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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
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
John Lewis is no more and the world will miss him! When he died on July 17, he left a great void which will never be filled! He was one of a kind who roamed this earth, impacted on the lives of many and has left us all a rich and unforgettable legacy. He was truly a wonderful human and a great hero! Ever since he died, rich and glowing tributes have been pouring in from every corner of the world; editorials and op-eds have been written on him: all remember and highlight the many causes he espoused and championed as a civil rights leader. The Congressional Black Caucus in a statement said. “The world has lost a legend; the civil rights movement has lost an icon.” John fought against every form of discrimination and divisiveness: be it racism, casteism and attacks on the minorities in India. His convictions and stand for justice -were always based on nonviolence, peace and unity.I cherish my meetings with him; he gave me value time; he was such a warm, affable, available and unassuming person despite the power he had and the influence he could wield! He was definitely a busy person, but when I spoke, he gave me his total undivided attention, listening intently! His questions were based on what I had said; areas which needed more clarification or substantiation. Right from the word ‘go’ one felt that he trusted you; believed in what you were saying , was on the same page as you were and was determined to do all h
Rights have gone all wrong in today’s India! It is a season of discontent for millions everywhere: the pandemic COVID-19 has disrupted life and livelihoods, the routine and the ‘normal.’ People have been forced to adjust and to adapt; to become more frugal, more simple and much more. It is also been a time of immense grief, pain and suffering particularly for the poor and the marginalised; the migrant worker and the daily wager; the unemployed and the differently abled. To add insult to injury, India’s insensitive ruling regime instead of responding to the genuine cries of the people has gone all out the way to decimate human rights, destroy the democratic ethos of society and to throttle every form of dissent and protest.At this moment, high among the human rights violations in the country are brutal beating in police custody and the subsequent deaths of the father and son duo, P Jayaraj (59) and his son J Bennicks (31). They were arrested on 19 June for ‘allegedly’ keeping their mobile phone shop in the main market of Sathankulam town (Tuticorin Dt, Tamilnadu) open during a curfew imposed during the pandemic lockdown (cctv footage however, belie this). They were lodged in the Kovilpatti sub-jail. Both Jayaraj and Bennicks were terribly tortured in police custody after which they were admitted to the Kovilpatti government hospital on 22 June; the son died that very night, the father breathed his last on the morning of 23 June.The police of course, have th
A recent WhatsApp video of a priest asking the faithful to follow the government directives on places of worship has prompted me this to write this.I am not sure of the video’s authenticity. At first the priest urges the people to follow government guidelines and says he would permit them to the Church for personal prayer in strict adherence to the instructions. Later, he announces a special Mass and “offertory” to celebrate the feast of Saint Anthony. He said he would allow a limited number of people with prior permission.What draws my attention was the mention of special “offertory” of 1,000 rupees. I was confused about its intention. Is the 1,000-rupee special prayer for the spiritual solace of people who are shattered spiritually, physically, economically or to make money for the Church?It is relevant to listen St. Paul who says in 2 Cor. 2:17: “For we are not peddlers of God’s Word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God as standing in His presence.” The priest of the Lord should not be a peddler of the Word of God, but show the right path with his words and deeds.A priest friend recently told me casually that the lockdown has deprived most priests of income that used to come to them from Church collections and offerings given as tokens of love on occasions such as marriages, baptisms, funerals, blessings of houses and vehicles. On saints’ feasts, priests used to arrange special Mass and nov