Letters

National Education Policy and the Syro-Malabar Synod

Congratulations for your well crafted Editorial (Light of Truth 1-15 September 2020) on the recently published National Education Policy. This is one of the most important policy pronouncements by the Narendra Modi government. It is part of a grand design to saffronise the whole spectrum of education in the country. It is unfortunate that in Kerala it did not receive the kind of attention it deserved. I was expecting to see a statement from the recently held Syro-Malabar Church Synod. Unless I missed it, I did not see one. This is a subject of such vital importance to all Christian Churches in Kerala, I do not understand how or why the bishops decided to remain silent. Was it because they were afraid of questioning the governments, both at the Centre and the State. Or was it because there were not many leaders who had the foresight about the gravity of the issue at stake. Even now, the Synod should not sit quiet. They should set up a committee of ten people, including one or two bishops, all of whom must be familiar with the socio-political environment of Kerala and the importance of education in the context of the evangelisation mission of the Church in Kerala. If the issue is not considered seriously and action taken, I can only say that the Church has missed a great opportunity to carry on with the mission entrusted to it by its Founder.

Crossing the Rubicon

The subtle line separating the religion and the State has been breached. By performing the bhoomi pujan of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the clock back. His act has taken the secular country to a path not envisaged in the Constitution of India. It is in line with the ideology of the party in power from whose vocabulary ‘secularism’ seems to have been removed. It is important to look at the issue from what the Supreme Court of India said in its verdict allowing construction of the temple at the site where Babri Masjid stood for over four centuries. The apex court had termed the masjid demolition a criminal act. Though construction of Ram temple is the logical result of the Supreme Court judgment, one cannot ignore the traumatic memories of millions of people caused by that outrageous act. The Modi government may not have the strength to alter the Constitution. But it seems to do it indirectly under various guises. It is doing it through symbolic acts and rhetoric. The Prime Minister’s comparison of Ayodhya movement with freedom movement is a clear indication of what is in store for the country. While struggle for freedom from the yoke of colonialism was an inclusive movement, no one can put the agitation for construction of Ram temple on the same pedestal. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditya-nath’s assertion that he would not participate in the inauguration of the

Seminary Formation Always Draws Criticism?

In your recent issue, you have an item “Seminary Formation Always Draws Criticism: New JDV President”. True, as humans, we are always fallible. But we also learn from our failures. Hence, in October 1969, about a hundred and thirty representatives of the teaching and formation staff of the major seminaries in India came together to respond to the call of the Council. I was part of this gathering. We felt that with the fast-changing society we needed to radically rethink the formation of our priests. To be more effective we must have from the start students with greater maturity and motivation. We suggested that our candidates complete their graduation in a regular college before starting philosophy. JDV had twice taken the decision to demand graduation before philosophy. As far as I know, both the times, it went back. Ours was not an academic concern—the acquisition of a secular degree—but the human formation of our future candidates, the maturity they need to enter a major seminary today. This was also the reason we emphatically stated that the graduation be done in a regular college. We wanted the students to experience the world more; take part in all the extra-curricular activities that would bring out their talents and respond to their juvenile needs; meet women of their age, be friendly with them, experience the beauty of loving a woman and being loved by her. This proposal was voted and was accepted by a hundred and fifteen. The others—about fifteen—either

Mixing religion with culture of violent nationalism

Various Hindutva organizations under RSS are making grand preparations for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. They consider it liberation from mental and cultural slavery. A senior RSS functionary Dattatreya Hosabale said, “Ram Janmabhoomi movement was not just about religion but about Indian identity and nationalism.” Ever since the Supreme Court paved the way for the construction of Ram temple, devotees are sending gold and silver including ornaments and bricks to be used for construction. They feel that their dream of 500 years is getting fulfilled. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present for the ground – breaking ceremony (Bhoomi Poojan) on August 5. Intellectuals and activists irrespective of their faith criticize temple construction while the whole country is suffering from pandemic Covid which has infected more than 1.7 million people and over 36,000 killed on August 1. The deadly virus is spreading rapidly. Millions of people in India, living Rams, are suffering from starvation, unemployment and dying of Covid 19 and other diseases. When the priestly class and common people are drugged with religion they don’t understand reason. The Ram temple is built with the blood of thousands of men and women who were killed in different communal riots over the years. Though politicians and Hindutva groups would hail the construction of Ram temple as a symbol of cultural nationalism, it will remain a symbol of violent nationalism nurtured by revenge and hatred

YES! WE KAN!

Three significant observances mark 9 August every year: the anniversary of the ‘Quit India Movement,’ the anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki and the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. Though each of these observances have their own specificity, there is a deep interconnectedness among all three, particularly in the values that they are intended to highlight on a day like this! Three underlying words emphasise this” Kranti (meaning ‘revolution’), Adivasi (the Indian word for ‘indigenous people) and Nagasaki (the bombed city) KRANTI! A call to revolution! A call for change! A call for freedom. It was a clarion call given by Mahatma Gandhi, when on 8 August, 1942 at the Bombay session of All India Congress Committee, he introduced the resolution to start a ‘Quit India Movement.’ The resolution was unanimously passed at that historic meeting. Later, Gandhi gave a fiery speech at Mumbai’s Gowalia Tank Maidan (today known as August Kranti Maidan) marking the beginning of the Quit India Movement. He said, “There is a mantra, a short one that I give you. You imprint it in your heart and let every breath of yours give an expression to it. The mantra is do or die. We shall either be free or die in the attempt.” The next day on 9 August, the ‘kranti’ had begun; they were out on the streets demanding that the British should leave India immediately! Most of the leaders, who belonged to every strata of society were arrested. On ex