ALL IN THE NAME OF SECURIITY FOR?
After a period of more than a year, I visited Jaffna on the 28th June, 2007. The situation is totally different from what I have experienced during the last four years. The new experience has created in me lot of anger, frustration and helplessness.
I was asked to report to the air port at 10 am. I traveled by JRS vehicle and on the Ratmalana Air port road, I was stopped and the vehicle was sent back by the army security personal. In the road check point the tickets and the luggage were checked thoroughly and we were asked to hand over the cell phones and the cameras. After that we were boarded in the army bus. The army bus took us to the Airport. In the air port again the same process continued by the air force. We got into the aircraft only around 2.30 pm. We reached Palaly air port around 3.45 pm. In Palaly airport, we were interviewed personally and photographed by the air force. We were boarded in a small 16 seater mini bus with windows closed and painted red color. Around 40 of us traveled for 30 minutes to reach beyond the High Security zone. From there we were boarded into another bus. This bus took us to the Jaffna town. It was almost 6. Pm. Most of them were scared and they wanted to leave the town immediately because the curfew start at 7 pm. In my case and some others we did not receive our luggage.
“The message is clear, you are not wanted, you are not our people and you are our enemy. Most of their behaviors are tuned to humiliate you and make you feel miserable” After 7 pm you are a prisoner in your own house.
The next day morning around 6.30 am we left for Chahavacheri. The road leading to the church was blocked and there was rounding up operation. “The round up operation: The army cordoned the whole area and checks all the inmates of the houses and then they were brought to a ground and identity parade in front of some people with mask. The masked man if they nod their head when some body is passing him, he is taken by the army.”
In Chahavacheri we met JRS teachers of that area and evaluated our education work. From there we went to visit our education project site near Muhamalai point. Since the school is inside the High Security Zone, the students have no place so the teachers conduct the classes in the church, houses and under the trees.
JRS has put up a semi permanent hall for the class room. The staffs and the students were so happy when we went to inaugurate the building. Now at least they have decent place to sit and study.
We are also conducting pre school for the children. JRS has taken care of the children with nutritious meal and supplied uniforms.
The place was volatile when we passed Chahavacheri there was a claymore attack, luckily no body was injured and we saw two holy family sisters moving for safety and we took them in our van and reached them to their convent.
From there we traveled to Manalkaddu welfare camp, the houses of these people are occupied by the army and the people are kept in the camp. The access to this camp was completely denied to all the NGO’s and outsiders. We went in as priests and supervised our education work in the camps.
The time was almost 4 pm and we decided to cancel the next program, meeting the widow’s development unit, since the army conveys starts around 4.30 pm. If we were caught in the road we had to wait for another two hours and then the curfew and we may not reach our house at all.
On the 30th we traveled towards Point Pedro to meet the widows and the scholarship children. These are the widows who have lost their husband during the lost six months. They were all shot dead by the army or by the riders of the field bike.
“The term field bike is very common in Jaffna. One can see the bikes very common in the Jaffna road without any number plates. The residents of Jaffna are really afraid of these riders in the field bike. No body knows who these people are?. People have seen these bikes moving in and out of the army camps.”
In our meeting one of the widows shared with us how her husband was shot dead. “We were traveling in a bicycle with our two year old child. We heard the bike sound and the next thing we heard was the bullet sound and it ripped open the head of my child and the next bullet hit my husband and both of them died on the spot. All these happened with in few seconds and there was no trace of the bike.” There are so many cases like that and still there tears have not dried from their eyes. I could do nothing except listening to them and crying to Lord, Lord why have you forsaken these people?
During the five days of my stay more than 8 people were shot dead. In the day light and in public the petrol station owner and his son were shot dead in the main road close to the army camp. I don’t think we can record all the human rights violations in Jaffna. Most of the NGO’s have left Jaffna, only the church groups and UN groups are doing some work.
After that we visited some of the education projects. This is one of our children home in Achuveli where we keep the orphan children. As it is taken care by the Apostolic Carmel sisters the children are happy and doing well.
In spite of the security problem some 80 young girls attended the follow up meeting of our Life Skill Center. Two of our girls have lost their life. One died of shelling and the other lost her life when trying to save her husband from the bullet. We have to learn from these girls how to live in the midst of adversity. Their courage and convictions are beyond our expectations. Fifteen of these girls work with us in our production center to make nutritious meal and to stitch uniforms. Another 100 young girls are benefited through our 4 tailoring centers.
We also had the chance to meet our JRS teachers and a staff from the education department. The staff from the education department shared with us the reality of the situation and his insights about one Divisional area of Jaffna.
• Instead of 196 school days the most of the schools functioned only for 90 days
• Because of round up and convey movements teachers do not come to the school regularly.
• There are 87 pre schools in one Division with 140 teachers and only one Pre School has good building.
• Lack of facilities and stationeries.
• Only 18 % passed in the English in the O/L examination. The percentage of pass in science and math’s also very less.
• No evening tuition centers
• At times the teachers attended school in nightie because there was no soap to wash their saris.
• There are 11 displaced schools now operating in houses, sheds and churches.
• It is systematic and planned way of destroying our education system
• JRS accompanying the education of these children is a great strength for us.
People are slaves in their own land. Every day 10 hours curfew and 4 hours army convey and 14 hours of your time has been stolen by some body else. They are angry and frustrated because they are not the masters of their own destiny. Any body moving out of Jaffna has to get army clearance and it is not easy get it. People and children are very submissive out side but very violent in the houses and schools. People are seeing in front of their own eyes the much valued culture and education are getting destroyed. The once so called great Jaffna culture is disintegrating. This is what the present government wanted to achieve and I hope in a few years they will do it successfully. Every body including the bishop, priests and the intellectuals feel it but unable to do anything to stop it. The situation is eating your bones and making you sick. What the future holds for Jaffna?
God only knows.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
THE STATEMENT OF
THE JESUIT MADURAI PROVINCE ASSEMBLY HELD
AT ST. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE, TIRUCHIRAPALLI
ON 27–28 DECEMBER 2008
TOWARDS COMMUNION WITH MOTHER EARTH IN
HUMAN SOLIDARITY
The Context
We stand at a critical moment of Earth’s history and we perceive more clearly than ever before that Mother Earth is groaning under the impact of environmental degradation. We also note with grave concern that Mother India is being subjected to the onslaught of communalism, fomented and nurtured by the Hindutva forces.
We realize that in this context of very grave threats to ecology and human solidarity, the religious minorities, women and children, the poor and the marginalized, particularly, Dalits and Adivasis, whom we have preferentially opted to serve are the most affected. We, the Jesuits of Madurai Province, in the light of the challenges of our General Congregation 35 (GC 35), rededicate ourselves in the spirit of the Ignatian magis to the service of the poor and the marginalized with renewed social responsibility and firm determination to face the twin challenges of environmental restoration and communal harmony together with our partners and all people of good will.
Promoting Ecological Justice
The cry of the wounded Mother Earth caused by the unprecedented environmental destruction through depletion of natural resources, desertification, global warming, pollution and widespread displacement of people caused by ill-conceived developmental initiatives is echoed across the universe (GC35 D3/33). This denial of ecological justice caused by the profit-driven capitalist and consumerist culture and the impact of globalization further aggravate the untold sufferings of the poor and the marginalized. They get systematically excluded from their means of livelihood and are being even displaced to the extent of becoming forced migrants in their own land (GC 35 D3/39v). In fact, the very survival of the earth community is being endangered. This calls for urgent intervention with effective advocacy to restore the environment as the sacramental site of salvation (GC 35 D3/35). Ecological justice demands a just sharing of the cost of restoring the environment by developed economies in proportion to the magnitude of damage caused.
Taking an earth-affirming stand, we realize, at the same time, that there can be no global or environmental ecology without upholding human ecology which calls for restoring the human dignity and equality of all people created by one and the same God.
Celebrating Diversity-in-Unity
In today’s global context of growing fundamentalist ideologies based on religion, the secular and pluralistic image of our own country is being tarnished with ever increasing virulence by fascist Hindutva forces. The equation of Indian national identity with a Hindu religious identity and the claim of monopoly over the nation’s cultural heritage sow seeds of fragmentation instigating organized hate campaigns and heartless terrorism. Religion is used as a weapon with a hidden and sinister political and economic agenda of perpetuating the present system of caste hegemony. The recent communal attacks in Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other parts of India bear witness to it. Here again, the poor and the marginalized become the easy victims of the well-orchestrated violence.
The victims themselves as well as the leaders of democratic institutions and the media are subjected to and at times are carried away by the insidious, ideological propaganda of the Hindutva forces. We need to counter this. We should not be mute and passive spectators to the violation of human rights in our country but act as a protest force raising our voices unitedly against such inhuman acts. In this context, we pledge to promote the culture of dialogue and reconciliation across various sections of our country appreciating pluralism. We hope thus to build up a harmonious and equitable society which upholds the inalienable human rights and dignity of all (GC 35 D3/22).
Journeying Together
We acknowledge humbly that our response so far to the ecological disaster and the onslaught of fundamentalism has been minimal and uncoordinated. We are grateful to all people who, with their enduring search for human dignity, permit us to accompany them in this historical striving for eco-restoration and human solidarity. We look forward to collaborate and network with the vast array of people’s movements, human rights associations, NGOs, political parties and religious leaders that are willing to cast their lot with our “option people” who are affected.
We derive our confidence and inner strength from the fact that we in our efforts would be collaborating with the God of History who is ever present and labouring in creation (Spiritual Exercises 236) and human society to bring everything together into perfect unity (Eph.1,10). “Into that haven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!” (Rabindranath Tagore).
Strategic Action
While making relentless efforts at greening the environment and creating the culture of dialogue and reconciliation we need to bear in mind the following perspectives:
• It is 60 years since the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ensuring its implementation is our objective and we will do it in the spirit of the UN-proclaimed International Year of Reconciliation, 2009.
• Inclusiveness, interconnectedness and interdependence have to permeate all our perceptions and actions. We have to forswear every form of domination. On the other hand, we must celebrate the organic link between nature and culture, microcosm and macrocosm, individual and society.
• As citizens of India we have to claim the civil space with its constitutional guarantees enabling us to claim our rights (freedom of belief and speech, freedom from fear and want, faith in the dignity and worth of human person and the promotion of universal respect).
• Political issues are to be encountered basically on a political platform. However, our political action must be inspired by ethical principles.
• We have to keep our “option people” at the centre of all our efforts and fight for sustainable development, democratization of the economy and self-determination of the poor and marginalized.
• We must maintain accountability regarding our action plans.
Action plans
Province-Level Commitments
• Constitute at the province level a Commission for environmental ministry and a Taskforce to initiate and sustain our efforts in combating communalism.
• Encourage and promote advocacy with well-documented data on ecological concerns and communal harmony.
• Prepare personnel for environmental ministry.
• Conduct regular eco-audit of campuses and ministries.
• Fight against global warming; plan, execute monitor and evaluate ecology projects sector-wise.
• Plant indigenous trees and promote of afforestation in our campuses and land holdings.
• Encourage organic farming, vermi-composting and the use of bio-pesticides.
• Promote the use of herbal and indigenous systems of medicine.
• Foster during formation eco-spirituality and an involvement in interfaith dialogue.
• Encourage pastors in parishes to promote eco-consciousness and our tertiary level institutions including faculties of Philosophy and Theology to bring out publications on ecological issues and communal harmony.
• Organize events to mark the year 2009 as the International Year of Reconciliation.
• In all our institutions and ministries organize an Ecology and Harmony Day and conduct meaningful programmmes.
Work/Institution/Community-related Commitments
• Persistent campaigns for ensuring that the natural resources are accessible to our people
against unjust allocation of land to the SEZs at the cost of the rural poor/dalits against alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse.
• Continued interdisciplinary research supported by communication networks to sustain all our efforts.
• Sensitizing our collaborators over the urgency of intervention.
• Social monitoring and lobbying for people-friendly priorities as opposed to corporate-friendly priorities.
• Revamping our value education to include eco-consciousness and communal harmony.
• Keeping campuses clean, green and plastic/polythene-free.
• Adopting effective waste management and recycling.
• Phasing out incandescent bulbs and geezers and phasing in energy efficient CFL bulbs and electrical appliances.
• Maximizing the use of solar energy and minimizing the reliance on non-renewable energy sources.
• Sustainable and frugal use of water, rain water harvesting, and waste water management.
• Budgetary provision for promoting eco-consciousness.
• Active involvement of our institutions in the training given by the Anglade Institute, Shembaganur.
• Effective implementation of the 4R’s to avoid environmental degradation:
1. Refuse things which spoil the environment
2. Reduce things that harm the environment
3. Reuse things to minimize wastage
4. Recycle things to safeguard natural resources
• Summer camps/programmes on ecology and fundamentalism.
• Concerted efforts at countering and exposing the false propaganda of the communal forces.
• Preventive, proactive and post-active campaigns and legal interventions.
• Networking and issue-based collaboration in ecological restoration and communal harmony with civil society, like-minded orgnizations/groups and people’s movements.
• Talks by eminent leaders and scholars of different religions, reactivation and expansion of Thiruvarul Peravai.
• Introspection into personal and communitarian ecology and attitudes towards other religions.
• Focus community worship and common prayer on interfaith dimension and eco-themes (Spiritual Exercises, 60 and 230-237)
Personal Commitments
• Develop respect for mother earth and adopt eco-friendly lifestyle (limiting use of water, electricity, vehicles and plastics).
• Sustain interest in ecological issues and communal harmony.
• Create and promote awareness on ecology and communal harmony among ourselves through various effective means of communication including email.
THE JESUIT MADURAI PROVINCE ASSEMBLY HELD
AT ST. JOSEPH’S COLLEGE, TIRUCHIRAPALLI
ON 27–28 DECEMBER 2008
TOWARDS COMMUNION WITH MOTHER EARTH IN
HUMAN SOLIDARITY
The Context
We stand at a critical moment of Earth’s history and we perceive more clearly than ever before that Mother Earth is groaning under the impact of environmental degradation. We also note with grave concern that Mother India is being subjected to the onslaught of communalism, fomented and nurtured by the Hindutva forces.
We realize that in this context of very grave threats to ecology and human solidarity, the religious minorities, women and children, the poor and the marginalized, particularly, Dalits and Adivasis, whom we have preferentially opted to serve are the most affected. We, the Jesuits of Madurai Province, in the light of the challenges of our General Congregation 35 (GC 35), rededicate ourselves in the spirit of the Ignatian magis to the service of the poor and the marginalized with renewed social responsibility and firm determination to face the twin challenges of environmental restoration and communal harmony together with our partners and all people of good will.
Promoting Ecological Justice
The cry of the wounded Mother Earth caused by the unprecedented environmental destruction through depletion of natural resources, desertification, global warming, pollution and widespread displacement of people caused by ill-conceived developmental initiatives is echoed across the universe (GC35 D3/33). This denial of ecological justice caused by the profit-driven capitalist and consumerist culture and the impact of globalization further aggravate the untold sufferings of the poor and the marginalized. They get systematically excluded from their means of livelihood and are being even displaced to the extent of becoming forced migrants in their own land (GC 35 D3/39v). In fact, the very survival of the earth community is being endangered. This calls for urgent intervention with effective advocacy to restore the environment as the sacramental site of salvation (GC 35 D3/35). Ecological justice demands a just sharing of the cost of restoring the environment by developed economies in proportion to the magnitude of damage caused.
Taking an earth-affirming stand, we realize, at the same time, that there can be no global or environmental ecology without upholding human ecology which calls for restoring the human dignity and equality of all people created by one and the same God.
Celebrating Diversity-in-Unity
In today’s global context of growing fundamentalist ideologies based on religion, the secular and pluralistic image of our own country is being tarnished with ever increasing virulence by fascist Hindutva forces. The equation of Indian national identity with a Hindu religious identity and the claim of monopoly over the nation’s cultural heritage sow seeds of fragmentation instigating organized hate campaigns and heartless terrorism. Religion is used as a weapon with a hidden and sinister political and economic agenda of perpetuating the present system of caste hegemony. The recent communal attacks in Gujarat, Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other parts of India bear witness to it. Here again, the poor and the marginalized become the easy victims of the well-orchestrated violence.
The victims themselves as well as the leaders of democratic institutions and the media are subjected to and at times are carried away by the insidious, ideological propaganda of the Hindutva forces. We need to counter this. We should not be mute and passive spectators to the violation of human rights in our country but act as a protest force raising our voices unitedly against such inhuman acts. In this context, we pledge to promote the culture of dialogue and reconciliation across various sections of our country appreciating pluralism. We hope thus to build up a harmonious and equitable society which upholds the inalienable human rights and dignity of all (GC 35 D3/22).
Journeying Together
We acknowledge humbly that our response so far to the ecological disaster and the onslaught of fundamentalism has been minimal and uncoordinated. We are grateful to all people who, with their enduring search for human dignity, permit us to accompany them in this historical striving for eco-restoration and human solidarity. We look forward to collaborate and network with the vast array of people’s movements, human rights associations, NGOs, political parties and religious leaders that are willing to cast their lot with our “option people” who are affected.
We derive our confidence and inner strength from the fact that we in our efforts would be collaborating with the God of History who is ever present and labouring in creation (Spiritual Exercises 236) and human society to bring everything together into perfect unity (Eph.1,10). “Into that haven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake!” (Rabindranath Tagore).
Strategic Action
While making relentless efforts at greening the environment and creating the culture of dialogue and reconciliation we need to bear in mind the following perspectives:
• It is 60 years since the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ensuring its implementation is our objective and we will do it in the spirit of the UN-proclaimed International Year of Reconciliation, 2009.
• Inclusiveness, interconnectedness and interdependence have to permeate all our perceptions and actions. We have to forswear every form of domination. On the other hand, we must celebrate the organic link between nature and culture, microcosm and macrocosm, individual and society.
• As citizens of India we have to claim the civil space with its constitutional guarantees enabling us to claim our rights (freedom of belief and speech, freedom from fear and want, faith in the dignity and worth of human person and the promotion of universal respect).
• Political issues are to be encountered basically on a political platform. However, our political action must be inspired by ethical principles.
• We have to keep our “option people” at the centre of all our efforts and fight for sustainable development, democratization of the economy and self-determination of the poor and marginalized.
• We must maintain accountability regarding our action plans.
Action plans
Province-Level Commitments
• Constitute at the province level a Commission for environmental ministry and a Taskforce to initiate and sustain our efforts in combating communalism.
• Encourage and promote advocacy with well-documented data on ecological concerns and communal harmony.
• Prepare personnel for environmental ministry.
• Conduct regular eco-audit of campuses and ministries.
• Fight against global warming; plan, execute monitor and evaluate ecology projects sector-wise.
• Plant indigenous trees and promote of afforestation in our campuses and land holdings.
• Encourage organic farming, vermi-composting and the use of bio-pesticides.
• Promote the use of herbal and indigenous systems of medicine.
• Foster during formation eco-spirituality and an involvement in interfaith dialogue.
• Encourage pastors in parishes to promote eco-consciousness and our tertiary level institutions including faculties of Philosophy and Theology to bring out publications on ecological issues and communal harmony.
• Organize events to mark the year 2009 as the International Year of Reconciliation.
• In all our institutions and ministries organize an Ecology and Harmony Day and conduct meaningful programmmes.
Work/Institution/Community-related Commitments
• Persistent campaigns for ensuring that the natural resources are accessible to our people
against unjust allocation of land to the SEZs at the cost of the rural poor/dalits against alcohol, tobacco and drug abuse.
• Continued interdisciplinary research supported by communication networks to sustain all our efforts.
• Sensitizing our collaborators over the urgency of intervention.
• Social monitoring and lobbying for people-friendly priorities as opposed to corporate-friendly priorities.
• Revamping our value education to include eco-consciousness and communal harmony.
• Keeping campuses clean, green and plastic/polythene-free.
• Adopting effective waste management and recycling.
• Phasing out incandescent bulbs and geezers and phasing in energy efficient CFL bulbs and electrical appliances.
• Maximizing the use of solar energy and minimizing the reliance on non-renewable energy sources.
• Sustainable and frugal use of water, rain water harvesting, and waste water management.
• Budgetary provision for promoting eco-consciousness.
• Active involvement of our institutions in the training given by the Anglade Institute, Shembaganur.
• Effective implementation of the 4R’s to avoid environmental degradation:
1. Refuse things which spoil the environment
2. Reduce things that harm the environment
3. Reuse things to minimize wastage
4. Recycle things to safeguard natural resources
• Summer camps/programmes on ecology and fundamentalism.
• Concerted efforts at countering and exposing the false propaganda of the communal forces.
• Preventive, proactive and post-active campaigns and legal interventions.
• Networking and issue-based collaboration in ecological restoration and communal harmony with civil society, like-minded orgnizations/groups and people’s movements.
• Talks by eminent leaders and scholars of different religions, reactivation and expansion of Thiruvarul Peravai.
• Introspection into personal and communitarian ecology and attitudes towards other religions.
• Focus community worship and common prayer on interfaith dimension and eco-themes (Spiritual Exercises, 60 and 230-237)
Personal Commitments
• Develop respect for mother earth and adopt eco-friendly lifestyle (limiting use of water, electricity, vehicles and plastics).
• Sustain interest in ecological issues and communal harmony.
• Create and promote awareness on ecology and communal harmony among ourselves through various effective means of communication including email.
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