyed in Kandhamal district of Orissa recently.

India saw its first large-scale attacks on the minority community in December 1998 in Gujarat’s Dangs district, where 93% of the population is tribal. In March 2004, anti-Christian violence broke out in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua district, where tribals constitute 85% of the population. Then followed the mayhem in December 2007, and again in August 2008 in Kandhamal, where nearly 52% of the population is tribal. These incidents took place during the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or its allies.

The BJP has made inroads into the tribal-majority pockets of central India, where roughly 75% of country’s tribal population lives. During its six-year tenure at the Centre, beginning 1998, the party implemented its Hindutva agenda in tribal regions. In 1999, it created a separate ministry of tribal affairs, which was part of the ministry of social welfare. Not surprisingly, the scheduled castes community, which is much bigger, was not given a separate ministry. The party also bifurcated the commission for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and the national scheduled castes and scheduled tribes corporation by creating new panels for the tribal people.

The Sangh Parivar worked in tandem with the BJP to “Hinduize” tribals. For instance, the Ekal Vidyalaya (one-teacher school) Foundation was registered as a “charitable” trust in 1999. It is well known that these schools, that operate mainly in tribal areas, seek to “Hinduize” tribals and oppose conversions among them. The BJP government aided these schools. More recently, Sangh outfits made an overt attempt to “Hinduize” tribals through the Shabri Kumbh rally in Dangs in February 2006. Shabri, a character in the Ramayan and tribal devotee who offered berries to Rama, was made into a goddess of the tribal population there.

Tribals form only around 9% of India’s population, but their votes are crucial. This is why BJP leader L.K. Advani launched his Sankalp Yatra from the tribal district of Jabalpur in February with an eye on the forthcoming elections in Madhya Pradesh. Later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh laid the foundation stone of a new rail line in Jhabua, another tribal district in the state.

However, wooing tribals has not been easy for the BJP, which faces not only the Congress as an opponent, but also Christian missionaries. Christian agencies have been working in tribal areas for much longer. Due to their good development record and social acceptance€ ¦’·evident in the fact that a portion of the tribal population today is Christian€ ¦’·the BJP finds it difficult to compete with them and undermine their influence. Therefore, the BJP and other Sangh organizations launch hate campaigns and attacks on Christians under various pretexts, including that of “forced” conversions. Tribals form only around 9% of India’s population, but their votes are crucial for any political party

That the Sangh’s anti-Christian agenda is more about politics than conversions is clear from the fact that Christian persecution is not endemic in Dalit-majority districts, although a majority of Indian Christians (around 70%) are from Dalit backgrounds. This is why Dalit districts€ ¦’·such as Sitapur, Hardoi and Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh; Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Nadia, South 24 Parganas and Bardhaman in West Bengal; and Gaya in Bihar€ ¦’·have not witnessed any major anti-Christian riot though Christian agencies are working there as well. On the contrary, a majority of tribal districts€ ¦’·be it Jashpur in Chhattisgarh or Banswara in Rajasthan€ ¦’· have long been communally sensitive. The reason is clear. Wooing Dalits is an uphill task for the BJP, as it is seen as an “upper caste” party and Dalits are well organized and support parties such as the Bahujan Samaj Party. The tribals, however, fall in the indecisive vote category.

Even in Kandhamal, Sangh outfits “befriended” the majority tribal community and not the minority Dalits, many of whom converted to Christianity in the last 100 years or more. What’s more, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) fuelled tensions in an already strained relationship between the two communities by using reservation and land issues. Exploiting these tensions, the Sangh organized a deadly wave of anti-Christian attacks using the unfortunate assassination of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August as a pretext. This is why when the Orissa Police recently confirmed the role of a Maoist group, that had claimed responsibility for the murder, a Sangh outfit circulated forged documents to implicate a local church.

Recall the attacks on Christians and their property in Kandhamal in December 2007 over an alleged attack on Saraswati, although there were no visible injuries on his body. Recall the 2004 Jhabua violence, which erupted after a nine-year-old Hindu girl was found murdered in a Christian school, a Hindu man was later arrested for the murder. Recall also the 1998 Dangs attacks that were launched after an alleged attack on a Hindutva rally, an allegation that had no evidence.

That the Orissa violence was organized is also clear from the fact that what started in one district soon spread to more than 14 districts of Orissa and several other states, mainly BJP-ruled Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. This at a time when several state assembly elections as well as national elections are around the corner.

* Vishal Arora is a Delhi-based commentator. Comments are welcome at theirview@livemint.com
Source: http://www.livemint.com/2008/04/07234535/2008/11/11232228/Politics-and-violence-in-Oriss.html?d=2

RSS involved in Assam blasts: ULFA*

ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) on Tuesday (Nov 11) alleged that RSS (rightwing Hindu group) was behind the deadly October 30 blasts in Assam and ethnic violence in Bodo Territorial Administered Districts (BTAD).

The blast claimed 85 lives while 55 people died in the ethnic violence in BTAD areas.

In an e-mail statement, ULFA chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa further alleged that Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmah was an agent of RSS and was blaming ULFA to cover up his involvement in the blasts.

“Whether Sarmah is in Congress or AGP, he is in reality an RSS agent and to cover up his involvement is making misleading statements like ULFA and Jehadi are the same,” he said.

Rajkhowa claimed the ULFA has enough evidence to prove RSS’s involvement in the October 30 blasts in four towns of Assam, including Guwahati.

“A few months ago, the ULFA in its mouthpiece Freedom had mentioned about the secret directive sent by RSS to carry out blasts in different parts of the country but the state government took no steps in this direction,” he said.

Moreover, the recent blasts in different parts of the country and the subsequent arrests have also proved that RSS and BJP are involved in blasts in states ruled by non-BJP governments, Rajkhowa alleged.

He said that ULFA has never targeted indigenous Assamese population and has no links with jehadi or any other religious fundamentalist organisation.

*Source: Press Trust of India
Tuesday, November 11, 2008, (Guwahati)
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080072229

Song For Raped Orissa Nun

MoreLoveRadio.com director Dr Dominic Dixon has composed a song for Sr Meena, the Orissa nun who was gang raped on 25^th August in the Orissa anti-Christian violence.

“I have forgiven and I have nothing against anybody” Rev. Sister Meena.

“I’m happy that this song has been composed by HSI MoreLove Radio. It has expressed deep sympathy  for the victim and has expressed the trauma that she is going through. I hope this song from HSI MoreLove Radio will bring sympathy and courage to abused women around the world and will convict the hearts of rapists that they will understand the trauma of their victims,” says Archbishop, Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Diocese, Orissa.

“When I heard that our beloved Nun had been raped, my heart broke and was troubled ever since. I fasted and prayed before the Lord for the healing of this precious Sister who has sacrificed her life for the very same people’s group who have raped her. Being a Psychologist, I know the trauma of a rape victim. I just cannot imagine what this nun is going through considering the fact that she saved her chastity for Christ, only for it to be violently violated. I decided to make a song for our Sister in Christ, she is PURE , TOTALLY PURE!,” says Director, MoreLove Radio, Dr. Dominic Dixon

You may log on to www.MoreLoveRadio.com to listen, watch and download this song with  lyrics & chords.  Log on to listen with a million others from over forty nations. Our Mission is to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world through Music & Meditations and to touch the Hearts & Minds to save Souls!

Dr. Dominic F. Dixon, a Christian Evangelist based in Bangalore, is the Founder and Director of MORE (Ministry Of Reconciliation & Evangelization), MORELOVE.IN, MORELOVERADIO. Dom has reached out to several hundred thousand youth in over 36 Countries who have been abused, addicts, alcoholics, and the outcast including gangsters.

Dom is a faculty member at Colleges in the discipline of Ethics and Value Education, promoting PURITY. Dom is the most interviewed Christian Evangelist in India having been interviewed by CNN, NDTV, India Today, Times of India, Headlines Today, Agence France-Presse and other International News channels and projected in over 100 Provinces worldwide  in regards to his work amongst the youth.

After working as a Technology Corporate consultant in the US, Canada and India, he submitted to the CALL to serve Jesus in 2001. Since then he has travelled extensively proclaiming the good news of Salvation through Jesus Christ. Dom holds a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology. He has done his Discipleship Training and School of University Ministries with Youth With A Mission.

Dom has authored two major books on Psychology and Sociology. “The Beautiful Christian Mind – deliverance from mental illness” and “I’m a Teenager, pls understand me” and has produced an Audio Album on his series “Purpose of Life’s Events”

Dom’s cry: Lord Jesus, give me the YOUTH of this world or I will die!

Source: http://www.moreloveradio.com/

“Seer” Pandey a Disguise Master: ATS

LUCKNOW: Dayanand Pandey alias swami Amritanand is a master of disguise, a smooth operator and has even worked in the Air Force for five years, according to investigators. He is an NDA drop-out, a double-MA and is highly tech-savvy, said officials involved in the investigation.

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested Pandey in Lucknow on Thursday, a day after he was picked up from Kanpur in connection with the September 29 Malegaon blast. He reportedly told investigators that he was an active member of `Abhinav Bharat’, the suspected radical Hindu outfit behind the Malegaon blast.

According to ATS officials, Pandey has also admitted to his links with Lt Col Prasad Purohit already under arrest and to his involvement in the blast conspiracy. He reached Mumbai by an evening flight on Thursday after a special judge granted the ATS a transit remand till November 16. He will be produced in the court of the Nashik chief judicial magistrate within three days.

A top police official told DNA Pandey was a hard nut to crack during initial investigation as he either refused to answer questions or gave out information selectively. Even so, the little he has revealed has baffled ATS officials.

“He is a double MA and is tech-savvy. He is a smooth operator and can take anyone for a ride,” a senior official told DNA. “His communication skills are excellent and he has the ability to convince or befriend anyone in a matter of minutes,” the official said. Pandey is learnt to have made contacts with top level Army officers in Jammu and had even infiltrated the Army’s intelligence wing. Interestingly, Lt Col Purohit was with Military Intelligence in Jammu in 2005.

Initial interrogation has revealed that Pandey is a master of disguise. He had four separate identities and names at different times and places. In Kanpur, from where he hails, he was known as Dayanand Pandey while he served in the Air Force for about five years as Sudhakar Dwivedi. In Faridabad, he was known as Swami Amritanand Dev Teerth and in Jammu, as Shankaracharya or Peethadheeshwar of the `Sharda Peeth’ situated in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

“Till some months back, he sported a full-grown beard. But now he is clean shaven. He used to change his appearance continuously according to the circumstances,” said a senior official.

He said Pandey’s father had been a sub-inspector in the UP Police and Pandey was selected to the NDA in 1989. He underwent training at the Khadakwasla air force centre for about six months before disappearing mysteriously.

Pandey, officials said, often used to stay at the Chakreshwar Temple in Faridabad. He also used to visit the `Sumeru Peeth’ in Varanasi. A source told DNA that his activities at these places used to be “suspicious”.

Pandey, he said, used a laptop to surf the net and often worked till late night. “A lot of people used to visit him in the night. They were top-notch people, businessmen and even bureaucrats,” the source added.

Sources revealed that after he was picked up on Wednesday, Pandey had claimed to be the `mahant’ of the Sharda Sarvagya Peeth in Jammu. But follow-up investigations revealed that there was no such `math’ or `peeth’ in Jammu, and that Pandey used to function from his CA VK Kapoor’s house in Jammu. “The `peeth’ existed only on paper and was perhaps being used only to get financial back-up for his devious plots,” the official said.

Zeishta shrine board denies links with Pandey: The management of Srinagar-based Zeishta Devi Prabandak Board on Thursday said that Dayanand Pandey had nothing to do with the shrine board. He has not visited the temple for the past three years, said a board official. Zeishta Devi shrine is located in the foothills of Zabarwan mountains over looking the Dal lake in Srinagar.
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1206312&pageid=0
Deepak Gidwani, Friday, November 14, 2008 04:28 IST

Stop Hate Campaign

13th November 2008: On Sunday, 16th November, we observe in the Church of India, “Communications Day”.  In his message on the occasion, our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI says in the opening statement, “The theme of this year’s World Communications Day – “The Media : At the Crossroads between Self-Promotion and Service, Searching for the Truth in order to Share it with Others” - sheds light on the important role of the media in the life of individuals and society. Truly, there is no area of human experience, especially given the vast phenomenon of globalization, in which the media have not become an integral part of interpersonal relations and of social, economic, political and religious development.”

In keeping with the theme, and the spirit of what communications is all about, each one of us will have to explore ways and possibilities of ensuring that we earnestly seek the Truth to become a society which is more humane, just and peaceful.

Corresponding with this, is the need to be constantly vigilant in order to protect and defend our Constitutional Rights and that of every other citizen – very specially the poor, the marginalized and the vulnerable.

We would like to bring to your kind attention some current happenings in Gujarat and in other parts of India :
- Fundamentalist / fascist organizations are very systematically mobilizing / organizing people through very effective propaganda / machinery, spewing hate, prejudice and divisiveness; large meetings / rallies in the name of religion are being held; subtle and innocuous strategies are being used, printed / electronic media is being used to the maximum ….

- “official bodies” have begun visiting our institutions making enquiries / conducting surveys / seeking of information / demanding accounts / foreign funds . This is sheer intimidation and harassment since the information asked for is not within the purview / legitimacy / authority of the concerned body.

We request:
- that any attempt to spread disinformation / lies / hate propaganda, be brought to the notice of appropriate authorities (this may change according to circumstances / places) immediately and also be communicated to others and to us (It would be helpful if we could receive copies of such printed material / CDs / DVDs, etc.).
- that we do not rush to provide any information whatsoever. Always ask why the information is requested and who has authorized it (in writing) (If requested, we could assist on letting you know if the information demanded should be provided or not).
We need to prepare ourselves in more effective ways, to respond to the challenges ahead…. One significant step is BECOMING MORE “COMMUNICATIVE”.

Fr. Cedric Prakash sj
Secretary, PRASHANT – A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace
Street Address : Hill Nagar, Near Kamdhenu Hall, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad – 380052, Gujarat, India. Phone : 91 79 27455913, 66522333. Fax : 91 79 27489018

CSFH* statement on Sonal Shah

A virtual melee has ensued in print and digital media over the selection of Ms. Sonal Shah, an American of Indian origin to the Obama transition team’s advisory board. Shrill accusations of Ms. Shah being a “racist and Hindu chauvinist” are being reciprocated by equally shrill attempts to portray anyone who raises serious questions about the selection as being anti-India, anti-Hindu, anti-progress, and recently, as against “liberal civility.” We condemn such baseless and unfair statements.

At the outset we wish to acknowledge that Ms. Shah has had a record of being a visible and an important face of the “desi American” community – a successful professional, and a politically and socially engaged citizen.

We are also happy to note at least one positive effect from this debate. Even as this issue gets played out on pubic fora, the din of militant Hindutva drumbeats has suffered some dampening. Almost all participants, including those who have come out in support of Ms. Shah, have said that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — both integral to the Hindutva movement, are part of the “politics of hate” that must be resisted. We wish such statements had come much earlier, such as the time when people were being butchered in Gujarat, or when Indicorps (an organization Ms. Shah co-founded) was felicitated by Mr. Narendra Modi, Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Ms. Shah has become something of a point of pride for many Americans with origins in India. But Ms. Shah does have feet that leave tracks, has written words that have been archived, and has occupied offices of responsibility. We wish to explore this material record below by examining two of the most persuasive claims made by supporters of Ms. Shah. These are:

1. That accusations of Ms. Shah being a closet Hindutva ideologue amount to “guilt by association”, a reference to the fact that her father Mr. Ramesh Shah has well documented leadership roles within the Sangh Parivar (Collective Family, the name for the set of organizations of Hindutva).

2. That Ms. Shah’s only association with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) was in the context of the Gujarat earthquake; surely, she cannot be faulted for not picking the right organization when urgent action was the need of the hour.

Our claims of Ms. Shah’s Hindutva associations are not based on guilt by association. Instead, we ask: What organizational and ideological work did Ms. Shah perform for and as part of the VHPA?

We have archived records demonstrating that Ms. Shah was a part of VHPA’s leadership group—the governing council and chapter presidents/coordinators. She participated in strategy discussions with prominent leaders of the Sangh Parivar. Ms. Shah was not just a bystander, she was considered important and trustworthy enough by the Hindutva leadership to be included in a core group with Ajay Shah, Gaurang Vaishnav, Mahesh Mehta, Yashpal Lakra, Vijay Pallod, Shyam Tiwari, and others. Does Ms. Shah deny that she played such a role? Even in light of the recent public statement by Gaurang Vaishnav, General Secretary of the VHPA, that Ms. Shah was made a member of the governing council as she came out of college?

We are glad to hear Ms. Shah assert that her “personal politics have nothing in common with the views espoused by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or any such organization”, and that she does not “subscribe to the views of such Hindu nationalist groups”. However, in view of her close association with VHPA, as summarized above, Ms. Shah’s claim to have “never” subscribed to such Hindu nationalist views strains credulity.

Ms. Shah’s participation in the VHPA Governing Council predates by a few years her position as National Coordinator of VHPA’s Gujarat earthquake activities in 2001. The position of earthquake relief coordinator doesn’t seem to be an easy one to ascend to — VHPA’s website states that “national projects are executed by a committee of members drawn from the Governing Council and the various chapters.” Thus, Ms. Shah’s coordination of VHPA earthquake relief seems to have built upon her earlier leadership role within the VHPA. We do not know when/if her affiliation with the VHPA ceased, but VHPA media secretary Shyam Tiwari has recently claimed: “Sonal was a member of VHP of America at the time of the earthquake. Her membership has [now] expired.”

A note about Ms. Shah’s earthquake relief work. Calamities such as the 2001 Bhuj earthquake often bring out the best in humans, but the Sangh Parivar is notorious for using such moments instrumentally and cynically for advancing its violent ideological agenda. An ordinary donor or fund-raiser can be excused for not knowing the Sangh agenda, but for someone like Ms. Shah, who grew up in a family deeply rooted in the Sangh Parivar, it is more than a little disingenuous to claim that such fund-raising was apolitical or neutral. There are numerous documented instances of the Sangh Parivar’s religion- and caste-based discrimination in doling out relief. Therefore we are shocked that Ms. Shah has expressed pride in coordinating relief work (under the ambit of VHPA) following the Gujarat earthquake of 2001. The relief work coordinated by the VHP is known to have rebuilt villages in the Kutch region exclusively for caste Hindus while marginalizing lower caste Hindus and Muslims to the periphery. The VHP thus took the opportunity of the earthquake to re-create multi-ethnic villages into exclusive Hindu spaces. In addition, given the pivotal role played by the VHP and other Sangh organizations in the 2002 anti-Muslim pogrom, we fear her pride is entirely misplaced.

Although we appreciate the positive influence Ms. Shah has had on many second-generation desis, we have a hard time forgetting the many victims of Hindutva. If Ms. Shah really wants to dispel doubts about her linkages with the VHPA and other Sangh Parivar outfits, we urge her to be more forthcoming in her condemnations of the Sangh Parivar, especially its branches in the United States since that has been the site of her involvement. Some ways for Ms. Shah to do this would be to:
1. acknowledge her past organizational associations with the Sangh Parivar
2. distance herself from the public reception reportedly planned by the RSS in her native village in Gujarat
3. categorically condemn the role played by Hindutva forces in anti-minority violence in India, and the facilitation of this violence by funds sent through various Sangh Parivar affiliates in the United States

In Peace and Justice, 14 November 2008
*Campaign to Stop Funding Hate www.stopfundinghate.org

Source: http://www.sacw.net/article291.html

India: Worst Period Since Independence, says Major General

‘There are no communal feelings in the army’ & ‘We are in a dangerous position internally’.

‘There are no communal feelings in the army’
November 11, 2008 | 14:12 IST

Major General Afsir Karim, who retired from the Indian Army in 1989, now edits Akrosh, a strategic affairs magazine that analysis internal disturbances, conflicts and insurgencies in and around India. These days Karim saab, known for his balance and straightforwardness, is a disturbed man.

URL for this article:
http://www.rediff.com//news/2008/nov/11inter-there-are-no-communal-feelings-in-the-army.htm

‘We are in a dangerous position internally’
November 13, 2008 | 14:32 IST
In the first part of the interview, Major General (retired) Afsir Karim, an
expert on internal disturbances, conflicts and insurgencies in and
around India, spoke of the secular credentials of the Indian Army.
In the second and final part, he speaks to rediff.com’s Sheela Bhatt of the worrying internal security situation that India faces.
URL for this article:
http://www.rediff.com///news/2008/nov/13inter-we-are-in-a-dangerous-position-internally.htm

Indian Christians in US urged to form alliance

As violence against Christians continues in Orissa and other parts of India, secular-minded Indians in the United States have been rallying across the United States, condemning the violence and the government inaction.

While peace rallies and prayer vigils have been organized by individual churches and groups across the United States, for the first time, an inter-denominational meeting was organized in Bellrose, NY to chalk out a common strategy to plan a collective action in response to the ongoing violence against Christians in India.

Organized by Indian Christian Forum, the meeting was, among others, attended by leaders from the Federation of the Indian American Christian Organizations of North America (FIACONA) India Catholic Association of America, Federation of Indian Catholic Associations SMCC St. Thomas Ecumenical, New York ECFNJ PYFA (Pentecostal Youth), cryforindia (Philadelphia group), a Youth group headed by Tom John and the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church.

The members agreed to help collect available data including video footage, a write-up on the violence and a personalized letter to all 100 Senators and the 535 Congressmen. They also agreed to conduct an email/fax campaign to do the same, after obtaining the email addresses of their respective congressman. George Abraham, an official of the United Nations and a leader of the Indian Christian Forum, gave an overview of the recent violence against Christians in India and the mute response from both the state as well as the central government in India.

He urged the Christian groups in the United State to come together, be proactive, and work on a long term strategy to respond to issues such as the ones we encounter in India.  Dr Babu Joseph, Spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, gave an elaborate account of the atrocities committed against the Christians in India. Dr. Joseph, who has been on a month long visit to the United States to meet with a number of Indian Christians and their organizations based here, reiterated the need for coordinated efforts among them.

Source: http://indiapost.com/article/communitypost/4429/

‘Bible’s Buried Secrets’ TV film in controversy

A two-hour program set to air Tuesday night (18 Nov) claims to have “new discoveries that shake the foundation of biblical archaeology,” echoing claims by other contested documentaries such as “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” which aired last year on The Discovery Channel.

“The Bible’s Buried Secrets,” produced by Rhode Island-based Providence Pictures for PBS’s science series Nova, attempts to uncover who wrote the Hebrew Bible and whether it’s history or parable, delving into the origins of the Israelites to explore their gradual transformation into a monotheistic people.

The show also poses provocative ideas – including the “revelation” that many Israelites believed that God had a wife – and disputes literal readings of the text.

It is “a shocking film in many ways, but it’s truth, revolutionary, and it’s as fresh as yesterday,” said Bible scholar William G. Dever during the presentation for the program during the Summer 2008 Television Critics Association (TCA) Tour.

Dever, who specializes in the history of Israel in biblical times, says most of the two dozen biblical archaeology films he was involved in prior to “The Bible’s Buried Secrets” turned out to be “outrageously” dishonest.

“They either pander to the public’s misunderstanding that the role of archaeology is to prove the Bible to be true or, at best, they’re simply dishonest, outrageously so,” he said at a session for the program during the Summer TCA Tour.

“The Bible’s Buried Secrets,” however, is different, he claims.

“I vowed not to make any more such films until ‘Nova’ came along. I knew their reputation, and I knew this one would be good,” he said.

For the documentary, Providence Pictures scouted and filmed at archaeological sites throughout the Middle East – including Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and Syria – and interviewed biblical scholars from around the world.

Producers say the interviews – along with historic works of art, ancient artifacts, animations of biblical passages and scenes, and dramatic recreations – provide the latest account of the ancient Israelites and how they found their one God – the God not only of modern Judaism, but also of Christianity and Islam.

“To this day, the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, is a sacred text for more than three billion people throughout the world,” says Gary Glassman, the program’s writer, producer, and director. “The film’s international team of archeologists and scholars researches biblical texts and examines artifacts and ancient manuscripts to illuminate how the concept of one God emerged to later form the foundation of the three great monotheistic religions.”

According to NOVA Senior Executive Producer Paula S. Apsell, the program is both a scientific detective story and dramatic adventure that digs deeply into the Bible and the history of the ancient Israelites through the archeological artifacts they left behind.

“In addition to exploring the historical authenticity of the biblical narrative, this powerful intersection of science, scholarship, and scripture also provides a unique insight into the deeper meaning of biblical texts and their continuing resonance through the centuries,” she stated.

Producers say they are “confident that our film will be the definitive documentary on biblical archaeology for years to come.”

Many, however, are very skeptical of the film and one group is even taking their protest over the film to Congress.  For MORE click the link

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20081118/pbs-to-air-bible-s-buried-secrets.htm

Glare on Christmas bandh in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 19: Observing that the situation in Kandhamal is still tense, the team of central ministers today advised the Naveen Patnaik government to take steps to ensure that there is no Orissa bandh called by Hindu outfits on Christmas.

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar leading a three-member minister team said they were told that recently a rally was held here issuing a threat to observe Orissa bandh on Christmas, if the culprits involved in the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati were not arrested within a month.

We don’t understand why the Christmas was chosen for calling the bandh, said Pawar adding agitation should not be allowed on major festival days like Diwali, Christmas and Chhath.

Stating that the minority community is under tremendous pressure because of such threat, Pawar said they had requested Naveen to see that agitation activities should not be there on Christmas.

Simultaneously, the police should gear up investigation to book the culprits involved in the murder, he said. We also requested the chief minister to give a sort of confidence to all sections, including the minority community, that their life and property will be protected in such situation, said Pawar.

The central team leader said they observed during their visit to Kandhamal yesterday that the situation was tense and there was sense of fear among the minority community. Responding to a query as to whether the state government had handled the Kandhamal situation satisfactorily, Pawar said: We are not here to pass comments on the state government’s performance. But the need of the hour is to restore normalcy in the riot-affected villages. Some efforts are going on in this regard.

The central team had earlier met a delegation of Christian leaders led by Raphael Cheenath, the archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese, in the morning before attending the wrap-up meeting with the chief minister and government officials.

Calling for a bandh on Christmas is aimed at creating communal divide and affecting law and order situation. The Christian community might be subjected to ferocious attacks,  apprehended one of the delegation members.

They urged for appropriate steps to ensure that the Christian community could celebrate Christmas without any fear, declaring the bandh as illegal besides providing adequate protection to the minority community, their places of worship and other institutions.

Naveen said: There should not be any bandh on Christmas. Normalcy has returned in Kandhamal, but bandh on Christmas may lead to future disturbance.

Before concluding their three-day visit, the team suggested the state government to set up peace committees at villages and gram panchayats in order to hasten the process of restoration of normalcy, taking up labour intensive work in every affected villages, ensuring retention of name of those people in Kandhamal who are away from home on the voter list, strengthening of public distribution system and setting up of trauma centres, disability camps and old-age homes.

Pawar indicated that their team might offer a proposal for a special package for Kandhamal, Gajapati and Boudh districts.

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081120/jsp/nation/story_10134329.jsp

Peace Becomes Graver Still*

 

My previous article “Peace is a Grave Matter” about Peace TV and Dr Zakir Naik has invoked responses from all over the world. There have been some subsequent developments and broadcasts that merit attention.

 

A Jesuit priest in Rome has expressed disagreement with my presentation, saying that we should not give undue importance to the comments about Christians on Peace TV, as it will fade out in its own way. Isn’t that the same wait and watch attitude that the Catholic Church adopted towards Hitler? The silence of the shepherds led to the slaughter of the lambs!

 

CM Paul, placed my article on his blog. It elicited a sharp response from one Moeenuddeen, probably an ardent follower or close associate of Dr Zakir Naik. I also received a much studied comment from Predhuman Joseph Dhar, a scholar, and a Kashmiri Pandit who has embraced Catholicism. It is worth considering these responses and developments subsequent to my article.

 

On 5^th November, Naik made a seething attack on idol worship in Hinduism and veneration of sacred images in Christianity. On 7^th November Naik tried to justify Islamic terrorism, equating the terrorists with Shaheed Bhagat Singh; whom the British considered a terrorist. On 16^th November the Times of India carried a report on Naik trying to justify the actions of Osama bin Laden, who it called the “most wanted man in the world”. On 15^th November, another speaker on Peace TV said that a Muslim in America could not swear allegiance to the American Constitution, as it contained provisions that were contrary to Islam.

 

Should the shepherds keep silent? Will it then be the “Silence of the Lambs”?

 

Let us first address the social issues. There is the adage, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. If a person migrates to another country he is duty bound to abide by its Constitution. If not, such persons should not migrate there in the first place. By this logic a person of any religious persuasion can cite religious beliefs to disobey the law of the land. This will lead to anarchy. Moeenuddeen states that following Muslim Personal Law does not, and will not, create any problems in India. He has forgotten the Shah Bano case.

 

In that case the Supreme Court had ruled that a Muslim woman who had been divorced by her husband was entitled to maintenance, as per civil law. The Muslims considered this an intrusion into their personal laws. To appease them Rajiv Gandhi then enacted a law – “Muslim Women’s (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act” in 1986 – by which Muslim Waqf Boards would bear the maintenance costs of the divorced women.

 

This created a backlash among the Hindus, as Waqfs receive substantial grants from the Government. In effect this meant that a Hindu tax payer would be funding the maintenance of a Muslim divorcee! It was considered totally unjust. In like manner Hindus resent a rapid increase in the Muslim population as the latter consider it against their religion to follow family planning, and also believe in polygamy (though the second fear is largely unfounded).

 

To placate the agitated Hindus, the politically naïve Rajiv Gandhi then allowed the opening of the locks of the Ram Janmabhoomi/ Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. The rest is history. So assertion of religious laws does create problems – serious ones at that.

 

In like manner, giving a religious garb to terrorist acts, and then justifying them in the name of religion, is fraught with danger. We are now witness to militant Hindu leaders using religion (or the perceived threat to it) as a justification for violence and vengeance. In what way are Lt Col Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya and self – styled Shankracharya Amritanand different from the SIMI, HUJI, LET, Osama or others who seek to give a religious colour to their dastardly and inhuman acts? Such attacks are in no way justifiable, as sought by Dr Naik on Peace TV.

 

As for idol worship, P.J. Dhar states that this is integral to the Bhakti Marg in Hinduism. He says that Hindus do not consider the material objects to be God, but an indwelling of the Divine; just as Christians believe that God dwells in them. Christians do not worship (aradhana) sacred objects. They venerate (upasana) them, as a means of uplifting ones human sensibilities, through tangible means, to the intangible God. If we can take photographs of our loved ones, and erect statues of great leaders, can we not revere those persons or objects that draw us closer to God? Naik and Peace TV must respect the religious beliefs of others. Unfortunately, even Moeenuddeen rubbishes my earlier statement about the ban on religious objects in Saudi Arabia. He says that they are “intolerant of nonsense like the Rosary, Valentine’s Day, Halloween, New Year, Christmas cards etc”. At least he admits to “intolerance”. He also admits to ignorance, by placing Valentine’s Day and Halloween in his list of Christian nonsense!

 

Moeenuddeen has also objected to my reference to different Muslim sects and describing Dr Naik as a possible Wahabi. Subsequently the Times of India has also referred to Dr Naik as a Salafist Wahabi. We need to accept the diversity of the human race. Hence there are bound to be factions and sects in all religions – Hinduism, Christianity or Islam – God the Creator is both creative and innovative. We humans mint coins in billions, each indistinguishable from the other. God the Creator has produced trillions upon trillions of human beings, but no two have the same finger prints. That being so, they will quite naturally leave different foot prints on the sands of time.

 

Moeenuddeen, in his defence of Dr Naik, refers to his numerous “debates” with people of other religions. I have not seen these “debates”. However, religion is not something to be debated; wherein one seeks to be one up on the other. Inter religious interaction should be a dialogue, a humble listening to the other in a cordial atmosphere of searching for truth. In India we call this Satsang.

 

I would reiterate that Dr Naik and Peace TV are well within their rights to propagate the wonders and virtues of Islam. However, I strongly object to their divisive and derogatory approach to all other religions. If this does not stop one will be constrained to lodge complaints with the Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi, and the British High Commissioner, Shanti Path, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi (as Naik’s address is shown as Birmingham, England).

 

Let us hope and pray that good sense will prevail on Dr Zakir Naik and Peace TV. May we all strive for peace, aman, shanti, shalom, without causing grave injury to others.

 

* chhotebhai (the writer) is a former National President of the All India Catholic Union
Chk this link for chhotebhai’s earlier piece on Peace TV
http://cmpaul.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/%e2%80%9cpeace-tv%e2%80%9d-spawning-strife/

From Hindu to Carmelite

 Radha Krishnan, a Hindu Brahman was my teacher of English and social studies in the 1970s, has converted to Catholicism and is now a Discalced Carmelite. Every day, she offers her life and her sufferings “for the world.”

Radha Krishnan is the fourth daughter of a devout Hindu family in the Brahmin caste of the “Iyengar.” She has an older sister and three brothers, all of them Hindu. When she taught at the Canossa convent in Mahim (Mumbai) from 1971-1972, everyone loved her because she was young, attractive, friendly. She was the envy of all the girls because she had beautiful black hair, very long, arranged in braids.

Over two years of teaching, in contact with the Canossian sisters, Radha felt a strong, constant calling to give her life to Jesus. After her conversion, she joined the Canossian sisters, but there as well she felt the call to live her communion with the Lord more deeply.

I met my former teacher a few days ago. She is no longer called Radha, but Sister Mary Joseph, and for more than 30 years has been living in the monastery of the Discalced Carmelites in Mumbai, in Andheri East.

Sister Mary Joseph radiates joy in every one of her words and actions; her joy makes her so luminous that she seems much younger than her 61 years. Here I transcribe the things that she told me. NC.

At the age of 24, after my degrees in the arts and also in education, I joined Canossa Convent as a teacher teaching English and social studies. At the convent run by the Canossa Daughters of Charity, I came in close contact with the religious nuns, at an age when most of my friends were getting married. I felt an urgent and incessant calling to a meeting with Jesus, my love for Jesus began growing and I felt a deep desire to know him, love him and serve him. I enjoyed my teaching these young teenage girls, but this calling to be with Jesus never faded. I ran away from home and I was baptized Radha Maria Krishnan, and joined the Cannosia order.

My family was completely shattered, I had brought shame and embarrassment on the family, my parents had to suffer humiliation from my relatives, being from a very traditional and high caste Brahmin Iyengar family, and now converting to Christianity was a very big blow to our family pride. My parents suffered, my elder sister was already married but she too had to bear the taunts and torments of our well meaning relatives. Her mother was a very religious person, whose morning began at dawn performing religious rituals and whose afternoons were spent reading sacred Hindu scripture.

But Jesus never fails his beloved, over the years my parents, especially my mother, were completely at peace with my vocation as a Christian and as a Carmelite nun. Both my parents have died, but completely at peace with me and my Christian vocation. My brothers and sister too, and their children are very happy and reconciled to my Christian vocation, now they are at peace, also my relatives too are now reconciled not only to my being a Catholic nun, but also the family is united in reconciliation. Occasionally they come to the monastery with their own children – this is a matter of immense joy for me. My Spouse (Jesus) takes care also of my affectivity. All of them are still Hindu.

After joining the Canossa convent, I was sent for further studies to obtain a master€ ¦’²s degree. However, academic studies left me with very little time for prayer – this left me unfulfilled, I felt restless, I had a deep desire to devote my day and night to being with Jesus, praying, meditating, sharing, doing everything, even living for Jesus – and all of this left a yearning within me. Then my calling to the cloistered life was discerned, I joined the cloistered in May of 1977, and these 31 years have been the happiest and most joyful years of my life.

Once, during recreation, I made a special request to be permitted to read the newspaper (as we do not have any outside source of daily news – like TV , radio or other media) and this was granted to me, So now, my superior and I read the daily newspaper and I am living and praying in the present reality.

My hours of prayer are spent praying for the current events and trends of modern society.

I suffer and pray, my calling today is: “Vicariously suffering for the world.”

I enter deeply into the suffering with my prayer, my prayer for the persecuted Church, the moral and ethical issues in the world, the attacks against life, the youth, the snares of temptations for the youth like drugs, pornography and such evils that exist, the breaking up of the family and also marriage, these are my deepest sufferings and prayer.

Orissa is close to my heart, as is every other instance where the basic human right of religious freedom is attempted to be snuffed out and snatched away. But the history of the Church is persecution strengthens faith.

India today is experiencing self-defence of religion. And we Christians need to live our lives in a way that will attract others.

I have great hope for India, and God has always intervened in the history of humankind and this will be fulfilled for our beloved India too. We have to make a radical change in our life. Live the Gospel in a radical way- love for God and love for our neighbour.

Love for Jesus conquers all.
Source: http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=13816&geo=1&size=A

Return of the barbarians

Give them the credit.  The political credit. The RSS calls itself a cultural organisation, but does nothing but politics, including having the gall to remove LK Advani as president of the BJP on his meaningful remarks on Jinnah. It also does culture politics, among other things such as hate politics or organising low intensity and big intensity communal polarisations, often with a great deal of sectarian strife and universal tragedy, as several enquiry commission reports have decisively proved, from Bhagalpur to Bhiwandi. Considering its sinister role, the outfit has been banned thrice, and the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi was alleged to have been linked with the RSS at one time.

It is largely invisible but operates through hundreds of fronts and backlane outfits in the social, educational and political sectors, including the brazenly violent and extremist outfits like the VHP and the lumpen Bajrang Dal, the latter particularly mindless and bloodthirsty, as those famous pictures from the Gujarat genocide show so transparently, so proudly, and so graphically.

Communal riots are different from organised pogroms, or State-sponsored pogroms, like the Holocaust in Germany and Europe, or what happened in the Balkans in the recent past. It is general anarchy and bloody madness let loose across the caste, class and religious spectrum in the case of riots, which are also instigated by vested interests, including political actors. Organised pogroms or the State-sponsored ones are inevitably backed by the status quo, the police, the bureaucracy and the ruling party, because no public violence can continue if the State wishes to clamp down and stop it to restore law and order. However, as the dismal record in terms of crime and punishment shows in India, everything becomes a part of the twilight zone once the killings and rapes are over and done with. Because this becomes a collective perversion, a mass enactment, socially sanctioned, almost like war. So even when it has faces, catalysts, protagonists and actors, often, no one gets punished. This helps communal organisations and fascists to attract legitimacy and consolidate. The Sangh Parivar is a classical example of this historical pattern of coincidences.

Witness whatever happened to the Srikrishna Commission report on the Bombay pogrom of 1992-93, where key police figures and Shiv Sena politicians were named by the judge with impeccable credentials. The BJP-Shiv Sena regime dumped it as “anti-Hindu”; the Congress never moved an inch. The Babri Masjid was demolished by the Sangh Parivar under the able leadership of LK Advani, Vinay Katiar (earlier, a Bajrang Dal leader), Uma Bharti and sundry BJP/VHP leaders, with effective intervention from Shiv Sena cadre. What followed was communal violence across the nation.

Almost 16 years later, the Liberhan Commission, instituted on the demolition, has got yet another extension, while Advani, 81 plus, is being pitch-forked as the PM-in-waiting. Ditto with the 1984 Maliana-Hashimpura massacre of Muslims in Meerut reportedly at the hands of the Provincial Armed Constabulary, often accused of being overtly communal in its law enforcement operations. Or the November 1984 organised massacre of Sikhs in Delhi and elsewhere, including the murder of some army soldiers on trains.

In a scenario whereby the killers can repeatedly go scot free, the political class turns tacit accomplice or blind and deaf, and no justice arrives even after decades, communal fascism of all varieties becomes an obsessive ritual, a part of the social consciousness, integral to norms and conventions, immersed in the sense and sensibilities of everyday life. Even while simmering wounds cry angry tears.

Witness Babu Bajrangi, one of the accused in the Gujarat carnage, waxing eloquent on his brave deeds in the Tehelka tapes on the genocide. Witness Narendra Modi being eulogised by the corporate sector and a section of the media – (please see a vegetarian pink daily one day after he won this assembly elections, with several pictures of the great man on page after page, even he, reading that very newspaper, as if that newspaper has totally appropriated him and his glory.)

That is why this twilight zone of bomb blasts, massacres, gang-rapes and ravaged landscapes have become an internal discourse of our collective social sensibility, whereby justice is neither seen to be done nor is it ever hoped that it will be done. So what becomes of a society which loses all its sense of shame or sanity, sense or sensibility, justice and injustice? Where the murdered and the raped are eliminated from public consciousness. What becomes of a nation where the extremists in the margins become integral to mainstream political discourse? So why can’t Ratan Tata and corporate fat cats deal with the likes of Togadia, the Thackerays, and Bajrangi? So when the politics of morality has been effectively buried, how can massacres block economic and political relationships, and mass murderers not be eulogised by the media, corporates and political class?

Be it the terrorist, or the communal fascist, it requires more than human guts to kill people in cold blood; or gang-rape women as a public spectacle or burn children alive as an act of religious redemption, as several testimonies from Gujarat and Orissa have unfolded. It requires a steely barbarism, a trained mind which has totally internalised this doctrine of barbarism in good faith and conviction, which hates like an evangelical and ideological creed in itself, not making any distinctions between good and bad, human and inhuman, skin and eyes, hands and fingers, colour and sensibilities, ideas and feelings, gender or class, man or woman or child. Almost abysmally robotic, sinking in these depths of depravity and perversion, bereft of the littlest trace of either critical rationality or humanism, with absolutely no sense of history or aesthetics, anti-god, anti-human, anti-democracy, anti-secular pluralism, anti-tolerance, anti-woman, celebrating, for instance, the Gujarat carnage as a “successful experiment” – in the words of Pravin Togadia.

In that sense, what is the difference between the Taliban stoning a woman to death for “adultery” in a football stadium in Kabul, the Al Qaeda punishing girls who go to school in South Waziristan, or terrorists killing innocents (distorting Islam) – and the Hindutva brigade unleashing violence distorting Hinduism? Like the Ku Klux Klan, these retrograde groups have no religion or faith or god. All they have is the mindless energy of barbarism and hatred; governments and societies should treat all of them as barbarians – not fit for a civilised, democratic society. In contrast, when they are not treated as barbarians, they effectively destroy the middle ground, the Constitution, democracy, social tolerance and cohesion, feeding communal hate and viciousness against each other.

That is why, Togadia celebrated the Orissa carnage at Kandhamal, literally, physically, while others celebrated by killing people, ravaging homes, burning alive a Hindu woman caretaker of a Christian orphanage, and raping a nun in full public view, including the police as voyeuristic witness. Under the tacit patronage of the BJD-BJP regime in Orissa, led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the man who is selling the mineral rich ecological hot spots of tribal interiors to big business and MNCs by hook or crook, through seduction or repression.

That is, subsidised big business, power politics and communal fascism working in tandem, like a cold symphony in slow motion, as in Gujarat and Orissa, even though Ratan Tata’s Nano will not run with human blood in Modiland, or the memory of the human blood as a spectacle on the streets. Because cars, like machines, don’t have either memory or conscience. Not even a People’s Car.

Surely, Tata has not seen Parzania, the true story of a sensitive Parsi couple whose child disappeared in the Gujarat carnage, in this case, a State-sponsored massacre. Surely, profit or capital has neither ideology nor guilt.

In fascist Germany several capitalists backed Adolf Hitler till the last. Even many rich Jews bought their freedom, even while millions were being “gas-chambered” in concentration camps, women were being raped outside the camps in Gestapo quarters, and children’s bodies were being used to makes soaps and shampoos. No wonder the founder fathers of the RSS and Hindutva outfits hailed the Nazis and the mass murders – “purging of the Jews”. Witness this profound and oft-quoted statement by Hindutva ideologue Guru Golwalkar: “To keep up the purity of the Race and its culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races – the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here. Germany has also shown how well-nigh impossible it is for races and cultures, having differences going to the root, to be assimilated into one united whole, a good lesson for us in Hindusthan to learn and profit by.”

Predictably, these hydra-headed fronts operate most effectively under State patronage – the Gujarat carnage had the tacit support of the BJP-led NDA regime in Delhi, the Karnataka and Orissa mayhem against Christians was brazenly backed by the state governments, even while the ¡secular’ Congress-led UPA played footsie between a hard and soft State. This is because this entire family of fanatics and xenophobes, incestuous and ideological blood brothers (pracharaks in the RSS don’t marry, as if they have renounced the world), who manipulate the materialism of worldly life, politics and culture with relentless and infinite sustenance, only flourish under State patronage.

They are not martyrs or willing to sacrifice their bodies and lives for a “higher cause” – like revolutionaries of the past and present – something which makes them inherently hostile to the progressive greatness of Bhagat Singh, Ashfaqullah Khan, Khudiram Bose, Ramprasad Bismil, among others who died for the cause of the freedom struggle. (Bhagat Singh was an atheist and communist, and he opposed anarchist actions.) They are not even like the communists of the past, or the Naxalites of the present, whose hearts beat for the poor, who make sacrifices or die for a cause, chase an egalitarian dream of larger social justice and equality, though the methods or means adopted by the underground Maoists might not be acceptable to several progressive sections.

In that sense, you will not see the BJP/RSS and its octopus like fronts deeply concerned about atrocities on Dalits and adivasis, gender injustice, affirmative action for the extremely poor, low and backward castes, starvation deaths, farmer suicides, people’s resistance against SEZs, big dams, big mining projects, custody deaths, fake encounters, human rights violations, corruption, or the rights of the millions of poor who have been systematically crushed and betrayed by all political parties who back the neo-liberal predator, crony, casino capitalism. They care two hoots for these ¡Leftist’ and ¡civil society’ issues. All they think of is a civilisation agenda: the Akhand Hindu Rashtra of One People and One Culture. That is why, the “successful experiment” of the laboratory of Gujarat (and now Orissa and Karnataka) are just one step forward. Because the coup against a secular democracy can happen anytime.

No wonder they did not participate in the freedom struggle. They made no sacrifices. No wonder Gandhi, Nehru, Sardar Patel, among other stalwarts, were wary of them. No wonder they were chasing the politics of xenophobia, when others were being jailed and hanged in the anti-colonial struggle against the British. That is why, all these fake sankaracharyas, sadhus and sadhvis, now being accused of terror blasts driven by fanatic hate politics, are being openly linked with the BJP/RSS/VHP and miscellaneous fronts of the incestuous Sangh Parivar.

Source: http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2008/11/2424

Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity?

ROME — The Faculty of the Sciences of Communication organized a conference on Mother Teresa entitled: Mother Teresa – saint or celebrity. Albanian born Birmingham University professor Dr Gezim Alpion author of a book under the same title presented the lecture at the Universita’ Pontificia Salesiana (UPS) Rome, 20 November. About 100 students and professors from Rome Universities attended the two hour lecture in English language.

 Two Missionaries of Charity Sisters, a delegation of three Albanians including the Albanian Ambassador in Rome were present.

 ”I have been misjudged as an attacker of Mother Teresa,” said Gezim who claims to be a social scientist and spiritualist who does not subscribe to any particular religious label.

 ”There are two groups of people related to Mother Teresa: those who admire her uncritically, and those who criticize everything of Mother Teresa,” said Gezim posing himself as mediator of the two camps not prepared to meet each other.

 ”Mother Teresa is a complex person, more sophisticated than her attackers and hagiographers,” Gezim said insisting the need to have more in depth study, research and understanding of one of the most influential persons of the 20th century.

 In an age when media needs celebrities and celebrities need media, Mother Teresa reminded media persons that “I am not a social worker. What I do, I do it for Jesus,” warning them of the celebrity danger “never make me the person I am not”.

 Prof Gezim also provided an insight into two areas most Mother Teresa literatures ignore: first 18 years in Skopje, and the first 18 years in Kolkata with the Irish Loreto nuns.

 Gezim explored the significance of Mother Teresa to the mass media, to celebrity culture, to the church and to various political and national groups. He also highlighted the cultural and critical analysis of Mother Teresa, and of the way she and others created, promoted and censored her public image, in the context of the sociology of fame, media, religion and nationality.

Prof. Gezim currently director of Research Postgraduate Studies, Department of Sociology (Birmingham University) received a PhD from the University of Durham, UK, in 1997. His works include Vouchers (2001), Foreigner Complex (2002), If Only the Dead Could Listen (2006), and Encounters with Civilizations (2008). The Italian version of his book Mother Teresa: saint or celebrity was published recently by Salerno publishers. END

Way we conduct our anti-terror investigations are wrong

With every new terror attack, the same old script plays itself out: the usual suspects are rounded up, a terror group is named, a mastermind identified, and then the investigation seems to fizzle out, till the next bomb blast, and the same cycle starts all over again, and again. Is something fundamentally wrong with the way we conduct our anti-terror investigations?

NEW DELHI, Nov 25, 2008 6:13 pm: Age-old theories are in tatters, most experts are clueless and India’s war on terror has become complicated beyond recognition. In what clearly calls for an urgent effort to look freshly at the spate of bomb blasts in recent years, evidence is emerging that the investigating agencies may have been getting it all wrong. One clear indicator is that that many of the blasts blamed on Islamic terrorists may have been actually the handiwork of fanatic Hindu groups.

Several sources within the security establishment are beginning to admit that “deep-rooted biases” within the intelligence apparatus had prevented them from picking on “very clear clues” available after some of the major blasts. “We had clues that linked both the Samjhauta Express blast and the Ajmer Sharif bomb blast to Indore. But we premised our investigation around SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India) and its activists, never bothering to even look at the fringe Hindu groups,” says a senior intelligence official, who has for some time been warning against the erosion in the secular character of intelligence agencies.

Within days of the February 18, 2007 blasts in the Samjhauta Express (running from Delhi to Lahore), investigators had picked up clear leads pointing towards Indore, he says. “By the first week of March we had established that the bombs that killed 68 people had been packed into suitcases bought in Indore, and its covers were also stitched in Indore,” says one of the intelligence officers involved in the investigations.

“We picked up SIMI activists, questioned many of them. We had reasons to suspect SIMI because Indore is known to be a stronghold of SIMI, ” he said. “But when we didn’t get any leads from those people (of SIMI) we should have broadened the scope of our investigations. We should have looked at other groups,” he admits. Had the investigators done that, many of the subsequent blasts could have been prevented, indicate the ongoing investigations into the group of alleged Hindu fanatics led by Lt Colonel Purohit, Sadhvi Pragya Thakur and others.

Of the about dozen arrested in connection with the Malegaon blasts of this year, half have strong links to Indore, and Hindu extremist group Abhinav Bharat had an office there too. Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, a former ABVP (Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad) national level leader and an accused in the Malegaon blasts, is a native of Indore.

Shivnarayan Kalsangra and Shyam Bhavarlal Sahu, who too have been arrested in the case, are also natives of Indore. Sameer Kulkarni, an Abhinav Bharat leader, had shifted his base to Indore in recent times. A few months after the February 2007 blast in Samjhauta Express came the blast in Ajmer Sharif durgah in October 2007.

Yet again, clear indicators emerged of Indore links. The bombs were packed in newspapers from Indore and Ujjain. Some of the newspapers were also traced to Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. “All those trails went cold, or better to say we didn’t investigate them properly,” admits another senior officer who was involved in several blast investigations. “We still don’t know if the group led by Lt Col Purohit and Pragya Singh Thakur was behind the blasts in Samjhauata and Ajmer blasts. But professionally it was up to us to look at all sorts of extremist groupings in Indore, not just SIMI,” admits this officer. There are many more blasts of recent years which many credible investigators are not ready to blame on Islamic terrorists.

Among them are bomb blasts in Delhi’s Jama Masjid, and the earlier Malegaon blast of 2006 in which at least 38 people were killed. In the case of the latter, the local police so badly botched the investigation, arresting several local Muslims, that CBI, which took over the case later, failed to make headway. In Andhra Pradesh, the police rounded up several youngsters from the Muslim community after the Mecca Masjid blast on May 18, 2007. Last week, the state government admitted that these youth had been tortured and there was no evidence against them.

There are more startling facts emerging which show that the Hindu terror network could be more potent than what is now known. Investigators are now looking at some striking resemblances that are emerging between blasts in Mecca Masjid, the Jaipur blasts of May 2008, and a blast in a court in Hubli in May this year. They were all triggered using mobile phones and had striking similarities.

Investigators had blamed all of them on SIMI, and they had their reasons. But with evidence that the Hindu groups can carry out high intensity explosions, and that they have a wide network and funding, many of those who were looking only at terror groups such as HUJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami) and LET (Lashkar-e-Taiba), and at SIMI, are taking a second look at the entire scenario.

For many within the intelligence agencies, what is most frightening are not their failures, but the bigger challenge of competitive politics taking over or thwarting their professional investigations.

Already, there are many questioning the Congress-run state government of Maharashtra for overzealousness in the investigations into the Hindu groups, and the BJP is up in arms defending possible terrorists.

But the important issues of cruel interrogations, utter lack of respect for human rights, use of fake evidence, and motivated investigations, to say nothing of cavalier investigations are also important; these cannot be ignored no matter who is suspect.

The question of institutional biases, built-in or induced, is also critical. So far, the record of the investigating agencies has not been edifying and the tally of convictions is also poor. With the emergence of newer players on the terror scene, will the investigators now start looking at all the cases afresh?
Josy Joseph in DNA j_josy@dnaindia.net
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1206790&pageid=0