A wellknown film star in South India, Bhavana was sexually molested, video tapped by goons who were hired on quotation by her own colleagues in the film field, shocked the people of Kerala. Some people believe that if you have the money, power, and political influence anything can be done. The crux of the story is the journey of Bhavana from the victim to resilience, she was humiliated, broken but could not be defeated. She rose again to fight the injustice that has happened to her and is happening to women over the world. The case is still going on with the influence of money. Her voice is the voice of hope, determination, and resilience in a patriarchal country like India. Thousands of years ago a lone but strong voice, came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” The powerful king Herod silenced this voice forever, by killing John the Baptist. Then came a gentle but strange voice that said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” Jesus’s language of love and freedom, the “Good news” especially to those in the margins were �
The raging controversy around Hijab is taking disturbing proportions. In Udupi Karnataka Muslim girls alleged that they were denied entry in to the classroom if they wear Hijab. Then we saw the gates of the institute being shut on the hijab wearing girls. Also we witnessed the shameful-despicable act of the vigilantes wearing saffron turban and shawls obstructing the lone girl Muskan, and aggressively shouting ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ She in turn resorted to ‘Allahu Akbar’ and went on to submit her assignment. The Muslim girls approached the High Court, which has put a stop on saffron shawls and Hijab in the schools in the interim order. In response many women rights groups and other rights groups have upheld the right of girls to wear hijab and harshly condemned the acts of right wing. Protest is on in support of the Muslim girls wearing hijab. This has also rekindled the communal atmosphere and given a handle to divisive forces. Social media is now full of derogatory comments against hijab wearing girls/women. This whole episode on one hand shows the forces behind aggressive vigilante groups making merry as their agenda is getting a boost. This has shown the extent to which they can go to frighten the Muslim community. In a way those who have floated apps like Sully Deals and Bulli bai, those who are silent supporters of the sayings of the Dharma Sansads must be having a good laugh as the process of polarization is getting a boost from this episode. The statement of Moh
In fact, Kudumbayogams are quite common among Christians in Kerala and they all write their histories. An interesting thing about those ‘histories’ is, especially among the Syrian Christians, somehow most of them try to trace their roots back to Saint Thomas the Apostle. These family groups do play a very positive role. They keep generations in touch. Younger generations who would otherwise not even know each other get to keep in touch. Like in our group, there is a lot of mutual help happening. We give scholarships and even built a house for one of our lesser fortunate family members. For funerals of family members, the Kudumbayogam officials make it a point to be present. They visit the sick, whenever they can. Overall, these groups are very Christian in attitude and behaviour. However, I had a shock when recently the family WhatsApp group started sending ‘Islamophobic’ materials. To one of those I responded: ‘This is hate speech. Should the Family group promote such hate speech?’ While two people seemed to agree with me, pat came another reply saying, ‘Kudumbayogam members are free to promote anything?’ Are they really? Maybe they are. But, are we Christian when we promote hate speech? In a world full of hate speech, taking the following advice is good not only for Christians, but for any sensible person: “ In this time of social platforms that influence millions, pausing before we speak and taking
The initiative that the Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace (FORUM) took to organize a webinar on ‘Religious conversion’ on February 5 was laudable. Two legal experts Kalpana Kannabiran and Robin Christopher enlightened the participants on the constitutional and political dimensions of the issue and suggested ways to prevent and manage the crisis the Christian community faces from the Hindutva forces these days. It was encouraging to notice that about 500 participants joined the webinar. However as usual, the majority of the participants were women religious. Not a single bishop was present. There were only a handful of priests. Why didn’t the leaders of dioceses and congregations make it a priority to join the discussions on such an important and urgent issue affecting the whole Church? The input sessions were informative. There were suggestions to engage all political parties to get their support for this issue. Another suggestion was to make a mass movement against the violation of fundamental rights. It was also suggested to approach the courts to get justice. In all our discussions we fail to take note of a few vital points: 1. Failure of the church to introspect on the past when aggressive ways of evangelization with atrocities committed against Hindus and their culture, destruction of their temples and constructing churches on those temple foundations took place. 2. Welfare activities done to uplift
The message of Pope Francis on the day of Consecrated Life has heartened a number of women religious in India. It is based on his prayer intention for the month of February: “Let us pray for religious sisters and consecrated women, thanking them for their mission and their courage; may they continue to find new responses to the challenges of our times.” “The Pope is very sensitive to the contribution of women religious to the church. He is well aware of the discrimination and abuse that victimize sisters. He may not be able to do much to change the situation but his words give us the space to mobilize opinion and take action,” said Sister Philomena Thomas, a religious of Assumption Sisters. Yes, women religious are the ones who by and large give the Catholic Church the credibility it enjoys in India and the world. The video message had clips of sisters working in various mission areas. The one that caught my eye was a sister climbing a steep hill to reach someone in need. The video ended with the iconic picture of Sister Ann Rose Nu Twang kneeling before the soldiers of the Myanmar military junta with her hands raised, begging them to kill her instead of the children. A picture that speaks a thousand words and sums up the image of a sister in the Catholic Church – powerless in the eyes of the world, yet owning a spiritual power that could halt a gun that had already caused much death and suffering. As Pope Francis pointed out in his message, wo
