The Magnificat & its Magnitude

Re-reading the Canticle of the Virgin Mary
Luke 1: 46-55

My soul is deeply wounded with hurts, insults and pains
And my spirits are drowning in the floods of sorrows and rains
my soul still glorifies the Lord, seeking justice as all gains
And my spirits rejoice in God my saviour despite my stains & strains

When I am rejected and discriminated as polluted
People conspired, laughed at me, brought me to public and collated
For except you O Lord none has been mindful
Of me your humble servant to do any thing needful

Though all my family members call me cursed
Blaming me that I made the image of our family bruised,
But there will come a day when all generations call me blessed
For the Might One has been doing me great things so impressed.

As a Wonderful Counsellor, God solaced and comforted me as lovingly yours
As a Mighty One, God strengthened me with all God’s powers
As an Everlasting God, God journeyed with me in my darkest hours
As a Prince of Peace, God encouraged me to win over all conflicting towers
For holy is God’s name and truly victory flowers

When I am surrounded by fear
When I am pushed down to death near
I could only fear God who is so dear
Realising that God’s mercy is with me now here
From generations to generations vivid and clear

When several arms geared up to stone me to death,
God’s mighty arm guarded me from above and beneath;
When the proud religious heads gathered to take me for a ride,
God scattered the pride, saving me as his bride

Those that are drunk with power and are lusted with hierarchy,
God will throw down such to their cruelty and anarchy;
God shall lift up those who are humble and suffer sinful tyranny
For God shares freedom to both few and many.

Those that go to bed every day in hunger,
Those that curse the selfish accumulators in anger,
God will fill them with good things satisfying
And sends the rich empty, for God it’s justifying

God has always remembered to be prudent and merciful
Helping all the slaves in the history to be liberated in their full
Making all our ancestors to be such channels so graceful
Leaving a legacy to carry forward and be fruitful

(This Magnificat has been re-read by juxtaposing two important contexts. One situating Mother Mary as a young woman, who faced great challenges in her society as she had to be conceived even before she knew her husband Joseph, and the other in light of the realities of violence against women, a continuing reality in all histories.)

Hope against Hope

The Message of Christmas Amidst Human Rights Violations

The ongoing episodes of violence in India, where violence on account of terrorism, violence in the name of religion, violence in the name of caste and violence in the name of patriarchy, have been on the rise. Due to which, the secular ethos of our country and unity among people of different faiths has been at stake. Against the canvas of this scenario, what does it mean to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ? What is the relevance of Christmas for our times? When human rights violations are recorded on a higher scale in India, what is the message of Christmas?

Yesterday on the 9th Dec 2008 it was observed by the media that Bakrid the Muslim festival was celebrated on a low key due to the recent bomb blasts. Madam Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress Party in India did not celebrate her birthday yesterday, to be in solidarity with the victims of the recent terrorist attacks (this was for a political mileage). In the context of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai & Assam, in the background of the recent killings and attacks on the Dalit Christians and Tribals in Orissa by the fundamentalist groups, should we as Christians celebrate Christmas?

Generally, Christmas these days is associated with the pleasure and pomp, leaving the significance of it at the back door. Every day there are carol-singing groups that visit every Christian house, door after door to share the joy of Christmas. All through the month of December, there are several celebrations of Christmas, children Christmas, women Christmas, youth Christmas, elders Christmas, pre-Christmas, town Christmas, and united Christmas etc. you name it and you have it, so many celebrations. All of these either end in a good fellowship dinner or exchanging gifts between one another, in which all Christians are satisfied and are self content. We Christians are least bothered of our neighbours who are living in pain and pathos due to the human rights violations in their localities. Can we really think of what is Christmas to such people who are undergoing trauma, fear, and anxiety caused by violence, oppression, discrimination and marginalisation? Particularly in the context of the nun, who was raped in the violence in Orissa, and where such incidents have become rampant, is there hope in Christmas?

The birth of Jesus Christ in a manger in a small town of Bethlehem basically is a challenge to all the human rights violations that are being done during his times. Allow me to present the context of Jesus’ birth, particularly the life of a young woman who had to been the innocent victim of discrimination. The context then had been ruled by human rights violations, and the birth of Jesus gives a hope to all those victims.

Young Woman Mary, the victim of Discrimination:
Young woman Mary had to be conceived even before she got married to Joseph. Imagine the plight of this young woman, the insults she had to face, the criticisms she had to hear to and the amount of depression she had to go during her early trimesters of pregnancy. The whole society looked down upon her and discriminated her on many fronts of her life. Probably she reflects the norm of her society, where many men raped, exploited and spoiled the lives of women. Probably she is one among many women who had been the victims of human rights violations of her day, and she represents those victims. Hearing that young woman Mary is a pregnant, her family would have rejected her, her friends would have rejected her, her society would have thrown insults at her and at every nook and corner of her little town, ‘young Mary & her pregnancy’ was the talk of the town. No one came in rescue of her. Socially she was crushed, it was unbearable for her to take on the discrimination the society had shown to her. Probably no doctor in her town would have preferred to give her the required medical assistance, for she was treated as polluted. The religious leaders of those days would have passed on several sanctions on Mary, for her so called ‘unethical’ and’ illegal’ conception, and would have even banned her to enter their worship places and community gatherings. Probably many of her co-woman and family members would have advised her to go for an abortion, so that not many would come to know about her pregnancy. Mary sorrows knew no bounds that even her betrothed husband Joseph had also made up his mind to divorce her secretly. Even to think still ahead, probably Mary had this tag of stigma of ‘pregnancy from unknown’, and that would have been one of the reasons for no room for Mary to deliver the baby in Bethlehem, for most people in Bethlehem were reluctant to offer their houses and rooms to such ‘illegitimate’ births. Mary had to bear everything to save the saviour Jesus. On the whole, the young woman Mary had to bear the brunt of being the victim of the Human Rights violations of her times.

God, the Hope for Human Rights
In this Christmas story, when young woman Mary become the victim of human right violations, when her right to live, right to enjoy life have been curtailed, the message of hope comes to her from the God of hope. In all through the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy, if at all she had endured to any of the insults and succumbed to the pressure and depression she underwent and imagine if there would have been a miscarriage for her or was forced to abort the baby, baby Jesus would not have born, and there would have been utter hopelessness in their family and to the whole strings of Christian faith. God provided hope to the victimised Mary and stood by her in her times of trouble. When no one came in rescue of her, she replied to the angel o God, “ behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) She realised that it was only from God that she has hope, and no one can really understands her position and pain in her situation. God is a God who gives hope to the victims to overcome their situations of hopelessness. God is the one who journeys along with the victims in their journey of struggles. That’s the message of Christmas, the message of hope to all those in helpless situations and hopelessness. God stood with Mary, and she emerged victorious from all her insults and injuries.

Therefore the role of those believe in the birth of Jesus Christ, is to become the beacon and channel of hope to all those victims of human rights violations today. and I affirm that is the calling of Christmas to all of us. Until we become the carriers of hope in our fragile and volatile situations, our Christian calling has no meaning, message and direction. In the context of violence, let us give hope to this world to become peacemakers. In the context of fundamentalism, let us be the hope in resisting such forces in our communities. In the context of casteism, let us be the hope in liberating all those people that are oppressed. Christmas is the celebration of hope, and in hope, let us all resolve to become the harbingers of peace and hope in our contexts. May the spirit of hope enlighten all our hearts and minds to become the light of hope in our local contexts, and only then Christmas is meaningful.

Wishing you all a very meaningful observance of Human Rights Day, a hope filled celebration of Christmas and a challenging new year with hope as our guide and strength.

“Singh is King”

Thanking God for the Life of Mr. VP Singh

The sudden demise of Mr. Vishwanath Prathap Singh, the former Prime Minister of India on 27th November 2008 creates a vacuum in the modern political history of India, for his ardent fighting spirit for the cause of the social liberation and transformation, cannot be filled or replaced. His death comes on a day when the NSG Commandos in Mumbai are fighting against the terrorists in saving several citizens, who had been held captive, in an outrageous terrorist attack in the country.

This fighting spirit of the commandos’ parallels with the life of MR. VP Singh, who all through his life had fought against forces of evil with out any fear. The people of India cannot forget the great soul Mr. Singh, for his creative and innovative visions and plans in transforming the society. He remains immortal by his initiative to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission, which brought the Backward Castes into the main fray in the political scenario. His straight forwardness did not yield him power for long tenures and always held the image of ‘Mr. Clean’ all through his political career. If his tenure had continued for long, the long pending just struggle of Christians of Dalit origin in granting them Scheduled Caste Status would have been ensured.

He is also the one who spiritualised politics, when he went to Punjab seeking open forgiveness for the ‘Operation Blue star ‘, by arresting Mr. LK Advani, who was on his ‘rathyatra’ to Ayodhya. He did had that courage and boldness in being firm on his beliefs and values for justice, and least cared for the consequences to follow, where even his government had to fall by the withdrawal of support from BJP.

Long before, he joined the politics; he had been a pioneer in donating huge lands to the landless peasants as part of the ‘Bhoodhan Movement’, which reveals his virtues of selflessness and beliefs in equality, countering greed.

Today’s politicians have a lot to learn and follow from the life and leadership of Mr. Singh. His leadership skills, his passion for the cause of social justice, his desire for equality and his courage in countering any force that forges justice and peace have made an indelible impact on our country’s credibility and rich heritage. When the present political arena has been rotted to sub-standards, Mr. Singh becomes an icon, to whom the politicians can look up to in gaining strength and courage in being firm for the cause of justice. When the whole fraternity of politicians from across the nation stand up to salute the man with values and virtues, we the people of India lose a great statesman and an ideal leader of our times. Mr. Singh, we the India will miss you and we the India shall live up to the visions and directions of your leadership and promise that we shall carry forward the rich legacy, you have left. We thank God for the life and leadership of Mr. VP. Singh, and express our condolences to the bereaved family. Mr. VP Singh, you are truly a king!

The Wisdom of God is Christ

“ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” I Cor 1: 24.

Today’s world witnesses several inhuman activities, which emerge from the foolishness and ignorance of the people who are responsible towards it. Violence, terrorism, attacks on the religious and linguistic minorities etc. all piles up to show the dark side of the human mind. To be filled with the wisdom of God is the only rescue we have at hand. But how do we decipher the wisdom of God?

Paul in writing to the Corinthian church gives us a clue that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. There is no other clue to understand the wisdom of God but through the words & works of Jesus Christ, who was revealed as the Logos to this world. Jesus Christ’s presence of mind, application of thought, and quick actions all exhibit the wisdom of God to our histories. Born as the prince of peace, Christ demonstrated peace by healing, transcending the religious boundaries and by associating himself with least among the society. Christ’s way of peace is not a passive one, rather an active one, which tries to counter the forces of violence and thereby paves the way to peace. Christ is a peacemaker, peace builder and he himself if the peace and wisdom of God.

To address the violent situations in our times, we need to organise like Christ, who is the wisdom of God in bringing peace to our times. If Christ is the peacemaker of his times, we as joint heirs with him needs to be peacemakers for our times. Christ by being the wisdom of God paves the way to the kingdom of God. Therefore we need to follow Christ in all his footsteps, so that we become wise, act wise and remove all vices of our society. May the wisdom of God, who is Christ fill us all with the wisdom so that we live and let other live with the values of the kingdom of God.

If Christ is the wisdom of God, can we an extension to Christ?

My Memoirs of Diwali…

The whole world celebrates today in all lights and colours as Diwali, commemorating the victory of Satyabhama over Narakasura, as the victory of good over evil. May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy Festival of Lights, the Diwali. May we all get challenged to become agents of good striving for a victory over evil in our times and localities.

Diwali, brings to me several reminiscences from my childhood. The happiness in shopping crackers during this season, the joy in firing the crackers, the awe in watching several fireworks in the skies, and the list goes on, had always made lasting impressions on me and on my upbringing. Diwali gave the opportunity to eat some good recipes with my friends at their homes and also gave us an occasion to watch films. They were real good times of childhood spent in all innocence and happiness.

Diwali, is memorable for me, besides all these happy moments, for yet another reason, which always kept me to be on my heels. In the school, Hindi language as subject was introduced in my eighth standard and Hindi was always a nightmare for me. For it was a total new & foreign language to be learnt at that stage from the alphabets, and for some reasons I could not cope learning Hindi as I did the other subjects. The friends in the class who were doing really well in Hindi, had been learning it by watching Hindi programmes in the television at home. We had television at home only when I reached to my tenth standard and had a very little access to the television for that privilege of watching Hindi programmes. At the background of this canvas, an essay on ‘Diwali’ was a compulsory essay that always appeared in our question papers in all most every standard. I always had tough time in attempting to write the essay on Diwali in Hindi, and as follows, I had a very poor scoring in Hindi. My Hindi teacher always had a red face on reading my script, specially my essay on Diwali made her much more infuriated. The reason was, I had a good introduction for my essay in Hindi and from second paragraph I was explaining the festival using Telugu (my mother tongue) vocabulary in Hindi script. My Hindi teacher was on top of her voice, and had to warn me to be serious in learning Hindi language. So no Diwali goes for me with out remembering my Hindi teacher and my essay on Diwali in Hindi language. I still remember my essay, it goes this way, “…Deepavali, Hinduyom ka ek pramuk thyohar hi…. Is thyohar me sarvejan chichbuds or kakarpovaths kalchenge…”

The other experience I had with Diwali, is the dilemma created by my Christian folks in my locality, that Diwali is unchristian and Christians should not celebrate it. So at some point in my childhood, we had to be mere spectators of the festivity and lights, remaining at home. Though all our minds were on the festival and crackers, our eyes and ears had to be closed to all of it. But over the years, I realised the importance of the festival, the victory of good over evil and now make sure to participate in this rich festival of our Hindu friends. Now I feel how Christian it is to participate in our neighbours festivals, share with them the joy and community living.

Diwali builds community spirit and community living, and no one community should isolate from such community building festivals. Festivals add colour to life, and festival of lights adds grace and light to the communities in India. In this context of growing religious fundamentalism and religious fanaticism, festival of lights provide a space for friendship and fellowship among people of all faiths. Hatred among faiths is on the rise, and Diwali bridges that gaps among faiths and among people with love and sharing.

May this Diwali bring cheers and happiness to life. Wishing you all a very happy Diwali, and long live community living and community spirit!

Life Beyond Kandhamal for Dalit Panos

Relocation as an Option

As the situation in Kandhamal is uneasily calm after about two months of violence on Dalit Pano Christians, most of these survivors of the brutal violence are perplexed to think life beyond these incidents. On the one hand if they have to return back to their houses from the relief camps, they have to face the threat of being re-converted to Hinduism or face the ultimate consequences of it. On the other hand the district administration is slowly trying to persuade them to get back to their villages and start life, as they appear to be normal. Dalit Pano Christians are caught up between these two options before them.

These Dalit Pano Christians are firm in their faith for they believe in no turning back from their Christian faith and are ready to bear the consequence for it, for they have been experiencing the price for embracing Christianity in their lives. There is clarity in their position with regard to their locus standing of their faith, for they believe in a God of freedom and also affirm their Constitutional right in expressing their freedom of choosing a religion of their own choice and conscience.

To return back to their broken, burnt and destroyed houses in their villages, these Dalit Pano Christians are reluctant for they have been witnessing a series of violence, and expect much more to come in the future. When the destroyed houses of the December violence were rebuilt again, the august violence on them sprouted and their houses and property were again either burnt to ashes or destroyed. So these people knew that there is no longer safety in these villages of theirs and have been urging the government to relocate them to other places and villages in Orissa. Their no confidence in the district administration makes them to ask for a re-location. Their fear psychosis to live in terror and bloodshed makes them to ask for relocation. Their suburbs flooded with the Sangh aggression makes them to ask for relocation.

These Dalit Pano Christians ask for relocation not in all willingness, joy and pleasure. With great despair and out of compulsion, for there is no other option left for them but for relocation. Imagine the plight of these people; their tears knew no bounds. They are asking for a relocation at the expense of their homeland, where they were born, brought up, nurtured, lived for years and experienced community living with people of all faiths. They are asking for relocation at the expense of forgoing their ancestral lands, to which they have been so deeply attached with. They are asking for relocation at the expense of their deep-rooted sentiments of their own land with the ethos of the rich cultural setting they have been used to. They are asking for relocation at the expense of the rich flora and fauna they enjoyed with and by distancing from the historical indigenous traditions that evolved from their lands.

Despite all these reasons, is relocation a possibility for these Dalit Pano Christians? Will the government authorities listen to their pleas? The government can relocate them as a community and grant them pattas, land documents in other areas of the State, but all that is required is a political will for doing it. Earlier when the Church delegations have met the Chief Minister of Orissa and the Home Secretary of Orissa, they have promised to relocate the communities that have been badly affected, based on the requisitions made by those communities. Therefore, the State government has to keep up its word and relocate the affected communities to a safe place, providing them all the requirements of land, shelter and job.

If normalcy is to be required in this violent district in Orissa, relocation is a necessity that can help the communities that have witnessed violence and bloodshed. The role of the civil societies in this direction will be to pressurise the State government to relocate these communities to a safe and secure place within the State. Earlier stories of rehabilitation done to the displaced people in India has a record of providing lands that were unfertile and barren, where livelihood is not a possibility. May the State government in Orissa, keep in mind to provide relocation to these ethno-communally affected people at a land that is fertile and safe. May relocation not make these communities isolated, but may they imbibe the community building mechanisms to live in peace and harmony.

Am I my Neighbour’s Keeper?

A Call to Christians for Solidarity…

For the last few weeks, there has been clash among communities either in the name of ethnicity or religion and the ideology of conflict and the concept of hatred have been reaping greater fruits in this whole saga of violence. Innocent victims had to pay the price in this whole episode. What Samuel Huntington has predicted the ‘Clash of Civilisations’, probably is taking its deep roots with the clash of faiths, clash of interests and clash of cultures as its manifestation.

Ongoing Violence
The violent episode in Orissa, which has been unabated for the last seven weeks, though there has been an uneasy calmness during last one week, resulted in the killings of nearly fifty people, the majority happen to be Dalit Christians. Nearly ten people died in the communal violence in a village Bhainsa, Adilabad district, Andhra Pradesh during last week, the victims had been from the Muslim minority community. Nearly fifty-one people died in the violence in Assam during last few weeks in Udalguri and Darrang districts in Assam dodged by clashes between Bodos and Bangladeshi migrants, where the victims are the Tribals. Besides these major incidents, there have been reported communal violence in the states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Gujarat etc. Incidents of terrorism and bomb blasts continue to rock both the urban and the rural India, violence has crept into all corners of the Indian society.

Ongoing Solidarity
Time and again, it has been emphasised that the civil society needs to vigilant in building peace and harmony in times of crisis and build solidarity to communities that have been affected. Violence on any community is not a mere attack on that community, rather they are violation of human rights and a breach of citizenship guaranteed by the Constitution on India. Even the National Integration Council, which met on the 13th October 2008, under the auspices of the Ministry of Home affairs in New Delhi discussed and interacted on communal violence, and observed that the unity among different cultures in India has been tarnished by these acts of violence. On a whole the solidarity to the communities affected, particularly to the Christians in Orissa is tremendous and we as Christians need to profusely thank the solidarity that we have received from all quarters of the world, from all religious communities and from people of all walks of life. We as Christians also need to thank the solidarity systems and the pressure exerted both by the local and international friends put on the governments to intervene pro-actively, though they haven’t really could contain the violence. We as Christians need to thank all the responsible citizens of this country from all faiths, who walked with us during protest rallies, peace rallies, condemning the violence as breach on Indian secularism and for all those who stood by us in times of crisis and violence on Dalit Christians and Christians in India. We also need thank media, for airing the immediate incidents as an when happening, for exposing the inefficiency of the government machinery and for not being biased in their coverage of the violence, though few media people had reported it in their right-ideological perspective.

Am I my Neighbour’s Keeper?
But the real question that comes into light is, “Where are we Christians, in expressing our solidarity when the Muslims in Andhra Pradesh have been killed? Where are we Christians, in expressing our solidarity, when the Bodo Tribals have been killed in Assam? Where are we Christians, in expressing our solidarity, when Muslims have been killed in Gujarat?” These questions come at a time when we had the privilege of the solidarity from other people of faith, responsible citizens of India and from committed Human Rights activists and agencies, from across the world. Leave about the reason, since they have been in solidarity, so we should also be, but are we as Christians not called to be in solidarity with all those that are oppressed and attacked violently? What happened to our role as ‘Good Samaritans’, which we often preach and are boasting about, when our co-citizens are killed and attacked? Was not Jesus Christ in solidarity with those from other communities and cultures during his times? If we as Christians are silent at a time like this, I fear that our moral responsibility as citizens of India is at stake and I also fear our calling, as Christians will lose its savour and character. It is high time, that we need to join the civil society in expressing their solidarity with the bruised communities, with the wounded communities and with the communities who are in deep distress and despair at a time like this of now.

A Call for Solidarity
Therefore, now the calling for us Christians is to stand by those survivors of violence, express our solidarity and try to exert pressure on the government in ensuring safety and protection to all its citizens. As Christians, as Churches, let us engage with the civil society in countering the forces of religious fundamentalism, communalism, casteism and all ethnic conflicts. Let us all dedicate as Christians to be the ambassadors of peace and harmony, to be the ones initiating peace-building measures in our communities and to be responsible citizens of India. We as Christians need to be the apostles of secularism and democracy. We as Christians need to love our neighbours as we love our communities and ourselves. If we as a faith-based community can be a channel for promoting peace, secularism, national integration, unity, justice, and liberation, only then can we fulfil the calling as Christians. Let our voices be heard on behalf of all those victims, irrespective of their religion, region and caste. Only when we Christians stand with those affected people now, tomorrow we can expect their solidarity and support. Let us not escape the crisis, but let us be in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in other faith communities, who have been attacked and killed.

Let us be reminded with the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller who said
"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

Arise, Awake & Act…

Last week also had witnessed several oscillations in the Orissa carnage on Dalit Christians and the situation has not progressed to any better. For a quick scroll on the important happenings with regard to Orissa situation here is the precursor. The discussion in the Union Cabinet on the 7th October 2008 to ban the right wing terrorist outfit the Bajarang Dal, did not end up banning it, for the Prime Minister deferred the decision. A small team of Union ministers to be sent to Orissa to engage the Naveen Patnaik government in Orissa to persuade it to end violence against Dalit Christians, PM’s proposed visit to Orissa after the Puja festival, no unanimity in imposing the President’s rule in Orissa and meeting of Mr. L.K. Advani, the Leader of BJP Party with the Catholic leaders along on the initiative made by Swami Chidananda Saraswati were some of the other important issues in the week on Orissa.

Saffron Terror
When the Union cabinet discussed banning of Bajrang Dal, which has been mainly instrumental for the killings, arson and violence on Dalit Christians in Orissa, it was reported that the Prime Minister deferred the decision as there was no unanimity among their leaders and coalition partners. On the contrary, the Congress Party makes some hypocritical statements from within to ban Bajrang Dal for its uncontrolled inhuman activities. If Congress Party was so firm in the ban, they should have pushed the Prime Minister towards it or the Prime Minister should not have deferred the decision to ban since it was on the Congress Party’s agenda also. This again shows the lack of political will from both the Prime Minister and the Congress Party. Congress Party in getting support to its nuclear deal, even though Left, which was supporting from outside opposed it, sought for a consensus among its coalition partners and also rallied with new support from the Samajwadi Party in getting its agenda pushed at any cost. What happened to such a political will of Congress Party, which they showed during the Indo-US nuclear deal in banning Bajrang Dal? Could they not garner support for it? Whatever be the reason, one thing is clear that the Congress Party, which wants to appears to be secular is soft on Hindutva ideology and wants to appease both the victims and the perpetrators, which I think will lead to a fall at any time. And it is clear that Congress Party cannot ban neither the Bajarang Dal nor its ideology and activities and want to be neutral, which makes its secular credentials at stake. Congress Party is surely going to pay its price in the forthcoming elections for its softness in dealing the saffron terror in India.

Saffron Dialogue
If one extreme in the oscillation is not banning the Bajrang Dal the other extreme is the meeting Shri. L. K. Advani with the Church leaders, which surely calls the attention of all the citizens in India. It was reported that on the initiative made by Swami Chidananda Saraswati of Paramarth Nikethan, Rishikesh, that Archbishop of Delhi Vincent Concessao, Archbishop of Orissa Raphael Cheenath and Fr. Dominic Emmanuel from Delhi Catholic Archdiocese met Shri. L. K. Advani at his residence on the 8th October. A joint press statement was made by all these leaders, which condemned forced conversions and re-conversions and called it to be stopped. The statement also called on the Hindus and Christian leaders for Inter-Faith Dialogue, which should be held in the spirit of the report of the Inter- Faith Dialogue on Conversions, which was organised at the Vatican in May 2006 by the Pontifical Council for Inter- Faith Dialogue and the World Council of Churches, Geneva. Thanks to Shri. Advaniji for his gesture of meeting the Christian leaders and for calling on peace and harmony among all faiths in Orissa. Thanks also to Advaniji for affirming the code of condust as expressed in the Vatican and WCC documents on Conversion. Having said that, I am only surprised why Advaniji could not think of calling on the Christian leaders all these 45 days when violence was unabated. Why could not Advaniji call on the Christian leaders in Orissa, during his visit to Bhubaneswar in the last one-month? Why all of a sudden his deep concern to Christians at this juncture? If Advaniji is only eyeing for some political mileage by this dialogue, I am afraid such gestures as this without convictions for the cause may not be trustworthy and fruitful too. If Advaniji had such a concern on Christians, he could have as well told his Sangh Parivar to be controlled and not to attack the poor Dalit Christians in the name of religion. When nearly 50 people died, 310 villages affected, 15, 000 people forced to live in relief camps, nearly 4000 houses burnt and about 200 prayer houses and churches have been damaged and destroyed, and when after the damage has been made, why does Advaniji now think of Christians all of a sudden. Now that the damage has been made, Advaniji can only be a sympathetic visitor to the cause of Orissa.

Therefore, I would like to see the present Prime Minister and the projected Prime Minister to act swiftly and pro-actively, for attacks on Christians are not mere attacks on a religion, but they are attacks on the citizens of India and such an issue like this should have been dealt more securely and carefully. Violence on Dalit Christians is a breach of human rights and a violation of Constitutional rights and therefore needs to be addressed with much caution and sincerity. Unless the leaders come out of their individual political agendas, safety and security of the citizens in India will continue to be in peril. Let us all bind together to protect citizens from violence and attacks caused in the name of caste or creed. Arise, awake and act to save India.

A Violent Non-Violence Day

The whole world observed United Nations declared International Day of Non-Violence on the 2nd October 2008, commemorating the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of non-violence, organising several peace rallies, peace marches, walkathons etc. in protest against the on going violence and calling on all sections of people to preach, profess, propagate and practice peace. This was also the day when India’s three decades of nuclear apartheid has been wiped out, with the US Senate accepting & approving the 123 agreement, the Indo-US civilian nuclear agreement, which will allow access to US civil nuclear fuel and technology to be used for India’s ‘development’. On these two occasions, scores of people from across the latitudes and longitudes of the globe on the one hand committed to follow Gandhi, the Father of India, and his values of non-violence and on the other hand congratulated Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India for his bold decisions in striking the Indo-US nuclear deal, which appears to cater the needs of the people in India. It is far to realise how non-violent is this deal to the people in India.

On the contrary to these events and happenings, Dalit Christians in Kantamal block of Boudh district, a neighbouring one to the boiling Kandhamal in Orissa had to witness violent attacks on this non-violence day. Nearly 70 houses were burnt and several Pano Dalit Christians had to flee to forests to save their lives, when nearly 400 armed religious fundamentalists marched and attacked them in five villages. The police and the State machinery cannot any more be in deep slumber, though they continue to be, when Dalit Christians in Orissa have to be burnt in the furnace of casteism and communalism. What is non-violence to these our fellow Dalit Christians in Orissa? When the apartheids of caste, violence and fundamentalism are not addressed, what good it is for the Government of India to boast of its overcoming nuclear apartheid?

Dalit Christians in Orissa today have to bear the brunt of casteism and communalism from both ends, and had to be trampled under the cruel inhuman attitude of the religious fundamentalism. Dalit Christians are attacked because they happen to be Dalits, which is oppression in the name of caste. Dalit Christians are attacked because they happen to be Christians, which is discrimination in the name of religion. More over the violence on Dalit Christians is a sheer witness of the violation of their human rights, for freedom in all fronts has been curtailed.

The other grave concern that offshoots from the saga of violence in Orissa is the rift between Pano Dalits and the Khand Tribals, who are the indigenous people who share the common ethos & culture. With the advent of the outsiders into this land, Khand Tribals have been Hinduised and Pano Dalit have been Christianised, and in recent years religion happened to be the conflicting element in this region of Orissa, and whole series of violence in Orissa has taken the religious flavour to it. If issues like land, culture, reservation & conversion happens to be the core issues that have been dividing the indigenous people in Kandhamal, I presume that these issues need to be addressed on an indigenous table and not on a religious table, which thus far has been so. Let religion and religious people withdraw from flaring up the ongoing conflict among these communities, and let a Dalit-Tribal interface be organised, so that the issues can be spelt out, addressed and solved. Here comes the role of the civil society, responsible citizens and the inter-faith communities for they need to push for such an inter-face among Dalits and Tribals for they share many things in common. Such an interface will give an opportunity to work out the convergences between the two communities, to express their divergences and to work out creatively strategies that can sustain the indigenous nature of these communities. Once these conflicts are resolved, I trust the secular fabric will retain its credibility in India, and non-violence and non-violence days will have its relevance. Together lets dream and work to achieve a country where peace will be a sustained reality.

Strengthen our foundation, lest it fall…

On Monday the 29th September 2008, in Marseilles, France the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh had addressed a joint press conference with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, and said, "With regard to the Christian minority in India, let me say India is a secular state. We are a country, which is multi racial, multi religious and the Constitution of India guarantees to all citizens of India the freedom and right to profess and propagate the religion of their choice. There have been sporadic incidents in some parts of our country, but our government has taken a firm position. I have myself condemned these acts as a national shame." Few hours after he spoke that Christians in India are safe, fresh violence on Christians in Khandamal, Orissa sprung out. In the early hours of Tuesday the 30th September, Dalit Christians in Rudangia village in G. Udayagiri area were attacked by the armed fundamentalists, where two people died, several injured and 100 houses were burnt.

I understand that the Prime Minister must have been right now busy in France lobbying and discussing about the Indo-French nuclear deal and would have been preparing grounds for the deal to get started. As violence on Dalit Christians goes unabated in Orissa, the prime thing that comes to the forefront on the agenda of India is to save our home first, by strengthening the foundation of secularism before planning for interior and exterior designs. Violence and violations of human rights on the religious minorities in India have been on the rise, and such grave incidents deter the foundations of Secularism and Democracy, on which India as a State and India as communities of faith are built upon. Unless our foundations of India are not strengthened, it will be difficult for us to face the challenges and tsunamis of our times. Therefore as Prime Minister spoke about Christian Minority in India and his governments firm position in addressing the incidents of violence, several concerns arouse, and herewith I would present some key concerns and would like to draw the attention of all the responsible citizens of India in challenging them towards peace building measures.

Secularism
On an international platform, when Dr. Singh spoke about the Christian minority in India, I am glad and must appreciate him for reminding the people in France that India is a secular state. However, his statement has provoked me to think further as how secular is India today? When secularism in India is made a mockery by the rising fundamentalist forces, when attacks in the name of religion is soaring high, when violence on Dalit Christians in Orissa is unabated, and when all people of faith are living in fear and terror, does our conscience really remind us that India is secular state? Yes, we are all proud of our secular ethos in India, and thanks to the Constitution, which affirms that India is a Secular state, but do you not think that only on paper India is secular, in spirit does that secular fabric with which the faiths in India are intertwined are still a reality? At a moment like this, when terrorism and violence on religious minorities are on the rise, I would like to call on the government of India to intervene pro-actively, for the sake of our proud democratic and secular values of India and seek the assistance of all people of faith and government in safeguarding the lives of religious minorities in India.

Plurality
The Prime Minister has also mentioned the texture of the Indian society, which is multi-racial and multi-religious in nature. This again ponders me to think whether the plurality of religions & cultures in India is a boon or a bane? I would assume as humans many would affirm the unity in diversity is a blessing to India. But the truth of the matter is that the forces of religious fundamentalism are trying to wipe out the plurality of faiths in India and trying to establish one monolithic and homogenous culture in the name of Hindutva? How has the government attempted in building peace among different communities in India? What efforts did the government made in keeping the multi-religious and multi-cultural rubric of India, in tact? If the government has really taken efforts in upholding the plurality of communities in India, why attacks, killings, violence, arson and vandalising the people of faith in India? How did the government of India counter the forces of Hindutva, who are on the drive of creating homogeneity of culture in India, creating confusion, violence and mistrust among people of faith? I feel that the situation of Hindutva religious fundamentalists has been chronic to be dealt on dialogue and counselling. At a time like this, I seek the government’s interference in condemning the Hindutva forces, forces that have been trying to bury the plurality in India and distorting & destroying the image of India, which has been a hub of all religions, ideologies, faiths and cultures.

Freedom to profess & propagate
The Prime Minister has also mentioned about the safeguard provided by the Indian Constitution in guaranteeing all its citizens the freedom and right to profess and propagate the religion of our choice. This statement again leads me to discuss the issues of Dalit Christian rights. When Christians of Dalit origin profess their religion in Christianity, the government curtails their status from Scheduled Castes, and denies their Constitutional rights & privileges. In the ongoing struggle for justice by Christians of Dalit origin in granting them Scheduled Caste status, despite several representations made to the highest offices, the government is still has been silent in implementing the Justice Ranganath Misra’s Commission report, which has been categorical to make Scheduled Caste status religion neutral. The Prime Minister tells the Church delegations that he has been waiting for a consensus among his coalition partners in the Government on this Dalit Christian issue, where several of his coalition partners have expressed their support in favour of Dalit Christians. I think it is high time, that the immediate action by the Government in this regard is sought after. The other issue that calls all our attentions is propagating the religion of our choice in India, which has been curtailed again by acts like the Freedom of Religion in some of the States in India. Even otherwise, the freedom to propagate a religion is either termed as ‘forceful conversions’ or ‘conversions with allurements’. I firmly believe that forceful conversions by any religion need to be condemned at its core, for such a principle is unholy & inhuman. For conversion is according to the freewill of a person, and one cannot dictate terms to the freedom of ones conscience. It is appropriate here to understand the situation in Kandhamal and other districts in Orissa, where the re-conversion drive by the Hindutva fundamental groups has been on high acceleration, and Dalit Christians in that area have been treated so inhumanly and are also even threatened, if they are not willing to re-convert from Christianity. The government needs to be bold in tackling these forces of Hindutva, who try to sabotage the secular values and the safeguards given by the Constitution of India. These forces of fundamentalist groups even try to take the law and order situation into their hands and the government machinery sing to their tunes. Stringent laws need to be brought in order to arrest such people, and committed government machinery is needed to implement these laws. Responsible citizens also need to intervene, through inter-faith approaches in making India a free country, where everyone is free to profess and propagate religion of ones choice.

Systemic Violence
I am glad that the Prime Minister has agreed that there have been sporadic incidents in some parts of our country, but our government has taken a firm position. Are the incidents of violence and attacks on Christians in India a mere sporadic, irregular and infrequent ones? The incidents of violence are more pre-planned, systemic and so regular that just to mention, from August 23rd 2008, till date violence on Dalit Christians in Orissa has been unabated with series of attacks, so planned that the main roads are blocked by cutting down trees. Not only unabated, but violence has simmered into other districts of Orissa and even to other parts of India like that of Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh etc. Time and again in Kandhamal, Orissa the reasons for violence on Christians has been attributed to the killing of Swami Lakshamananda Saraswathi even though Maoists have claimed responsibility of killing Swamiji. It was said even though the Swamiji was not killed, a series of violence is planned on Christians in Orissa, for Orissa has become the second laboratory for the Hindutva forces. On looking at the whole saga of violence on Christians in India, does it appear to be a mere sporadic and irregular incidents that are happening? Besides answering such questions one has also to feel the gravity and pain of all those that are attacked, killed, made homeless, hiding in jungles for life just because they have been Christians, which don’t you think is inhuman. It pains me to hear when the Prime Minister said, that his government has taken a firm position in the light of these cruel incidents on Christians in India. How firm was the government in addressing these incidents of violence? If the government have been really firm in their position, violence would not have spiralled thus far. The Union Home Minister who visited the violence-affected area in Orissa, only after 11 days of unabated violence has been so soft on the Hindutva fundamentalist groups, which I think reflects in a dark shade on the present governments ‘firm’ position. The State police in Orissa could not contain the violence and therefore central forces have been deployed, even then violence has not been stopped, and how can one say that government has taken firm position. When the police stations are not safe in Orissa, for they have been burnt down by the fundamentalist groups, how can we expect the people in Orissa to be safe? At this juncture, though it is not late, I would like to urge the Government to analyse the reasons of violence in the states of Orissa & Karnataka, name the perpetrators of violence and punish such people. A CBI enquiry needs to be made into all these incidents and bring out the truth in all these gruesome incidents on Christians. The state governments in Orissa & Karnataka in particular have been terribly failed, and there is no more confidence in these state governments, for they have been a mere onlookers to the violence in their states and I urge that President’s rule needs to be implemented in these states. I only see the present government’s firmness only in making statements and not in actions. Unless the government is really firm in its position particularly in the context of violence on Christians, the strong foundations of secularism becomes weaken and I think the trust the people have in the government will soon fade away.

National Shame
I also need to thank the Prime Minister for once again echoing his own words in calling these incidents on Christians as ‘national shame’. Calling the violence on Christians as ‘national shame’ in how what way it sooths the people in Kandhamal, Orissa who have been suffering in pain and bloodshed? What immediacy it has to the people affected in communal violence? I would fully agree with the Prime Minister when he termed these incidents as as ‘national shame’. Yes surely the violence on Christians by religious fundamentalist groups is a national shame; for India is know for the peace and harmony among all people of faith. My only worry is terming the violence on Christians, as ‘national shame’ has not stopped the violence in Orissa. Calling it a ‘national shame’ has no way checked the Hindutva forces, and on the contrary when the fundamentalists have further invigorated their saffron agenda of creating hatred and terror among people of minority religions, the terminology of ‘national shame’ has not come in rescue of the citizens of India. I think, unless the government implement peace measures on war footing basis in India, the Prime Minister calling the violence, as ‘national shame’ will lose its relevance. Unless, the government give up its soft attitude to the saffron ideology and forces, calling the violence as ‘national shame’ will have no meaning. Unless the government come into grips with the ground reality to the violence in India, calling the violence as ‘national shame’ will have no message. Further more let me plead in telling that unless these incidents of violence are not dealt as matters of ‘national shame’, I am afraid the fame of India will lose its character, which so far sustained to be secular in nature.

Immediate Response
The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has been such a great statesman, where India and other countries are really proud of for his bold decisions and contributions for the furtherance of India into a global power. Therefore, I urge the Prime Minister to intervene pro-actively into the incidents of violence on minority religions in India and make India to be proud of its rich and varied heritage. I think at a time like this the Prime Minister and the government should be bold in legislating and executing laws for the peace and harmony in India. When secular fabric of India is restored, the democratic values will yield good fruits for the progress of India. Only when the foundations of our home India are firm, strong and unshaken, the rest will add grace and beauty to it. Let us all resolve to strengthen the foundations of secularism, for the fear that it may fall. Jai hind

When I Survey The Broken Cross...

On the Christmas Eve of 2007, this Church in Balliguda, Khandamal District of Orissa, India was attacked and burnt by the fundamentalist groups. (Photographs Courtesy: Bishop. Samantha Roy)



When I survey this broken Cross
On which the nailed hand of Jesus hanging
I see harmony among people at a loss
And peace broken & community raging

Jesus on an old rugged cross was pressed
And was beaten again and again,
He came to liberate all the oppressed
But the greedy attack Him for vain gain

Though Cross is the reward for His acts of Liberation
Death could not chain Jesus, the Liberator,
For Resurrection is the reward for that crucifixion
So shall every victim 'll turn victor.

CNI Church Attacked in Barakuma, Khandamal Dist, Orissa during Christmas 2007

In a village called Barakuma, the CNI Church was attacked and was put on fire during Christmas 2007. Nearly 400 houses of Dalit Christians were burnt to ashes along with some other Dalit Hindu families. Their certificates, vehicles, food grains, shops were all put to fire. It was said that nearly 4000 to 5000 people attacked them on the Christmas day with weapons and the Christians had to flee into the jungles to save their lives. They had to live in Jungles for four to five days and had to starve there without food. Several people are still missing and it is so pathetic to find that many do not know what has happened to their dear ones.

AN OCTAVE IN FASTING FOR AN ACTIVE FASTING

Fasting in the context of the Turmoil in Orissa

The Prelude
The unabated violence on Christians in Orissa continues for about a fortnight now, where nearly 20 people are killed, nearly 40, 000 are homeless hiding in the forests, where several houses are burnt, churches and schools attacked and where life is also quite threatening in the government relief camps, for some tried to poison the drinking water to kill Christians and violence on Christians simmering to other parts of the State and to other neighbouring States, the situation is highly volatile and perplexing. As a response to the violence on Christians in orissa, Sunday, the 7th September has been called by the National united Christian Forum (NUCF), a united platform of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI), the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) as a day of prayer and fasting in solidarity with the victims in Orissa. Several circulars in English and in vernaculars have been sent to all the constituents of the NUCF, and information is that in many villages, towns and cities, the churches and the Christian communities have been preparing to observe the day in prayer and fasting.

The Instrument
I asked a friend of mine in my town about 7th September and immediately he told me about the efforts and arrangements they are making and involved in organising this day of prayer and fasting. I had to appreciate and admire the commitment of Christians for the day of prayer and fasting. As our conversation went on, I asked him, “Why should we fast?” He was so quick to answer and evangelises me, “the reason for all the Christians to observe this day of prayer and fasting is that, when our co-Christians in Orissa are attacked, when our Christian peoples houses have been burnt, when our Churches are attacked, when our Christian institutions have been attacked and when there is a lot of animosity and anger on the Christian missions in Orissa, we as Christians need to pray and fast, for we need to call on the intervention of our God in such a time of crisis to Christians in India.”What is special about fasting in calling on the intervention of our God? I asked my friend. He was as usual spontaneous in replying me, “Prayer is like a tablet, which we take when we are sick for relief & recovery, and fasting prayers is like an antibiotic or an injection, which brings in a quick relief and recovery from our sickness.”

These replies startled me and have further made me to ponder on what it means to fast in such a situation like the Orissa turmoil? I am sure my friend is not just the one who thinks in this wave length on fasting, I am sure there are several of our Christian brothers and sisters, across the latitudes and longitudes of this globe who thinks about fasting in resonance with my friend’s understanding on fasting. Quickly if I have to spin the yarn of my friend’s understanding into the forefront, several layers of textures which are so complexly interwoven into the fabric of Christianity comes into light.

The first layer of the texture happens to be the parochial understanding of fasting. When our co-christians, when our people are attacked, when our Christian missions are attacked… so on so forth, only when ‘our’ is in trouble, that we are called to fasting. Are called to fasting only when ‘our’ and ‘me’ are in trouble? The second layer happens to be the parochial understanding of God. When ‘our’ people are in trouble fasting is calling on ‘our’ God to intervene and battle for the Christians in India. To that extent my friend was quite open enough to call on just the intervention of God in a time of crisis, for he did not spell what that intervention means. I am not surprised that our Christian friends even stretch that intervention of God, like calling on ‘our’ God to take revenge on Orissa. For they quote that every time such incidents happen and when floods or drought or earthquake or cyclone hits that place, our Christians immediately proclaim that the ‘wrath of God’ is on them (where several innocent people die due to these natural calamities). The third layer is the petty understanding of fasting. Is fasting a matter of inward activity within the body or does it have any outward activity in the community? Is fasting giving up eating for a day or does it have something beyond? When we feast all the 365 and half days in a year to the core, just giving up eating for half a day is that all called fasting? What legitimacy do we have in calling it a day of fasting? There is a wide paradox between the fatting and fasting in Christian lives. Is such a fasting acceptable to God? There are many more layers that have been into our Christian living, but for want of time, let me restrict to these three layers and address them from a Biblical perspective. Once again I know and I am reminded that I am entering into a difficult horizon of the conventional understanding of faith and fasting, which has been deeply rooted in all our Christian understandings. However for the sake of the Gospel, I have to risk gospel, so that all of us become the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

The Notes
To further take us through in reclaiming the essence of the Gospel, and to draw our focus what does it mean to fast in a situation like Orissa turmoil, I have with me one of the popular texts in the Bible, the book of Prophet Isaiah chapter 58, verses 6 & 7.

“ Is it not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?”

Tuning the Frequency
The above words of the Trito-Isaiah comes with much force today in order to explain what it means to fast, and what activities it include in fasting. These two verses summarise the character of fasting for our Christian ethical living. These are very old sayings in the Bible and happen to be an old rhetoric in the Church tradition to which we had been listening. However, I found these verses very profound for our context of September 7th, when the whole Christians across the globe observe the day of prayer and fasting in solidarity with the Orissa turmoil victims. From these two verses I found eight characteristics of fasting, and which provide a way to what it means to fast in our times. Before I deal with the eight characteristics of fasting, which I call the ‘Octave in Fasting’, let me unravel the truth that fasting is not parochial rather fasting is more communitarian, which is for the society, by the society and in the society. Fasting is a communitarian process, where through fasting it benefits all in the society for the aim of fasting is it brings in justice, peace and equality and never done by a particular sect people because they are affected. Allow me also at this point to disentangle the truth that God is never parochial, rather God is of all people and of all faiths, for it is in God all faiths exist and in God all faiths sustain, for God is just and seeks the same from his people in the society to administer and execute justice to all, and that is where fasting is directed towards.

With these perspectives in mind, let us start to organise the two verses into an octave to draw out the essence, the direction, the meaning, and the message of fasting for our times today. Octave is a famous module, which has been used to explain many categories in the sciences. Music has been a famous one, which has an octave to determine and define its melody. An octave in the Indian version of music is sung as Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Da Ni Sa, likewise prophet Isaiah also gives us an octave in fasting. It is harmony in singing in the octave, and it is disharmony, when some one sings little lesser to the given octave or sings little higher to the given octave. Similarly, octave in fasting also maintains the same. As every musician is aware of the octave in music, so also every Christian should be aware and be used to this octave in fasting for such an octave is an active fasting.

The Rag / Tune
As the frequency is tuned and with the given notes it is now time to draw the scale in the octave of fasting. All these notes in the octave are complimentary to each other and reveal the rich character in fasting.

Sa - to loose the bonds of injustice
Re - to undo the thongs of the yoke
Ga - to let the oppressed go free
Ma - to break every yoke
Pa - to share your bread with the hungry
Da - bring the homeless poor into your house
Ni – to cover the naked
Sa – to hide not yourself from your own kin

The Composition
As the notes have been spelt out and the tune has been given, its now time to reveal the composition, and therefore draw what it means to fast in the context of Orissa carnage. Some practical directions are given below.

Part I
The first four notes can be summarised since injustice, yoke, oppression and breaking the yoke all go in the same line and is broadly discussed under the rubric of injustice for want of time. Therefore in the whole Orissa episode of violence on Dalit Christians, here are some of the bonds of injustices? Here are the un-weaved threads from the bonds of injustice.

a. The injustice of religious fundamentalism,
b. The injustice of violence,
c. The injustice by caste,
d. The injustice by the unjust governance,
e. The injustice of not to exercise the freedom of religion.

These have been the bonds that have griped so tight the lives of Dalit Christians in Orissa during this turmoil. These bonds have so griped, that the Dalit Christians in Orissa are unable to breath the breath of life and are pushed to the edges of death. To be more explicit, the injustice of religious fundamentalism has brewed hatred and anger of the fanatic Hindus towards the Dalit Christians and had to pay the price of their lives. The injustice of violence entangled the Dalit Christians to be attacked, raped, killed, be burnt alive and run for life into forests. The injustice of caste has further pushed into margins the Dalit Christians, and there has been a struggle for them in demanding a Scheduled Tribe Status, for Dalits converted to Christianity has to bear the brunt of injustice from all quarters of the society. The injustice by the unjust governance is exposed in the State governments failure to safeguard the lives of Dalit Christians, though this has been the second of its kind in attacking them. At some places policemen were mere spectators to the violence. When the Constitution of India guarantees all its citizens to exercise faith in any religion, Dalits are denied the right to choose their religion and either termed as ‘converts’, ‘re-converts’ and even sometimes ‘de-converts’.

Therefore the calling to all those fasting for the cause of Orissa is to loose the bonds of these injustices, break the yoke of discrimination and set at liberty all that are oppressed. Fasting does not in any ways mean to loosen the size of the waist clothes by reducing to eat or by not eating, rather to loose the bonds of injustices surrounded and suffocating Dalit Christians in Orissa.

· If fasting means to loose the bonds of injustice, then it means to loose the grips of religious fundamentalism in all religions, including Christianity. We as Christians, who fast should condemn religious fundamentalism in all forms and modes and try to maintain cordial and harmonious relationships with other people of faith in our localities. As we fast, let us give up aggressive and inflammatory talks from our pulpits, criticising the practices and worships of our neighbours. As we fast let us call on the Christian missions to respect the indigenous cultures of the people and not to force the western cultures on them in the name of gospel. As we fast, lets resolve to preach the good news of love that Jesus preached and practised and try to become more like Christ, rather than ‘chruchians’. Let us as Christians initiate inter-faith activities that create peace and harmony in the society we live in. When Christians all across the globe become more spiritual by becoming religion neutral through following the paths and ways of Jesus Christ, religious fundamentalism in addressed, and the bonds of such injustices will loosen both in Orissa and else where, and that’s what it means to fast.
· If fasting means to loose the bonds of injustice, then it means to break the yokes of cruel violence, which has taken the lives of several Dalit Christians. In the context of violence, fasting means to overcome the culture of violence by calling on the State and Central governments to arrest all the perpetrators of violence, who have caused it in the name of religion and all those who have taken law and order into their hands. To fast means to exert pressure on the government to probe into the reality of the killings of the Swamiji and into the killings of the innocent Dalit Christians by the Central Bureau of Investigation along with a probe from the National Human Rights Commission. As we fast, let us resolve to become the ambassadors of just peace in our societies.
· If fasting means to loose the bonds of injustice, then it means to set at liberty from the heinous grips of caste and caste practices, which has further pushed the Dalit Christians to the peripheries of the society. As we fast, let us lobby for the equal rights of the Dalit Christians by exerting pressure on the Central government to give justice to them. As we fast, let us also as Church confess our caste-ridden mindsets and give up caste from our churches. As we fast, let us break the barriers of caste and sub-castes within the Church and live the values of the reign of God. As we fast, let us denounce caste, and affirm Dalit rights as human rights. As we fast, let us demand for a Dalit-Tribal interface, an interface between faith and ideologies and an interface between social movements and the state to address the caste issue in Orissa. As we fast, let us call for a thorough analysis of the caste discrimination done to Dalits in Orissa and call the state and the Church to address it.
· If fasting means to loose the bonds of injustice, then it means to loose the grips of the unjust governance in the state of Orissa. To fast means, to be bold in calling the state government accountable for their failure in safeguarding its people and in maintaining the law and order situation, where violence erupted in the presence of the government policemen. Since the state government has been failing to safeguard the Dalits in Orissa with the consequent attacks one in December and one in August, to fast at a time like this is to come open in writing to the President, the Prime Minister and the Governor of Orissa to impose Article 355 by dissolving the state government and held Presidents rule in the State, for there is no longer a trust in the State machinery. To fast, at a time like this is also call to ask explanation from the ruling Central government, for it has not been able to nail the miscreants and being soft to the fundamentalist groups. As responsible citizens to fast means to pray and vote for a government with secular values.
· If fasting means to loose the bonds of injustice, then it means to loose the grips of the injustice of not to exercise the freedom of religion. To fast at a time like this is to affirm and assert in the constitutional rights of the people to preach, practice and propagate any religion in all freedom. To fast also means to condemn all forcible conversions done with any allurement or inducements in our country by any religion. To fast means, giving up our statistical goals in winning souls or in planting churches rather to get committed to resolve to work towards the quality of life of the people.

Part II
In the context of Khandamal episode of violence, when people are hiding in the forests for life, with out food and shelter, what does it mean to fast?
Fasting means to share our bread with the hungry. Fasting means primarily sharing with the needy. It is not just giving a loaf of bread to the hungry, rather to give up our accumulating attitude and deeds. To fast means, lets give up our greedy attitude, our selfish attitude and our insensitive attitude towards our neighbours. Fasting, therefore means sharing with the needs of our people in Orissa. As we fast, lets collect special offertory as Churches and Christian communities and let us share with the people of Orissa in this time of distress and pain. As we fast, let us collect the relief material and organise it to send to Orissa, for there are people with special needs and their need is to be met urgently and immediately. To fast means, let us as Churches stop accumulating wealth to build huge towers and churches for our own selves, and start sharing with the people in need, our Orissa brothers and sisters now.
Fasting also means to cover the naked. When our people in Orissa are fled with out any thing to wear, the call as we fast is to cover them. To fast means to cover the naked, and also means to uncover the covered, which mean lets, expose our arm-chaired saturated comfort zones in our Churches, for we need to cover the naked in Orissa. To fast means, to be bold in uncovering the covered in order to cover the naked.

Part III
When nearly 40, 000 are hiding in the forests homeless and when nearly 5000 houses are burnt down in Orissa, what does it mean to fast?
Fasting means to bring the homeless poor into our houses. To fast means, to bring those home less Dalit Christians to a roof like ours, which has all the comforts of life. To fast means to re-build their houses just like that of ours and comfort them from their fear, trauma and anxiety, and also to adopt a child who has been orphaned because of this violence and make him/her part of our house. To fast means to open our houses for the homeless, to open up our hearts for those pushed into poverty and margins.

Part IV
When our brothers and sisters in Orissa have become victims of communal violence, what does it mean to fast? Orissa is far off from me, and how does it affect me?
Fasting means to hide not yourself from your own kin, and I believe that people in Orissa are after all our own kith and kin and we at a moment like this, if we hide ourselves from them, it is not fasting. Tomorrow or one day, you may be a victim and there will be none to be with you. Therefore to fast means, to be in solidarity with our people in Orissa, not to hide ourselves from the issue, not to be closed thinking me and my family are fine and am I my brother’s keeper? To fast is to realise that we are our brother’s and sister’s keepers and we need to be with them in this times of trouble and violence.

The Postlude
Let us therefore resolve to fast pro-actively for the cause of Orissa, and express our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Orissa. The promise for all those who fast as said above is “Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly, your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.” Isaiah 58: 8-9.

Rupees Three Hundred Thousand is the Cost of those died in Orissa Communal Violence

Shri. Shivraj Patil, the Home Minister of the Union Government of India, visited the violence erupted Khandamal in Orissa after 11 days of violence and has reviewed the situation over there. After his visit, he has announced a compensation of Rupees three hundred thousand as ex-gratia to each family of those killed in communal violence in Khandamal, Orissa. He also had to say that the present situation in Khandamal is somewhere between ‘normalcy and volatile’.

Thanks to the gesture of the Central Government in announcing an ex-gratia to those families who are in deep distress, sorrow, fear and trauma. But, as this was announced, several questions rippled around my thoughts. Can life be priced in terms of money? Will a price bring back the lost one in the family? If it is all with money, there are no ends to the killings? How easy it is to worth human life in terms of money? To put the debate in perspective the primary question that surrounds and summarises the situation in Orissa at the moment will be, in such a situation of turmoil and fear, what does it mean to achieve justice for the Dalit Christians in Khandamal, Orissa, who have been the worst victims due to the communal violence?

I know, that I am entering into a wider debate, which has several layers of viciousness and which has several ramifications and consequences. However it is worth to attempt to draw the parameters for what does it mean to achieve justice to Dalits Christians in Khandamal? I think, certainly announcing a grant of some rupees may not be the all in all for Dalit Christians at a moment like this. Nor, a mere visit to the streets of Khandamal is the solution at a time like this (like our Home Minister visiting the deserted streets of Khandamal, where people fled to forests to save their lives). Nor deploying some paramilitary forces will be what the victims would require (for the policemen were mere spectators to the violence done to Dalit Christians in Khandamal). Nor a mere Press statement by the government authorities is the response now in this situation (for the Chief Minister of Orissa talks to the Press telling that situation in Khandamal is coming to normalcy, whereas violence has simmered in Jeypore, Koraput areas and reports of fresh violence on Christians come in).

Therefore, in a situation, which is so volatile like this in Orissa, I envision that to achieve justice to Dalit Christians means

· To promote peace and harmony among communities of all religions in Orissa.
· To condemn fundamentalism and fanaticism in every religion, that inflicts violence and inflates the religious sentiments leading to violence.
· To punish the perpetrators of violence under law, who cause it in the name of religion & caste and in specific, in the name of religious ethos.
· To create a space and place for the Dalit Christians to come back home safely and to live in all safety and freedom, by overcoming the fear, trauma and grief.
· To initiate peace committees through inter-faith interventions in all local communities.
· To exert pressure on the state and central governments in ensuring justice through their government machinery, and make the state also accountable for failing to maintain law and order situation in the state.
· To organise a dialogue/interface between the Tribals and Dalits in Khandamal for a peaceful negotiation between the two communities.
· To enjoy the freedom of religion as granted by the Constitution of India, and to exercise faith in all freedom and liberty.
· To affirm in the richness of the people’s cultural identities, with out any dictation from external agencies.
· To assert the human rights of all people, and specifically the rights of Dalits.
· To strive for a community of transformation, a community of friendship, a community of love and a community of peace and justice.

These are just some pointers towards what it means to achieve justice in the context of turmoil in Orissa. Money cannot pay the price, nor cannot equate life, but affirming in the human dignity, human identity and human freedom can lead to he path of justice and tranquillity. Towards that end, may we all strive for and engage in. Jai hind.

A Violent Sight on a 'Silent Night' - A Dalit Carol from Psalm 23

(When Christians were attacked and Churches were burnt during Christmas 2007 in Khandamal, Orissa i was part of the solidarity mission team, which went to witness the attacked sites and to be in solidarity with the Christians who have been attacked. Having witnessed the attacked sites and the victimised people, one is but struck with shock as the attacks on Dalit Christians is so brutal and inhuman. The situation in Khandamal was so grim and disturbing. The Dalit Christians over there witnessed that "their faith in Jesus Christ cannot be shaken with these brutal incidents". It was a real challenging experience for me to be with the people, listening to their stories and their committment for the gospel of Jesus Christ.After witnessing the attacked sites, in my personal meditation, I read Psalm 23, and I had to read it from the perspective of the victims, who are living in fear and trauma. Since it is during the Christmas time, I thought in a context of violence and fear, this is how a carol can be sung in this situation.)

Re-reading of Psalm 23 from a victim’s perspective

Is the Lord is my Shepherd? I shall want you now
You promised me to make me lie down in green pastures; but why these saffron attacks on us,
You promised me to lead me still waters; but why this rain of fire on us,
You promised me to restore my soul; but now we have to run to save our lives and soul
You promised me to lead me in right paths; but why are we pathless hiding in jungles
Lord all this for we bear your name?

We are walking thro’ the darkest valley,
Come now O Lord our Shepherd to rescue us
I fear all evil now with trauma and fear
Come now O Lord our Shepherd to comfort us
Are you with me?

We need your rod to shield us now
And your staff to guide us

Will you prepare a table before us?
Where peace and reconciliation is mediated between us and those attacked us
We are waiting for your anointing of peace
May our cups of agony be replaced with your cups of comfort

You promised that goodness and mercy would follow us
Is it for sure?
If so we need it for all our community for all the days of our lives
Let our burnt houses and churches are re-built, so that we continue to dwell in them

Turmoil in Orissa - A Call for Solidarity

As you are aware about the situation in India right now, the state of Orissa is in utter turmoil, with the tension for the lives of Dalit Christians creeping up, after the brutal killings of nearly 30 people, Christian houses burnt, and ransacking several Christian institutions and Churches by the religious fundamentalist groups. Most Dalit Christians and their families have fled to the jungles and are hiding there in fear and life threatening situations. It has already been four days since the attacks on Christians have started, and the state government has utterly failed in bringing in peace in the state of Orissa.

On the call of the National United Christian Forum, a united plattform of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) Christian schools, colleges and other instituations were closed today, 29th August 2008 all across the nation as a mark of solidarity with the suffereing brothers and sisters in Orissa and as a potest against the communal violence on Christian minorities in Orissa.

Besides this, delegations of Church leadership have met the Prime Minister of India and has sought the quick intervention of the Union government in safeguarding Christians in Orissa and in establishing peace among communities in Orissa. Several Church representatives are sitting at the Orissa Bhavan in New Delhi building pressure on the Orissa government to act judiciously and to bring the law and order situation to control.

It was also decided that on the 7th September 2008, Sunday, the Churches will declare a day of prayer and fasting and will hold prayer services and memorial gatherings, highlighting the need for solidarity with all the victims and pray for peace and harmony among people of all faiths. Therefore i urge you all to join in observing the day of prayer on the 7th, wherever you are and take the lead in your local congregations to do so. At our NCCI secretariat, few prayers and a brief worship order have been prepared and are posted on our NCCI website for you all to make use of those resources for the 7th. As we all know 21st September is celebrated as the International Day of Prayer for Peace, which was initiated by the World Council of Churches, may i also ask you all to take the occasion from the 7th to 21st September, a fortnight, in calling all people of faith for prayer and solidarity for peace and harmony in India.

At a moment like this, we all need to be united in our efforts, and we in NCCI are working hard to get connected with people in Orissa through our regional council, the Utkal Christian Council. An inter-faith peace group is envisaged to be initiated for peace measures in Orissa, and i also request you all to organise inter-faith groups in your localities in sensitizing them in addressing issues on communal violence and for a wider network of solidarity for the Dalit Christians in Orissa.

I shall keep you updated on the situation, but we seek all your earnest prayers and support for the people of Orissa.

Trusting in the hope of Shalom.

Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Turns 166

Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Turns 166
Re-forming the Mission agenda without De-forming the Gospel values


Reminiscing the past
On a day when the whole world is awaiting for Sachin Tendulkar to score 133 runs - perhaps with his 40th Test ton which is already a record in itself -to replace Brian Lara as Test cricket's greatest run-scorer in Galle when India play on Sri Lanka in a Second Test match, the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church (AELC), one of the oldest churches in India and one of the biggest Lutheran Churches in India turns 166 today, the 31st July 2008. This day the birthday of AELC is celebrated all across the churches in AELC as ‘Gospel Day’. It was on this day in 1842, when Fr. Dr. John Christian Fredrick Heyer first landed in Guntur, started a ‘Guntur Mission’ in the state of Andhra Pradesh, which blossomed and bloomed into AELC. Tirelessly and selflessly, Fr. Heyer served and brought in the relevance of the power of Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Telugu people. He established a number of hospitals and a network of schools throughout the Guntur region. The main ingredients in his missological endeavours include mission as evangleism, mission as education and mission as health. Despite several hardships, Fr. Heyer kept his focus and direction on the mission dei, and remained faithful and committed to his calling and to the values of the Gospel.

Revitalising the present
Those initial tiny seeds of faith, which Fr. Heyer has sown then, became a Church with nearly one million people, spreading across six geographical jurisdictions in and around the state of Andhra, with nearly 5000 local congregations served by 650 pastors. Thanks to the great efforts by Fr. Heyer and his mission colleagues, for their vision, passion and contribution to the people of Andhra. On this day the entire Telugu Lutheran world stands up to pay rich tributes to Fr. Heyer for the indelible impact and contributions he has made to the Telugu Dalit Christian community. Just paying tributes may not be a fitting manner to observe Gospel day, but this day also calls for an introspection of our AELC, to be bold in analyzing our Church and to accept our shortcomings in the light of the Gospel, to rededicate our call and commitment as a Church, to rediscover AELC’s mission and witness in the context of newer missional challenges and to strive consistently for justice, equality and liberation of Dalits in making the local congregations of AELC to be the channels of transformation in their local contexts.

With our proud historic and missionary legacy, the AEL Church has to play a prophetic role and should strive towards a just society. It should rise from its slumber and need to address the grave challenges around. The AEL Church should leave all its petty politics aside, and need to revive and reclaim the parameters of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If our Church is not able to be the channel of change, it ceases to be a Church, and all the rituals and activates of the Church will just be materialistic with out any meaning and relevance. In the history of AEL Church, one cannot but remember the brutal killing of our former Bishop/President on this same day in the campus of our AELC office in Guntur, for reasons known and talked aloud.

In the light of present challenges, how can the mission of AELC be reinvigorated and our missionary witness be felt in our localities? How can we become the proud heirs of Fr. Heyer in carrying forward the values of the Reign of God? How can AELC be an agent of transformation in the society? We may not have any readymade, blueprint answers to these pertinent questions, but we as a Church need to wrestle with in order to address these as we discern the signs of our times. Herewith I would like to propose ‘Ephaphta Church’ as a model for AELC to emulate and carry forward the mission of God, and thereby would like to bring out some avenues, where AELC can play its role for an effective witness.

Re-forming as an “Ephaphta community”
In the gospel according to St. Mark 7:31-37, we find Jesus healing a person who is differently- able, suffering from hearing and speaking problems. The interesting part of this healing is the role of a community or a group of people who played a very important part in the healing of this person. If we carefully read through this healing, we see that the healing is takes place in an unknown place (no clear place is mentioned), the healing happens to an unknown person (no name or identity of the person is mentioned), the people who bring the sick person to Jesus was an unknown community (it is only mentioned as ‘they, no other clue of who they are), and Jesus uses an unusual way of healing (taking aside the person to a private place, putting his fingers in his ears, touching his tongue with his saliva, looking up to heaven, sighing and saying ‘Ephphatha’), and transforms the person to a known one as his own one. The emphasis in this episode is the role of the unknown community, which played a vital role in the whole healing process. Here is where I strongly feel the relevance of this community for the AEL Church, as we celebrate the Gospel day. This unknown community, I would like to call them as “Ephaphta Community”, and this community was primarily instrumental in making the unknown place to a known one, for it would remain as a historic place for healing. This community transformed the person, his life and his future. I wonder, whether Jesus would have been marvelled by the faith of this community of people and healed the person. The community’s faith would have been a news headlines in their days, and if the writer of Hebrews would have know about this community, there is no surprise if he/she would have added this community in the heroes and the sheroes of faith mentioned in the 11th Chapter. This community was a group of unsung heros and sheroes, who did not crave for their name of banner, but rather concentrated on their neighbour and his healing. Kudos ‘Ephaphta Community’, you really are an exemplary one for all generations!

Therefore, today I pray AEL Church will be inspired to be like the ‘Ephaphta Community’, concerned deeply for their neighbours and be an exemplary one in its journey of mission and witness. To summarise the characters of the ‘Ephaphta Community’,

· It was an unknown community – for no identity is mentioned.
· It was a voicing community – for it voiced for this voiceless person.
· It was a faith community – but for their faith, the person was healed.
· It was an open community – no barriers for it, even the sick& weak were members
· It was a proclaiming community – zealously proclaimed the healer & the healing
· It was a loving community – its concern for the neighbour

I cannot but find a greater one than this ‘Ephaphta Community’ to be a role model for our AEL Church. Is AEL Church capable of becoming ‘Ephaphta Community’ of our times, addressing the needs of our neighbours? I am sure the faith of our congregations, the life in our congregations is impressive and the potential in our congregations needs to be harnessed and used creatively, missionaly and contextually to make our AEL Church vibrant.

Re-visioning the future
Here I would like to draw the attention to three avenues, where AEL Church can be effective in its witness as it progresses to the future.

· Re-thinking Evangelism: In today’s fast growing revivalism in the churches, healing crusades (the word crusades are used today for revival meetings, really not knowing how violent they were in history), healing revival meetings, prosperity gospel preachers have increased by leaps and bounds. Multitude of our Church crowds attend the healing crusades with a hope that their sickness shall be healed and their health be restored. Several healing stories are aired on the television to catch the attention of people to attend their healing meetings. Some healing evangelists have gone to the extent of commercializing the healing by announcing to attend their crusades, to subscribe to their healing magazines, sending them offerings for special prayers. The faith of the sick people on God has been taken for granted as their vulnerability for the healing evangelists. So AELC as an “Ephaphta Community”, on the contrary should speak, preach and practice justice, equality and dignity to the oppressed people and make people discern and understand to deepen their faith in Christ and not on modern day healers. “Ephaphta Community” are those who do not give false hopes, or speak about healing in the eternal life neglecting the health and happiness, over here in this life. Liberation from oppression and healing from sickness are the two sides of these “Ephaphta Community”. We as AELC need not seek publicity and popularity rather making people to live a life in all its fullness should be our priority.

· Re-imagining Solidarity: Mission today needs to be expressed in solidarity. Specially the case in point is the solidarity and advocacy for ensuring justice to Dalit Christian rights. AEL Church should own the issue of Dalit Christians, for 100 % of its members are Dalits and have been denied the constitutional right. Therefore AEL Church should come to the forefront lobbying for the cause, creating political pressure in the regional localities and be in solidarity with the cause of Dalits per se. The other area where AEL Church can be in solidarity is in addressing the growing corruption in the Church. Several churches are in chaotic situations, with misappropriation of funds or mismanagement of funds. A strong solidarity network within the church needs to emerge to tackle the virus of corruption in the Church. To respond to the call of solidarity is to affirm life and to learn to live in true solidarity. Daisy L. Machado says, “Solidarity allows us to see the imago dei in the faces of those not like us, and it gives us the strength to reach out to those we consider foreign, to “the other”, and to attempt to build community. And it is solidarity that condemns the radical individualism that pervades the lifestyle we find today throughout those nations that enjoy wealth and power, where the value of a person is measured in how much she or he can buy.” Therefore the grace of God calls us to praxis and to be in solidarity with all those striving for liberation and justice. If a transformed world in God’s grace is to be possible, firstly transformation needs to take place within us. If a transformed ME is possible, then a transformed world in God’s grace is possible. If a transformed world is to be possible, a transformed and reformed AEL Church is required.

· Re-mapping the boundaries: The boundaries of AEL Church need to be re-mapped in view of the changing contexts. All appreciations to the ministries of women, youth and relief for their commendable work in AELC. However, the trends have been changing, now every local congregation is confronted with new situations like the farmers suicides, child labour, HIV/AIDS, communication revolutions, ecological crisis, sub-caste divides etc. Therefore our AEL Church’s missological boundaries need to be widened. Plurality of religions, growing fundamentalism, terrorism, naxalism, displacement etc. should be incorporated into our ministerial approaches. One particular area, which is so grim in our Church, is the sub-caste divide. No local congregation in AELC is bold to preach that ‘caste is sin’ nor encourages the inter-caste dialogue and work towards their harmony. Politically both Malas and Madigas have been fighting over their own individual rights, I strongly believe, AELC should initiate a peace process between these communities and set a trend in this direction. When Church takes such a stand, I feel even the political rivalry can be healed and there is a space for a greater impact of it in the society. AEL Church can then be the light of the earth and the salt of the earth.

Re-dedicating our call
The above-mentioned are only some directions, and not an exhaustive road map for the AEL Church to carry forward. With these available avenues, putting aside all individual and selfish motives and agenda, if AEL Church can work in enlarging the tents of the Reign of God, there is a meaning, direction and a goal in our journey of faith. Pray that AEL Church will be transformed as ‘Ephaphta Community’, and inspire the Church and the society with its mission of love and sacrifice. Long live AEL Church, and many happy returns of the day, my dear Church!