Image Courtesy: https://www.indiatimes.com/

Dussehra is celebrated all over India with great enthusiasm. I remember going to the big melas in Punjab where Ravana’s effigy was burned while the crowd cheered- a crowd of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims- united in honouring one of the greatest stories of good vs evil. It was the symbolism of burning away the evil and hate inside ourselves.

Recently, a video was circulated on social media where Punjabi songs had been incorporated into Ram Leela. While it is a light-hearted video, it also warms one’s heart to see two languages and cultures assimilating. Similarly, Urdu versions of Ram Leela had been popular in Lucknow, though it’s not seen commonly now. The earliest Urdu translation of the Ramayana, by Munshi Jagannath Lal Khushtar, was published by the Nawal Kishore Press in 1860. One of the most popular versions of Ram Leela performed in Urdu was written by Brij Narain Chakbast. Many elders can still recite its verses from memory.

Versions of the Ramayana in Urdu — in prose and poetry, and as transliterations, transcreations and translations — have been appearing since Urdu gained popularity several centuries ago. According to a comprehensive study of Ram kathan in Urdu by the late Ali Jawad Zaidi, there were over 300 such versions. Slowly the divisions of languages as Urdu being ‘Muslim’ and Hindi being ‘Hindu’ have crept in and the beautiful literature might soon be lost.

But there are still some people who stand as a united defence against divisive sentiment. A Muslim family from Meerut (UP) has been preparing the effigies of the demon kings to be used on the occasion of Dussehra for the past 35 years. The celebrations in Jammu, the only Hindu dominated region in Kashmir, are incomplete without this Muslim family headed by Mohammad Gayasuddin. He has a team of 40 Muslim artisans and every year, they work hard to make the effigies that are to be burnt. Gayasuddin says, “People know that I am a Muslim and they welcome me with open arms as they love my art. The festival of Dussehra is a symbol of communal harmony and brotherhood in the country”.

Muslim artisans are employed in making the effigies in Almora, Uttarakhand, as well. Here, they are also involved inextricably in the Ram Leela. Muslim artists play the Tabla and Harmonium and are involved in the Ram Leela tableaux as make-up artists and stage managers. The Muslim community also participates enthusiastically in all the effigy committees, making Almora’s Dussehra one of the most special and famous celebrations in India.

In Jaipur this year, a 120feet high Ravana effigy has been constructed by a Muslim man, Chand Babu and his family. His family has been making Ravana effigies for 5 generations. The stories are numerous. In Mathura, Jafar Ali’s family has been making effigies for 3 generations. Aamir,an artisanwho works with Jafar Ali says he findsno distinction between Hindus and Muslims,”This work is our religion. My father also used to make Ravana effigy. For the past 40 years, I have been doing this work. Political leaders divide people in the name of religion. For us, Hindus and Muslims are same”.
 
In Cuttack, Odisha, it is common to see Muslim citizens like Faisal Muhammad elected as the vice-president of Mohammadia Bazar Puja Committee in 1978. Since then, Muhammad has been shouldering the responsibility of a smooth Dussehra. Apart from that, members of the Muslim community are helping the office-bearers of Alisha Bazar, Chandni Chowk and Mangalabag puja committees of Cuttack in the organisation of Dussehra festival.

The Kullu Dussehra of Himachal Pradesh is arguably the most famous one in India. There is no burning of effigies in Kullu’s Dussehra, the main event is the journey of Lord Raghunath’s chariot. My cousin would tell me stories of the huge crowd that would gather to pull the chariot in the rath maidan while drums were played with full fervour. Since 2016, Muslims have officially joined their Hindu counterparts in the pulling of the chariot. For people who come from all over the world to witness Kullu’s Dussehra celebration, this sends a strong message of communal harmony.

This Dussehra, whether you choose to stay at home, or visit the effigy burning ceremonies, or choose to have a Green Dussehra, what is important, is to celebrate the spirit of triumph of good, of friendship, of brotherhood. The ‘Ravana’ facing us today is the divisiveness pervasive in society, be it on the basis of religion, caste, gender, sexuality, beliefs, even the food we eat. It is up to us to find inspiration from the positive stories of harmony and keep a little more room in our hearts for people we feel are different than us, and maybe eventually we realize, we are all the same human race after all.
 
Related articles:

1. Goddess Durga unifies people beyond religion
2. “Go beyond caste and religion when you’re thinking of getting married”: Cultural Activist Ganesh Devy
3. After restrictions on malls and garba, now Muslims told not to ride autos, Gujarat

The post This Dussehra, will Harmony triumph over Hate ? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Deluge at Midnight
When water receded from the flood hit Kochi suburbs in Kerala someone clicked that image from the sky. Through the thick foliage around the house and dense water on the ground those six big white letters stood out on the terrace of a house. THANKS . Flood hit Keralites are expressing their gratitude to all the heroes who rescued their life from the unimaginably horrendous and devastating deluge.
The word of thanks on terrace was a seeming tribute to all rescue members especially the Pilot Commander Vijay Varma who had saved two women from the top of that house on August 17. One of the women, Mrs. Sajida was pregnant when she was airlifted from the roof top. A few hours later she gave birth to a baby boy in the naval hospital.

Whole of Kerala was soaked by the heavily pouring torrential rains and the gushing water released from its 80 dams spread in 44 rivers. The catastrophe was unfolding overnight when hundreds of landslides occurred washing out lives, livestock, houses and agricultural fields. Thousands of people were trapped in flooded houses without being able to be approached, not to think of being rescued!

Power of Solidarity and Fraternity
What kept the hopes alive in the sinking State was the flood of solidarity and support. Water was rising beyond the expectations of the residents and all escape routes were slowly being inundated. But the neighbouring communities immediately rushed to the flooded areas to save their fellow people from drowning.

People less affected by the waters started preparing food for neighbours and strangers. Evacuation of the trapped people was the first priority. People whose houses were on higher levels harboured their affected neighbours. But the rivers were flowing furiously expanding to many kilometres on either side of its usual banks.

Then, churches, schools, temples and mosques were opened for victims. Flow of ready-to-eat food, clothes and other basic materials surprised everyone. Hindus, Muslims and Christians in the relief camps ate together, prayed together and slept under one roof! People of various political affinities shared same building forgetting their ideologies. Neither floods nor fear could submerge them anyway.

History will never forget the fishermen of Kerala who rushed to the sunken lands carrying their 30 feet long fishing boats on trucks. They minimised the toll significantly. Army and navy with their technology and expertise saved thousands of people from the trapped houses. IAS officers did not hesitate to wade through the water carrying bags of rice and clothes as much as they were making quick decisions with utmost efficiency. Police Force and Fire Force of Kerala did a praiseworthy service.

In Idukki, a pet dog woke up the family just before a huge landslide eroded their house and property. What an amazing connection! Hundreds of dogs and animals were saved by the animal rescue force. In Alappuzha, where water is on high levels even now, many people hesitated to evacuate just because they did not want to abandon their beloved livestock.

A family had helplessly decided to leave their goats behind before they evacuated themselves from Kuttanad. Mr. Saji, his poor neighbour, gave 500 rupees to the family and took the goat to his flock. Rain was pouring and water was rising incessantly that night. He could no more stay back. He transferred all six goats to his hired canoe and escaped to the land.

Various States of India including Delhi immediately responded to the crisis situation of Kerala. From Punjab to Karnataka, many states generously supported with materials and manpower. In Delhi, Justice Kurian Joseph of the Supreme Court personally visited the material collection centre at late night and spent a few hours with volunteers sorting and despatching supplies to Kerala.

Harmony Reduced the Havoc
A Christian shrine in Neelimangalam near Kottayam was drowning in water. Most people had vacated the place. Mr. Sanal Kumar, a Hindu neighbour of the shrine, noticed the water touching the icon of St Mary. He took the holy picture safely and placed it in his puja room along with his other Hindu gods and goddesses. Later Christian priests visited Sanal Kumar to thank him for the great gesture of reverence.

In Parapukara near Iringalakkuda, and Chithirapuram near Thodupuzha Christian cemeteries became final resting places for a Hindu women and man respectively who died during the floods. In northern Malappuram a mosque became shelter to 17 displaced Hindu families, including women, children and the elderly. Temple hall in Eravathur near Mala was opened for Muslims to conduct Eid prayers on Wednesday. Hundreds of churches, temples and mosques are harbouring many thousands of desolate people from various religious affinities and denominations. Now similar inspiring stories of social harmony and support from camps as well as well-wishers inundate the gloomy atmosphere of Kerala.

If You Have Two, Give One Away
No sooner had the Camillian Task Force (CTF) heard about the havoc in Wayanad, the hilly district disconnected by several landslides, its members rushed to the flood hit areas. CTF is a body of the Catholic  Order of the Ministers of the Sick, which helps the victims of natural or man-made disasters, providing competent humanitarian, spiritual and pastoral help. The team consisted of 14 priests, 4 doctors, 18 nuns and other volunteers. Some of these priests and nuns are doctors or nurses who have expertise in relief work. Striding through the hazards and heavy rains they acted quickly to reduce the ruin.

The tremendous work of Capuchins in Idukki district had been instrumental to keep the people stay calm amidst the disastrous erosion of land in many places of the district. Roads are thoroughly damaged preventing to access the neighbouring towns even though people wanted to reach out. Fr Jijo Kurian was networking with other leaders and officials for logistics of relief materials for the totally isolated district. The Capuchins have opened the doors of all their houses and their kitchens are preparing thousands of food packets ever since the waters hit Kerala.

In the evening of August 16 Fr Justin Jude, the parish priest of Sindhu Yathra Matha parish, got a call from the Police department in Vizhinjam requesting for 10 fishing boats to be sent to the flooded areas for rescue. The police was confident about the efficiency of the priest who had done an amazing work during the Okhi disaster that ravaged the Kerala coast. Father immediately sent the message to the fishermen parishioners through their parish social media. When he reached the harbour in 20 minutes he was surprised to see almost 50 boats and hundreds of fishermen getting ready to go for rescue work.

Not everyone in Kerala is in a mood to celebrate its annual harvest festival Onam falling on 25th of this month. Yet, people might celebrate it lightly which would boost economy but reduce the collective trauma. Many Muslims are still in relief camps on this Eid without being able to celebrate it. Catholic nuns who have opened their convent to be a relief camp in Kodungallur, joined other Muslim women in the camp who drew floral patterns with Mailanchi on nun’s hands. This was a spectacular gesture of inclusion and welcome at the time of disasters.

Keralites bow their heads with gratitude as the whole world extends their generous support to overcome the damages. The generous support of United Arab Emirates (Rs. 700 cr.) and other countries and organisations are graciously remembered. Someone wrote on his Facebook wall in Arabic: Sukran Habibi, meaning “Thanks Oh Loved Ones.”

This article was first published on indiancurrents.org.

The post Thanks From The Depths Of Waters appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Karnataka for Harmony
“Karnataka for Harmony” was formed after several seminars, protests meetings and cultural jathas. Its founding convention was held at Bangalore which was inaugurated by CPI (M) General Sceretary Com. Sitaram Yechury. Com. Sudhakar Reddy from CPI apart from several other left parties and eminent personalities were present on September 5, 2017 for the occasion. Karnataka for Harmony gave a call for State-wide human chain on January 30.
 
Killing of Gauri Lankesh
Unfortunately, Gauri Lankesh was killed on the same day. This led to the eruption of people’s anger and galvanized the movement even further. Since then conventions, jathas, preparatory meetings, mass campaigns were held at all (more than 160) locations where Human Chain were held.  A vigorous campaign in the social media with many posters videos depicting – tradition of communal harmony in Karnataka, quotes depicting harmony from writers poets thousand years ago to present, quotes from prominent personalities supporting the Chain – were widely circulated. Many participants in the Human Chain also carried prints of these posters and banners.  
 
Why was the Campaign urgent?
What added an urgency to the campaign was the intense communal polarization and “Dead body politics” practiced by BJP-Sangh Parivar which has ensured the continued violence in the state. Hence the platform emerged as a united platform for all anti-communal and progressive forces.
 
The Human Chain
Many prominent personalities were seen supporting the cause of communal harmony and peace on this day. Some of them included writer Devanoor Mahadeva and renowned actor Prakash Rai at Mysore; Dinesh Aminmattu, media advisor to CM at Mangalore; veteran Gandhian H S Doreswamy at Tumkur; writer Prof Chandrashekar Patil, former Supreme Court Judge Gopal Gowda, Kuvempu Bhasha Bharathi, President Dr. K Marulasiddappa, Sahitya Academy President Aravinda Malagatti, former High Court Judge Nagamohan Das, Writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa, Actor Chethan  at Bangalore; Prof. Rajendra Chenni at Shimoga; and Ramanath Rai, a Karnataka State Minister and Congress MLAs  Abhayachandra Jain & Vasantha Bangera  at Dakshina Kannada.  CPI(M) State Leaders participated in various human chains across the State – Com. G V Shriramareddy at Chikkaballapura; Com. VJK Nair, Com G N Nagaraj at Bangalore, Com K R Sriyan at Mangalore.  

 
The event of formation of the Human chains concluded with well attended meetings and cultural performances. Oaths were taken at all of these places administered by prominent personalities. Nidumamidi Swamiji led the oath at Bangalore. Participants vowed to defend centuries’ old tradition of communal harmony, pluralism in Karnataka from threats of communal and fascist forces. They also vowed to defend the Constitution representing people’s aspirations for Democracy, Secularism, Equality, and Social Justice.

The post Two Lakh people form Human Chain to defend “Karnataka for Harmony” appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It was only the day before yesterday, that a local, Rajasthan court gave a clean chit to 6 people named by Pehlu Khan on his deathbed as his killers, in his dying declaration. Pehlu was lynched by a self styled cow vigillante group on in April this year. The incident took place in Alwar, Rajasthan.
 
Captured live on a mobile camera, the identity of Pehlu’s assailants was evident…yet the Rajasthan court’s verdict effectively meant “No one has killed Pehlu Khan.”
 
The verdict has generated widespread outrage; justice has clearly been poorly served…
 
Today, activist Harsh Mander’s ‘Karwan-e-Mohabbat’, a Peace Yatra against hate, reached Behror, Rajasthan. Mander wanted to visit Pehlu Khan’s family. Hindutva activists stopped Mander’s bus and physically prevented him from paying respects to Pehlu’s family.
 
Mander sat on a Dharna…the Police remained mute spectators.It was Mander’s force of will that finally forced the Police to allow him a visit to Pehlu’s home. In a blatant show of anti-national cowardice, Hindutva groups kept screaming ”Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, as if this kind of sloganeering was in any way relevant.
 
It is a simple case of cold-blooded murder of an Indian citizen by a lumpen, communal mob. That enjoys the patronage of the powerful in Rajasthan and in Delhi.

Related Articles:

1. The Karavan-e-Mohabbat Begins  

The post When Mob Rule was Beaten Back by Harsh Mander’s Dharna: Pehlu Khan Lynching appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Saluts.

Two things will be remembered about the dark Tuesday, July 11 that saw countrywide outrage at Monday night's cowardly attack on a bus (bearing the registration number of Gujarat) full of Amarnath yatris, was on its way from Baltal to Jammu when the militants opened fire and seven unfortunately even lost their lives. One is the exemplary courage shown by Salim Mirza Shaikh, the driver of the bus, who drove the yatris, and the bus to safety even as terrorists in uniform showered bullets in the dark, dark night. It could have been the scene of a ghastly action movie, the dangerous mountainous roads, the bus riding past in the night (as pilgrim buses are normally prohibited from doing) and then, the dastardly attack clearly meant to fuel the communal poison and polarisation that has overtaken us all. But no, egged on by his colleagues who also took bullets, Salim drove for nearly two kilometres on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway before he reached an army camp. “It was about 8 pm when the bus was surrounded by terrorists. They first fired from the front with the intention to eliminate the driver. I ducked sideways to escape the bullets and drove ahead. I do not know how I got the strength to go on at that time. Maybe Allah helped me and gave me strength,” Salim told The Indian Express as he stepped out of an IAF plane that brought the deceased as well as those injured in the attack to Surat, Gujarat, Tuesday afternoon.

Salim, who also belongs to Gujarat, said he escaped unharmed in the incident while another passenger seated beside him was injured. As a result 50 others who potentially could have lost lives remained unharmed. The families of those lost to us will forever mourn the day but the rest, will remember with horror for what might have been, and then, gratitude the role that Salim played. There are indeed sometimes silver linings when dark clouds threaten us, on our horizons. By early afternoon Tuesday, Salim was our hero and the social media had, for once done an exemplary job, silencing bitterness and hatred expressed through paid trolls.The victims came under the attack late Monday after they were travelling in a Gujarat vehicle, bearing the registration number GJ09Z 9976, on National Highway 1A, the only route connecting the valley to rest of the country, to Jammu after completing Amarnath Yatra.

According to Jammu and Kashmir police, the attack was aimed at the police post. The police said the terrorists had initially attacked a police Bullet Proof bunker near Botengoo locality in the area. “The fire was retaliated and there was no report of injuries,” a police official said. The official added thereafter the terrorists fired on a police post near Khanabal locality in District Anantnag. “The fire was retaliated and a tourist bus was hit by bullets,” he said.
 
 As the day wore on and condemnations on the attack poured in, the high office of India's home minister, Rajnath Singh provided another such dignified silver lining. ‘All Kashmiris are not terrorists’ Rajnath Singh tweeted shutting down one such troll. Singh saluted the people of Jammu and Kashmir who had condemned the attack on Amarnath pilgrims and kept the spirit of Kashmiriyat alive.Describing the terror attack on that killed seven pilgrims returning from Amarnath as a “cowardly act of terror”, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Tuesday that all sections in Kashmir had condemned the attack, which “shows the spirit of Kashmiriyat is also very much alive”.

The Home Minister then took to Twitter to react strongly to a tweet from @shuchikalra, who responded to his remark on Kashmiriyat by posting: “Who gives a f*** about the spirit of Kashmiriyat at this moment? It is not your job to placate. Just drag those cowards out and cull them.”

Singh, whose official handle was tagged in that tweet, posted: “Ms Kalra I certainly do. It is absolutely my job to ensure peace and tranquility in all parts of the country. All Kashmiris are not terrorists.” Following this, the Twitter account, listed under the name Shuchi Singh Kalra, was found deleted.

After a very very long time, the office of the Home Minister of India was restored to the dignity of its office.

The J&K Government has announced an award of Rs 3 lakhs to Salim for his exemplary bravery and chief minister, Gujarat, Vikay Rupani even said that he would recommend Salim Shaik's name for a special award for bravery.

Bomb terror has the ugly potential of polarising neighbourhoods and evoking stark reactions from persons affected by grief. When this fuelled by a cynical politics, that thrives –bread and butter–on hatred and communal polarisation, India, through Salim and Rajnath Singh rose above this. Hopefully and decisively.The #Not in My Name Protests organised in Delhi at India Gate last night, the Mumbai protests at Mira Road –another protest by Muslim and other civil rights organisations has been organised at 4 p.m. at Azad Maidan today, Wednesday July 12, again united Indians in their grief and outrage. This time against bomb terror. 

Condemnations poured in from all quarters against the deadly terror attack in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district in which seven persons died and nineteen others were injured. The J & K government had to, unfortunately resort to shutting down the internet services in the state to avoid any flaring up of the communal situation; traders are now observing a protest shut down in Jammu, the state's winter capital, against the attack on Yatris in the Valley. The authorities also closed all educational institution in Jammu region as a precautionary measure.

Mainstream and separatist politicians have condemned the militant attack on Yatris calling and expressed sorrow over the killings. Expressing deep shock over the killings, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said, “Yatris were esteemed guests of Kashmir and perpetrators of this crime have done a death blow to the ethos and culture of the state.”

The Communist Party of India Marxist issued a press statement condemning the attack. “The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) denounces the dastardly attack on Amarnath pilgrims in Anantnag district in Jammu & Kashmir. 7 people, mostly women, were killed and 19 injured in a terrorist attack while returning from the pilgrimage,” the statement read. The general secretary of the party, Sitaram Yechury had earlier in the day, tweeted a query, "How come the last time that the Amarnath yatris were attacked it was during the BJP-led NDA rule in 2000?'

The terror attack was equally strongly condemned by others as well including former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah of National Conference and Ghulam Nabi Azad of the INC. Prominent citizens and bureaucrats also issued a statement strongly condemning the killing.

The only discordant notes, predictably came from one the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) –Pravin Togadia called for a boycott of Kashmiri products and Muslims –including 'urging the Indian government not to give 'them' jobs in the Army and security forces and Shiv Sena chief in Mumbai asked 'for gau rakshaks' (cow vigilantes) to be sent to fight terrroists. But then, that is probablt to be expected, given that their political 'USP' or 'currency' is a barter of division and hatred.
 
There are some other interesting details to the entire story, including why an Amarnath Yatra, ill advised due to the severe situation in the Valley was allowed at the last minute and the fact, also that, as reported by The Hindustan Times, the Jammu and Kashmir police on Monday had arrested an Uttar Pradesh man who allegedly helped Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) attack army convoys, snatch weapons and loot lakhs of rupees. The man named Sandeep Kumar Sharma moved to Kashmir in 2012 for work and would travel to Punjab during the winter for alternative employment.
 
But, for now, before we ask the usual questions and return to cynical mode, let is savour the day and the victory of the sheer power of decency–displayed in the actions of Salim Mirza and India's Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Screengrab of Kalra’s tweet which has now been deleted. 
The controversial tweet deleted after the Home Minister's response is reproduced here for the benefit of our readers

The post When Salim Saved the Day and HM Rajnath Singh the Dignity of the Indian Home Minister’s Office appeared first on SabrangIndia.

#NotInMyName

Sarkar Sudipta:
"Name of the boy who shared the pic was Shoubhik.
Name of the local old man who safeguarded Soubhik's family was Amirul.
The local young man who called fire brigade was Maqsood.
The person who took Soubhik's family to shelter is Rafiqul.
Digest it, you hate mongering morons.

Bashirat, Bengal, Eating Together

From Deepa Khadar
It was Souvik's uncle's Muslim friends who saved him from the mob and made sure he is not lynched.
And Check this pic, you communal hatred spreaders. Checked? Now, check again!
This picture is from Basirhat where the communal tension erupted a few days ago. Seeing those unrest, you gleefully chuckled.
This picture is of the shelter where people from both the communities are living together.
Yes, together, unlike your Gujarat model where your fascist hero created ghettos.
Here, Hindu Muslims are cooking together for themselves. You wanted to divide them, they came together to resist.
Now go to your IT cell and start hatching the next plan!
Via – Abhijit Majumder from Sarkar Sudipta

The post Digest This, You Hate Mongers: Words of Harmony from Bengal appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This is a story to prove, if such proof is necessary, that our gallant men in uniform facing untold hardships in J&K against a faceless, professional, armed and highly motivated foe have a very human side as well. It happened in Mumbai recently, was generally ignored by our media and so passed unnoticed.

The battalion concerned, now serving in the Uri sector, belongs to the Maratha Light Infantry, one of the oldest regiments of the Indian Army, raised in Bombay Fort in 1768. Its jawans were/are drawn from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency and now from the state of Maharashtra. By a quirk of fate there have always been two battalions of this regiment located in this extremely sensitive sector of the Valley. This writer had the experience of serving in this very sector in 1948 with the then J&K militia (95 per cent Kashmiri Muslims), and again in 1969–72 (he was the commanding general in the Valley during the 1971 War). Post retirement, he has visited the area on four occasions. As a result, most of the villages in and around Uri are etched firmly in his mind.

Understandably, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that a group of 30 Kashmiri Muslim children from Uri, boys and girls, between the ages of 6 and 16, were visiting Mumbai and would this old Kashmir hand make it convenient to meet with them? The visit was being sponsored by the battalion of his very own regiment located in the Uri sector duly supported by the formation he once commanded, the ‘Dagger’ Division.

Arrangements had been made for the group to visit Delhi, the Taj at Agra, Mumbai and Pune. The group was to be accompanied by Mohd Hussain, an elderly teacher from the area and Asai Begum, a very youthful and attractive young lady teacher from Lagamma village en route to Uri, major R Chowdhury whose wife joined him en route, a subedar and three jawans from the sponsoring battalion. Each child was provided with a very attractive tracksuit sporting the unit’s crest of the hunting horn, and baseball caps with the divisional sign of the Dagger.

The regimental network worked throughout providing transport, accommodation, and food. In Mumbai, for instance, there is no unit from the regiment located here, but Lt Col Balwan Singh who belongs to the same battalion happens to be posted in the local HQ in Mumbai. And it was through his initiative that the very excellent arrangements were made for the Mumbai and Pune legs of the10-day tour, exclusive of travel time.

While in Mumbai, the group was able to tour South Mumbai, see a ‘real’ submarine, visit the aircraft carrier INS Viraat, spend a delightful afternoon at Essel World and, the high point of the Mumbai visit, to meet and interact with our Bollywood film star, Hrithik Roshan. For the Pune leg, the group, inter alia, visited the National Defence Academy, the Bombay Engineering Group at Khadki and the Snake Park.

I met the group at the small office of the Leslie Sawhney Programme in Army and Navy Building. In they trooped, looking very smart in their tracksuits. They were all beaming as they gathered in the tightly packed office. They were introduced to Ms Sheila Masani who, fortunately was present in the office, Mr SV Raju of Freedom First and Mr Arvind Deshpande of the programme. The staff of the office and curious onlookers were thrilled to meet this group.

After welcoming them, ‘Chacha General’ recalled his days in Uri and rattled off names of some of the villages that he still remembered — like Lagamma, Chandanwari, Mandir Buniyar, Silicot, Chamkot, Kamalkot among others — much to the joy of these young people who were happy to know that their villages were remembered by this Old General, in downtown Mumbai.

Mohd Hussain, the venerable teacher, recalled that he too knew Rajah Muzaffar, the MLA from Chandanwari. Asai Begum was asked whether ‘akroot giri’ (walnut kernels) were still sold in the small Lagamma wayside bazaar. Yes, was her response. Had the Bailey Bridge launched not too long ago across the Jhelum by our engineers made a difference to their lives? Certainly, they responded, as it cut short a 10–mile walk along the north bank from their villages across the Jhelum to Uri and Baramulla.

Even their produce of the succulent ‘bagooghoshas’ (Bartlett pears) and walnut kernels could now get to Baramulla and beyond in a better condition. And what about the Markhor (Ovis Ammon) and Baloo (Himalayan Brown Bear)? Were they still found on the Chotta Kazinag Range? Yes, was the response.

And how did they like Mumbai? Many of them had never seen the sea before; in fact very few of them had even been beyond Baramulla. They expressed their joy at being able to see a ‘live’ submarine and visit the aircraft carrier INS Viraat. And what about Essel World? Oh, they had such fun there, never having experienced anything like it in the Valley.

And what was their most memorable experience of Mumbai? They were struck at its size, the thousands of people going about their business without a care in the world, the friendly smiles that they received, and the total absence of any tension. They enjoyed their visit to Haji Ali and realised how secular India is. But the high point was their interaction with their favourite actor Hrithik Roshan, as never ever did they think that they would meet India’s heart–throb in person.

I asked some of the older boys whether they would like to join the armed forces of India and the response was a loud affirmative. I advised them to have a careful look when they visited the NDA in Pune.

And would they like to ask me any questions? The spokesperson was a lively young girl, very confident, who said yes she did. "Uncle, why don’t you come and live in Kashmir?" asked this vivacious girl. This is perhaps the most effective rebuttal of the allegations of the armed forces being human rights violators.

I mentioned this incident to Dr Farooq Abdullah during his recent visit to Mumbai and he was immensely pleased to hear about it. There were repeated requests for a group photograph to be taken in which the staff of the office insisted that it be included.

While bidding farewell to Mrs Masani, they expressed a desire to see the famous Hindi movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham. Unfortunately, there was not enough time in Mumbai to do so. But this did not deter Mrs Masani from calling up a contact in Pune and arranging complimentary passes for the whole party. She insisted that though they had left the building, a message was sent across to Pune that the mission had been accomplished and please would they collect the tickets from the designated individual.

Later reports confirmed that they were able to see the film, a fitting finale to this memorable tour. The feedback from Uri is that they are now looking forward to the promised visit of Chacha General to his old haunts in the Valley. Hopefully, this promise will be executed when the weather improves.

To conclude this tale two points need to be stressed. The first is, would the parents of these 30 children, especially their daughters, have permitted them to undertake such a yatra all the way to Pune and back under the arrangements of this "hated" Indian Army?

And with war clouds looming dark in the Kashmir skies, of parting with their children? Most unlikely.

The local impression that this visit made can best be judged from a telephone call received from a simple peon of the Leslie Sawhney Programme who enquired when could he expect to receive a copy of the group photograph taken with the children. Need more be said?

The moral of this tale is clear. Whereas there is bound to be the odd rotten banana in a bunch, jawans of our armed forces have a very human side to their character. Full marks to those units and formations of our armed forces in J&K for sponsoring such visits of impressionable minds without gaining any brownie points for doing so. May this good work continue.

The commonly held view for which our ‘security forces’ are constantly sniped at is that they are violators of human rights in J&K. It is unfortunate that this generic term willy- nilly includes the regular army deployed in that state since October 1947. These sanctimonious ‘snipers’ seem to forget the frustrations our troops are subjected to in the thankless and frustrating task of dealing with terrorists. In the bargain, many innocent Muslim, Hindu and Sikh lives are lost for which, invariably, the security forces are blamed.

Archived from Communalism Combat, July 2002 Year 8  No. 79, Breaking Barriers

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Our group was set up five years ago, when BN Netanyahu was Prime Minister. The whole issue of the Israelis demolishing Palestinian homes was what speared us into existence. Since 1967, in the Occupied Territories — that is Arab Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank — seven thousand homes have been demolished. 

After 1993, when the Oslo accord was signed and the peace process began the number of demolitions started going down. However, since 1996, when Netanyahu was PM and under him the hard-liners against democracy got more concrete presence in the government and administration, the demolitions were begun again.

For the Israeli State the key issue that symbolised the rejection of peace at the time was the resumption of home demolitions. That is how house demolitions became a focal and symbolic point of the peace process. 

We are representatives of 15 different Israeli peace and human rights groups. All of us felt five years ago when we set ourselves up that we had not been active enough. What was needed was not a new organisation but a Direct Action Coalition that worked on the ground to actively resist the occupation of these territories by Israel. 

We started with the resistance to house demolitions. We have been arrested many times. Being arrested is nothing for an Israeli. You are privileged to be arrested if you are part of the Israeli few who ever do that. An Israeli who gets arrested is privileged. As an Israeli, I do not pay any price for it; I can do what a Palestinian will be shot for doing. 

If I sit in protest, in front of a bulldozer, if I am seen as a protestor, I will be perceived as a mad old guy. The security forces will simply drag me away. I am not a challenge to the system. The consistent acts of joint Israeli and Palestinian resistance, for example, to the bulldozers that mow down people’s homes is a direct challenge to Israeli authority. 

From the Israeli government’s point of view, Palestinian protestors and resistance to the Israeli occupation simply get eliminated. Palestinians protesting simply get shot. It is not funny or strange, it is serious. We felt we had to break this and introduce a whole new and different dynamic at the ground in the Occupied Territories. We felt we had to use our privilege as Israeli Jews — the fact that we, being Israeli and Jews, will simply not get shot — to do acts of resistance that Palestinians cannot do. 

However, in all our actions we have been together with Palestinian organisations, especially the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights the Environment and Law. This is because we feel that what Israel and Israelis claim as our territory, is the same land the Palestinians call theirs. We must respect them, we are guests here, we must work through them. We need to work as partners in the resistance; Israelis have to be the junior partners. This is important; we are serious about changing the power equations. 

I say this because this realisation has not yet seeped in to the attitudes of the Israeli Left. They still behave like conquerors. We need to teach ourselves how not to behave like occupiers. For example, lets take the house demolitions and the peace movement. Without active Palestinian participation in the resistance to demolish homes, we are replicating the occupation even if we are the good guys. What we need to do is to work with Palestinians because that is what gives our work depth, understanding and, finally, credibility.

Working on a single point, a politically powerful symbol like home demolitions gives our movement greater responsibility because we are compelled to move beyond the discourse of mere protest and concretely offer something. Typically, within the peace movements, protest remains a protest, it does not proceed to become anything beyond that. 

On the question of home demolitions when we resist, there are real expectations. Many questions arise. Where has my home gone? Are we going to resist the unjust demolition? How will we get the building permit? How will we rebuild? Who will pay for the lawyer? Will we succeed in making it an international issue? 

So, put simply, we, together with the Palestinians, chose such an issue, an issue that compels us to be more effective. And that is how we became a force that resists a forum that resists actual acts of terror carried out by the Israeli authorities. 

In the five years of our existence, we have succeeded in making home demolitions an international issue. These demolitions have been going on for 30 years without being challenged. But after our resistance at the ground level and our working closely with foreign missions and international journalists, today Israel cannot demolish a house on the West Banks or in Gaza without paying a political price for it. There is always a world outcry.

Two things happened because of the approach we followed. One, we got to know the Palestinians deeply, more than any Israeli peace groups ever before. Two, we were compelled to learn the lay of the land. Most Israeli peace groups and Israelis in general have no conception of the Occupied Territories. 
There is a rather sad joke in Israel that explains what I mean: “The West Bank and Gaza are father away then even Thailand”. The West Bank and Gaza for all Israelis and many Jews are just blank spaces in the mind. Where the West Bank and Gaza are located is not exactly known, the places exist as some sort of abstractions.

The news that five people are shot by the Israeli army in Romala is the same for Israelis as hearing that five people died in a flood in Bihar! The West Bank and Gaza are just not real places with real people living there for Israel. 

Now, when we go to Gaza or West Bank to resist home demolitions, what is it we are doing? The resistance to the demolitions is asking serious questions. Why are we demolishing the homes in the first place? What is the logic of the Israeli government policy that persists in destroying homes in this fashion?  What are the political goals behind systematically pursuing this policy? Finally, what does occupation mean?

Our real aim is to get the reality of the occupation out to the wider public. You know, in the same area hundreds and thousands of acres of land are earmarked by the Israeli government for highways; only recently a three billion dollars project was announced. At the same time this is going on, the ‘closure’ of workshops and industries in the West Bank and Gaza has rendered thousands of workers jobless. The government has no problem giving viability settlements to the workers who loose jobs there. But the mental and physical barriers erected against Palestinians, by the government, by the army, visible in the barricades and check posts in the Occupied Territories symbolise a callous duplicity. 

In these circumstances, the issue of resistance to the Israeli bulldozers becomes a real one. The rebuilding of a home is an actual act of resistance. When Jeff with his photographs and slide show and Salim, whose home has been destroyed three times — the last time on April 4, 2001— travel all over the USA, Canada, and Europe, speaking about the occupation, the attitudes that deny the awful reality of home demolitions and our resistance, changes and a whole campaign develops around it.
When we work with the Palestinians Land Defence Committee, when we rebuild homes involving hundreds of Israelis in the task — who have entered the West Bank for the first time in their lives — we are seriously impacting attitudes and causing deep shifts to occur. These people (Israelis) have never come here before. They will be seen for the first time what life for the Palestinians in Occupied Territories is like. 

Do you know it is illegal to rebuild homes that have been demolished on all days of the week? We are allowed only Fridays and Saturdays, a two-day window because of Sabbath. We work only on these two days. We have to come back again next week for two more days to carry on the work.
We feel by engaging in this kind of resistance we are intervening in a concrete human way. But when the demolitions happen, as they are happening again and again – with a renewed viciousness — you feel apart of you is being torn out all over again.

There are three levels at which our committee works. The first is resistance and solidarity with the Palestinians on the ground. Second, we work with the participating Palestinian families on other aspects and issues raised by the occupation. 

The third level, which is very critical, is at the level of international lobbying. We do not believe peace is going to happen from inside Israel. The Israeli public doesn’t care, it is very defiant, it blames the Palestinians unthinkingly. Therefore our international work is very important.

Though our actual committee has eight core group members, we are actively backed by over one thousand Israelis. Besides, we are passively supported by more than half of the Israeli population; not because they believe in peace but because they would simply like to rid themselves of the headache and get back to living ‘normally’.

At the moment we have a terrible government in which the Left and the Right govern together. 
The story of the Israeli occupation is a sorry lesson for all humanity. You asked a question about Israel’s behaviour despite the persecution suffered by it’s own people. Despite the persecution suffered by the Jews, look at what they are capable of dishing out? 

When one people gets power over another, power corrupts. Power makes you lose your humanity; you can now do whatever you want to do. Any ethnic group of people who are not in power have to be sensitive to power dynamics. You are compelled to read the map, to survive you have to be sensitive. Once you are in power there are no compulsions.

When you get into power like the Jews did — for the first time in hundreds of years — they acted just like any other set of people who get power. 

“Jews are like anybody else, only more so,” said Mark Twain.  Jews are one of the epitomes of a great race, a persecuted race. Once they got into power they conformed to the existing norms of power dynamics. It’s less to do with Jews, its about how all people tend to behave when they acquire power. The question we should be asking is not, “What’s wrong with the Jews, or whoever else”, but, “how can we create conditions of existence, where one set of people are not in power — or do not hold the reigns of control — over any other”. It is like caste oppression in your country!

Coming to the issue of raising of the issue at the WCAR, there is a tension here. On the one hand, we would have liked the conference and the world to deal with — exclusively — the Israeli-Palestinians issue and condemn the Israeli occupation as a form of discrimination and apartheid. The WCAR definitely offered us a potential forum to make this articulation.

But as long as the conflict is in tribal terms — Jews vs. the Arabs – people are forced to take sides. You must realise what Israel does in a cynical, systematic way. It plays on the Holocaust, it plays on the suffering of the Jews, it plays on the guilt of Europe. It does all this to diffuse criticism of its own conduct in the Occupation. 

The way around this is for us, international civil society groups, to adopt a direct human rights language. This is what the WCAR should do, to uphold the ‘discrimination against none’ principle articulated in so many international declarations.

As international civil society groups we need to remind the world that Israel has signed almost all international covenants against discrimination and apartheid. If the rules of the WCAR and international community apply to everyone then it is on the grounds of non-discrimination and anti-apartheid that the illegal occupation of West Bank and Gaza must be opposed. If Israel wants to be a part of the international community it must accept international standards. 

It is ironic that even after 30 years, the reference to ‘occupation’ does not evoke unequivocal international civil society outrage. This is because the Occupation has not been seen and perceived by the international community as a blatant violation of human rights. This has got to do with the power play within the human rights discourse.

If at the end of the WCAR the official document does not condemn the Israeli occupation of Palestinians what is the point of it all? Our frustration is with the European Union countries as much as the US who are resisting articulation of this. The Western media, too, for all its claim to freedom and democracy continues to use the Israeli government as its main source of information. It is also simply not independent or critical enough. 

It is important for the world media to articulate honestly the gross rights violations against Palestinians living under illegal Israeli occupation. It is only then that a balanced world opinion on the issue of strife in the Middle East can be created.

This is why we Israeli and Palestinians groups decided to make our representation on the issue of occupation together at the WCAR and the prepcoms that preceded the conference at Durban. We are trying to break the idea that there are two sides that means an either or situation. We need to show that our interest and concerns are not mutually exclusive, that we both equally desire peace, a just peace. 

Archived from Communalism Combat, September 2001, Anniversary Issue (8th) Year 8  No. 71, Cover Story 9

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Like Saibaba of Shirdi, Moin–ud–din Chisti of Ajmer and Ayappa of Sabarimalai, the devotion to Fr. Agnel unites all faiths and communities

 
Overlooking the bay at Bandstand in Bandra stands a landmark commonly known as Fr. Agnel Ashram. To the thousands of devotees that throng the shrine week after week, it is an isle of solace and succour from the grind of city life and its attendant problems. If one were to visit the place on a Sunday, one would be surprised to find a motley crowd comprising of almost every religious denomination in the country fervently praying as one family.  

Agnel Baba, as his devotees fondly call him, has carved a niche for himself in the secular pantheon of modern India. Like Saibaba of Shirdi, Moin–ud–din Chisti of Ajmer and Ayappa of Sabarimalai, the devotion to Fr. Agnel unites all faiths and communities. The weekly services are held in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi, Konkani, Hindi and English to cater to the spiritual needs of his diverse following.

Who is this charismatic Agnel Baba? Born in 1869 at Anjuna, Goa, Agnelo D’Souza was an archetypal Goan Catholic born and brought up in the faith under the colonial Portuguese rule. His piety and intense spirituality made him an ideal candidate for priesthood. After being ordained a priest, he set about his vocation with ardent fervour and lived a saintly life serving the least of his brethren. 

He died at the age of 58 having collapsed immediately after preaching his last sermon. But myth followed the man. His saintly bearing and selfless service caused him to be remembered long after his death. Soon reports of miraculous happenings trickled in. People began to turn to him in distress. Cures and other favours were attributed to his intercession.

Then public acclaim pushed the Church to begin the process for his canonisation as a saint. As an interim step, he has been declared Venerable and his cause is under process by the Holy See.

Though Fr. Agnel was a non-controversial ‘Servant of God’ as he was called, the religious society to which he belonged has been in the eye of a storm since the last few decades. It is a quirk of fate that brought together his almost defunct Society of Pilar with one solitary active member and the founders of the New Society in 1939.

​Conceicao Rodrigues and Francisco Siquiera were two young seminarians being trained for priesthood at the Rachol Seminary in Goa. These young men had a dream to establish a missionary order that was dedicated to India. It must be remembered that at that time, the Portuguese missionaries had established their presence in India. The prophetic words of Pope Leo XIII served as inspiration to them. The Pope had said, “Your own sons, O India, will be the heralds of your salvation.”

This was the birth of their endeavour to start an Indian Missionary Society for the evangelisation of their motherland. The term “evangelisation” has been a subject of controversial interpretation for some time. The four disciples of Christ — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — were called the “Evangelists”. They followed Christ during the course of his ministry and recorded his words and acts for posterity. The New Testament is a compilation of the written works of these four called the gospels. 

The term evangelise has been defined in numerous ways. While the most acceptable would be “spreading the message of the gospels”, the methodology adopted for doing so is varied. To some, it means distributing Bibles to those who have never heard of Christ before. To others it means preaching the message of Christ. To the radicals it might mean converting the “non–believers” to the Christian faith. To the liberation theologians, it would mean identifying with the struggling masses to bring about salvation from material want. The definition keeps evolving depending on the needs of the times and the predisposition of the Church leaders of that epoch.

To the founder of the New Society, Frs. C. Rodrigues, the term evangelisation of the motherland held a different significance. According to Fr. C Rodrigues, “conversion” or proselytisation was not the object of evangelisation. 

To quote him: “This missionary concept, besides being genuine and apostolic, opens new perspectives to the missionary apostolate. The missionary, free from the preoccupation of “conversion”, gives himself with redoubled ardour to the evangelisation of all his parishioners, Catholics or non–Catholics. He sees to their education, opening schools wherein the knowledge of the Law of God is imparted to them. He interests himself in their social uplift establishing co-operatives and institutions of social assistance and strives against injustice and oppression.  

‘It is our endeavour to foster respect for all faiths and encourage people to work together unitedly to remove social injustice’ – Agnel Ashram

He does not exclude them from his creches, orphanages, asylums, hospitals and other works of beneficence. He teaches them the Word of God, the ten Commandments, the virtues, illustrating them with the examples of saints and heroes from Hagiology, also from history and tradition, in organised conferences, taking opportunity for promoting meetings of common interest, as theatres, cinemas, cultural conferences, through good press; in private conversation; he visits them and does not miss the occasion to get acquainted with them.  

On this basis the missionary will not be held as a minister of an alien religion but a minister of God, an exemplary custodian of morality, a benefactor of humanity, a social worker and an intimate friend of every home”.  (Cfr. V. Ixtt. July 17, 1954).

With this vision of service to country and people, Fr. C Rodrigues set about his mission. The going was tough. It was most difficult to convince the authorities of the need for a new Indian religious order, the first of its kind. Persistence paid.

On July 2, 1939, the founders founded the new Society of Pilar and established a new constitution with a new charisma and mission. During the first 10 years, they set up 12 elementary schools, 1 middle school, 5 orphanages, 6 health centres and 6 rice banks at Nagar Haveli. The society had its own press and published 50 different publications, two of which were its own periodicals. The editor of these two publications was Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues — Vaurad-deancho Ixtt, a bilingual weekly in Konkani and Portuguese and India, a monthly magazine in English. 

Through these periodicals, Fr. Rodrigues took up the defence of various causes of social justice such as fair wages, casteless confraternities, housing etc. However, there was one issue on which the periodicals maintained a stony silence — liberation of Goa from Portuguese rule. 
While all the others in Goa toed the official line, these two refused to publish even the official press communiqués issued by the Portuguese government. This earned the ire of the censors and Fr. C Rodrigues was a “marked man”. This policy continued till 1954 when the authorities in Goa got tough. To quote Fr. Rodrigues, “The real motive of my leaving Goa is public knowledge. When the India Legation in Portugal was closed, there were protest meetings in Goa, public speeches, telegrams and a press campaign denouncing the “imperialistic aims” of Nehru and other Indian leaders.

Our paper did not give prominence to these events. Two successive deputations were sent to us with a diatribe against Nehru and other Indian leaders to be published. I did not yield and politely refused to publish.”

With no support from the Church hierarchy, that was heavily biased in favour of the Portuguese rulers, Fr. Rodrigues had no option but to flee to Bombay. His confreres in the Society however stood by him. In fact, the editorial policy of Vauraddeancho Ixtt held firm, until the government in 1961 suspended its publication.

In 1957, the Fr. Agnel Ashram at Bandra was established. In a manuscript he expressed these feelings, “Once out of Goa, freed from the shackles of slavery and oppression of the foreign dominators, in Bombay, I started breathing the pure and dignifying breeze of independent India.”
The liberation of Goa in 1961 did not bring a change of heart in ecclesiastical circles in Goa. With their allegiance to Portugal, many shared the belief that Indian civilisation and culture were inferior. This was anathema to Fr. Rodrigues.  He strongly believed in the unity of the nation. India had remained united for centuries despite its diversity of languages, castes, religions and kingdoms. He believed there was a common ethos that united India. The sages and bards of yore had walked through its villages inculcating these values, inspiring and giving birth to its great epics enshrining these values. Fr. Rodrigues believed that the Society had a mission of cultivating and nourishing these values.

However, this was not the happy ending. In order to break the resolute will of the “nationalist priests”, the government in league with certain sections of the Goan hierarchy tacitly began promoting and funding dissension within the Society. This led to a split in the Society in 1977. Despite laborious efforts towards reconciliation, the schism remains till date. The Pilar Society and the Agnel Ashram Fathers are the two factions caused by colonial manipulation with the active support of a partisan hierarchy.

However, the Agnel Ashram Fathers have grown by leaps and bounds. What began as a Technical Trade School at Bandra has matured into the famous Agnel Technical School. The Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering is one of the most prestigious in the city. The Bal Bhavan, housing 70 orphans and the Community Polytechnic, imparting technical training to the rural youth have made their mark.

The Agnel Ashram is the only Christian society in the country to run three engineering degree colleges, 4 polytechnics, 4 orphanages and various other services. The Bal Gram at Goa is a children’s village that helps children grow in tune with nature. 

The latest addition is a multi–storeyed Bal Bhavan at Noida, Delhi that can accommodate over 150 orphans. Interestingly, while being shown around the campus, this writer noticed a little recess in the wall in every room of the Bal Bhavan. On inquiring about its utility, he was informed that this was the children’s “mandir” that accommodated the different deities that the inmates wished to worship according to their own religions!  A lesson in secularism for the little ones.  This year the Agnel Seva Ashram was inaugurated at a function addressed by Swami Agnivesh, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and Fr. Francis D’Sa. The object of this movement is to bring together people of all faiths to work for the common good and appreciate and understand the different religious faiths.

The road ahead is tough, but the Agnel Ashram Fathers are resolute in their mission.      

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Courtesy: Shutterstock

The misgivings caused by the Vatican Declaration Dominus Iesus in September notwithstanding, the Catholic Church cannot go back on the spirit of inter-religious dialogue and mutual respect enkindled by the Vatican Council II in the early 1960s

The Catholic Church’s theology, as expressed in Vatican Council II (1962–’65), represented a paradigm shift. This showed in the way that the Church perceived itself and the attention that it paid to other religions, human freedom and historical consciousness. The Church had arrived at a new self–understanding that distanced itself from a triumphalism that was often associated with a pre–Vatican II Christianity. However, with the appearance of the Vatican Declaration Dominus Iesus (DI) — made public on September 5, 2000 — many feel that a pre–Vatican II theological perspective is being resurrected. 

While the timing and tone of DI have raised certain fears about the future of ecumenism, it is good to remember that such a document cannot supersede the teachings of the Council. Before attempting to understand DI it will help to know what Vatican Council II affirmed in its documents about the relationship of the Church towards other religions. We shall then reflect on some of the questions raised by DI and comment on them.

The practice of religion usually suggests a way of life that includes beliefs, moral imperatives and sacred rites supported by an underlying faith in God. These elements unite persons and are meant to bring peace, harmony and deep human fulfilment to their lives. The unifying force of religion is based on the understanding that God is the origin and goal of all peoples on this earth. 

Such an understanding is also the basis for different religions working with each other in collaboration and not in competition. When dialogue became the buzzword at Vatican Council II, the official Church was aware that a paradigm shift had occurred in the way the Catholic Church would view other religions. 

The document that reflected the new thinking was Nostra Aetate (NA), the declaration on non–Christian religions. Its text has the following passage: “All men form but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth, and also because
all share a common destiny, namely God” (NA 1). 

It is a fact of experience that people of different faith persuasions exist side by side in our world and benefit each other by living out the genius of their own particular religion. In our own country, we can find religious persons who live in closeness to nature and thus enter the realm of the spirit; others fix their hearts and minds on the absolute by refraining from making images of the divine. Still others practise asceticism and give themselves to ritual observances with the hope of communing with the divine. 

“The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. She has a high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrines which, although differing in many ways from her own teaching, nevertheless often reflects a ray of that truth which enlightens all men.” (NA 2).  Further on, Catholics are exhorted to “acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths” which are found in other religions. We may rightly conclude that more than mere tolerance is connoted in the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding other religions.
Tolerance demands that one party live with another without harming or hurting the other. But tolerance is not enough for building community. Hopefully, tolerance will give way to respect for the other and finally to a mutually enriching dialogue. Harmony among different religions supposes that religions are in dialogue with each other. In such dialogue, a sharing of values, understand-ings and concerns occurs so that a deeper God encounter takes place in both the dialogue partners. 

The result of authentic dialogue is a transcending of the positions with which the dialogue partners began. Dialogue that is used for the sole purpose of imposing one’s own point of view on another is not authentic dialogue, but a manipulating strategy. When Pope John Paul II visited India in November 2000, he pointedly confirmed dialogue “as a characteristic mode of the Church’s life in Asia” (Ecclesia in Asia, no. 3), thus confirming what Vatican Council II had initiated.

Vatican Council II in which the official Catholic Church declared its positive assessment of other religions began a new era in the life of the Catholic Church. The beginning of a new historical consciousness led it to acknowledge the ways of the divine in those religions practised by the vast majority of people in the world.

For the first time in 20 centuries, the Church clearly recognised God’s presence in the lives of those who did not belong to the Catholic confession and a clear directive was given to Catholics to act in accordance with the new understanding. In Gaudium et Spes (GS), the Vatican II document dealing with the Church’s relatedness to the world, the Council states that God saves those who are not baptised members of the Church, in a manner known to him (GS 22).

In her teaching, the official Catholic Church upholds the right of a person to follow the religion of his/her choice. In Dignitatis Humanae (DH), the Vatican II document on religious liberty, the following is stated: “The Vatican Council declares that the human person has a right to religious freedom. Freedom of this kind means that all men should be immune from coercion on the part of individuals, social groups and every human power so that, within due limits, nobody is forced to act against his convictions in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in associations with others”(DH 2). 

Although the Catholic Church and her members are convinced of the truth of the Christian faith, they are obliged to uphold the right of all to follow the religion of their choice. In fact, after Vatican II, some predominantly Catholic countries were obliged to change their laws in order to offer all their citizens the freedom to practise and profess publicly the religion of their choosing. 

But it has taken centuries for the Catholic Church to change her attitude to other religions and accord them recognition and respect. In the fifteenth century a Council of the Church could still assert that no one who remained outside the Catholic Church, “not only pagans, but also Jews, heretics or schismatics” could partake of eternal life. This view was the logical outcome of the oft-repeated position: “outside the Church there is no salvation”. 

For the first time in 20 centuries, the Church clearly recognised God’s presence in the lives of those who did not belong to the Catholic confession. 

Today, the official Church does not teach that the unbaptised are lost. In fact, the Church accepts that God saves persons even when they are not found within the visible confines of the Church. Among the many new teachings that Vatican II offered, the one found in Lumen Gentium (LG), a document specifying the nature of the Church, has been of particular significance for grasping how salvation comes to persons who are not members of the Catholic Church. 

“Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience — those too may achieve eternal salvation” (LG 16). 

We can rightly conclude that the teaching from Vatican Council II viewed the relationship between Christianity and other religions as positive and beneficial. Secondly, such teaching admitted that persons outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church could be saved. Thirdly, the Council acknowledged the God–given right of every person to choose and follow his/her own religion. 

In the light of the official teaching that was enunciated in Vatican II, an understandable surprise greeted the appearance of the Declaration Dominus Iesus (DI). Was DI aimed at the Indian theologians, as Cardinal Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, suggested? No, one is quite sure. The document claims that it does not teach anything new, but merely presents “the principal truths of the Catholic faith” in areas where “confused or erroneous ideas and opinions” are found.

Can a Catholic discern positive and helpful elements in such a document? He/she can, for DI is an official pronouncement of the Catholic Church having “a universal magisterial nature”. For instance, DI underlines the obligation of the Catholic to share his/her Christian experience of God with all those who look for it. This has always been a legitimate concern of the Catholic Church although it has sometimes used objectionable means to achieve the end. 

DI also reminds the Catholic that Jesus Christ remains the central focus for the Christian and the ultimate norm for his/her way of life. DI rightly questions a lackadaisical approach to religion that looks for the lowest common denominator in appreciating the merits of one religion from those of another. 

Seriousness in the matter of choosing one’s religion is expected of a person who is making a faith commitment to God. DI asks Catholics to respect the contents of the Church’s faith when fashioning responses to the pressing needs of contemporary culture (DI 3). 
Yet, one wonders why DI portrays the sharing of the Christian experience of God only from the standpoint of the mission texts found in Mark 16:15-16 and Matthew 28:18-20 (no. 1). These texts conjure up visions of colonial conquests and campaigns of the conquistadors! Would not such sharing be better illustrated by listing references in Matthew 5:13-14, where the Christian is called to be the salt that seasons or the light illumining the world; or Matthew 25:34-40, which points out that service to the needy makes one a member of God’s kingdom; or John 13:35, where Jesus proclaims that loving another person is a sign of being his disciple?

One can also agree that a believer  finds the religion of his/her choice uniquely suitable for making his/her faith commitment and consequently for obtaining salvation.     

Mother Teresa made this point very correctly when she said: “I like all religions but I am in love with my own.” Hence, for the Christian, Jesus Christ is unique and makes a total claim on him/her. 

But it is not clear how one can view beliefs present in religions other than Christianity as the product of mere human effort (DI 7). And yet, DI itself concedes that God “does not fail to make himself present in many ways, not only to individuals, but also to entire peoples through their spiritual riches, of which their religions are the main and essential expressions even when they contain “gaps, insufficiencies and errors’” (no. 8). Further, DI would need to justify its claim that the “followers of other religions” even if they can receive divine grace “are in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of means of salvation” (DI 22). It is difficult to understand why DI would want to make such pronouncements about the religion of another.

The Catholic in India is deeply committed to the person of Jesus as found in the apostolic faith of the Church. But he/she is also aware of God’s presence in the other religions that must be respected and reverenced. This awareness is the fruit of firsthand experience from living with those of other religions. 

The task of the Indian Church is to proclaim the Christian experience as a response to the real needs of people. The Church must not give cause to view this task as a threat to other religions. Hence, Catholic theologians in India living in the midst of religious pluralism continue to theologise in a way that is truly Christian and authentically Indian. 

The Church’s official teaching today cannot go back on what was proclaimed and promulgated in Vatican Council II. Whatever be the misgivings that occur because of the style and expression in DI, those of other faiths must know that the spirit of religious dialogue enkindled in Vatican Council II cannot be extinguished.            
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Christian contribution

EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Colleges and Vocational Training Schools    (Total: 292)
(Catholic Church –182, Church of South India-28, The Lutheran Churche-24, The Church of North India-34, The Methodist Church – 17, The Mar Thoma Church – 6, The Seventh-day Adventist Church – 1)
Junior Colleges    (Total: 170)
(Catholic Church – 168, The Seventh-Day Adventist Church – 2)
Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools     (Total: 3,614)
(The Catholic Church – 3,074, The Church of South India – 203, The Lutheran Church – 92, The Church of North India – 193, The Mar Thoma Church – 29, The Seventh-day Adventist Church – 15, The Salvation Army – 8)
Pre-Primary and Primary Schools and Village Schools  (Total: 11,801) (The Catholic Church – 8,733, The Church of South India – 1,896, The Luteran Church – 484, The Church of North Church – 198, The Mar Thoma Church – 135, The Salvation Army – 102)
Technical Training, Industrial and Agricultural Schools  (Total: 1,127) (The Catholic Church – 1053, The Church of South India – 65, The Lutheran Church – 2, The Church of North India – 26, The Mar Thoma Church – 7)
Teacher Training Schools   (Total: 15) (The Church of South India – 12, The Lutheran Church – 3)
Training College  (Total:1) (The Lutheran Church – 1)
Day and Boarding Schools  (Total:108) (The Methodist Church – 108)
Lower Schools  (Total: 150) (The Seventh-Day Adventist Church – 150)

SOCIAL WELFARE INSTITUTIONS
Hostels   (Total: 3,403).  (The Catholic Church – 2719, The Church of South India – 338, The Church of North India – 158, The Luteran Church – 110, The Methodist Church – 50, The Salvation Army – 18, The Mar Thoma Church – 10)
Orphanages   (Total: 1,645)
(The Catholic Church – 1,320, The Church of South India – 282, The Luthean Church – 33, The Mar Thoma Church – 10)
Dispensaries   (Total: 1,875). (The Catholic Church – 1716, The Church of South India – 109, The Church of North India – 11, The Lutheran Church – 19, The Salvation Army – 20)
Primary, Community and Rural Health Centres  (Total: 49) (The Lutheran Church – 15, The Seventh-day Adventist Church – 34)
Hospitals   (Total: 883). (The Catholic Church – 679, The Church of South India – 67, The Church of North India – 54, The Lutheran Church – 29, The Methodist Church – 8, The Salvation Army – 16, The Mar Thoma Church – 18 The Seventh-day Adventist Church – 12)
Homes for the Aged and the Destitute  (Total: 321). (The Catholic Church – 309, The Lutheran Church – 8, The Mar Thoma Church – 4)
Leprosaria    (Total: 276) (The Catholic Church – 276)
Rehabilitation Centres  — Leprosy  (Total: 240)  (The Catholic Church – 154, The Church of South India – 41, The church of North India – 11, The Lutheran Church – 3, The Methodist Church – 10, The Salvation Army – 13, The Mar Thoma Church – 8)
Natural Family Planning Centres (Total: 58) (The Catholic Church – 58)
Social Welfare Centres  (Total: 279) (The Catholic Church – 276, The Mar Thoma Church – 3)
Creches  (Total: 136) (The Church of South India – 136)
Adult Education Centres  (Total: 4) (The Lutheran Church – 4)
Schools for the Blind  (Total: 3) (The Lutheran Church – 3)
Social Service Centres  (Total: 25) (The Methodist Church – 25)
Psychiatric Centre    (Total: 1) (The Methodist Church – 1)
Children’s and Women’s Homes (Total: 41) (The Salvation Army – 41)

ECONOMIC/FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Employment Bureaus  (Total: 36) (The Catholic Church – 36)
Farm Colonies  (Total: 3) (The Salvation Army – 3)
Cooperative Societies and Banks (Total: 228) (The Catholic Church – 228).

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