RESUMING CHRITIAN MUSLIM DIALOGUE IN INDIA

Muffled Dialogue

Have Islamic groups in Kashmir Valley and Kerala’s “love jihad” fears killed Christian-Muslim dialogue in India?

JOHN DAYAL

When was the last time we read a joint statement on communal harmony, a statement signed by accepted representatives of the Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and Jain faiths recognised in India as national religious minorities? I recall one in 1984, after the massacre of the Sikhs, and then in 2002 in the violence targeted against Muslims in Gujarat. There were no such statements in the wake of the anti-Christian pogrom in Kandhamal, Orissa, in 2007 and 2008. The one time Muslim and Christian leaders came together was in an advocacy rally for the rights of converts to the two religions from Hinduism’s former “untoucbable” castes  -- now called the Dalits.

In the recent riots in the North-eastern state of Assam, where over 400,000 people were displaced in clashes between the Bodo ethnic community and Bengali and Assamese speaking Muslims, several top Muslims leaders from New Delhi asked me to urge the Catholic church to intervene – presuming that the Bodos were all Christians. The Bodos are an ethnic community, and while some of them indeed are Christians, most of the others profess Hinduism or their own ancient religions. Sociologists are still debating if the Assam violence was economic, ethnic or religious in its root causes.

Christian sociologists and activists did intervene as strong voices for peace, and in helping quell the panic large-scale movement of people of North eastern origin from cities such as Hyderabad and Bengaluru in south India amidst rumours of retributive Muslim attacks on them. The rumours were just malicious mischief by some political groups, among them the infamous Hindutva Parivar seeking to polarize communities.

Considering that both Muslims and Christians, constituting perhaps no more than 10 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively of India’s 1.20 billion population as religious minorities, and both victims of State harshness and violence at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists, it would be presumed that the two communities occasionally made common cause, or at least existed in close camaraderie and cooperation. In reality, both live in their own separate, individual cocoons, mostly ignorant of the problems of the other community, and largely unconcerned with the crises they both find themselves in with unfailing regularity..

I do not recall in the last forty years or so Church hierarchy, Protestant and Catholic, come together with the top leadership of the Jamaat-e-Islami, an orthodox group, the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind, a more “nationalist” organisation with roots in India’s Independence movement and similar groups, on any issue of concern to the people.

It is a different matter that there is little political cohesion in India’s extremely diverse Christian community. In Parliament, I have seen the Muslim community come together, defying party whips, on issues relating to the community, but I have not seen them come out to speak when the issues concern persecution, or during nuanced debated on the controversial Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, the matter of denial of Indian Visas to missionaries and activists, ban on religious conversions by some provincial governments all of which vilify and target Christians. To be fair, I have not seen the Christian MPs come together as a block to speak in defence of the Muslims, preferring the safety of the party whip.

Unlike the Christian religious leaders, who are not part of ideological divides and political polarities in the country, the Muslim religious leadership is deeply political. Muslims are active in almost every political party, and in some States, have their own parties which content elections and are even part of coalitions in government. There is a direct connect between the Moulvies if the mosques and the teachers of the hundreds of thousands of Madrasas, with the political leadership. The only apparent division is in theological loyalties between the Shia and Sunnis, and within the Sunnis, the Barelvis, the more liberal, and Deobandi schools of theology. The recent Wahabi movement, financed by Saudi Arabia, has rapidly radicalized a section of the Muslim leadership in all provinces, and specially in Assam, Kerala and Kashmir.

The Wahabi radicalization is perhaps the single major reason for souring whatever relationship there was between the two communities.  This is the most apparent in the valley of Kashmir and in Kerala – even though the two regions differ so widely with each other in demographic and social parameters

The argument is not that the Christian community in India consciously follows the West’s perceptions post 9/11 United States of America. If anything, perhaps, the more pious in the Christian community and specially the urban middle class look at the Islamic groups in India with glasses not very much different from those worn by the hyper nationalist members of the Hindutva Sangh Parivar. Christians from Kashmir often say, “You may know Islam, we know the Muslims”.

On the other extreme are the purported dialogues that go in the name of “Idd Milan” after Muslim religious festivities twice a year, and the Catholic Bishops Conference and diocesan “inter faith dialogues” in which a prayerful representative from each community is invited to a small meeting, a brass lamp is lit, every one recites from their own holy books, a group photograph is taken, and tea served. Not everyone sips the tea or nibble at the sweats and hors d’ oeuvres. Most are in a hurry to get back home. Some do not eat outside their own place of worship or home. The photographs of course serve their owners well in annual reports and funding drives and to prove their “secular” credentials.

Would it be that there is nothing in common in the diverse situations of India’s many religious minorities? Do the religious minorities share nothing in India’s history, its common heritage? Do they not suffer and bleeds when hit by the barbs, bombs and slings of the hyper nationalist rightwing majoritarian groups?  And are they really insulated from the massive political and social developments sweeping this wonderful nation?

These are questions that beg an answer – social, political, and in relation to the guarantees of the Constitution, contained in the Preamble, and Articles such as 25, 29, 30.

It was unfortunate that two years ago – before the “Arab Spring” -- Muslim academics in Egypt have suspended their dialogue with the Vatican over Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks on anti-Christian violence in Egypt calling it as "unacceptable interference in Egypt’s affairs". Pope Benedict XVI as the leader of the Catholic Church in his remarks condemned violence, expressed his closeness to suffering Christians and highlighted the concern for the religious freedom of Christian minorities.

The Christians in India perhaps did not even know that there ever was a dialogue between Rome and the Muslim world. Its eyes were glued to some developments in Srinagar and Kerala.

The Kashmiri militancy, with a heavy overlay of religious fundamentalism and intolerance, has been tragic for both the Hindu and the Christian community. Almost all Hindus have fled the Kashmir valley in the face of a threat of violence. The Christian community was perhaps as small as 500 families in the region, and they have been under pressure. The half a dozen Christian schools in the valley have less than 50 Christian students, but even then are in constant fear. Militants have banned any proselytization among the Muslim community. The police have arrested people accused by the militants of being involved in proselytization.

In Kerala, where the Christian and Muslim communities live in broadly distinct regions, there has been growing stress manifesting itself in occasional violence from Islamic extremists and a demographic and social fear among the Christian community. Last year, a Christian teacher’s hand was cut off for alleged blasphemy. Catholic clergy have cautioned against the fast growing Muslim population, and the stagnant Christian population. On prelate went as far as to call upon the faithful to start large families.

But the most peculiar, or hilarious depending one’s point of view, is the matter of “Love jihad”. It is a fact that a large number of Christian girls in Kerala are marrying outside the community. There are many reasons for this, the presence of a notorious dowry system being a major one. But Hindu girls are also marrying non-Hindus. Many Christian and Hindu girls are marrying Muslim youth. The religious, and now political, leadership of both Hindus and Christians allege there could be a strategy to woos these young women – a sort of human piracy. Criminal cases have been registered with the police. It is a simmering issue, but could well explode at any time.

Security and development issues of the two communities however demand the start of a really serious and constructive pan-regional dialogue between the leaderships of the two communities. In a political environment of collective bargaining, mutual collaboration and cooperation can help getting a decent share of the national development pie. A greater understanding can also reduce tensions, and perhaps help a successful social challenge to extremist groups, including the Hindutva Sangh Parivar, who are every so keen to feed off religious differences and perceptions.

India cracks down on foreign funded NGOs; grassroots work may suffer

India chokes NGOs dependent on Western charity

JOHN DAYAL

After trying to bludgeon the Catholic church in Tamil Nadu into submission and withdrawing its support to the protest against the Russian-aided nuclear power plant in Koodmakulam, the Indian government now seems bent upon choking civil society voices seen as challenging it on issues such as torture, religious freedom, and the life and death powers the military exercises over citizens in the country’s north eastern states.

The weapon of choice is the threat to cancel licenses under the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act that allows non-government organization, especially religious groups of all faiths, and Human Rights advocacy activists, to carry on their work with foreign financial help in an impoverished country where corporate and individual philanthropy is virtually unknown. 

While a large number of Hindu God men and women are also major recipients of donations from international charities, including church agencies in Europe and the United States, Indian Catholic and Protestant groups, with slim local resources, are to a large extent dependent on foreign funds to carry on their charitable and development work among India’s poor and marginalized communities. The Christian institutions working in education and health sectors among the Tribals and the Dalits, once branded, as untouchables in the iron Caste system, are particularly vulnerable. As it is, the meltdown in the west has severely impacted on their work.

After arbitrarily cancelling as many as 4,300 FCRA permits – on specious arguments that their addresses could not be verified -- the Union government is now issuing orders virtually banning some European and US funding agencies from the country. Indian groups have been told they need to take prior permission from the Ministry of Home Affairs, which also controls the intelligence agencies and some central police forces, before they can submit their projects to funding agencies named in the government’s prohibitory list.

Prime among them is Cordaid, a Dutch Catholic charity that is accused of having given funds to some Indian NGOs who are working for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act that is responsible for many human rights abuses in Kashmir valley and the North Eastern States. The Reserve Bank of India has circulated an order to all banks in India that they have to inform it if they notice any transfer of funds from Cordaid to local NGOs. Cordaid is also held responsible for partly funding the India Against Corruption trust headed by social activist Anna Hazare and his erstwhile colleague Arvind Kejriwal whose newly formed political party is challenging the ruling Congress and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party.

Authoritative sources in the government say several other European charities, specially from the Scandinavian countries, are also on the government’s radar, as are many Indian NGOs with whom they have had relationship in the past.

The NGOs affected by the government withdrawing their FCRA permits have protested, but only a few of them have had the precious license restored. In a few other cases including some high profile advocacy groups, permission has been given for them to operate their bank accounts for payment of essential services, but they cannot withdraw any money in cash.

This has, understandably, created a panic among organisations working in development and training at the grassroots. Among those who risk going bankrupt for want of funds are several groups working among victims of violence against the Christian community in Kandhamal district of Orissa state.

Mr. Sanjay Patra, a highly respected transparency expert heading the Financial Management Services Foundation, there is no reason for the government’s paranoia, as there are several other laws on the books to check any misuse of funds, or diversion of money to terrorism on insurrectionist activities. Mr. Patra is also a leading light of the Voluntary Associations Network of India [VANI], which provides an interface with the government. VANI is now engaging with the government to get the FCRA licenses restored for the NGOs that have fallen foul of the authorities.  VANI is also urging the government to change provisions in the FCRA rules that make it mandatory for all NGOs to seek a renewal of their permissions every five years instead of the earlier permanent ones. Anyway, money received from foreign charities under FCRA rules can be used only in designated activities and cannot be diverted to other areas.

Of the more than two million NGOs registered in the country those registered under FCRA are 38436. Of them, 21508 Associations reported a total receipt of an amount of Rs. 10,337.59 crore [about US Dollars 195 million] as foreign contribution. Many have FCRA permits but actually do not get any funds from abroad.

The government says the NGO sector in India is vulnerable to the risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, and therefore requires some form of policing of their funds and activities. But it has not been able to adduce any real evidence indicting the NGOs or linking them with terrorist or other unlawful groups other than in political rhetoric. According to government data, list of donor countries is headed by the USA (Rs. 3105.73 crore) followed by Germany (Rs. 1046.30 crore) and UK (Rs. 1038.68 crore).

The FCRA law is a reflection of India’s paranoia on what is euphemistically called the “foreign hand”, or fears that the West is intervening in Indian politics and culture. India’s right wing has accused the West of financing conversions to Christianity and supporting “Christian” insurrectionist groups in states such as Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya in the North East. No evidence has ever been adduced for this, other than political gossip and innuendo.

The law was drafted by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s government in 1975 when she declared a State of Internal Emergency, all but suspended the Constitution and imposed censorship on the Media, arresting thousands of political dissidents and leaders of political parties. The government then said that Socialist leader Mr. Jaiprakash Narain, leading a movement against corruption and for democratic reforms, and several Gandhian groups supporting him were funded by western agencies and were trying to induce the Indian army to mutiny. Subsequent governments overturned many of Mrs. Gandhi’s laws, but retained the FCRA as a useful instrument to tame civil society.

India Church Response to Corruption -- in Nation and within

Corruption and the Church response to malaise within, and in the nation

JOHN DAYAL

The butler of the Pope says his own indiscretions were to get some sunlight into the murky goings on in a section of the Vatican. With at least two Church of North India bishops in jail, some senior Pentecostal and Evangelical Pastors and a few Catholic Bishops and Archbishops accused by their laity and priests of various shenanigans in matters of finance and properties, it is difficult to pretend corruption is not an issue with the various denominations of the Indian church. Institutional structures of Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and even Buddhism at the highest levels are also grappling with the debilitating impact of moral turpitude in general and financial misadventures in particular.

Collectively, corruption in all religions and their institutional structures does not begin to approach the massive corruption in the political, administrative and corporate sectors, but it can hardly be tolerated as religious institutions and personnel claim to represent the moral edifice of the nation, and strive to be accepted as the conscience of the country. The people therefore look askance at, and are deeply disturbed by, occasional media exposures linking god men including self styled God-men, Shankaracharyas, Lamas who head important Sanghas, members of Gurudwara committees and Christian clergy caught with their fingers in the till.

If people in the West abhor corruption as something alien to their civilization, the anger is even more in India, a country of 200 million rich and a full billion poor. Corruption has different meaning among the faithful in India who see it as a betrayal of their trust, apart from corruption being a crime in the eyes of the law and a sin under religious codes. This is where the magnitude of corruption within the church is so different from its ethical counterpart in the corporate private sector and the public domain, which means in the government sector. Metaphorically, if the salt has lost its salinity, how would it regain that taste of the pure stuff?

There is a ray of hope. A debate is beginning within Catholic and Protestant churches on how to respond to internal corruption and, externally, how to relate to the several civil society movements, now virtual crusades in their intensity, that are now posing a challenge to the political and corporate establishment.

The elephantine structure that it is, the Catholic Church in India has been the slow one in this matter. The relationship between sovereign dioceses, the overlay of Rites and their relationship with the Catholic Bishops Conference, now severely restricted in its scope after the reforms of the last decade with no mandatory powers over anyone, makes nuanced decision making a very slow process, even if the will is present.

Very little exercise is done in studying ideological and political overtones in issues of national important. Theological studies defining moral responses to other issues are also no more than an occasional phenomenon, and then borrowing copiously from the Vatican’s Social teachings of the Church without too much modification to suit local social, economic and political environmental conditions. It would be a futile search if one were to look for official documents presenting the Church position on the subject of corruption other than the official spokespersons’ assertions in the media that the church is opposed to all forms of corruption in the nation’s body politic.

Therefore, individual bishops have responded in the light of their own wisdom to the Anna Hazare movement and, after the split in the India Against Corruption, to the breakaway faction of former Income tax official Arvind Kejriwal who now heads his own political party.

The most visible has been the action of the Delhi Archdiocese and its Archbishop, Monseigneur Vincent Michael Concessao, nationally one of the most respected Catholic figures in India. Kejriwal has been calling on the Archbishop for ten years or so, in fact from the time that he launched himself into the very successful Right to Information Movement with Aruna Roy and others and had started dreaming of a campaign against corruption in the government.

It was not surprising that when the India Against Corruption [IAC] movement-cum-NGO was formed, Abp Concessao found himself co-opted into the core committee, together with a few of his priests, convinced of the motives of the man. As a matter of fact, many of the early meetings of the Core committee were held in Catholic offices.

At that stage, perhaps, there was no need to examine or even suspect Kejriwal’s motives, intentions and ambitions. The national mood of euphoria had been set by the media, particularly the 24x7 telecast by the national English and Hindi satellite channels in metropolitan cities exhorting people to come to the rallies of the IAC. In those heady days of make-believe, it almost seemed the battle had been won against corruption and it was only a matter of days when the government collapsed, the prime minister capitulated to Hazare-Kejriwal-Kiran Bedi, corrupt politicians were arrested, officials sacked and the hundreds of billions of rupees in black money stacked away in Swiss banks was brought home to dispel gloom and poverty overnight. 

Those pleading caution and an ideological understanding were pushed to the margins. A few Jesuits who had seen through Kejriwal, people such as Fr. Ambrose Pinto of St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore, put their opinion into books, but without making a real impact on the church.

The first jolt was not far coming. The Hazare’s first rally at Delhi’s sprawling Ram Lila Grounds, even as the Archbishop and some of us sat on the stage, it was noticed that the backdrop had little to do with the battle against corruption and more to do with the sort of hyper nationalistic patriotism associated with the Sangh Parivar. The slogans matched the backdrop. The stage itself was monopolized by political ideologues who espoused that theology.

The Archbishop continued in the core committee but did not attend any more of similar public rallies. After some months, once the true colours of the Kejriwal gang became apparent, the Archbishop politely withdrew. There never was a question that his presence in the core committee would persuade Kejriwal to change strategies or even his acrid language. It is a moot question if IAC missed the presence of the major religious groups in it leadership in Delhi or in the few states where they were active.

Unlike Archbishop Vincent and some top leaders of the Federation of Catholic Associations of the Archdiocese, other Catholic and Protestant Bishops and Lay leaders were not on the scene at all. In hindsight, perhaps it was for the good, though at one time, the Catholic community in the city was being persuaded to be seen at Kejriwal’s and Hazare’s meetings and rallies at Jantar Mantar crossing on Parliament street in the national capital and other places.

This writer may be wrong, but Protestant Bishops were not members of the core committee, and neither did they exhort their communities to join the movement. The Evangelical and Pentecost church has not been a part of civil society action on most issues, and makes its presence felt specially in protests against the persecution of Christians in various parts of the country, or on issues relevant to their denominations.

Perhaps there is need even now for all church groups to come together and debate a response to the corruption that is sapping the nation’s strength and putting a strain on its economy. The Christian community and the church at large does indeed have a role as an important member of the national civil society and should contribute in some creative way to further the debate on the tackling of corruption in the nation.

If the Catholic Church leadership has been somewhat visible in the issue of national corruption, it is almost absolutely invisible in the debate on corruption within the church where the evangelical church has taken a collective lead.

It is not that there is no corruption within the Catholic church where the preoccupation with retaining the FCRA permits of various religious congregations, and the need to protect the interests of educational institutions have made the church vulnerable, and religious personnel vulnerable to demands of illegal gratification by officials of local and state governments.

There is also the matter of properties and financial administration in parishes and dioceses. There are issues both of Indian civil law and the Catholic Churches’ own Canon Law and Code of Canon [for the two Syrian churches] in terms of financial transparency. The life style of some in the clergy does invite comment, and large dioceses such as Mumbai, there have been open allegations against some priests of defalcation of parish funds, or their refusal to be answerable to anyone on the disposal of church collections. A canonical stipulation of lay and expert participation in financial committees is not observed in letter and spirit in many dioceses and within them, in many parishes. And though the Catholic Church is till buying properties to set up institutions, in some of the major dioceses, where there have been donations on land in the past two centuries, there are now allegations that the properties have been alienated in procedures that lack transparency.

In recent weeks, there have been important developments in the Catholic Church indicating a willingness to engage with the issue. The most important of these was the symposium organized by the Theological Association of India at Jullundur in Punjab in October this year, held at Bishop’s house with Bishop Anil Couto formally inaugurating the deliberations of 50 very eminent scholars from congregations, colleges and seminaries across the country. Participating in it were philosophers of the stature of Jesuit Fr. TK John. The symposium has seen a honest and sincere effort at understanding all facets of corruption, including the moral one relating to the Dalit issue in church and society on which Prof Fr. Ambrose Pinto held forth with some force.

The formal statement of the ITA symposium succinctly said the Catholic Church was aware of the impact of corruption on national life, and particularly the marginalised and the poor, Tribals and Dalits. The church recognised corruption both as a crime under the Indian laws, and a sin in the eyes of God. Religious communities of all faiths must come together to raise their voice against it. The ITA cautioned against politicisation and fragmentation of the struggle against corruption lest it dilute the impact. Corruption was also linked to the process of globalisation of the national economy. Women and children were the worst impacted.

The scholars are considering an action plan for the Church in India to spot and remove whatever corrupt practices may have entered institutions so that the Church can become an example to others in eliminating all forms of corruption.

Of great importance is the Operation Nehemiah exercise initiated by a section of the Evangelical churches under the   Lausanne Movement which has also seen remarkable participation by some catholic leaders and officials of the National Council of Churches and the Evangelical Fellowship of India. Some Bishops of the Syrian Churches also participated. The Catholic hierarchy was represented, in their personal capacity, in the thinking activity over the last year and a half.

The three cardinal principals of this exercise were a theological understanding of assets as being creation of God, vulnerability and temptation of church personnel and therefore the need for creating and putting in place systems of management and auditing. An important argument underpinning the exercise was the understanding that unlike criminal law, intention is not to merely punish but to offer an opportunity to the guilty to redeem themselves, most importantly through the promise of making good the loss, or what is called the principle of reparations. It was, of course, understood that at all times, the Church has a critical role in civil society as a part of the same society and it must have the courage to speak out and lead, and therefore like Caesar’s wife, it had to be clean itself.

The discussions were wide-ranging, and from all points of view – philosophical, technical, legal, spiritual. In fact at one stage, there was a serious if slightly hilarious debate if a confession of collective guilt in a Christian sort of way opened the person or institution to prosecution by law agencies of the government.

The end product of the exercise is the Operation Nehemiah Declaration against corruption, ONDAC, which is now in the public domain and is being presented to mainline and independent churches as a working paper to spark off a debater in various for a.

It remains to be seen if churches will unanimously adopt it, or will modify it to suit their own genius.

But it is an exercise that is well begun.

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Box item with John Dayal’s article on corruption

Operation Nehemiah Declaration against Corruption (ONDAC)

Bengaluru, September 2011

Introduction:

A gathering of concerned Christians in leadership in the Church in India in all its glorious diversity, took place on the 2^nd of September 2011, at Bengaluru, as a part of the Operation Nehemiah Movement, to be “salt and light of society.” The gathering recalled the remarkable contribution that the Church and her institutions have made to the development of India, besides discussing issues of financial corruption in the country and the Church, while grieving with its victims on the margins. 

Affirmation

Giving praise to God the creator, redeemer and sustainer, we, in faith, affirm that:

1.     God invites us as the Church in India to participate in the building of our nation and calling her to be true to the national motto of Satyamev Jayate (truth alone triumphs).

2.     God is the rightful owner of all land and natural resources. Every man and woman, individually and collectively has been appointed as the steward, finally accountable to God. 

3.     We acknowledge that God gives all positions of leadership and authority for the purpose of service and governance. We believe that God has created men and women in his image and likeness, so they have life and fullness of life.

4.     The mission of the Church includes being witnesses to the Good News, freeing the oppressed and creating a just and corruption-free society, so that all will enjoy abundant life. The Church, in theology and practice should transform the lives of people, so that everyone experiences the will and purposes of God on earth.

5.     Domains of power, position and authority expressed through structure and systems in society and the Church, are particularly susceptible to the temptation of corruption, leading to inequality, injustice, manipulation and oppression.

6.     Financial corruption in all its forms is not acceptable to the Church and society under any circumstances.

Confession

Christians have always recognized that confession and repentance of our sins is an integral part of our reconciliation with God and with one another. In accordance with that belief and in faithfulness to the teachings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that we should first remove the “plank in our own eyes,” we repent and confess the sin of corruption in our personal lives, Church and nation, which has tainted our love for God.

Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servants are praying before you. Almighty and most merciful Father we lower our heads before you and we confess that we have sinned in thought word and deed. We confess that we have not always been good financial stewards. Instead, we have often exploited and appropriated God’s assets for our own selfish advantage. We have failed to consistently demonstrate a sense of responsibility and accountability. Honesty, truth and integrity have tended to become negotiable values. We have not always acted justly towards each other and have sinned against God the provider. We have left undone those things, which we ought to have done; and we have done those things, which we ought not to have done. For these things we ask your forgiveness and we also ask for your strength.

Set us free from a past that we cannot change; open to us a future in which we can be changed to always live with honesty, truth and integrity. Grant us grace to grow more and more in your likeness and image, through Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Amen.

Commitment

With God as our helper

1.     We desire to overcome the sin of financial corruption by submitting to the supreme authority of Christ and follow His example of justice, righteousness, humility and sacrificial service.

2.     We will continually examine and radically change our lives in response to God’s indignation at the state-of-affairs and His redemptive desire for all creation.

3.     We resolve to be honest stewards of God-given resources, willingly submitting to appropriate scrutiny and correction, adopting good governance, and conducting self-critical review of our practices, to encourage responsible behavior for financial integrity.

4.     We are committed to upholding the highest levels of integrity in all our financial interactions with society at large.

5.     We do not encourage any irregular financial transaction with any organization or body - governmental or otherwise.

6.     We commit to making and working with institutions that uphold the highest standards of financial accountability and transparency.

7.     We commit to encouraging awareness and vigilance regarding bribery and unethical financial practices. 

8.     We commit to working towards an India that is transparent and without corruption.

9.     We will work with other movements at every level to respond to the issues of Financial Corruption, to express God’s presence with, and love for the victims of financial corruption.

10.  As a community that lives under the grace, forgiveness and redemptive power of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are committed to enabling healing and reconciliation for those who repent of acts of financial corruption.

In obedience to God we, individually and collectively, strive to remove corruption from Church and society, thus providing avenues of healing, reparation and redemption, which leads to restoration of the body of Christ, our nation and all of creation. 

India must honour its international commitments on Freedom of Faith

India must  honour its international obligations on real Freedom of Religion

JOHN DAYAL

Barring  a  Jesuit here or a Religious Sister there,  all  individuals, the Church in India seems rapidly withrawing from social action in the country, specially action which smacks of anything political.  As seen in the aftermath of the Koodamkulam anti-nuclear plant movement, the Government of India has beaten the church into submission by unleashing the full horror of itss power to suspend the Foreign Contribution permit of the diocese and several non government organisations in the district and the state.

Such action not only silences the voice of the people and restricts constitutional gurantees of freedom of speech and of association, it also allows the goveernment to get away with murder  -- the mruder of civil liberties in the country – knowing there will be little or no protest.  This gives a pungent edge to the government’s refusal to acknowledge that there is something seriously wrong with the implementation of human rights and civil liberties, including the freedom of faith, in the Indian landmass, cutting across the political divide.

This perhaps was the reason that the Church, incluiding the Catholic Church, was not active during the process of India’s Universal Peridoic Review at Geneva under thed aegis of the United nations Human Rights Council from March to September end this year. India’s living in a state of denial was the most evident in this UPR. Every member country of the United Nations undergoes this process once every four years, opening itself up to scrutiny of the world on its human rights record, specially with respect to rights it has pledged to implement by signing the international treaties and protocols, such as Freedom of Religion and Faith, gender rights  and such like.

Away from the glare of India Shining and the so called high growth – now more honestly at less than 7 per cent annually, far away from the fabled 9 per cent it had been speaking of for the last five years -- India does abysmally on the rights of women and children, even on freedom of speech. Its worst records are on racism, as the Dalit issue is seen  internationally, on issues of freedom of religion, and on torture. India, indeed, has not signed  the international  protocols on torture.

These were pointed out to India by ambassasors of various countries that cross examined it in Geneva. The Indian government delegation, led no less than by Attorney General Vahanvati, acccepted a few suggestions, but out of hand rejected or remained silent on most others. As some international agencies pointed out after the UPR process was over, India deliberately ignored urgent international and entreaties for an early enactment of laws against communal and targetted violence, an abrogation of the so called Freedom of Religion legislation several states, and accepting the long-pending demand of Dalit Christians for their Constitutional rights.

The Government of India’s  response to the 169 recommendations of the UNHRC reflected a pattern of only accepting recommendations that were generalized and broadly worded, lacking a targeted course of action directed to tackle discrimination and specific human rights challenges. Recommendations pertaining to specific as well as serious human rights issues were rejected, despite the Council’s expressed concern.

India has not accepted recommendations asking to create a comprehensive framework to deal effectively with the particular circumstances of communal or targeted violence.  The government says communal violence is only a sporadic problem. The religious minorities contest this argument as they continue to be violently attacked in a number of states. As we have seen in Kandhamal and Karnataka specially, victims  are also not able to access justice. And this situation, the Christian community specially fears, will continue to be repeated in future unless some immediate steps are taken by the government to prevent and pre-empt acts of communal violence.

Church groups in India have  urged  the government to bring forth the Bill  on prevention of Communal and Targetted Violence, including issues of compensation rehabilitation, and reparation, at the earliest. Such a Bill was drafted by the National Advisory Council in 2011 and given to the government. This Bill has been put in cold storage specially after Hindu groups and political groups such as Bharatiya Janata Party mounted a well orchestrated campaign, reviling the proposed law as specifically targetting the Hindu community in the country, despite explanations that it would protect Hindus in states such as Jammu and Kashmir and Mizoram where they too were a demographic minority. Christian and Muslim groups are pressing the draft legislation should be taken out, refined in consonance with principles of federalism, and enacted as law to effectively bring an end to communal strife which has ravaged this country in the last six decades.  Arguably, the situation in Kandhamal, both the violence, the shoddy rehabilitation programme and the lack of justice, could have been avoided if such a law was in place.

The Christian community, cutting across denominational lines, has also been pressing for a long time that the federal Government take necessary legislative and  legal steps to recall the so called Freedom of Religion Acts promulgated in several states. These Acts are being used to harass and intimidate religious minorities, and in particular the Christian Community and their  pastors, house churches and community gatherings. The law is strongly backed by the BJP and what is called the Sangh Parivar, the motley group consisting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s right wing hyper nationalist, organisations. But it also has the backing of a section of the Congress – specially in the Indo-Gangetic plains of northern and Central India which are politically important.

It does seem an uphill task on these two, but Christian activists remain hopeful that a well thought out national and international advocacy programme can get them the  support of a very large segment of India’s secular population which  has been repelled by the many acts of violence targetting the Sikhs, in 1984, and the Muslims and Christians over many decades.