Transgressing all barriers of religion and caste, rich and poor, high and low, Indians have joined hands to provide succour to people reeling under the worst flood in five decades in Kerala.

Justice Kurien Joseph, a Supreme Court judge, Catholic and Kerala native, worked until late at night in New Delhi to help pack and label boxes containing relief materials for flood victims.

“It was heartening to see people unite in love for their suffering brethren casting aside all boundaries of religion and region,” Joseph said as he assisted children and women packing materials.

The flood in the southern state washed away hundreds of houses and submerged villages, killing at least 370 people and displacing about 800,000 to relief camps.

Not only Kerala people living in New Delhi “but people from other parts of India have gathered here. It just goes to show that goodness has not disappeared from humans,” Joseph said.

A group of lawyers launched the initiative through social media. Despite the short notice, people gathered with clothing and food to be packed and sent to the flood-hit state 2,500 kilometers away.

In Kerala, fishermen took out their boats on their own to rescue people. According to reports, they refused remuneration from the government for their voluntary work, saying they did not do it for money.

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“Jesus’ love thy neighbor philosophy has never been so evident in our country,” said Lucy John, a teacher from New Delhi’s Mayur Vihar area, where a collection drive was organized by an association of Kerala people.

Organizations, agencies and resident associations are all busy collecting relief material in cash and kind in the capital.

Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen said the minori-ties and the liberal forces in India, who oppose the divi-sive politics of the present day, need to be more vocal and assertive. Discussing the present scenario in India, Sen said those ruling the country do not constitute a majority, but they are in power by virtue of their ability to skilfully use the tools of the political system.

“I think in modern days, the majority and minority cannot be decided based on who is a Hindu or who is a Muslim, as it is not really clear who is a Hindu.

“Definitely, the number of Dalits and other minorities is very less. But the fact is that those who are ruling the nation they are not the majority in terms of number, but the reason of their power is that they are aptly using the tools of our political system,” Sen said at a discussion on where the Indian democracy is heading. According to Sen, if the census is considered then the number of Hindu popula-tion is quite high.

“The result of 2014 only reflects that the victorious party was successful in that particular system,” said Sen. Answering a question regarding the fear factor among Muslims residing in India, he said: “This very state of mind that if we are minority we will be deprived and will have to suffer, is very weakening in itself.”

“The result will not depend on numbers, but on the reach of electoral procedure and the political system. The important fact for victory would be the ability to strongly raise the issues that need immediate attention and deserve thorough discussion,” Sen said.

A Jesuit parish priest in Mumbai has apologized for including verses from other religious scriptures in Mass readings after some Catholics protested calling him Anti-Christ. “I realize that the verses were not appropriate as part of the readings of the Mass and I apologize for this. However, to attribute this to the Antichrist is very shocking,” said Father Frazer Mascarenhas, pastor of St Peter’s Church in Bandra, a western suburb of India’s commercial capital, on August 21.

Father Mascarenhas issued a statement explaining his action. “St Peter’s has been making efforts to build human communities in our neighbourhood, as encouraged by the archdiocese. In this context, on the dual feast of the Assumption, and Independence Day, at the traditional Indian liturgy we hold at the 10 am mass, I took the theme, ‘Giving Jesus to the world as Mary did.’”

The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) Office for Tribals recognized 15 tribal youth for their hard work, brilliance and enthusiasm in achieving standards of excellence.

In a first of its kind, the CBCI Office for Tribals organized an event to congratulate, encourage and felicitate them for their achievements.

At a function held at the CBCI Centre, New Delhi, on August 10, on the occasion of 24th International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, tribal youth from different streams such as music, singing, acting, scholarship, airplane pilot, bodybuilding, writers, and publishers were acclaimed.

Bp Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary general of CBCI, who was the chief guest felicitated the young tribals with a rose flower, a memento and a Certificate of Excellence. “You are not simply the pride of your tribal communities but the pride of whole humanity because you have had the courage and the perseverance to break through barriers and shine forth,” the bishop told the youth.

The prelate reminded them that it was important that the tribals preserve their land, culture, language and unity. Otherwise, they will be swamped out of their existence.

A Catholic Church-organized program in New Delhi has called on Indian politicians to cease being divisive and using religion as a way of attracting votes. Prominent opposition leader Mamta Banerjee was among several speakers voicing concerns over the divisions in Indian society during an assembly organized by the Indian Catholic bishops’ conference on July 31. “Some people are trying to divide the country in the name of religion, caste and creed. But we can’t sit here as mute spectators,” Banerjee, chief of Trinamool (grassroots) Congress party, told the gathering of 1,000 people. “Time has come for us unite and raise our voices,” she said. With the theme of “Love your neighbour,” the assembly was held as leaders of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) press their pro-Hindu ideology ahead of general elections early next year.

Banerjee, who is also the chief minister of West Bengal State, said the theme of the gathering was rightly chosen because “some communal forces are trying to dictate what we should eat, dress and how we should practice our faith.” She was alluding to cases of harassment and violence committed against Christians and Muslims by hard-line Hindu groups ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power leading the BJP in 2014.

Leaders like Banerjee accuse BJP governments in New Delhi and most northern Indian states of supporting Hindu groups who attack religious minorities in an effort to project the party as a pro-Hindu champion.

About 2,000 people who gathered to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples were asked to fight to protect their identity and culture in the face of increasing challenges in India.

Leaders who addressed the gathering in New Delhi on Aug. 9 presented data and incidents to show how exploitation of tribal people has increased since the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power at federal level and in several states in 2014.

“Atrocities on tribals are nothing new but now tribals are branded as anti-national and the government will always harass them,” Jesuit Father Vincent Ekka, a tribal rights activist, told participants.

He said the Indian constitution provided for tribal people to enjoy self-administration in certain areas “but local administrative executives are not following it and have taken an attitude of my way or the highway.” Father Ekka heads the department of tribal studies at the Jesuit-run Indian Social Institute, which organized the meeting of tribal people and leaders across India to mark the international day, which had the theme “Indigenous peoples’ migration and movement.” Tribal leaders recalled how governments had made laws to take over and control tribal land and forests while chanting development mantras but acting on behalf of multinational companies and miners. Many tribal people were forced to migrate to cities.

“The main reasons for migration are mining, power projects and industries,” said Lakhiram Murmu, a professor at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The 2011 census showed the total number of internal migrants in India was a staggering 139 million. Murmu, a tribal and senior surgeon, said that “when we speak about migration, it will be mostly our own people who are affected and we have to find the solution for that by creating jobs.” India has about 104 million tribal people who form 8% of the population. However, 30% of India’s 27 million Christians come from tribal communities, especially in northern and eastern states.

Religious bias is suspected in an Indian government move that could result in millions of people who migrated from Bangladesh five decades ago losing their citizenship rights.

India’s National Register of Citizens (NCR) on July 30 published a list accepting as Indian citizens those who migrated from neighbouring Bangladesh before March 25, 1971, a day before the Muslim nation declared independence.

The list prepared for people living in Assam State bordering Bangladesh left at least four million people uncounted, making them stateless.

“The issue is of international importance as it affects relations with neighbouring countries including Bangladesh,” senior politician and opposition Congress leader Anand Sharma told media in Delhi hours after the list was published.

The Church has taken a consistent stance in the alleged sex scandal involving a few of its priests, said the supreme head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Addressing the Church managing committee, the highest executive body of the Church that met in Kottayam on August 9, Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, said the Church had always maintained that those who were found guilty in the case should face the consequences, but the innocent shall not be punished.

He also came down on those who took the opportunity to insult the entire priestly class and denigrate sacraments such as confession. He said those who took such positions had not done it with the right intention.

The Catholicos said the Church was engaged in an effort to bring peace in the Malankara Church even as it strove to maintain its identity as an ancient Indian Church.