Indian
Christians-
A community In Turmoil
By Steven. L. D’ Souza
13 November,
2008
Countercurrents.org
1) Brief introduction : Indian Christian community
1.1) I am an Indian Christian, a member of a miniscule 2% of the country’s population. Former Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court, his lordship Cyriac Joseph, and presently sitting judge of the Supreme Court, while addressing the gathering at a function on the 60th anniversary of India’s independence, on August 15, 2007 at St. Peters Pontificial Seminary, Bangalore summed up the ethos of the Indian Christian , succinctly , when he proudly affirmed, “I am a good Indian citizen, and a good Christian. My loyalty and commitment to my country, has not hindered my faith. An Indian Christian is not a secondary citizen, but is equal to any other citizen of this country. And we must be proud to say that we are Indian Christians.” I am one such proud Indian Christian as described by a sitting judge of the Apex Court of this country. Christianity came to India in 72 A.D., when St. Thomas, one of the twelve original apostles of Jesus Christ, landed at Crangainne near Cochin, much before its advent in Europe and America and other parts of the globe. The Greek historian Philistorgius(350AD) speaks of about 30 bishoprics existing in India at that time, confirmed by later historian Mingana in the year 382 AD. Ever since, Christianity has evolved into a home grown distinct synthesis with Indian culture , right up to the present times. A prime example would be my own marriage ceremony, which was solemnized by exchange of rings and vows as per the tradition of the Roman Catholic church to which I belong, and which was later solemnized by my putting the mangalsutra on my wife, then decked up in traditional Mangalorean attire, at a subsequent public reception in the evening. My children today have Indian names like Nikhil, Natasha and Neha. My mother tongue is Konkani, a quaint dialect of Marathi. My lingua-franca is not English , nor Portuguese, but a blend of Hindustani and Urdu, originating from the predominantly Muslim area of central Mumbai where I spent my childhood. Bulk of the Christian populace have their religious ceremonies and the even the sacred mass in local languages, except in some urban areas. Almost all over India, my testimony stands replicated in 95% of the cases, , except for the Anglo-Indian community, which for obvious reasons have a distinct culture, and which has been wrongly stereotyped, as the typical westernized Christian by the Bollywood industry, a stereotype which unfortunately persists even to this day.
1.2) Indian Christians , with its home grown Indian synthesis, has merged into the tapestry of Indian culture for nearly two millennium, and this synthesis persists to this day. Even in medieval times , when we had the Crusades and the Inquisition in Europe, and there-after, warring Christian factions all over the globe, Indian Christianity survived the turmoil, and has emerged as one of the oldest surviving form of early Christianity today. Despite being a proselytizing faith, the community never really gained in numbers, even during the pre-independent British Era. None of the Europeans who invaded India, barring a few zealous Portuguese, had mass conversions on its agenda. Their motives were primarily economic gain and plunder, not garnering religious harvests. That saga persists even today in independent India. That the Indian Church collectively has done a poor job at conversion is amply borne out by the census data collated by the Government of India. The Census shows decline in Christian population – 2.6% in 1971 ; 2.44 % in 1981 ; 2.32 %in 1991 ; 2.3% in 2001.
1.3) Persecution, and large scale victimization of its members as well as of its religious structures and edifices, and holy scriptures and idols, on the scale witnessed since August 23rd 2008, is something that the Indian Christian community simply cannot come to terms with, and presently an atmosphere of shock, pain and at times sheer despair has set in, adding to the turmoil. History had earlier recorded some stray painful memories of persecution, that still lingers, among the descendants of the Mangalorean Catholic community, to which I owe my lineage and roots. The first holocaust for Mangalore Catholics happened during the period 1784 to 1799 , when Tipu Sultan, furious at his defeat by the British in the first battle of Mangalore, tortured the local Christian community, suspecting that the community had betrayed him to the British, and thereby ensured his defeat in the battle. A cruel torturous journey through the jungles of the western Ghats up to his capital ,Srirangapatnam ensured that only about 15,000 of the 80,000 odd prisoners survived, when their agony ended with the death of Tipu Sultan in 1799. However, subsequent generations of the Mangalorean Christians have overcome the scars , and till the recent upheaval in Karnataka and especially Mangalore recently, maintained an excellent spirit of communal harmony and sheer entrepreneurial spirit, for nearly two centuries. Now the ghost of Tipu Sultan returns to haunt them once again , in the avatar of the rampaging Sangh marauders ,upset at a stray religious literature, written by some over zealous neo-convert. At the other end of the country, in Orissa, the Indian Christian community now is also being persecuted on alleged charges of forced conversion, besides unsubstantiated charges of having slain a revered Swami in his Ashram. The Indian Christian community has refuted the allegations with facts to the contrary, but some fanatics are still not convinced. Despite the Maoists claiming their role in the sordid slaying, and being subsequently arrested thereafter, some fanatics in Orissa have unleashed a saga of retribution, and a virtual carnage and genoicide, on a peaceful law abiding community, which has rightly described as a “NATIONAL SHAME” by the Prime Minister of this great country.
1.4) The other silent form of persecution, in the form of silent blatant discrimination was also relatively unknown, till the recent turmoil made one suddenly conscious of one’s identity. In the realm of governance and administration, especially in the higher echelons of the civil service, your religion and denomination hardly seemed to matter. I was, and am still, better known to my 1987 civil service batch-mates, as one of the two homegrown third generation Mumbaikars in the batch of 305, which in those days, was as rare a species in bureaucracy as the endangered Royal Bengal tiger. Despite being a non-conformist and a branded rebel, my afflictions were always confined to administrative struggles. I can honestly say that I never faced any discrimination from the administrative powers over my being a Catholic or as a Christian. If at all, it was a mitigating factor, not a liability as many of my community folks, now feel it to be. .Earlier. the jovial carefree stereotype of the typical Christian in the media , especially that endorsed by Bollywood, ensured that over a swig of the spirits or two, these prejudices were simply washed away. Now, with hordes baying for your blood, the predictions of gloom and Apocalypse suddenly stare you in the face.
1.5) Thomas Mann, at the peak of World War II, had affirmed that in the modern era, the destiny of mankind is determined not by economic affiliations or religious ideologies, but in pure crude political terms and realities. Brute force and power ultimately dictates the various contours of fate. He only reinforced what Aristotle said centuries ago that man is a political animal, shorn of justice and law and order, he is worse than a beast. This crude political reality has now struck the psyche of the Indian Chrisian with devastating effect. The peaceful coexistence and harmony of nearly twenty centuries, in a land that provided shelter and succour to almost every faith in this planet, was shattered because suddenly he has become a soft target for Hindutva forces, whose ultimate political game plan is to target a non practicing and totally Indianised Catholic woman who is a key figure in the ruling party coalition, ahead of the upcoming assembly polls and the Lok Sabha elections next year. That the virulent so called anti conversions attacks first surfaced in Orissa, a BLD-BJP ruled state, and then spread like wild fire to major BJP ruled states like Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh is not sheer coincidence. It is a well planned and calculated political strategy with an eye to polarize the majority votes in favour of the saffron lobby and its political masters and godfathers.
2) Aftermath of communal carnage – updated facts
2.1) The ground reality in the aftermath of the retribution and orgy of violent attacks and pogroms unleashed by the saffron torch bearers in its Christian bashing spree over the past two months since that fateful night of August 23, 2008 has left behind a massive trail of death and destruction as also wounded the psyche of a community beyond repair. Over 50,000 people from 300 village hid in forests since August 23, the day after VHP leader Swami Lakshmana Nanda Saraswati was slain by Maoists, about 24,000 people took shelter in 19 relief camps, The number presently has come down now to about 12,000. Many of the displaced people have fled to neighbouring states like Chattisgarh, Jharkand and coasted Andhra, and even to Kerala, Tamilnadu and Maharashtra. Some have returned back home on condition of reconversion to Christianity. 53 companies of CRPF, Orissa State Armed Police (OSAP) & regular Police personnel, situation much better but not yet normal and the deployment is to continue till the year end as ordered by the Supreme Court. Acting rather belatedly, the State Government has booked 600 rioters in Kandhamal alone, and 400 rioters elsewhere. More than 900 criminal offence cases have already been registered. Night curfew imposed in Kandhamal has been lifted after 20 day lull in Kandhamal on 19th October 2008. The 60 odd casualties , (which includes the tragic death recently due to earlier mob lynching in Orissa of a severely wounded Father Bernard Dugal in a Chennai hospital) would have been much higher and the destruction much more devastating but for four factors namely- the intense pressure put by the Centre to halt the carnage; massive international revulsion to gruesome details highlighted by the media and secular NGOs; timely intervention by the Supreme Court based on a petition filed by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack, Orissa; and finally the benign humanity of the common people of Orissa, who adequately demonstrated that love and compassion and togetherness will always prevail over the evil forces of hate, violence and divisiveness. Thus we have 900 people living in a relief camp in a government school in Tikabali who, as Journalist Vijaita Singh of Hindustan Times, reports, owe their lives to their “Hindu Neighbours” who tipped them off in time before a riotious mob set fire to their houses in Kandhamal district. We also have an amazing story of a distraught Ignance Barwa, father of the raped nun, raising funds for Dussehra Puja and leaving Goddess Durga to punish the culprits. Raphael Cheenath, archbishop of Orissa himself admits that there were several heart warming instances of courage displayed by ordinary Hindu people in protection of Christian strangers, especially the rescue of Christian priests by a Hindu woman who provided shelter in her house from a blood thirsty mob. Such numerous tales of the better side of humanity constitute the silver lining amidst the encircling winter of gloom for the Indian Christian Community.
2.2) In the other major trouble spot of Karnataka , especially Mangalore, there is near return to normalcy after the sporadic clashes in the aftermath of the desecration of churches and prayer houses in the late August and early September . There was an attempt to incite communal passions just before the National Integration Council Meet at New Delhi on 13th October, 2008, by vandalizing a church at Hosur near Bangalore. However, it has not led to any further worsening of fragile communal divide. The act of the Chief Minister in ordering a COD (Corps Of Detectives) inquiry into the Hosur church vandalistion; booking the Bajrang Dal convener (Karnataka) , Mahendra Kumar, lodged in sub-jail at Mangalore under the Goonda Act on 21st October 2008.; immediately dispatching 100 home guards protect sensitive churches in Karnataka and early commencement of judicial inquiry by the Justice Somashekhara panel probing the attack on churches and prayer halls are all welcome gestures that would send the right signals of the State administration determination in restoring law and order with a firm hand and taking steps to restore the hitherto existing Hindu-Christian communal harmony prevailing over the ages. Sporadic attacks on Christian Churches are continuing ,especially in States like Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala . Two churches, within a short distance of each other, were desecrated late on October 21st night near Dindigul, around 425km south of Chennai. The latest incidents take the number of church attacks in the state in the last six weeks to 11. According to the Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasangh President Kurishinkal Joshi, during the present Bharatiya Janata Party government Madhya Pradesh, more than 171 attacks on church personnel, institutions, Christian places of worship and community members have taken place. He has asked the state government to provide proper security to Christians in the state. He has also categorically stated that the attacks are nothing but an attempt to terrorise the community ahead of the state assembly polls, to be conducted shortly. Th
2.3) More than three decades back in the case of Jennison vs. Backer (1972(1) All ER 1006) it was affirmed by the Allahabad High court that " The law should not be seen to sit limply, while those who defy it go free and, those who seek its protection lose hope'. Brave heart Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Orissa, took on the task of shepherding his flock, by taking the issue to the Supreme Court more in hope of protection for the fleeing Dana Christians of Kandhamal and with a hope of justice for the victims by filing a direct writ petition in the Apex Court of the Nation. In his message to the Indian Christian Community, he has been constantly emphasizing ,that justice and peace is the immediate task at hand. In his crusade for justice and peace, the archbishop is attempting to rewrite history in as much as the records show, that since independence to the recent times, as far as major communal riots go, the law has always been seen to sit limply and the perpetuators of the riots simply defy the law, and go free. Among the cases for justice taken up by him is the sensational case of the raped Orissa nun which has now become another major international eyesore and embarrassment to the secular and tolerant image that has been the hallmark of our nation since its very inception., but which image has been steadily eroding in recent times .On 22nd October, 2008, the Apex Court declined to accept his pleadings, that among other things ,the case of the raped Orissa nun be handed over to the CBI. Instead the Court felt that in the interest of justice, the nun should cooperate with the state crime branch investigating the case. The Supreme Court instead asked as to why the victim was not participating in the test identification parade of the accused to nail the culprit despite having stated that she can identify the perpetrators. Presently the nun filed application in a local court in Orissa, which has deferred the TIP-test identification parade to November 19 instead of November 10. The l CM of Orissa had earlier promised a TIP at any place outside the country, and in keeping with the CM’s assurance, it is expected that the investigating officer may move the court for conducting the parade outside the state, in keeping with the assurance given by the Orissa State counsel before the Honorable Supreme Court.
2.4) Except for refusing CBI probe into the rape case, the SC gave a slew of directions to the Naveen Patnaik government, all aimed at bringing back normalcy in the riot-hit areas and giving protection to the Christian community, which expressed apprehension of being targeted again during the coming Christmas festivities.
Brushing aside the Centre's reservations, a Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P Sathasivam and J M Panchal ordered all the additional central paramilitary forces, which were rushed to the state when rioting was at its peak, to remain stationed there till December-end.
It also
asked the state government to immediately pay compensation to the
victims, give sufficient protection to all relief and rehabilitation
workers, including those from Christian NGOs, working to provide succor
to victims in relief camps in Kandhamal district and adjoining areas.
The Bench asked the state government to generously consider providing
grants for reconstruction of churches and encouraging inter-community
meetings to bring back peace and normalcy in the riot-hit areas so
that communal harmony prevails.
Undeterred by the Supreme Court order that there was no need to hand over the rape probe to the CBI, the Catholic Church will now be filling a review plea in the SC. Clergymen and spokesmen for the church said that if the Aarushi and Jessica murders could be handed over to the CBI, it must also probe the Orissa raped nun case and the entire gamut of the recent violent attacks on the Christians in that State. The regular writ petition case has been posted for further hearing during the first week of January 2009, The Apex Court interim order has further alienated a sizeable section of the Indian Christian Community which had more or less taken for granted that a CBI probe would be a mere formality.
3) Orissa raped nun trauma, victims of communal riots: Some legal issues involved
3.1) The Apex court decision on 22nd October 2008 is somewhat of an emotional dampener on the quest for justice of a shattered community, but it has to be borne in mind that law is emotionless and justice is blind. Legally speaking, the Apex Court has chosen to adhere to the due process and procedure prescribed by law, rather than the fears and apprehensions of the victim and the Archbishop, speaking for the hapless and traumatized community. In both the Arushi and Jessica murder cases cited by the spokesmen of the church, the initial investigation was faulty and hence cases transferred to CBI. Recently The Kerala High court transferred the Sister Abhaya murder investigation case to the Kochi unit of the CBI, after it found fault and major lacunae in investigation by the Kerala state police. The touchstone for transfer of a case by the courts to CBI has always been defective or tardy investigation by the state police. In this sense the Apex court termed the plea as premature, since investigation by Orissa Crime Branch was still going on. In the present case the apprehensions of the victim pertain to the biased role and acts of omission of the local police in the pre-investigation stage.. Unless it is proved with evidence and facts, that the subsequent investigation is faulty or biased, there is little hope of the Supreme Court reviewing its order, especially since a separate special investigation team ( CID / Crime Branch) is investigating, not the local police unit which mutely looked on while the gruesome crime was committed. Since eight accused have since been arrested, and DNA tests are in progress, and lastly since Test Identification Parade (TIP), is to to be conducted shortly at any place in the country (as per the victim’s convenience or as per teleconferencing, as suggested by All India Christian Council Sec. General Shri John Dayal), as the next imminent step in speedy investigation of case . The Apex Court feels that the steps towards speedy investigation are adequate, and with the State announcing fast track courts to expedite the matter, there presently exists no case for transfer of the case to CBI, and hence held the request for the same, in absence of concrete evidence of any biased and faulty investigation by State Crime Branch, is premature. To convince the Apex Court further of its bonafides as regards rendering justice in sensational case, the Orissa government belatedly on 31st October, 2008 suspended five more policemen taking the total suspension to six, for dereliction of duty . Now that the Apex Court has simply put this legal compliance ahead of the trauma, and emotions and apprehensions of the victim that the Crime Branch would equally follow the example set by the local police officials, in ensuring further mis-carriage of justice. The Apex Court feels that the state crime branch so far has not given any grounds to justify this apprehensions of the victim .
3.2) Presuming that the Apex Court will stick to the legalities and not review its order, and subsequent hearings in the writ petition , will continue on and after 9th January 2008, we now address ourselves to the primary focus of this article on the following questions of law yet undecided by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, and which is so crucial to the outcome of the present case, especially since the raped orissa nun has publicly expressed her mistrust in the state police, and the official Church clergy and laity are vehemently supporting her viewpoint .
(i) “Can it be said in all honestly that the investigation and prosecution in matter relating to communal riots, which is really based on protecting human dignity and the right to life is in accordance to the principles and rights enshrined in Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India?”
(ii) “ Can we evaluate a murder, (or a rape, or a crime) Committed during a communal riot as a crime committed in the normal course – a common place crime as ordinarily understood?”
3.3) These important questions of law, which could have an important bearing on the future course and outcome of the Writ Petition filed by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath in the Supreme Court, were framed in Para 11 of judgement delivered by Justice Harjit Singh Bedi of the Supreme Court in judgement dated 2nd May 2008, in the case of Harendra Sarkar v/s State of Assam (alongwith Criminal Appeal No. 1068 of 2006) [ legalpundits citation : LIS/SC/2008/826]. Presently the issue is left open by the Supreme Court, in view of difference of opinion between Justice Harjit Singh Bedi and Justice S. B. Sinha, and matter to be placed before three-Judge Bench with the Supreme Court Registry directed to place the records before the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for appropriate orders.
3.4) In
para 14 of judgement rendered by Hon’ble Justice Harjit Singh
Bedi of the Supreme Court in Harendra Sarkar vs State of Assam, Judgement
(Supra) the plight of the victims of communal riots in obtaining justice
from the criminal justice system was highlighted very succinctly as
follows :
“Para 14. It would be seen that the arguments raised by the
learned Counsel for the appellants are on the premise that the incident
had happened in a normal civil society where the access to the police
is presumed to be easy and where the investigation suffers from no
bias. These arguments, from their very nature, cannot be applied to
a case where there is a complete break down of the civil administration,
the police has lost control of the situation, a curfew imposed and
the Army called out and the real possibility (if precedents are to
be applied) that the investigation could be directed against the complainant
who belonged to a minority community. From the reports that have been
quoted above, several broad principles are discernible:
(1) that police officers deliberately make no attempt to prevent the
collection of crowds;
(2) that half hearted attempts are made to protect the life and property
of the minority community;
(3) that in rounding up those people participating in the riots, the
victims rather than the assailants are largely picked up;
(4) that there is an attempt not to register cases against the assailants
and in some cases where cases are registered loopholes are provided
with the intention of providing a means of acquittal to the accused;
(5) that the investigation is unsatisfactory and tardy and no attempt
is made to follow up the complaints made against the assailants; and
finally
(6) that the evidence produced in Court is often deliberately distorted
so as to ensure an acquittal- ( Legalpundits' Citation : LIS/SC/2008/826
- Harendra Sarkar Vs. State of Assam, [Alongwith Criminal Appeal No.
1068 of 2006] - May 2 2008)
3.5 ) In reaching this conclusion the Hon’ble Justice Harjit
Singh Bedi had relied on various reports of judicial inquiries and
judicial commissions that were set up to probe major communal riots
in the post independent era. Among the reports whose findings were
analysed, and relied upon for reaching this conclusion were.
i) Report of the Justice Jagmohan Reddy Commission of the Ahmedabad riots of 1969.
ii) Report of the Justice D. P. Madon Commission on the Bhiwandi, Jalgaon and Madad of 1970.
iii) Report of the Justice Josepth Vithyathil Commission on the Tellicherry riots, 1971.
iv) Report of the J. Ranganath Misra Commission on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi.
v) Findings recorded in Chapter 1 Preliminary Srikrishna Report on Mumbai riots of 1992-1993.
3.6) In the light of the observations made by Justice Bedi of the Supreme Court and in the light of various damning reports of the various judicial commissions cited as above wherein there has been overt miscarriage of justice as far as victims of communal riots are concerned. It is time that the Hon’ble Supreme Court decide early the questions of law left open in the Harendra Sarkar Case (Supra) so as to set in place the legal appropriate legal mechanism for delivering justice to all victims of communal riots at least in the near future. Needless to say the outcome of the case for justice for the raped Orissa nun would also be determined whether a crime like murder or rape committed during a communal riot can be equated with a crime committed during normal times in a civil society. This is exactly what the nun, the archbishop and a normal Indian Christian like me would be seeking a clarification, and a answer from Apex Court of the Country. It needs to be kept in mind that various judicial commissions and inquiries setup have failed to deliver justice in the past as recorded recently by a sitting member of the Apex Court itself.
3.7 ) It is submitted that the situation in Orissa especially in the riot affected areas of Kandhamal and its neighboring districts is still tense, and situation not conducive to starting of proceedings by a judicial inquiry commission, till the atmosphere of hate and fear is replaced by atmosphere of peace and harmony. Shri John Dayal secretary general All India Christian Committee who was summoned by the Honourable Justice Basudeo Panigrahi Commission to appear before it in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar on 1st November 2008, has clearly stated the same in his reply to the summons, asking for more time till the situation returns to normal, hopefully after a series of measures towards rebuilding the confidence of the terrified Christians in Orissa announced by the State Chief Minister and the Administration. For the moment it is announced that private NGOs are allowed to partake in relief measures in various camps through the local unit of the International Red Cross society. The State Government must make appropriate changes in the Orissa Relief Act to provide, compensation for damages to the 160 odd Churches and Prayer Halls. It must also ensure that the Apex body of Christian in India, formed in the first week of October 2008, the NUCF (National Union of Christian Federations ) which includes all Christian denominations that is Catholic, Protestant and Evangelical Churches in India, is also involved in the relief and rehabilitation measures now being taken up vigorously in the state. The judicial inquiry commenced by the Honourable Justice Basudeo Panigrahi Commission should be deferred, till the atmosphere is conducive for recording evidence and till such time as the tormented victims are first rehabilitated. In this regard , reliance is placed on the following decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court
i) Zahira Habibulla H. Sheikh and another vs. State of Gujarat and others dated April 12 , 2004 .( Citation : 2004 4 SCC 158)
ii) Harendra Sarkar Vs. State of Assam, ( Alongwith Criminal Appeal No. 1068 of 2006) dated May 2, 2008 (Legalpundits’ Citation : LIS/SC/2008/826
3.8) Alternatively it is pleaded that atleast some hearings of the judicial inquiry commissions be conducted in a place outside the present tense atmosphere prevailing in Orissa in this regard reliance is placed on the following decision of Hon’ble Supreme Court : “But we do feel that good grounds for transfer from Jashpurnagar are made out because of the bitterness of local communal feeling and the tenseness of the atmosphere there, public confidence in the fairness of a trial held in such an atmosphere would be seriously undermined, particularly among reasonable christians all over India not because the Judge was unfair or biased but because the machinery of justice is not geared to work in the midst of such conditions. The calm detached atmosphere of a fair and impartial judicial trial would be wanting, and even if justice were done it would not be 'seen to be done'. (A X. Francis vs. Banke Behari Singh, AIR 1958 SC 309).
3.9) Early
this year the Hon’ble Supreme Court had clearly affirmed : “
Thus it is the Constitution of India which is keeping us together
despite all our tremendous diversity, because the Constitution gives
equal respect to all communities, sects, lingual and ethnic groups,
etc. in the country”. (Legalpundits' Citation : LIS/SC/2008/463
–Para 46 of Judgement in case of Hinsa Virodhak Sangh Vs. Mirzapur
Moti Kuresh Jamat and Others – dated March 14, 2008)
3.10) In the great epic the Mahabharata in the Shanti Parv, (Chapter
107/108 Shloka 14), Bhishma Pitamah tells Yudhishthir: : "Republics
have been destroyed only because of internal divisions, it is only
when there are internal divisions between the people, that an enemy
can destroy it, hence a republic should always try to achieve, unity
and good relations between its people." Further in the Shanti
Parv, (Chapter 107/108 Shloka 26)- Bhishma Pitamah also said: "The
intelligent authorities of a republic should suppress those leaders
of factions who try to divide the people". Presently our nation,
the most prime example of unity in diversity is undergoing it most
severe crisis in its nascent existence, as the world’s most
diverse yet unified nation in the modern era. The triple threat of
communalism, regionalism and terrorism have all raised their ugly
heads together, in an attempt to dismember and balkanize the nation.
We the people of India should remember the wise words of Bhishma Pitamah,
that internal divisions of caste, community, religion, region, language
and other ethnic divides, mostly by narrow minded political and fascist
forces is what will cause the decay of the great unified Indian civilization,
not any foreign hand or powerful external forces or even the impending
economic gloom, across the globe. It is time that we the people, we
the ordinary common people of the country, the aam aadmi , shed our
lethargy and apathy, and counter these forces with a firm resolve,
and with an iron hand if necessary. Let us remember the humanity and
courage shown by the ordinary people of Orissa, who in refusing to
bow down to fascist propaganda , and instead choosing the universal
path of love, compassion and harmony showed the way to revitalizing
and reinforcing the secular tolerant tradition of pan-hinduism . It
is this reaffirmation of the common man in the principle of Indian
civilisation ; ”LIVE AND LET LIVE” as stated by our first
Prime Minister Shri. Jawarhar Lal Nehru that has held this nation
together, and will do so in times to come. It is by such little acts
showing our unity our concerned for our fellow Indians that the evil
designs of divisive forces are doomed to fail. As the Hon’ble
Supreme Court rightly affirmed in Para 68 and 69 of the Zahira Sheikh
case supra :
“Para 68. The little drops of humanness which jointly make humanity a cherished desire of mankind had seemingly dried up when the perpetrators of the crime had burnt alive helpless woman and innocent children. Was it their fault that were born in the houses of persons belonging to a particular community? The still, and staid music of humanity had become silent, when it was forsaken by those who were responsible for the killings.
"Little
drops of Water, little grains of sand
Make the mighty ocean And the pleasant land,
Little deeds of kindness, Little words of love
Help to make earth happy Like the heaven above"
Para 69. Said Julia A.F. Cabney in "Little Things"
Steven. L. D’ Souza is a voluntary retired
, 46 year old Indian civil servant and member of various peace keeping
initiatives. Presently he is a management consultant and indirect
taxation. Sez, foreign trade legal advisor to top corporates in Mumbai
and in the country, as well as visiting management faculty in business
schools
