tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-156083352024-03-28T20:29:32.258-07:00Human Rights India<BIG>Every Human Has A Right</BIG>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger837125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-2942164471503718132016-01-16T04:33:00.000-08:002016-01-16T04:33:05.349-08:00MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES CHALLENGE US! by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES CHALLENGE US!</span></b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">January
17<sup>th</sup></span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
is designated as the ‘<b>World Day of
Migrants and Refugees’</b>. The theme
this year is ‘Migrants and refugees challenge us. The response of the Gospel of
Mercy’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Writing on the theme Pope Francis
states, “<i><span style="background: white;">In our time, migration is growing worldwide. Refugees and
people fleeing from their homes challenge individuals and communities, and
their traditional ways of life; at times they upset the cultural and social
horizons which they encounter. Increasingly, the victims of violence and
poverty, leaving their homelands, are exploited by human traffickers during
their journey towards the dream of a better future. If they survive the abuses
and hardships of the journey, they then have to face latent suspicions and
fear. In the end, they frequently encounter a lack of clear and practical
policies regulating the acceptance of migrants and providing for short or long
term programmes of integration respectful of the rights and duties of all. Today,
more than in the past, the Gospel of mercy troubles our consciences, prevents
us from taking the suffering of others for granted, and points out way of
responding which, grounded in the theological virtues of faith, hope and
charity, find practical expression in works of spiritual and corporal mercy</span></i></span><span style="background: white; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In one stroke, we are challenged by the painful
reality of the refugees of today and at the same time we are made to realise
that we have but no choice but to do all we can to address one of the most
serious problems of our world today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When Angela Merkel the Chancellor of
Germany threw open the doors of Germany (and also of Europe) to the refugees
who were coming en masse to Germany, there was a natural wave of resentment
from several of her country men and women and also from other parts of Europe.
She did not relent; though in recent days there are reports that she is slowly
giving in “to public pressure”. On the other hand, we have a man like US Presidential
hopeful Donald Trump who over and over again states that Muslim refugees should
not be allowed into United States. The irony is that his ratings go up in the
United States which is sworn to principles of democracy, equality and dignity
of all men and women. Fortunately, Pope Francis has become a beacon of hope not
only for refugees but for all men and women; some months ago he strongly
expressed his desire that every Catholic Parish of Europe adopt at least one
refugee family. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The refugee crisis today cannot be seen
in isolation of powerful lobbies and other vested interests. The arms and ammunition industry plays a
crucial role and so do mercenaries of every hue. There is very little political will in the
world today to address the endemic causes of the refugee crisis; Pope Francis
reminds us that these root causes include discrimination, racism, extreme
nationalism and xenophobia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is important therefore that on a day
dedicated to migrants and refugees, we commit ourselves whole-heartedly to
address their plight and do all we can to ensure that our world becomes more
humane, more just and more merciful for all – particularly to the migrants and
refugees!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">16<sup>th</sup>
January, 2016 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">* (<b>Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ</b> is the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights,
Justice and Peace.)</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Address: ‘PRASHANT’,
Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Phone:
(079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018 <br />
Email: </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com138tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-32641639963274635012016-01-13T09:08:00.001-08:002016-01-13T09:08:09.628-08:00THE PULSE OF THE PEOPLE by Fr Cedric Prakash sj (in Smart COMPANION , January2013)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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THE PULSE OF THE PEOPLE</h1>
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Pulses are staple food for the poor. They have<br />a right to get it at affordable price.</div>
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In 2013, the United Nations declared the year 2016 as ‘The International Year of Pulses’ (IYP 2016). When it did so, several eyebrows were raised. ‘Why is an international year dedicated to pulses when there are many other serious problems plaguing the world today?’ The answer is obvious. The unpretentious pulse has a lot to do with the poor. It is indeed a mandatory part of their daily diet and without at least a small intake a fairly large section of those who live below the poverty line will find it difficult even to survive.</div>
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In India, in the past year, pulses have been a bone of contention. In a lead article entitled ‘While dhal prices have doubled: here’s the math’ (TOI, October 17th 2015) the author writes, “Where does a 12% decline translate as 100% increase? In the bizarre world of India’s food math. Production of pulses slipped down by 12% in 2014-15 compared to the previous year. As a result, price of this essential item has zoomed up more than 100% across the country”. For the ordinary person, this sky-rocketing rise in prices, which the Government has been unable to control, has meant a severe blow. Some years ago, the rise in the cost of onions became a political weapon and even led to the fall of certain State Governments. The ordinary pulse is slowly becoming ‘the pulse of the people’ and has the potential of becoming yet another political weapon in India.</div>
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The question one needs to ask is “What are pulses and why are they important?” In an introduction to the IYP 2016, the United Nations says, “Pulses are annual leguminous crops yielding between one and 12 grains or seeds of variable size, shape and colour within a pod, used for both food and feed. Pulse crops such as lentils, beans, peas and chickpeas are a critical part of the general food basket. Pulses are a vital source of plant-based proteins and amino acids for people around the globe and should be eaten as part of a healthy diet to address obesity, as well as to prevent and help manage chronic diseases such as diabetes, coronary conditions and cancer; they are also an important source of plant-based protein for animals. In addition, pulses are leguminous plants that have nitrogen-fixing properties which can contribute to increasing soil fertility and have a positive impact on the environment.”<br />Pulses therefore:</div>
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• are nutrient dense, a good source of non-animal protein, and very high in fibre than any other vegetable</div>
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• use half the non-renewable energy inputs of other crops</div>
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• are a low carbon footprint food and improve the sustainability of cropping system</div>
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One also needs to visit the objectives of the International Year of Pulses which include:</div>
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• increase in pulse production by small land holders / women farmers to improve food security in high risk areas</div>
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• increase global awareness / interest of consumers, governments, food industry and NGOs in pulses and their health, nutrition and environmentally sustainable benefits</div>
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• develop an internationally coordinated health and nutrition research strategy through engagement with governments, researchers, NGOs, associations, etc</div>
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• improve the regulatory framework in which trade occurs to enhance food security and reduce price volatility</div>
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• improve production performance (yield, disease control, variety availability, etc) so that pulses can contribute to sustainable development of cropping systems around the world<br />There are several factors which are responsible for the rise of pulses in India today; these include:</div>
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• an increase in the demand for protein-enriched food</div>
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• the fact that several farmers are opting to cultivate and produce cash crops rather than pulses</div>
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• the Government has no effective price support mechanism for pulses</div>
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• there is an improper management and distribution of these essential commodities</div>
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• rampant corruption caused by hoarding by traders to increase their profits</div>
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• there is gross supply chain mismanagement</div>
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• and finally, the Government does not seem to have the political will to check the rising prices of pulses and ensure that at least the poor and the marginalised of the country have a basic nutrient in their daily diet<br />Given the growing global concern for the environment, pulses are generally regarded as environment-friendly food because they require minimal processing and no refrigeration which limits natural resource consumption in the later stages of the food supply chain. Pulses can be stored normally for several months and sometimes even for years without spoiling or losing its nutritional value. This can reduce the likelihood of consumer food waste due to spoilage and make pulses a really good choice for households which suffer from food insecurity. Above all, even when cooking pulses consume far less water than meat.</div>
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Many of the world’s poor have little or no choice with regard to food. Millions in India have to subsist on rice and/or rotis (chapattis), make do with a little dhal ensure that they are able to survive. When pulses go beyond the reach of these poor, we are not merely taking away what is rightfully theirs but in more ways than one hampering their growth and even perhaps survival. Having felt the pulse of the people, we need to realise that what is happening in our world today like the scarcity of pulses in India, is something to be deeply concerned about.</div>
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In ‘Laudato Si’ Pope Francis reminds us, “For poor countries, the priorities must be to eliminate extreme poverty and to promote the social development of their people. At the same time, they need to acknowledge the scandalous level of consumption in some privileged sectors of their population and to combat corruption more effectively” (#172); but, are we interested?</div>
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In this International Year of Pulses, the least that many of us can do is to ensure that the poor of our country have at least a cup full of pulse as their daily bread!</div>
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Cedric Prakash SJ<br />Director, PRASHANT<br />Ahmedabad</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-22833718401571223232015-12-31T03:54:00.001-08:002015-12-31T03:54:10.055-08:00LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER YEAR! by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER YEAR!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As another year - 2015 - slowly slips
into history, it’s a good time to look forward to a brand new year: <b>2016</b> and the promise it holds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxb31QwgQQaCzZaohQjnPSwCywklG0J0Szqx8vhDXbbV_x91bjzADDz6ZIL4mc_EoGY4RHVkaFvflKzEQxJMR7RmWL7Gd1ixIZU1cBjaJjtUr8dsrnKg3tD0bXdCME4byGkndzng/s1600/First.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxb31QwgQQaCzZaohQjnPSwCywklG0J0Szqx8vhDXbbV_x91bjzADDz6ZIL4mc_EoGY4RHVkaFvflKzEQxJMR7RmWL7Gd1ixIZU1cBjaJjtUr8dsrnKg3tD0bXdCME4byGkndzng/s200/First.jpg" width="171" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2016</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> is for
Catholics the <b>Jubilee Year of Mercy</b>.
There cannot be a better foundation for the year. Mercy is a quality of the
brave and not of the faint-hearted. Mercy
is not about ignoring the wrong - but on doing all one can to address it and
overcome it. Mercy is rooted in justice. Pope Francis reminds us that “<i>it would not be out of place to recall the
relationship between justice and mercy. These are not two contradictory
realities, but two dimensions of a single reality that unfolds progressively
until it culminates in the fullness of love</i>.” (MV#20)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2016</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> is dedicated by
the United Nations as ‘<b>The International
Year of Pulses’</b> (IYP 2016) which ‘<i>aims
to inspire young people to not only to think about the role of pulses in
feeding the world, but to motivate them into playing a more active role in
matters affecting their environment</i>’. Few of us realise how important
pulses are to the ordinary person. It is
a necessity in one’s daily diet. Yet, the costs of pulses have kept
sky-rocketing in India! Will pulses be easily accessible to the poor of India
in 2016? We hope it will!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2016</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> will be year
when many will continue to yearn for lasting peace. These past years have been marked with
violence at every possible level: from the bombings on innocent civilians to the
sinister domestic violence in the confines of one’s own home. Much of this lack
of peace is due to divisiveness, prejudices, falsehood and indifference. In a
message for the XLIX <b>World Day of Peace</b>
on the theme ‘<b>Overcome indifference and
win peace’</b> Pope Francis writes, “<i>yet
some events of the year now ending inspire me, in looking ahead to the new
year, to encourage everyone not to lose hope in our human ability to conquer
evil and to combat resignation and indifference. They demonstrate our capacity
to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest, apathy and indifference in
the face of critical situations</i>.” We certainly need to transcend
indifference and pettiness!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2016</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> and will we see
the <b>return of refugees</b> to a place
which they once called ‘home’ that to which they belong? Will the promise that
a brave woman like Angela Merkel gave to the world in opening the borders of
her country continue with greater commitment? Will we see a whole-hearted
response by Governments all over to provide refugee children with more than
lip-service education? If 2015 saw the largest movement of refugees in the
recent history of the world, 2016 must surely promise a safe and secure return
for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">2016</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> promises to be
a <b>year of promise</b>! We hope and pray
that it will be a year of fulfilment too: for mercy, justice, inclusion,
security and peace! We need to look forward to this year with resolute
determination and to leave no stone unturned to make of it a year worth living
for others and for ourselves too!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">31<sup>st</sup>
December, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">* (<b>Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ</b> is the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights,
Justice and Peace.)</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Address: ‘PRASHANT’,
Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Phone:
(079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018 <br />
Email: </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-92030929731390055372015-12-24T04:50:00.001-08:002015-12-24T04:50:41.425-08:00The Christmas Spirit: Looking Beyond the Glitter by Fr Cedric Prakash sj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<li class="middle even sf-item-6 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-365-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/discrimination" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Discrimination</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-7 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-366-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/hate-speech" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Hate Speech</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-8 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-369-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/violence" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Violence</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-9 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-370-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/rights-and-freedoms" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Rights and Freedoms</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-10 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-373-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/rule-of-Law" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Rule of Law</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-11 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-374-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/politics" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Politics</a></li>
<li class="last even sf-item-12 sf-depth-2 sf-total-children-4 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-4 menuparent" id="menu-689-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2 menuparent sf-with-ul" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-width: 1px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Society<span class="sf-sub-indicator" style="background: url("/sites/all/libraries/superfish/images/arrows-777777.png") 0px 0px no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; height: 10px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0.75em; text-indent: -999em; top: 23px; width: 10px;">»</span></a><ul class="sf-hidden" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: initial; border-bottom-left-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 8px 9px 0px !important; position: absolute; top: -99999em; width: 12em;">
<li class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-3 sf-no-children" id="menu-372-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-3" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/culture" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Culture</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-3 sf-no-children" id="menu-379-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-3" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/history" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">History</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-3 sf-no-children" id="menu-378-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-3" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/media" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Media</a></li>
<li class="last even sf-item-4 sf-depth-3 sf-no-children" id="menu-381-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-3" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/education" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Education</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-8 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-8 menuparent" id="menu-382-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; line-height: 24px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-1 menuparent sf-with-ul" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-width: 1px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Voices<span class="sf-sub-indicator" style="background: url("/sites/all/libraries/superfish/images/arrows-777777.png") 0px -100px no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; height: 10px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0.75em; text-indent: -999em; top: 23px; width: 10px;">»</span></a><ul class="sf-hidden" style="background: none 0px 0px repeat scroll rgb(252, 252, 252); border-bottom-left-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 8px 9px 0px !important; position: absolute; top: -99999em; width: 12em;">
<li class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-392-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/minorities" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Minorities</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-383-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/dalits" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Dalits</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-384-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/adivasis" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Adivasis</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-4 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-386-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/women" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Women</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-5 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-390-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/lgbt" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">LGBT</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-6 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-388-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/whistle-blowers" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Whistle blowers</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-7 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-389-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/south-asia" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">South Asia</a></li>
<li class="last even sf-item-8 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-393-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/issues/world" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">World</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-4 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-5 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-5 menuparent" id="menu-411-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; line-height: 24px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-1 menuparent sf-with-ul" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-width: 1px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Newscan<span class="sf-sub-indicator" style="background: url("/sites/all/libraries/superfish/images/arrows-777777.png") 0px -100px no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; height: 10px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0.75em; text-indent: -999em; top: 23px; width: 10px;">»</span></a><ul class="sf-hidden" style="background: none 0px 0px repeat scroll rgb(252, 252, 252); border-bottom-left-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 8px 9px 0px !important; position: absolute; top: -99999em; width: 12em;">
<li class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-414-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/newscan/state-round-ups" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">State Round-Ups</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-415-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/newscan/india" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">India</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-412-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/newscan/south-asia" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">South Asia</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-4 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-692-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/newscan/world" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">World</a></li>
<li class="last odd sf-item-5 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-693-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/watch" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Watch</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-5 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-4 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-4 menuparent" id="menu-394-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; line-height: 24px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-1 menuparent sf-with-ul" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-width: 1px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Analysis<span class="sf-sub-indicator" style="background: url("/sites/all/libraries/superfish/images/arrows-777777.png") 0px -100px no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; height: 10px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0.75em; text-indent: -999em; top: 23px; width: 10px;">»</span></a><ul class="sf-hidden" style="background: none 0px 0px repeat scroll rgb(252, 252, 252); border-bottom-left-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 8px 9px 0px !important; position: absolute; top: -99999em; width: 12em;">
<li class="first odd sf-item-1 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-397-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/opinions" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Opinion</a></li>
<li class="middle even sf-item-2 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-700-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/columns" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Columns</a></li>
<li class="middle odd sf-item-3 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-752-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/themes-list" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Themes</a></li>
<li class="last even sf-item-4 sf-depth-2 sf-no-children" id="menu-395-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 160px; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-2" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/investigations" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Investigation</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
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<li class="middle odd sf-item-9 sf-depth-1 sf-total-children-5 sf-parent-children-0 sf-single-children-5 menuparent" id="menu-406-1" style="box-sizing: border-box; float: left; line-height: 24px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; z-index: 498;"><a class="sf-depth-1 menuparent sf-with-ul" href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/" style="background-color: transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0470588) -1px 0px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #4a4a4a; display: block; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; list-style: none; margin: 0px; min-width: 1px; padding: 15px 25px 15px 15px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="">Breaking Barriers<span class="sf-sub-indicator" style="background: url("/sites/all/libraries/superfish/images/arrows-777777.png") 0px -100px no-repeat; box-sizing: border-box; display: block; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; height: 10px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: 0.75em; text-indent: -999em; top: 23px; width: 10px;">»</span></a><ul class="sf-hidden" style="background: none 0px 0px repeat scroll rgb(252, 252, 252); border-bottom-left-radius: 8px; border-top-right-radius: 8px; box-sizing: border-box; left: 0px; list-style: none; margin: 20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 8px 9px 0px !important; position: absolute; top: -99999em; width: 12em;">
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The Christmas Spirit: Looking Beyond the Glitter</h1>
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<article about="/column/christmas-spirit-looking-beyond-glitter" class="node node-columnists clearfix" id="node-3824" style="box-sizing: border-box;" typeof="sioc:Item foaf:Document"><header style="box-sizing: border-box;"></header><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden" style="box-sizing: border-box;">
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<img alt="" src="https://www.sabrangindia.in/sites/default/files/images/christmas-peace-sign.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 374px; line-height: 24px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle; width: 658px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> <br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" />Ahmedabad airport is all decked up for Christmas. There are Santa Clauses and beautifully wrapped-up huge cartons symbolising “gifts” all over; the Christmas trees certainly add to the “cheer” of the season. One certainly cannot fault the ambience created for the festive season. The sponsor of the ‘do’ however, has made sure that its name is emblazoned everywhere: It is ‘ADANI’ all the way!<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" />ADANI like any other human being has certainly the right to ‘celebrate’ Christmas; after all Jesus was born as Saviour for all men and women. The essence of Christmas however is the message that Jesus brings: of peace, love, joy, justice and hope. The corporate brand, ADANI has, however, not much to do with these fundamentals. Its manner of operation(s) has, in fact, been very contrary to the spirit and message of Christmas.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> An analytical article in the online daily ‘The Citizen’ (April 26, 2015) reveals ‘the incredible rise and rise of Gautam Adani’; no stone has been left unturned ( by the politically powerful) in order to ‘assist’ India’s largest corporate conglomerate for-profit; from furthering a coal mining project in Queensland (which could destroy the Great Barrier Reef), Australia with a large loan from a nationalised bank that was thereafter called in question<a href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/column/christmas-spirit-looking-beyond-glitter#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" name="_ftnref1" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;" title="">[1]</a> to setting up India’s biggest private port at Mundra in Gujarat in violation of all existing environmental norms! The fast growth model symbolised by the ADANI group in recent years has also meant the displacement of thousands of people all over and the destruction of the livelihood of many - particularly small fishermen in coastal Gujarat and Orissa. <a href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/column/christmas-spirit-looking-beyond-glitter#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" name="_ftnref2" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; line-height: 24px; text-decoration: none;" title="">[2]</a> Truly a far cry from the spirit and soul of Christmas.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" />In a similar vein, one cannot help but remember the thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) of the Gujarat Carnage of 2002. Victim-survivors together with tenacious human rights defenders like Teeta Setalvad continue relentlessly in their pursuit for justice. A pan-India analysis will easily provide details and figures of the several million Indians, displaced from land and hearth, affected by this questionable acquisition of land, driven by a lust for power and greed, by vested interests. Huge corporations, mining barons in nexus with very powerful and influential persons have displaced Adivasis and original inhabitants from the land which was rightfully theirs. Those who take up the cause of those affected are branded as ‘Maoists’ or ‘Naxalites’ and even incarcerated. We recently saw in Delhi how the bull dozers ruthlessly evicted slum-dwellers on a cold wintry night.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" />Together with the crass commercialisation of Christmas symbolised by eating, drinking and merry-making, the Government of India is doing its bit to obliterate ‘Christmas’ from the calendar by attempting to rename December 25 each year as ‘Good Governance Day’.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> A true and meaningful Christmas celebration is only centred on the birth of Jesus. One needs to understand a historical fact that at “<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;">that time, the emperor, Caesar Augustus, issued a decree for a census of the whole world to be taken. This first census was taken while Quirinus was governor of Syria</em>” (Lk 2:1-2). Joseph of Nazareth, a rather senior person (a carpenter by profession) was married to a young woman named Mary. So when the census was announced, Joseph had to take Mary along with him and go to his hometown called Bethlehem, a distance of 111 kms; it was a difficult terrain which they would have traversed. Mary ‘was with child’ so after the ordeal of getting themselves registered, Joseph would have looked for some comfortable shelter for the night to enable the birth of their child; but the inns that night were just ‘too crowded’ or the inn-keepers were not willing to take in strangers from another part of the country; having no alternative, Joseph took Mary to the outskirts of the town where he found a stable and here, on Christmas night, Jesus was born.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><span class="full-blurb" style="background-image: url("/sites/all/themes/sabrang/images/upquote.png"), url("/sites/all/themes/sabrang/images/downquote.png"); background-position: 0% 0%, 100% 100%; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(227, 229, 228); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-top-color: rgb(227, 229, 228); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #ae5151; float: left; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; font-size: 21px; font-style: italic; line-height: 37px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 45px 30px; width: 640px;">The profiteering by the ADANI group these recent years has also meant the displacement of thousands of people all over and the destruction of the livelihood of many - particularly small fishermen in coastal Gujarat and Orissa. Truly a far cry from the spirit and soul of Christmas!</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> In the wake of the international refugee crisis, Christmas this year becomes not only more symbolic but bears a greater meaning for all. In October 2015, the Associated Press highlighted the current refugee crises with a powerful picture entitled ‘The Long walk to a new life’ showing a huge column of refugees moving through fields after crossing from Croatia, in Rigonce, Slovenia. It depicted the grim reality of thousands of people fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and in what is now accepted as the worst migration crisis since World War II. Pope Francis recently gave an unequivocal call to every Catholic Parish in Europe to take in at least one refugee family; urging all Christians to stand up and help those people who are fleeing persecution and violence.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> After the birth of Jesus, the wise men from the East came to worship him; but on their return, they did not allow themselves to be trapped by the cunning of King Herod – they just avoid him! Then, “<em style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;">an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod.</em>” (Mt 2:13-14)<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> The distance from Bethlehem to the border of Egypt is about 120 kms. For a senior citizen and his young wife who has just given birth to a child, the journey must have been traumatic. As they fled that night, what did they take as belongings? Were they able to carry sufficient amount of food, water and even clothing for their exile? Did baby Jesus perhaps carry that ‘little toy’ which those poor shepherds gifted him the night he was born? The thoughts and prayers of Mary and Joseph were surely with the other innocent children who were being massacred by Herod’s army. In a fit of rage and jealousy, Herod had ordered the killing of every new-born male child hoping that Jesus would be exterminated too!<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> In September this year, the lifeless body of a three-year old Syrian child Aylan Kurdi was found face down on a Turkish beach. That tragic picture which tugged at the hearts of millions the world over was a shocking reminder of the dangers children and families everywhere face as they try to flee from violence and persecution. An experience which was also the lot of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> The essence of Christmas is therefore the courage to reach out to the other: to open the doors of our hearts so that others can find a home of acceptance, justice, love and warmth; it is about the joy we experience when we try to lessen the hardships of internally displaced people who live on our pavements and on the margins of our society; it is the ability to transcend the comfort of our own selfishness and to seek Jesus in the poverty, grime and dust of today; it is the openness we need to realise that the refugee crisis in this world, the displacement of the poor and marginalised in our country – are all the creation of greedy and powerful vested interests who, like the Herods at the time of Jesus, do all they can to deny others of their rightful place in society.<br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;" /> A Christmas wrapped up in the gloss and cosmetics of materiality – of Santa Clauses and empty decorated cartons to propagate a brand name - is meaningless, unless one realises and acts upon the essence of Christmas – which is the hope, justice, love, joy and peace that the child Jesus brings to every single human being. Only then will Christmas be a meaningful celebration.<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px;">
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<a href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/column/christmas-spirit-looking-beyond-glitter#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" name="_ftn1" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; text-decoration: none;" title="">[1]</a>The quiet death of the SBI-Adani loan agreement; The lesson from the SBI-Adani incident: A bank should never make public a loan agreement—however small or big it may be—in the presence of a politician <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/PSAjYMTctZg144dW94ODUL/The-death-of-a-1-billion-loan-agreement.html" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/PSAjYMTctZg144dW94ODUL/The-death-of-a-1-...</a></div>
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<a href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/column/christmas-spirit-looking-beyond-glitter#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" name="_ftn2" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; text-decoration: none;" title="">[2]</a> Adani project in Mundra has violated environmental norms: MoEF committee report <a href="http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/adani-project-in-mundra-has-violated-environmental-norms-moef-committee-report-40853;%C2%A0" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/adani-project-in-mundra-has-violated-...</a><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />‘State allotted forest land for Adani power project’; <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/State-allotted-forest-land-for-Adani-power-project/articleshow/40618366.cms" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: #337ab7; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/State-allotted-forest-lan...</a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-12009925975518155762015-12-24T04:22:00.003-08:002015-12-24T04:22:56.468-08:00BE -THE HEART OF CHRISTMAS! -our wish for YOU: TODAY and ALWAYS! -Fr Cedric Prakash sj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">The heart of Christmas is</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">the realisation</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">that Jesus was born in a stable</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">because</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">there was no room in the inn!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">The heart of Christmas is</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">the good news of the angels</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">singing</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">“peace on earth</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">to all people of goodwill”!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">The heart of Christmas is</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">the generosity of the shepherds</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">running in haste</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">to give totally to the new born King</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">from the little that they had!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">The heart of Christmas is</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">the courage of the wise men</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">to follow a star to find Him</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">and later to disregard</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">the evil desires of a tyrant!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">The heart of Christmas is</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">to listen to children and their mothers</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">when they cry in pain and anguish</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">as swords pierced their lives and hearts</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">without mercy!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">The heart of Christmas is</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">about a refugee family</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">fleeing into Egypt</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;"> in the middle of the night</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">and nowhere to go!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">The heart of Christmas is</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">the ability of our hearts</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">to create space for others</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">compassionate, merciful, loving, reaching out</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: comic sans ms, sans-serif;">internalising the blessings of Christmas!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><i>(a Christmas poem-reflection by Fr Cedric Prakash sj) </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Wishing you, your family, friends and collaborators, </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria, serif;">the blessings of </span><span style="font-family: arial black, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">C</span><span style="color: #b45f06;">H</span><span style="color: blue;">R</span><span style="color: #9900ff;">I</span><span style="color: black;">S</span><span style="color: #073763;">T</span><span style="color: #274e13;">M</span><span style="color: #783f04;">A</span><span style="color: magenta;">S</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria, serif;">: </span><span style="color: red; font-family: Cambria, serif;">COMPASSION</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria, serif;">, </span><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Cambria, serif;">JOY</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria, serif;">,</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Cambria, serif;">MERCY</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria, serif;">, </span><span style="color: #9900ff; font-family: Cambria, serif;">HOPE,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria, serif;"> JUSTICE,</span><span style="color: #073763; font-family: Cambria, serif;">TOLER<wbr></wbr>ANCE</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Cambria, serif;"> & </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Cambria, serif;">PEACE</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="color: black;">today and everyday of the </span><span style="color: red;">NEW YEAR 2016</span><span style="color: black;">!!!</span></b></span></div>
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<br /><strong style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Fr. Cedric Prakash sj</span></strong></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">Director & </span><span style="color: red; font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"><b>ALL </b></span><span style="color: blue; font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif; font-weight: bold;">at </span><strong><span style="color: blue; font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"> </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: blue; font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;"><img class="CToWUd" height="75" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=4a51ea60bd&view=fimg&th=151d3d8ed55a02e5&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=ii_iibganu81_151b456546757666&attbid=ANGjdJ_2fGHNqylxVvFvoKvXoFbOjk2qIpYLAItToQcNFW-XDPlWeT3IN0sXf7O7nZYIidcKrTUUJNp4wkLhbBgbl431pew0BrsuUsLH6f4i2AdQCVHQMwY4yOrvlug&sz=w130-h150&ats=1450959599270&rm=151d3d8ed55a02e5&zw&atsh=1" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="65" /><br /></span></strong><strong><span style="color: blue; font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">(A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: blue; font-family: comic sans ms,sans-serif;">Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052,Gujarat, INDIA<br />Tel :+91 (0)79-27455913/66522333</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="color: blue; font-family: Comic Sans MS;">Blog: <a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.humanrightsindia.in</a></span></strong></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-48618319104937365672015-12-16T23:39:00.002-08:002015-12-16T23:39:23.813-08:00WHITHER MINORITIES by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj (18th December 2015)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">WHITHER MINORITIES?<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is December
18<sup>th</sup>: ‘<b>Minority Rights Day</b>’
once again! Given the fact that minorities all across the world were subject to
systematic targeting by ‘majoritarianism’ and in order to strengthen the cause
of the minorities, the United Nations promulgated the ‘<b>Declaration of the Rights of Persons belonging to National or Ethnic,
Religious and Linguistic Minorities</b>’ on 18<sup>th</sup> December 1992
proclaiming that “<i>States shall protect
the existence of the National or Ethnic, Cultural, Religious and Linguistic
identity of minorities within their respective territories and encourage
conditions for the promotion of that identity”. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">India’s
greatness has always been in her rich tapestry of diversity and pluralism; the
sub-continent has been a ‘potpourri’ of cultures, religions, ethnicities,
languages wherein the wealth of each, however seemingly insignificant, was
recognised and appreciated. Sadly, however, all that India has epitomised these
past centuries has received a severe drubbing with consistent acts of
intolerance particularly on minorities since June 2014.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Instances can be
highlighted ad nauseam: the ghastly murder of Akhlaq in Dadri village following
a rumour that he had slaughtered a cow and eaten its meat (this was proved to
be totally untrue); the murder of rationalists like Kalburgi and Dabholkar who
thought differently and who challenged the obscurantism propagated by right-wing
fundamentalists; the hegemony by some of the majority community on what others
(particularly the minorities) should eat, drink, wear or see; the abusive and
derogatory remarks made on the minorities by officials and other functionaries
of the ruling class; the manipulation of school curriculum to foist a
‘majoritarian’ agenda; the continued insistence by the Government to rename
December 25<sup>th</sup> (which is Christmas, a sacred day for Christians - the
birth of Jesus Christ), as ‘Good Governance Day’ and make it mandatory for
Government employees to work on that day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Inspite of the
grim ground reality, the Government of India will continue its act of tokenism
with some cosmetic programmes on December 18<sup>th</sup> in order to propagate
a myth that ‘all is well’ with the minorities of the country. There will be
photo-ops with some minority religious leaders ‘to prove the point’. One is sure however that there will be no
political will to rein in those who continue minority bashing and who
apparently have the complete support of ‘those-on-the-top’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On September 12<sup>th</sup>
2014, eminent jurist Fali Nariman delivering the annual lecture of the National
Commission of Minorities (NCM), strongly asserted that “<i>Hinduism is losing its traditional tolerance because some Hindus have started
believing that it is their faith that has brought them political power – and
because this belief is not being challenged by “those at the top</i>”. Nariman’s
words were like pouring water on a duck’s back; there have been manifold
instances of attacks on minorities ever since that lecture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The observance
of December 18<sup>th</sup> is not about ‘minority-ism’: heightening the fears
and insecurities of minorities but rather of the ability and courage of those
who belong to majority communities to tangibly show that in India all have
their space, rights and freedom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">* (<b>Fr.
Cedric Prakash SJ</b> is the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>,
the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.)</span></i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Address: ‘PRASHANT’, Hill Nagar, Near Saffron
Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Phone:
(079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018 <br />
Email: </span><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-38106187889576618902015-12-15T23:41:00.001-08:002015-12-15T23:41:34.726-08:00Pope Francis : Message for THE CELEBRATION OF THE XLIX WORLD DAY OF PEACE 2016 <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #663300; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">MESSAGE
OF HIS HOLINESS<b><br />
</b></span><b><span style="color: #663300; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">POPE FRANCIS<br />
</span></b><span style="color: #663300; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b><br />
XLIX WORLD DAY OF PEACE</b></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #663300; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">1
JANUARY 2016</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #663300; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt;">Overcome
Indifference and Win Peace</span></i></b><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>God is not indifferent! God cares
about mankind! God does not abandon us!</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>At
the beginning of the New Year, I would like to share not only this profound
conviction but also my cordial good wishes for prosperity, peace and the
fulfilment of the hopes of every man and every woman, every family, people and
nation throughout the world, including all Heads of State and Government and
all religious leaders. We continue to trust that 2016 will see us all firmly
and confidently engaged, on different levels, in the pursuit of justice and
peace. Peace is both God’s gift and a human achievement. As a gift of God, it
is entrusted to all men and women, who are called to attain it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Maintaining our reasons
for hope</span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">2. Sadly, war and terrorism,
accompanied by kidnapping, ethnic or religious persecution and the misuse of
power, marked the past year from start to finish. In many parts of the world,
these have became so common as to constitute a real “third world war fought
piecemeal”. Yet some events of the year now ending inspire me, in looking ahead
to the new year, to encourage everyone not to lose hope in our human ability to
conquer evil and to combat resignation and indifference. They demonstrate our
capacity to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest, apathy and
indifference in the face of critical situations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Here I would mention the efforts
to bring world leaders together at COP21 in the search for new ways to confront
climate change and to protect the earth, our common home. We can also think of
two earlier global events: the Addis Ababa Summit for funding sustainable
development worldwide and the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development, aimed at ensuring a more dignified standard of living
for all the world’s peoples, especially the poor, by that year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">For the Church, 2015 was a
special year, since it marked the fiftieth anniversary of two documents of the
Second Vatican Council which eloquently expressed her sense of solidarity with
the world. Pope John XXIII, at the beginning of the Council, wanted to open
wide the windows of the Church and to improve her communication with the world.
The two documents,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html"><span style="color: black;">Nostra Aetate</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></i>and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html"><span style="color: black;">Gaudium et Spes</span></a></i>, are emblematic of the new
relationship of dialogue, solidarity and accompaniment which the Church sought
to awaken within the human family. In the Declaration<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html"><span style="color: black;">Nostra Aetate</span></a></i>, the Church expressed her
openness to dialogue with non-Christian religions. In the Pastoral Constitution<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html"><span style="color: black;">Gaudium et Spes</span></a></i>, based on a recognition that
“the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time,
especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the
grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well”,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref1"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn1" title=""><span style="color: black;">[1]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the Church proposed to enter into
dialogue with the entire human family about the problems of our world, as a
sign of solidarity, respect and affection.<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn2" title="">[2]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Along these same lines, with the
present Jubilee of Mercy I want to invite the Church to pray and work so that
every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart, one capable of
proclaiming and witnessing to mercy. It is my hope that all of us will learn to
“forgive and give”, to become more open “to those living on the outermost fringes
of society - fringes which modern society itself creates”, and to refuse to
fall into “a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which prevents us
from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive cynicism!”<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn3" title="">[3]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">There are many good reasons to
believe in mankind’s capacity to act together in solidarity and, on the basis
of our interconnection and interdependence, to demonstrate concern for the more
vulnerable of our brothers and sisters and for the protection of the common
good. This attitude of mutual responsibility is rooted in our fundamental
vocation to fraternity and a life in common. Personal dignity and interpersonal
relationships are what constitute us as human beings whom God willed to create
in his own image and likeness. As creatures endowed with inalienable dignity,
we are related to all our brothers and sisters, for whom we are responsible and
with whom we act in solidarity. Lacking this relationship, we would be less
human. We see, then, how indifference represents a menace to the human family.
As we approach a new year, I would ask everyone to take stock of this reality,
in order to overcome indifference and to win peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Kinds of indifference</b></span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">3. Clearly, indifference is not
something new; every period of history has known people who close their hearts
to the needs of others, who close their eyes to what is happening around them,
who turn aside to avoid encountering other people's problems. But in our day,
indifference has ceased to be a purely personal matter and has taken on broader
dimensions, producing a certain “globalization of indifference”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The first kind of indifference
in human society is indifference to God, which then leads to indifference to
one’s neighbour and to the environment. This is one of the grave consequences
of a false humanism and practical materialism allied to relativism and
nihilism. We have come to to think that we are the source and creator of
ourselves, our lives and society. We feel self-sufficient, prepared not only to
find a substitute for God but to do completely without him. As a consequence,
we feel that we owe nothing to anyone but ourselves, and we claim only rights.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref4"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn4" title=""><span style="color: black;">[4]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Against this erroneous understanding
of the person, Pope Benedict XVI observed that neither man himself nor human
development can, on their own, answer the question of our ultimate meaning.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref5"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn5" title=""><span style="color: black;">[5]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Paul VI likewise stated that “there is
no true humanism but that which is open to the Absolute, and is conscious of a
vocation which gives human life its authentic significance”.<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn6" title="">[6]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Indifference to our neighbour
shows itself in different ways. Some people are well-informed; they listen to
the radio, read the newspapers or watch television, but they do so mechanically
and without engagement. They are vaguely aware of the tragedies afflicting
humanity, but they have no sense of involvement or compassion. Theirs is the
attitude of those who know, but keep their gaze, their thoughts and their
actions focused on themselves. Sadly, it must be said that today’s information
explosion does not of itself lead to an increased concern for other people’s
problems, which demands openness and a sense of solidarity.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref7"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn7" title=""><span style="color: black;">[7]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Indeed, the information glut can numb
people’s sensibilities and to some degree downplay the gravity of the problems.
There are those who “simply content themselves with blaming the poor and the poor
countries themselves for their troubles; indulging in unwarranted
generalizations, they claim that the solution is an ‘education’ that would
tranquilize them, making them tame and harmless. All this becomes even more
exasperating for the marginalized in the light of the widespread and deeply
rooted corruption found in many countries – in their governments, businesses
and institutions – whatever the political ideology of their leaders.”<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn8" title="">[8]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In other cases, indifference
shows itself in lack of concern for what is happening around us, especially if
it does not touch us directly. Some people prefer not to ask questions or seek
answers; they lead lives of comfort, deaf to the cry of those who suffer.
Almost imperceptibly, we grow incapable of feeling compassion for others and
for their problems; we have no interest in caring for them, as if their
troubles were their own responsibility, and none of our business.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref9"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn9" title=""><span style="color: black;">[9]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“When we are healthy and comfortable,
we forget about others (something God the Father never does): we are
unconcerned with their problems, their sufferings and the injustices they
endure… Our heart grows cold. As long as I am relatively healthy and
comfortable, I don’t think about those less well off.”<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn10" title="">[10]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Because we dwell in a common
home, we cannot help but ask ourselves about the state of its health, as I
sought to do in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Laudato Si’</i>.
Water and air pollution, the indiscriminate exploitation of forests and the
destruction of the natural environment are often the result of man’s
indifference to man, since everything is interrelated. Then too, there is the
way we treat animals, which has an effect on the way we treat other people<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref11"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn11" title=""><span style="color: black;">[11]</span></a>,
and the cases where people freely do elsewhere what they would never dare do at
home.<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn12" title="">[12]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In these and in other
situations, indifference leads to self-absorption and a lack of commitment. It
thus contributes to the absence of peace with God, with our neighbour and with
the environment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Peace threatened by
globalized indifference</b></span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">4. Indifference towards God
transcends the purely private sphere of the individual and affects the public
and social sphere. As Benedict XVI pointed out, “the glorification of God and
human peace on earth are closely linked”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref13"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn13" title=""><span style="color: black;">[13]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Indeed, “without openness to the
transcendent, human beings easily become prey to relativism and find it
difficult to act justly and to work for peace.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref14"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn14" title=""><span style="color: black;">[14]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Disregard and the denial of God, which
lead man to acknowledge no norm above himself and himself alone, have produced
untold cruelty and violence.<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn15" title="">[15]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">On both the individual and
communitarian levels, indifference to one’s neighbour, born of indifference to
God, finds expression in disinterest and a lack of engagement, which only help
to prolong situations of injustice and grave social imbalance. These in turn
can lead to conflicts or, in any event, generate a climate of dissatisfaction
which risks exploding sooner or later into acts of violence and insecurity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Indifference and lack of
commitment constitute a grave dereliction of the duty whereby each of us must
work in accordance with our abilities and our role in society for the promotion
of the common good, and in particular for peace, which is one of mankind’s most
precious goods.<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn16" title="">[16]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">On the institutional level,
indifference to others and to their dignity, their fundamental rights and their
freedom, when it is part of a culture shaped by the pursuit of profit and
hedonism, can foster and even justify actions and policies which ultimately
represent threats to peace. Indifference can even lead to justifying deplorable
economic policies which breed injustice, division and violence for the sake of
ensuring the wellbeing of individuals or nations. Not infrequently, economic
and political projects aim at securing or maintaining power and wealth, even at
the cost of trampling on the basic rights and needs of others. When people
witness the denial of their elementary rights, such as the right to food,
water, health care or employment, they are tempted to obtain them by force.<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn17" title="">[17]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Moreover, indifference to the
natural environment, by countenancing deforestation, pollution and natural
catastrophes which uproot entire communities from their ecosystem and create
profound insecurity, ends up creating new forms of poverty and new situations
of injustice, often with dire consequences for security and peace. How many
wars have been fought, and how many will continue to be fought, over a shortage
of goods or out of an insatiable thirst for natural resources?<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn18" title="">[18]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>From indifference to
mercy: the conversion of hearts</b></span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">5. One year ago, in my Message
for the 2015 World Day of Peace, with the motto “No Longer Slaves, but Brothers
and Sisters”, I evoked the first biblical icon of human brotherhood, that of
Cain and Abel (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Gen</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>4:1-16). I meant to draw attract
attention to how from the very beginning this original brotherhood was
betrayed. Cain and Abel were brothers. Both came forth from the same womb, they
were equal in dignity and created in the image and likeness of God; but their
relationship as brothers was destroyed. “It was not only that Cain could not
stand Abel; he killed him out of envy.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref19"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn19" title=""><span style="color: black;">[19]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Fratricide was the form of betrayal,
and Cain’s refusal to acknowledge Abel as his brother became the first rupture
in the family relations of fraternity, solidarity and mutual respect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">God then intervened to remind
man of his responsibility towards his fellows, as he had also done when Adam
and Eve, our first parents, ruptured their relationship with him, their
Creator. “Then the Lord said to Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I
do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” But the Lord replied: “What you have
you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground” (<i>Gen</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>4:9-10).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Cain said he did not know what
had happened to his brother, that he was not his brother’s keeper. He did not
feel responsible for his life, for his fate. He did not feel involved. He was
indifferent to his brother, despite their common origin. How sad! What a sorry
tale of brothers, of families, of human beings! This was the first display of
indifference between brothers. God, however, is not indifferent. Abel’s blood
had immense value in his eyes, and he asked Cain to give an account of it. At
the origin of the human race, God shows himself to be involved in man’s
destiny. Later, when the children of Israel were slaves in Egypt, God once more
intervened to tell Moses: “I have seen the affliction of my people who are in
Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters; I know their
sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a
land flowing with milk and honey” (<i>Ex</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>3:7-8).
We should note the verbs which describe God’s intervention: he sees, hears,
knows, comes down and delivers. God does not remain indifferent. He is
attentive and he acts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In the same way, in Jesus his
Son, God has come down among us. He took flesh and showed his solidarity with
humanity in all things but sin. Jesus identified with us: he became “the
first-born among many brethren” (<i>Rom</i>8:29). He was not content merely to
teach the crowds, but he was concerned for their welfare, especially when he
saw them hungry (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Mk</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>6:34-44) or without work (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Mt</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>20:3). He was concerned not only for
men and women, but also for the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, plants
and trees, all things great and small. He saw and embraced all of creation. But
he did more than just see; he touched people’s lives, he spoke to them, helped
them and showed kindness to those in need. Not only this, but he felt strong
emotions and he wept (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Jn</i>11:33-44).
And he worked to put an end to suffering, sorrow, misery and death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Jesus taught us to be merciful
like our heavenly Father (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Lk</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>6:36). In the parable of the Good
Samaritan (cf.<i>Lk</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>10:29-37),
he condemned those who fail to help others in need, those who “pass by on the
other side” (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Lk</i>10:31-32).
By this example, he taught his listeners, and his disciples in particular, to
stop and to help alleviate the sufferings of this world and the pain of our
brothers and sisters, using whatever means are at hand, beginning with our own
time, however busy we may be. Indifference often seeks excuses: observing
ritual prescriptions, looking to all the things needing to be done, hiding
behind hostilities and prejudices which keep us apart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Mercy is the heart of God. It
must also be the heart of the members of the one great family of his children:
a heart which beats all the more strongly wherever human dignity – as a
reflection of the face of God in his creatures – is in play. Jesus tells us
that love for others – foreigners, the sick, prisoners, the homeless, even our
enemies – is the yardstick by which God will judge our actions. Our eternal
destiny depends on this. It is not surprising that the Apostle Paul tells the
Christians of Rome to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who
weep (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Rom</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>12:15), or that he encourages the
Corinthians to take up collections as a sign of solidarity with the suffering
members of the Church (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>1
Cor</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>16:2-3). And Saint John
writes: “If any one has the world’s goods and sees his brother or sister in
need, yet refuses help, how does God’s love abide in him? (<i>1 Jn</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>3:17; cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Jas</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>2:15-16).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">This then is why “it is
absolutely essential for the Church and for the credibility of her message that
she herself live and testify to mercy. Her language and her gestures must
transmit mercy, so as to touch the hearts of all people and inspire them once
more to find the road that leads to the Father. The Church’s first truth is the
love of Christ. The Church makes herself a servant of this love and mediates it
to all people: a love that forgives and expresses itself in the gift of
oneself. Consequently, wherever the Church is present, the mercy of the Father
must be evident. In our parishes, communities, associations and movements, in a
word, wherever there are Christians, everyone should find an oasis of mercy.”<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref20"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn20" title=""><span style="color: black;">[20]</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We too, then, are called to make
compassion, love, mercy and solidarity a true way of life, a rule of conduct in
our relationships with one another.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref21"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn21" title=""><span style="color: black;">[21]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>This requires the conversion of our
hearts: the grace of God has to turn our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Ezek</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>36:26), open to others in authentic
solidarity. For solidarity is much more than a “feeling of vague compassion or
shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people, both near and far”.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref22"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn22" title=""><span style="color: black;">[22]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Solidarity is “a firm and persevering
determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say to the good
of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all”,<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref23"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn23" title=""><span style="color: black;">[23]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>because compassion flows from
fraternity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Understood in this way,
solidarity represents the moral and social attitude which best corresponds to
an awareness of the scourges of our own day, and to the growing
interdependence, especially in a globalized world, between the lives of given
individuals and communities and those of other men and women in the rest of the
world.<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn24" title="">[24]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Building a culture of
solidarity and mercy to overcome indifference</b></span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">6. Solidarity, as a moral virtue
and social attitude born of personal conversion, calls for commitment on the
part of those responsible for education and formation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I think first of families, which
are called to a primary and vital mission of education. Families are the first
place where the values of love and fraternity, togetherness and sharing,
concern and care for others are lived out and handed on. They are also the
privileged milieu for transmitting the faith, beginning with those first simple
gestures of devotion which mothers teach their children.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref25"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn25" title=""><span style="color: black;">[25]</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Teachers, who have the
challenging task of training children and youth in schools or other settings,
should be conscious that their responsibility extends also to the moral,
spiritual and social aspects of life. The values of freedom, mutual respect and
solidarity can be handed on from a tender age. Speaking to educators, Pope
Benedict XVI noted that: “Every educational setting can be a place of openness
to the transcendent and to others; a place of dialogue, cohesiveness and
attentive listening, where young people feel appreciated for their personal
abilities and inner riches, and can learn to esteem their brothers and sisters.
May young people be taught to savour the joy which comes from the daily exercise
of charity and compassion towards others and from taking an active part in the
building of a more humane and fraternal society”.<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn26" title="">[26]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Communicators also have a
responsibility for education and formation, especially nowadays, when the means
of information and communication are so widespread. Their duty is first and
foremost to serve the truth, and not particular interests. For the media “not
only inform but also form the minds of their audiences, and so they can make a
significant contribution to the education of young people. It is important
never to forget that the connection between education and communication is
extremely close: education takes place through communication, which influences,
for better or worse, the formation of the person.”<span style="color: black;"><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn27" title="">[27]</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Communicators should also be
mindful that the way in which information is obtained and made public should
always be legally and morally admissible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Peace: the fruit of a
culture of solidarity, mercy and compassion</b></span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">7. While conscious of the threat
posed by a globalization of indifference, we should also recognize that, in the
scenario I have just described, there are also many positive initiatives which
testify to the compassion, mercy and solidarity of which we are capable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Here I would offer some examples
of praiseworthy commitment, which demonstrate how all of us can overcome
indifference in choosing not to close our eyes to our neighbour. These
represent good practices on the way to a more humane society.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">There are many non-governmental
and charitable organizations, both within and outside the Church, whose
members, amidst epidemics, disasters and armed conflicts, brave difficulties
and dangers in caring for the injured and sick, and in burying the dead. I
would also mention those individuals and associations which assist migrants who
cross deserts and seas in search of a better life. These efforts are spiritual
and corporal works of mercy on which we will be judged at the end of our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I think also of the journalists
and photographers who shape public opinion on difficult situations which
trouble our consciences, and all those devoted to the defence of human rights,
especially the rights of ethnic and religious minorities, indigenous peoples,
women and children, and the most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. Among
them are also many priests and missionaries who, as good pastors, remain at the
side of their flock and support them, heedless of danger and hardship,
especially during armed conflicts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">How many families, amid
occupational and social difficulties, make great sacrifices to provide their
children with a “counter-cultural” education in the values of solidarity,
compassion and fraternity! How many families open their hearts and homes to
those in need, such as refugees and migrants! I wish to thank in a particular
way all those individuals, families, parishes, religious communities,
monasteries and shrines who readily responded to my appeal to welcome a refugee
family.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref28"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn28" title=""><span style="color: black;">[28]</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Finally, I would mention those
young people who join in undertaking works of solidarity, and all those who
generously help their neighbours in need in their cities and countries and
elsewhere in the world. I thank and encourage everyone engaged in such efforts,
which often pass unobserved. Their hunger and thirst for justice will be
satisfied, their mercy will lead them to find mercy and, as peacemakers, they
will be called children of God (cf.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Mt</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>5:6-9).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>Peace in the sign of the
Jubilee of Mercy</b></span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">8. In the spirit of the Jubilee
of Mercy, all of us are called to realize how indifference can manifest itself
in our lives and to work concretely to improve the world around us, beginning
with our families, neighbours and places of employment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Civil society is likewise called
to make specific and courageous gestures of concern for their most vulnerable
members, such as prisoners, migrants, the unemployed and the infirm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">With regard to prisoners, it
would appear that in many cases practical measures are urgently needed to
improve their living conditions, with particular concern for those detained
while awaiting trial.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_ftnref29"></a><a href="http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html#_ftn29" title=""><span style="color: black;">[29]</span></a><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It must be kept in mind that penal
sanctions have the aim of rehabilitation, while national laws should consider
the possibility of other establishing penalties than incarceration. In this
context, I would like once more to appeal to governmental authorities to
abolish the death penalty where it is still in force, and to consider the
possibility of an amnesty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">With regard to migrants, I would
ask that legislation on migration be reviewed, so, while respecting reciprocal
rights and responsibilities, it can reflect a readiness to welcome migrants and
to facilitate their integration. Special concern should be paid to the
conditions for legal residency, since having to live clandestinely can lead to
criminal behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In this Jubilee Year, I would
also appeal to national leaders for concrete gestures in favour of our brothers
and sisters who suffer from the lack of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>labour,
land and lodging</i>. I am thinking of the creation of dignified jobs to combat
the social plague of unemployment, which affects many families and young
people, with grave effects for society as a whole. Unemployment takes a heavy
toll on people’s sense of dignity and hope, and can only be partially
compensated for by welfare benefits, however necessary these may be, provided
to the unemployed and their families. Special attention needs to be given to
women – who unfortunately still encounter discrimination in the workplace – and
to some categories of workers whose conditions are precarious or dangerous, and
whose pay is not commensurate to the importance of their social mission.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Finally, I express my hope that
effective steps will be taken to improve the living conditions of the sick by
ensuring that all have access to medical treatment and pharmaceuticals
essential for life, as well as the possibility of home care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Looking beyond their own
borders, national leaders are also called to renew their relations with other
peoples and to enable their real participation and inclusion in the life of the
international community, in order to ensure fraternity within the family of
nations as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">With this in mind, I would like
to make a threefold appeal to the leaders of nations: to refrain from drawing
other peoples into conflicts or wars which destroy not only their material,
cultural and social legacy, but also – and in the long term – their moral and
spiritual integrity; to forgive or manage in a sustainable way the
international debt of the poorer nations; and to adopt policies of cooperation
which, instead of bowing before the dictatorship of certain ideologies, will
respect the values of local populations and, in any case, not prove detrimental
to the fundamental and inalienable right to life of the unborn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I entrust these reflections,
together with my best wishes for the New Year, to the intercession of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, our Mother, who cares for the needs of our human family,
that she may obtain from her Son Jesus, the Prince of Peace, the granting of
our prayers and the blessing of our daily efforts for a fraternal and united
world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 15pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">From the Vatican, 8
December 2015<br />
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary<br />
Opening of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy</span></i><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-2935754249880801162015-12-09T01:59:00.001-08:002015-12-09T02:01:30.880-08:00OUR RIGHTS. OUR FREEDOMS. ALWAYS! by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj (December 10th 2015)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTE3TGvBVL_0AC6WzkhRZIxaZbdKoC6zRh-WkUgTpGCRxpD8dRv6hlCD5kS_a-PeAJoNnbdIYZbchIp2y9v0fa7k1J8dTMCTL-wwDj_YotQDiXkqs5_HLaEvLlYBoA3qxruFteYQ/s1600/FB-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTE3TGvBVL_0AC6WzkhRZIxaZbdKoC6zRh-WkUgTpGCRxpD8dRv6hlCD5kS_a-PeAJoNnbdIYZbchIp2y9v0fa7k1J8dTMCTL-wwDj_YotQDiXkqs5_HLaEvLlYBoA3qxruFteYQ/s640/FB-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">OUR RIGHTS. OUR FREEDOMS. ALWAYS!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">On December 16<sup>th</sup>
1966, the United Nations General Assembly adopted two significant International
Covenants on Human Rights: <b>the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights</b> and <b>the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights</b>. These two Covenants, together with the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), form the <b>International Bill of Human Rights</b>, setting out the civil,
political, cultural, economic and social rights that are the birth right of all
human beings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">As we observe
December 10<sup>th</sup>, the anniversary of the UDHR once again, the United
Nations has invited everyone to enter a year-long campaign on the golden
jubilee of the two international Covenants on Human Rights. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The theme this
year is ‘<b>Our Rights. Our Freedoms.
Always</b>!’ which aims to promote and raise awareness of the two Covenants. The
campaign revolves around key rights and freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of
worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear which underpin the International
Bill of Human Rights. From an Indian perspective the mainstreaming of these
rights are not merely relevant but also extremely urgent, in the context of the
growing intolerance all over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Freedom of speech</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">: never before has this right
been subject to such attack. On January 29<sup>th</sup> 2015, in its world
report for the year, the internationally acclaimed ‘Human Rights Watch’
highlighted the way freedom of speech is systematically being curtailed and
curbed in India. Rationalists like Kalburgi and Dabholkar, among others, are
killed because they had the courage to dare the right-wing elements of the
country. Those who take a stand for truth and justice are lampooned, trolled
and denigrated; the perpetrators of such heinous crimes apparently have the
tacit approval of the rulers of the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Freedom of worship</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">: the minorities of the country are
at the receiving end from those who want to establish a ‘majoritarian’ culture
and who care two hoots for what is enshrined in the Constitution of India. The
attacks on Churches and Church personnel; the attempt to substitute Christmas
with ‘Good Governance Day’; the ‘ghar wapsi’ programmes; the consistent
denigration of the Muslims are all sure indicators that freedom of worship is
under severe threat. To top it all, when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister
of Gujarat, he piloted one of the most draconian laws in the history of the
country innocuously called ‘the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Law’ which prevents
anyone accepting another religion without the written permission of the
Collector.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Freedom from want</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">: we only need to look around -
to see the growing gap between the rich and the poor; millions of our sisters
and brothers are condemned to an inhuman existence; they lack a square meal a
day and clean drinking water; they have no decent shelter; education and
employment for many are a far cry – need we say more?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Freedom from fear</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">: there are several segments of
society in India which seem to be caught up in the web of fear; fringe groups
violently dictate to others what they should eat and drink, see and read; doing
otherwise, merits threats, violence and even death. Several of the media houses
seem to toe a scripted line for fear or favour; and those who take a stand on
critical issues are intimidated, harassed and subject to all kinds of
pressures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">India has a long
way to go if she is serious about truly celebrating these two important
Covenants. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reminds us “<i>On Human Rights Day, let us recommit to
guaranteeing the fundamental freedoms and protecting the human rights of all</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">(<b>* Fr.
Cedric Prakash SJ</b> is the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>, the
Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace)</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Address: PRASHANT, Hill
Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel,</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Drive-in
Road, Ahmedabad - 380052</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Phone: (079) 27455913, 66522333 </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Fax: (079) 27489018
Email:</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-47969380506047709882015-12-08T03:02:00.000-08:002015-12-08T03:10:07.967-08:00THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY: An Understanding (8th December 2015) (Video)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-38497865468593969622015-12-08T02:47:00.002-08:002015-12-08T02:47:19.094-08:00OPEN THE DOORS : THE JUBILEE YEAR OF MERCY HAS BEGUN (8th December 2015)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-72501103229165939512015-12-03T03:19:00.004-08:002015-12-03T03:19:48.217-08:00LEST WE FORGET: DECEMBER 3rd 1984 - BHOPAL! by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">LEST WE FORGET: DECEMBER 3rd 1984 - BHOPAL!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">When George Orwell wrote his celebrated
novel ‘<b>1984</b>’, he perhaps never
realised that India would actually be witnessing a series of events in 1984
which include the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the genocide
on the Sikhs which followed and the Bhopal Gas Tragedy. ‘The party leader’, in
his novel, is euphemistically named ‘Big Brother’ who is only interested in
power and like the party he represents, not in the good of others. ‘1984’ was
written by Orwell in 1949 – 35 years ago. Today, as one looks back at the year 1984,
one can say that Orwell could have conveniently situated his novel in Bhopal. Strangely,
the adjective ‘Orwellian’ has become synonymous with official deception, secret
surveillance and manipulation of recorded history by a totalitarian or
authoritarian State.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The <b>Bhopal
Gas Tragedy</b> will be etched forever in living memory; despite every effort,
by those across the ruling divide, to sweep things under the carpet, to stifle
dissent and even to buy up victim-survivors. On the eve of the 31<sup>st</sup>
anniversary of the tragedy, the Bhopal Group of Information and Action (BGIA)
categorically stated that “<i>the Modi
Government as well as the previous Governments have been totally deaf to the
demands of the victim-survivors</i>.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In a book released last year, entitled ‘<b>Bhopal Gas Tragedy: after 30 years’</b>,
authors Sunita Narain and Chandra Bhushan write, <i>’it was on the night of December 2, 1984, when Bhopal died a million
deaths. The chemical, methyl isocyanate (MIC), that spilled out from Union
Carbide India Ltd’s (UCIL) pesticide factory turned the city into a vast gas
chamber. People ran on the streets, vomiting and dying. The city ran out of
cremation grounds. It was India’s first (and so far, the only) major industrial
disaster. Till then, governments had handled floods, cyclones and even
earthquakes. They had no clue how to respond in this case. The US-based
multinational company, Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), which owned the plant
through its subsidiary UCIL, did little to help deal with the human tragedy.
Thirty years later, there is no closure. Not because of what happened that
fateful night, but because our response has been incompetent and callous.
Bhopal was struck by two tragedies: the one that happened immediately, and the
other that unfolded in the years that followed”.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">According to official estimates by the
Government about 5,295 people were killed in the early hours of December 3<sup>rd</sup>
1984. Those fighting for the victim-survivors maintain that more than 25,000
more have died from various illnesses related to the leakage. In 2012, the UPA
Government engaged in some tokenism providing additional compensation to about
33,000 ‘severely-affected’ survivors but the BGIA and others maintain that the
Government underestimated both the number of victims, the amount of
compensation and who should actually get it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In the meantime, Dow Chemical Company
who now owns Union Carbide has washed its hands off the whole affair and the
incumbent Government of India is doing pretty little to ensure that the cause
of justice is served; its ‘Make in India’ campaign seems to be an open
invitation for foreign companies to maximise their profits at the cost of
Indians, our natural resources and the environment. Organisations like ‘Greenpeace’ who identify with
and take up cudgels on behalf of the poor and the marginalised are hounded and
prevented from continuing their good works.
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Even though the ‘Orwellian’ seems to
have an upper hand, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy should be a grim reminder, however
painful, that much more needs to be done not merely for the victims of this
colossal tragedy but for every single citizen – who may fall prey to the greed
and profiteering of callous corporations who are often in nexus with the Government.
It does not matter if the victims are illiterate, poor and ordinary people – they
are still humans endowed with dignity and deserving of justice! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">3<sup>rd</sup>
December, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">*( <b>Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ </b>is the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights,
Justice and Peace.)</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Address: ‘PRASHANT’,
Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Phone:
(079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018 Email: </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-1418017226538254532015-12-02T10:21:00.004-08:002015-12-02T10:21:48.534-08:00Are Indian Christians under attack under the one year old NDA II rule? by John Dayal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/are-indian-christians-under-attack-under-one-year-old-nda-ii-rule" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://www.sabrangindia.in/<wbr></wbr>article/are-indian-christians-<wbr></wbr>under-attack-under-one-year-<wbr></wbr>old-nda-ii-rule</a></div>
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Are Indian Christians under attack under the one year old NDA II rule?</h1>
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Written by <a href="https://www.sabrangindia.in/articles/john-dayal" style="background-color: transparent; color: #ad5151; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; font-size: 12px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">John Dayal</a> | Published on: <span style="color: #ad5151; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; font-size: 12px;">December 2, 2015</span></div>
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<img alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiYdGaMSD_RAPv9fsWvcDisPfiIJJHRXb-VKfQerRqKfcakFtTFm4NGPZOlgduTS3QfXaWXK8KzOFtxWXxmv2XIdx7q5KG3CGjkJZIhKq6j5AcGvreIApcHaPBylnnJDOmPn0LTDuxp3IIfErC-mAutaIJ_Oeu84tmuSKhNfZMminZmBawmIg=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 24px; max-width: 100%; min-height: 459px; vertical-align: middle; width: 650px;" /><br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;" /><span style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 9px; line-height: 24px;">Courtesy: John Dayal</span><br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;" /> <br style="font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; line-height: 24px;" />Yes, says John Dayal who outlines 168 incidents targeting Christians including the sordid rape of a nun in West Bengal</h3>
<br style="line-height: 24px;" />It does not happen to “other people”. It happens to “us”, though this may not be apparent at first sight. This is the sort of saying that social-psychologists, cultural anthropologists and even environmental scientists have been stressing on a range of issues as diverse as the impact of climate change to that of cinema on peoples and communities. Faith communities cannot, and do not, remain untouched with what is happening around them. In fact, their response to these developments pretty much defines their future cohesiveness and growth, and the robustness of their faith in their God. In many ways, the Christian community in India, a mere 2.3 per cent of the population, coalesced in a few areas of Southern and North-Eastern regions of the country and scattered in vulnerable segments in other parts of the country, best reflects this link between cause and effect at a very critical juncture of the nation’s history.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />We are a faith of people divide by race, ethnicity, language, denominations and economic strata, unlike the more homogenous populations in other parts of the world. Add to this issues of caste, and the presence of two very large religious communities, the overwhelming Hindu population and the world’s second largest Muslim group, and the Sikhs who are about as many in numbers as the Christians but far more economically and politically powerful, and one can see the complex societal matrix in which followers of Jesus Christ find themselves 15 years into the 21<span style="font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: baseline;">st</span> century.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />The recent universal religious growth survey by the US-based Pew Foundation has predicted a very bright future for Islam, universally, and in India. Globally, by 2050, it may be just a whisker less that the Christian population, but by 2070, it may well be the largest single religious group. In India, Islam will grow and while it becomes the world’s largest national group, it will still be far below the Hindu population, which will hold its own both globally and in the political borders of the country. In fact, Hinduism will grow very much abroad, in the US and Europe, and in other countries, where it already is sizable if not a majority faith, such as Mauritius, and various other Indian Ocean, Pacific and Caribbean islands. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />Pew does not predict any large comparable growth for the Christian population that is organically linked with many international factors, especially in relation of the situation of the Church in Europe. Claims by the more triumphal church plants remain just that – claims. And those Dalits who love Christ by their heart and soul, but understandably also love the benefits accruing from government laws for reservation of seats in the Parliament and legislature, government employment and educational institutions, will continue to be recorded as Hindus in the official records till the Supreme Court outlaws the notorious Section 3 of Article 341 of the Constitution. Going by the statements of the ministers in Mr. Narendra Modi’s cabinet, that does not appear possible for a long, long time. It needs to be remembered that it was the Congress that closed the doors of Dalit Christians anyway. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />It is, however, not an issue of numbers that is important. More important is that neither international nor Indian researchers and missiologists have made any deep study of how political developments, and the growth of Hindutva – which is seeing phenomenal impetus in the second coming of the National Development Alliance (NDA) government with Mr. Modi at the helm -- will impact the Christian community in the short and the long term. It impacts almost every sphere, the growth of the faith, the educational, livelihood and economic status and competitiveness, and the future of the Dalit Christian and Adivasi communities within the faith. This needs to be done, and perhaps on an urgent basis. Relationships within village communities, and perhaps even extended families will be impacted. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />The Modi government, it is becoming increasingly clear, intends to remain focused on expanding the national penetration of the religious nationalism ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the fountain-head of Hindutva, whose cadres and polarizing hate campaigns against Muslims and Christians brought it to power a year ago. Its secondary objective is to try to keep alive the flow of foreign investments and the Indian corporate sector, even if it means whittling away whatever safeguards there are to protect the environment, land and forest rights and basic constitutional rights of association, such as trade unions. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />Since May 2014, when the Modi government was sworn in, there has been a marked shift in public discourse. The past 18 months have seen an assault on democratic structures, the education and knowledge system, Human Rights organisations and rights defenders and coercive action using the Intelligence Bureau and systems of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) and passport laws to crack down on NGOs working in areas of empowerment of the marginalised sections of society, including Dalits, Tribals, fishermen and women, and issues of environment, climate, forests, land and water rights. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />Environmental norms have been diminished to an extent that now they will be almost non-existent, threatening the environment and the climate. Land acquisition laws are being changed to benefit crony capital. States such as Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh which have reasonable population of Tribal and Dalit Christians will be impacted.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjHOOLqA59cTnjEh86V0_1WQISuN8vMu2S-U6l5GcAA-Bk9EzkEGM8yocOOGfsZk7mmvuq7Vq0Mld4FTdZv6Z-mjTOr1d0r8ZPLOLEbvSWwB2aXF0THe48xoxZYbEBxYgVHeC3XCNxt6fggK18iAWek7hxFHR5gchKL3ilnuVjIKB9s=s0-d-e1-ft), url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjuEqv3fN1QalUNpcNWVjX1JNJcDhaDGTnQwCjKAgHvVbLZeYVOcyg7w2_AUp0sPJ6xw58xCuxvTbcFE7gG_eK7cGM_1O-H1-GXsH_VqJXtqv77rbj75r2yj51FZMtGzya2BcyPjz45cpR0uQu34avgTilr7Y9LiV2D4cXOeTZsAFrLlxk=s0-d-e1-ft); background-repeat: no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(227, 229, 228); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-top-color: rgb(227, 229, 228); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 5px; color: #ae5151; float: left; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; font-size: 21px; font-style: italic; line-height: 37px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 45px 30px; width: 640px;">Neither international nor Indian researchers have made any deep study of how political developments, and the growth of Hindutva – which is seeing phenomenal impetus in the second coming of the NDA govt with Modi at the helm -- will impact the Christian community in the short and the long term.</span><br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />The immediate focus is on the threat to secularism, which undermines India’s modern existence as a country, and impacts deeply on the Christian existence. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />Despite a tongue lashing by President Pranab Mukherjee on Republic Day and repeated assertions of freedom of faith by Vice President Hamid Ansari – not counting the naming and shaming done by visiting United States President Barack Obama – the government has learnt little. Modi, at a public function called by the Syro Malabar Catholic church, spoke of security of minorities, but failed to name the <em style="line-height: 24px;">sangh parivar</em> as the spruce of much violence. In fact, he put the aggressors and the victims on the same platform.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />His Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, a former president of BJP and like Modi, a lifelong member of the RSS, has been transparent in announcing his sympathies. He has called for a national ban on conversions, a national ban on beef, total opposition for Scheduled Caste rights for Dalit Christians and Muslims. And he too has hedged in saying he will punish the spewing of hate and coercion.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />The civil society report <em style="line-height: 24px;">“300 Days – Documenting Sangh Hate and Communal Violence Under the Narendra Modi Regime”</em> lists 168 targeting Christians. Desecration and destruction of churches, assault on pastors, illegal police detention of church workers, and denial of Constitutional rights of Freedom of Faith aggravate the coercion and terror unleashed in campaigns of <em style="line-height: 24px;">Ghar Wapsi</em> and cries of Love Jihad. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />An analysis shows Chhattisgarh topping the list with 28 incidents of crime, followed closely by neighbouring Madhya Pradesh with 26, Uttar Pradesh with 18 and Telangana with 15 incidents. Of the deaths in communally targeted violence, two were killed in Odisha and Telangana, 8 in Gujarat, 12 in Maharashtra, 6 in Karnataka and 25 in Uttar Pradesh. Apart from these, 108 people were killed in Assam in attacks by Bodo militant groups. The violence peaked between August and October 2014 with 56 cases, before zooming up to 25 cases during the Christmas season, including the burning of the Catholic church of St Sebastian in Dilshad Garden in the national capital New Delhi.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />Much of the violence - 54 per cent - is of threats, intimidation, coercion, often with the police looking on. Physical violence constituted a quarter of all cases - 24 per cent - and violence against Christian women, a trend that is increasingly being seen since the carnage in Kandhamal, Odisha, in 2007 and 2008, constituted 11 per cent of the violence. Breaking of statues and the Cross and other acts of desecration were recorded in about 8 per cent of the cases, but many more were also consequent to other forms of violence against institutions.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />A disturbing trend is the rising communal violence in West Bengal where the BJP and the RSS have doubled their efforts to fill what they see is a political vacancy following the decline of the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPI-M) and the Congress party in recent times. The violence peaked as was evident in the gang rape of a 72-year-old nun in a convent and school in West Bengal. The official apparatus tried to prove to the world that it was just another crime, committed by foreigners or professional criminals.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" /><span style="background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjHOOLqA59cTnjEh86V0_1WQISuN8vMu2S-U6l5GcAA-Bk9EzkEGM8yocOOGfsZk7mmvuq7Vq0Mld4FTdZv6Z-mjTOr1d0r8ZPLOLEbvSWwB2aXF0THe48xoxZYbEBxYgVHeC3XCNxt6fggK18iAWek7hxFHR5gchKL3ilnuVjIKB9s=s0-d-e1-ft), url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjuEqv3fN1QalUNpcNWVjX1JNJcDhaDGTnQwCjKAgHvVbLZeYVOcyg7w2_AUp0sPJ6xw58xCuxvTbcFE7gG_eK7cGM_1O-H1-GXsH_VqJXtqv77rbj75r2yj51FZMtGzya2BcyPjz45cpR0uQu34avgTilr7Y9LiV2D4cXOeTZsAFrLlxk=s0-d-e1-ft); background-repeat: no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(227, 229, 228); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-top-color: rgb(227, 229, 228); border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 5px; color: #ae5151; float: left; font-family: 'Roboto Slab', serif; font-size: 21px; font-style: italic; line-height: 37px; margin: 15px 0px; padding: 45px 30px; width: 640px;">168 targeting Christians. Desecration and destruction of churches, assault on pastors, illegal police detention of church workers, and denial of Constitutional rights of Freedom of Faith aggravate the coercion and terror unleashed in campaigns of Ghar Wapsi and cries of Love Jihad under NDA II</span><br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />There are fears of a severe whittling down of the 15 Point Programme for Minorities, a lifeline for many severely economic backward communities, and specially their youth seeking higher education and professional training. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />Modi’s conditional ‘assurance’ to religious minorities is challenged and countered by Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the powerful RSS, who asserts, repeatedly, that every Indian is a Hindu, and minorities will have to learn their place in the country. Speaking at the 50<span style="font-size: 10.5px; line-height: 0; vertical-align: baseline;">th</span> anniversary of foundation of its religious wing, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Mr. Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS Sarsanghchalak bluntly stated that “Hindutva is the identity of India and it has the capacity to swallow other identities. We just need to restore those capacities.” In Cuttack, he asserted that India is a Hindu state and "citizens of Hindustan should be known as Hindus". Sadhvi Prachi, a central minister, MPs Sakshi Maharaj and Adityanath are among those urging measures to check Muslims, including encouraging Hindu women to have from four to ten children each. In Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and other states, the terror, physical violence and social ostracizing of Dalit and Tribal Christians, in particular, continues. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />The Indian government sees an absolute ban on conversions to Christianity as the only way they can control Hindu religious nationalist elements from attacking nuns, clergy and churches, big and small, from the forests of Central India to the national capital, New Delhi. And going by statements made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s senior ministers, the first contours of such a law may soon become apparent. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />The discourse reached a fever pitch as Modi prepared his party for the State legislative assembly elections in Bihar, which he lost, and Uttar Pradesh where the BJP, hopes to wrest power. These are among the biggest states in the Union of India, and the only ones in the so-called Cow belt of the Gangetic plains where the party does not control the provincial governments.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />The BJP had repeatedly promised such a law made to their core constituency in their successful campaign in the General elections of 2014. This was reviving an unfulfilled dream that dates back to 1978 when Mr. OP Tyagi of the then unified Janata Party moved a private members draft legislation, ironically called the Freedom of Religion Bill, in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament In 1999, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, then Prime Minister, revived the debate on the Bill when more than two dozen small churches were destroyed, allegedly by Sangh cadres, in Gujarat’s Dangs region on the eve of Christmas 1998. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />State anti conversion laws have survived Christian challenge in the High Courts, most recently in Himachal Pradesh, and in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has upheld such laws to be valid, maintaining that while citizens had the freedom to choose, or change their faith, the constitutional right to propagate religion did not mean the right to “convert another person to one's own religion.” <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />A national law will require an amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees Freedom of Faith. The government is in no position to do so with its minority presence in the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House, where it was recently embarrassed when the Opposition forced an amendment to the President of India’s address to the joint session of Parliament. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />The religious minorities have not really been able to forge a united movement against such laws in the states, and it has been left to the Christians to seek recourse in the courts. The Sikh community, despite the violence unleashed against it during a period of insurrectionist terrorism in the 1970s and the 1980s, has not been impacted. While it attracts many Hindus to its fold, it does not actively seek converts. Muslims in India have not been accused of any magnitude of conversions, other than being repeatedly accused of increasing their population by large and polygamous families. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />Among Christians, prelates of some of the Syrian denominations in Kerala have often said their churches have not been involved in proselytization, blaming it on evangelical groups. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />But increasingly in recent years, human rights and freedom of faith activists within the Christian community, and in civil society, have felt that the fundamental Constitutional right of freedom to profess, practice and propagate religion, circumscribed only by issues of law and order and health, has to be defended to prevent a further erosion of civil liberties which could alter the basic character of Indian democracy. <br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" />India is, at present, perhaps the only real multi-religious and multi-cultural country in Asia. Its neighbouring countries are either theocracies or democracies where the majority religion, linked with ethnicity, is overwhelmingly powerful, as in Sri Lanka which has only recently emerged from a three decade long civil war. Keeping India genuinely secular is important to regional peace.<br style="line-height: 24px;" /><br style="line-height: 24px;" /><em style="line-height: 24px;">(The author is a journalist, occasional documentary film maker and social activist)</em><span class="HOEnZb"><span style="color: #888888;"><br style="line-height: 24px;" /> </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-42493550938712857302015-12-02T03:15:00.001-08:002015-12-02T03:15:08.547-08:00REMEMBERING ALLWYN TODAY! by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">REMEMBERING ALLWYN TODAY!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHy6293JsicBzinX7kNmhhaSdBLeUJVVg_UDp1EExVr203suv0by9rFuCYKXBAOQpGNrolR5r5Zl8ErCGras8yriPdASiLxRKfwM3CpCtz-cq4P4veG7VPmkaMGq61Oise4NKuWA/s1600/allwyn-fernandes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHy6293JsicBzinX7kNmhhaSdBLeUJVVg_UDp1EExVr203suv0by9rFuCYKXBAOQpGNrolR5r5Zl8ErCGras8yriPdASiLxRKfwM3CpCtz-cq4P4veG7VPmkaMGq61Oise4NKuWA/s200/allwyn-fernandes.jpg" width="142" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some people come into this world and
leave it after impacting profoundly on the lives of several. <b>Allwyn Fernandes</b> was certainly one such
gem who believed in doing all that he could to make of our world a more
equitable, just and humane place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Allwyn left us exactly one year ago on
December 2<sup>nd</sup> 2014. His death cut short a life full of promise; though
he suffered much in the last month or so, he was still very focussed on his
mission here on earth and he continued the struggle for survival till the very
end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today, his absence is felt by many. Last night as I thought a great deal about
Allwyn: our warm relationship, the emails to and fro, the long telephonic
conversations, our meetings and arguments in rare places like the Cafeteria in
the Andheri railway station - I realised how missed Allwyn is today; yes, not
only by me but by many, many more! I couldn’t help but pen this poetic tribute
to a great soul and a dear friend (it needs editing but I prefer to keep it as
it is)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">“One year ago dear Allwyn you left us for eternity</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Plunging the lives of many into deep uncertainty</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">A loss that is so painfully felt by those who knew you</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">As husband, father, brother, mentor, guide, friend so true</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">The void that filled our hearts, with your untimely departure</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Grows bigger - as memories of you we today try to capture</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">If Allwyn was here today: what would he do? or write ? or say?</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Are questions that crop up for many - be it night or day!</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">The Church and our country - and folk big and small</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Miss your leadership, guidance and clarion call!</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Our remembrances of you give us hope and inspiration</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">To go on with the struggle for Church and for nation!</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Thank you dear Allwyn for being a human so rare</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Precious and sensitive; with the courage to dare!</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">Now that you are there - in our Father's loving caress</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; font-size: 12pt;">For us below, we ask that that you pray and bless!”</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">“<b><i>Allwyn,</i></b><i> the Church in India and in fact our entire country needs you more than
ever today! As I mentioned in the last two lines of the poem, intercede for us
and bless us from above</i>!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>* (Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights,
Justice and Peace.)</i><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Address: ‘PRASHANT’, Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel,
Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad – 380052
Phone: (079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018 <br />
Email: </span><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%;">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-44988157658541079142015-11-30T03:43:00.002-08:002015-11-30T03:43:39.635-08:00CLIMATE JUSTICE by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">CLIMATE JUSTICE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Climate Summit referred to as COP21
begins in Paris today with 150 world leaders participating and over 190
countries represented. The main focus of this United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is to cap the rate of global warming at 2
degrees Celsius. (global warming today is pegged at 2.5 – 3.76 degrees Celsius). The delegations over the next eleven days are
expected to put together a deal on climate change which could effectively cut
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions between 2015 to 2030 which would hopefully bring
down the global temperatures to pre-industrial levels over a period of time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The UNFCCC was created in 1992 at the
Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The agreement there desired that
countries take measures to address climate change; however, it was not binding.
In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol in Japan set binding targets for carbon emission.
COP15 in 2009 (Copenhagen, Denmark) decided that upto 100 billion dollars will
have to be given as aid to help developing countries to reach their emission
goals by 2020; despite various promises and pledges over the years, precious
little has been done by the major players.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Global warming in the last few years has
resulted in major catastrophes like the accelerating rise of sea levels,
punishing droughts, killer heat waves, terrible floods and storms; it has also resulted
in tsunamis and earthquakes. Those who are impacted by global warming are some
of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people; it disrupts food production
and threatens vitally important species, habitats and eco systems. According to recent study, the Antarctic and
Greenland have lost 5.5 trillion of ice. By any standards, 2015 was one of the
hottest years, experienced the world over, besides several “natural” calamities
took place all over!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Last year, global carbon emissions were
the highest ever. China is today considered the biggest polluter followed by
the US, the European Union, India, Russia and Japan. Unless these countries
demonstrate a political resolve to cut down on the emissions, things may not
change dramatically. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">India has rightly talked about climate
justice and the need and importance for China, US and West European nations to
take the first steps. But India cannot
absolve itself of its role in global warming even though its contribution is
far below that of China or US. If the country is serious about addressing
climate change and of ensuring climate justice for all, it must immediately act
on several fronts, including:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">i.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">putting
an immediate cap on the use of fossil fuels; promote the use of alternative
energies very particularly wind and solar energy. The Government must provide
subsidies for these very particularly for the poor and the marginalised.
Alternative energies should not be seen as mere cosmetics (add-ons) but need to
replace conventional sources of energy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ii.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">implementing
stringent environmental protection laws for multi-nationals and other big
corporations who pollute the environment. Many of the industrial houses that
are unable to do what they want in their own countries find in India an easy
place to maximise their profits. The ‘Make in India’ slogan is for many an
invitation to plunder and loot and to disregard basic environmental laws and
the lives of the poor here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">iii.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ensuring
that global warming is a responsibility and concern of all; so the Government
has no business in stifling an organisation like ‘<b>Greenpeace</b>’ that has rendered a yeomen service to the environment
all over the world and in very tangible ways addressed climatic change. The
Government must have the courage and honesty to take on board NGOs and others
who have at heart only the good of the country and particularly the most
vulnerable sections of society, who are affected by climatic change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pope Francis has been particularly
strong on the topic; in his Encyclical ‘<b>Laudato
Si</b>: On the care for our common home’ he writes, “<i>climate change is a global problem with grave implications:
environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods.
It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day. Its
worst impact will probably be felt by developing countries in the coming
decades. Many of the poor live in areas particularly affected by phenomena
related to warming, and their means of subsistence are largely dependent on
natural reserves and ecosystemic services such as agriculture, fishing and
forestry</i>.” (#25).....“<i>many of those
who possess more resources and economic or political power seem mostly to be
concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms, simply making
efforts to reduce some of the negative impacts of climatic change. However,
many of these symptoms indicate that such effects will continue to worsen if we
continue with current models of production and consumption.</i>” (#26)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the run-up to COP21, the UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon has once again reminded developing nations to keep their
pledge to provide 100 billion dollars a year by 2020 to support concrete
mitigation actions by developing countries for a durable universal deal to
address rising greenhouse gas emissions.
“<i>I expect the world to conclude a
universal climate agreement in Paris. The agreement must be durable – it should
provide a comprehensive, long-term vision of the opportunities created by
low-emission, climate resilient development and flexible. It must be rooted in
solidarity</i>”, he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On Sunday 29<sup>th</sup> November,
there were massive rallies across the globe demanding substantial action from
the world leaders to stop climate change; besides an estimated 200,000 were
expected to descend on Paris but the French Government had banned all protests;
instead thousands of pairs of shoes were left on the ‘Place de la Republique’
to remember those left frustrated in their plans to march. A symbolic but powerful reminder that the
road ahead for climate justice is going to be a long and tough one!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">30<sup>th</sup>
November, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">(* Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is
the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>, the
Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.)</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Address: ‘PRASHANT’,
Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Phone:
(079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018 <br />
Email: </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-38634680928880241612015-11-29T05:14:00.001-08:002015-11-29T05:14:26.353-08:00Why India must push for a climate deal that is both just and ambitious by Ipsita Chakravarty (scroll.in)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />[India will be one of the worst affected by rising global<br />temperatures. Extreme heat already kills hundreds in summer, the smog<br />over North India thickens with every winter and mortalities related to<br />air pollution have soared. Cycles of drought and flood have wreaked<br />havoc in the agricultural lands. In a hotter world, millions living in<br />the floodplains and coastal areas will be displaced.<br />...<br />But curbing climate change is not a luxury anymore and unless urgent<br />measures are taken, it could disrupt the government’s favoured<br />development narrative as well. The deal that India pushes for in Paris<br />should be equitable as well as ambitious. There is no reason that<br />climate justice has to stand in the way of climate change mitigation.]<br /><br /><a href="http://scroll.in/article/771967/why-india-must-push-for-a-climate-deal-that-is-both-just-and-ambitious" rel="noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://scroll.in/article/<wbr></wbr>771967/why-india-must-push-<wbr></wbr>for-a-climate-deal-that-is-<wbr></wbr>both-just-and-ambitious</a><br /><br />CLIMATE CHANGE<br /><br />Why India must push for a climate deal that is both just and ambitious<br /><br />Cracking down on climate change is not a luxury anymore.<br />Ipsita Chakravarty · Yesterday · 12:30 pm<br /><br />A sampler of the headbutting likely to take place at the United<br />Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris next week: US Secretary of<br />State John Kerry recently told the media that India was a “challenge”<br />to the climate regime taking shape because of its “restrained"<br />attitude to the “new paradigm”. No such thing, shot back India's Union<br />Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. India was not a blocking<br />country and would do its fair share, but the developed world needed to<br />vacate “climate space” first.<br /><br /><br />Already, the conversation on global warming has fallen into<br />predictable oppositions: climate change mitigation versus climate<br />justice, the developed world versus the developing, richer countries<br />of the G20 versus poorer nations of the G77+China. In this round,<br />India has emerged as the prime crusader for climate justice, leading<br />the charge for the developing world. Its actions will set the tone for<br />the other developing countries of the G77, and the Global Solar<br />Alliance mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi could create a new<br />sphere of influence when it comes to negotiations.<br /><br /><br />But as it pushes for a more just process of negotiations and<br />regulatory framework, India must recognise the need to act quite<br />drastically against climate change. It’s not just a first world<br />problem.<br /><br /><br />Down with history<br /><br /><br />Kerry and his cohort have been sniffing righteously about an<br />“ambitious” climate deal in Paris and claim India could spoil the<br />party. There is of course this little detail: the international<br />community has not even been able to make good on previous,<br />less-ambitious climate deals and has long backed out of the<br />commitments made in the relatively modest Kyoto Protocol. Since the<br />Paris deal will not be legally binding either, there is no reason as<br />yet to believe it will fare any better than its predecessors.<br /><br /><br />There is another detail that developed countries seem to have skipped<br />and India has pointed out. An ambitious agenda for climate change, in<br />this case, means abandoning the principles of justice that have shaped<br />deals over the past two decades. The principle of common but<br />differentiated responsibility was evolved in the Rio conference of<br />1992 and endured through Kyoto 2005. It recognised that most of the<br />environmental degradation witnessed today has been caused by 150 years<br />of industrialisation. The older industrialised nations of the West<br />were more to blame, the common sense ran, and it was for them to clean<br />up their mess. Common but Differentiated Responsibility combined this<br />notion of historical responsibility with a country’s individual<br />capacity to act against climate change. Poorer, developing countries<br />which needed to grow fast to meet their domestic needs could not be<br />expected to prioritise climate change concerns, while richer countries<br />were able to bear the costs of mitigation.<br /><br /><br />The first United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which<br />came into being in 1994, had just 20 countries committing to emission<br />cuts. These countries, mostly rich, were also to help others in<br />meeting their climate change goals. Things started changing after the<br />Kyoto Protocol, which the US refused to ratify, insisting that global<br />warming could not be controlled unless China, Brazil and India, all<br />big ticket polluters, also agreed to cut emissions.<br /><br /><br />Rich nations' club<br /><br /><br />The first draft of the new UNFCCC seems to reverse the principles of<br />the older agreements and has upset Indian negotiators. It throws out<br />the notion of differentiated responsibility and stipulates heavy<br />emission cuts across the board. The projected cuts are likely to<br />affect developing countries disproportionately, costing them about<br />$790 billion a year. Yet the draft does not show a way to bridge these<br />inequities. It does not say how the developed world will fulfil its<br />responsibility to help poorer countries cope with the demands of the<br />new deal, both financially and through sharing clean technologies.<br />Indian negotiators have also claimed that the draft ignores the<br />suggestions made by developing countries, is inimical to domestic<br />interests and projects a consensus when there was none.<br /><br /><br />It is not just the contents of the draft agreement that are<br />problematic to India, it is also the decision making process.<br />Recently, India stalled an attempt by the G20 to “pre-decide” the<br />contours of the Paris deal in a pact outside the formal negotiation<br />process. All decisions, Indian negotiators insisted, should be taken<br />at Paris, where every participating country has an equal say.<br /><br /><br />It is difficult, at this juncture, to resist clichés about imperialism<br />and neocolonialism in describing both the draft and the preliminary<br />meetings. They reek of regressive “first world” bullying, of an<br />outdated attitude that assumes it is perfectly fine for a clique of<br />rich countries to take the moral high ground, decide what is best for<br />the international community and formulate a game plan that involves<br />minimum cost to themselves, or at least, to the US.<br /><br /><br />The Climate Action Tracker, for one, has rated India’s “Intended<br />Nationally Determined Contribution”, or proposed commitments to<br />mitigation, considerably higher than the US’s, just below the European<br />Union and China’s.<br /><br /><br />Climate change is here<br /><br /><br />In Paris, therefore, Indian negotiators will have to fight for a more<br />equitable agreement. But the politics of a climate change deal cannot<br />detract from the vital need to have an agreement with teeth.<br /><br /><br />***India will be one of the worst affected by rising global<br />temperatures. Extreme heat already kills hundreds in summer, the smog<br />over North India thickens with every winter and mortalities related to<br />air pollution have soared. Cycles of drought and flood have wreaked<br />havoc in the agricultural lands. In a hotter world, millions living in<br />the floodplains and coastal areas will be displaced.*** [Emphasis<br />added.]<br /><br /><br />The Indian establishment has traditionally regarded climate change a<br />secondary concern, to be postponed until more pressing problems of<br />growth and development were met. And in spite of its grandstanding<br />abroad, this government’s domestic record on environment does not<br />evince much confidence – in a rush to ease up regulatory bottlenecks,<br />it has cleared infrastructure projects indiscriminately and in a bid<br />to attract investors, it has diluted environmental safeguards. The<br />draft Environmental Laws (Amendment) Bill 2015 focuses on extracting<br />monetary penalties from polluters instead of making them clean up.<br /><br /><br />***But curbing climate change is not a luxury anymore and unless<br />urgent measures are taken, it could disrupt the government’s favoured<br />development narrative as well. The deal that India pushes for in Paris<br />should be equitable as well as ambitious. There is no reason that<br />climate justice has to stand in the way of climate change<br />mitigation.*** [Emphasis added.]<span class="HOEnZb"><span style="color: #888888;"><br /></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-45766833035636925162015-11-29T05:01:00.003-08:002015-11-29T05:01:41.571-08:00Why Modi is so desperate to own the Constitution, and Ambedkar by Panini Anand (|28 November 2015)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br /><br /><a href="http://www.catchnews.com/politics-news/why-modi-is-so-desperate-to-own-the-constitution-and-ambedkar-1448700911.html" rel="noreferrer" style="color: #1155cc; font-size: small;" target="_blank">http://www.catchnews.com/<wbr></wbr>politics-news/why-modi-is-so-<wbr></wbr>desperate-to-own-the-<wbr></wbr>constitution-and-ambedkar-<wbr></wbr>1448700911.html</a><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">[Photo]</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">ICD/ CATCH NEWS</span><br /><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>Why Modi is so desperate to own the Constitution, and Ambedkar</b></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">PANINI ANAND @paninianand |28 November 2015</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Modi in House</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Modi presented a softer side in Lok Sabha on Friday</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Some called it a positive gesture, some called out the bluff</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Calling the bluff</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Modi's agenda: claim Ambedkar, blame Opposition and change Constitution</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Opposition leaders Yechury, Azad, Sharad Yadav sent heavy stinkers</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">More in the story</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Why is Modi not believable</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">What is the real RSS agenda</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Poitical opportunism is like the colour of the sky: it changes</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">according to the time of the day, the season and other factors.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">On Friday, 27 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in an unusual</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">avatar: he praised BR Ambedkar, quoting him on he and his ideology</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">reflected.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">He was speaking in Parliament, at the two-day special sitting that</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">started 26 November, designated by the Modi government as Constitution</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Day. The session to discuss commitment to the Constitution was part of</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Ambedkar.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">There are opposing interpretations of what Modi and others in his</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">government said at the session. Some think it is an inclusive gesture</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">and should be taken positively. Others disagree.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Opposition leaders see a conspiracy in the softness, in the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">pro-Ambedkar attitude of the government.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">They see an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to give itself a</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">role in the movement for independence; an attempt to claim Ambedkar</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">and his legacy and to provoke arguments around key elements of the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Constitution, igniting a public debate, pushing for amendments,</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">changes.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">What did Modi say</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Modi on Friday was soft and humble in the House. Unlike the Modi that</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Parliament and people have seen since May 2014.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">He was trying to be more friendly with the Opposition, which has</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">hardly let Parliament function in the Monsoon session. Most Bills</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">proposed by the government are pending. Especially, the Rajya Sabha</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">has repeatedly snubbed the arrogance and exclusiveness of the Treasury</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Benches, who is in a minority there.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Read- Tactical change: the PM is more parliamentarian than ever before</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">But Modi had a more pressing need: to claim Ambedkar. He painted his</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">speech with colours that would assimilate in the portrait of the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">leader who visioned the Constitution. The PM talked about diversity</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">and its beauty, saying one can't ignore the role of the leaders who</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">contributed to the making of the Constitution.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Also watch: PM Modi's remarks on commitment to India's Constitution</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">"Mujhe kshama karein, mein kisi ki alochana nahi kar raha. Lekin agar</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Babasaheb nahi hote, to Samvidhan ek mahaan samajik dastavej banne se</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">chook jata. Yeh unka dard, unki peeda thi jiski wajah se yeh samvidhan</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">bana," Modi said.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">(Excuse me, I am not criticising anybody. But, without Babasaheb</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">(Ambedkar), the Constitution wouldn't have been this great social</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">document. It was his pain, his plight, which made the Constitution.)</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Modi praised Ambedkar - the "dalit maa ka beta" (the son of a Dalit</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">mother) - and quoted a Sanskrit shloka to describe him. There was no</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">response when he read it; the hindi translation earned some claps.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">"If someone even thinks about changing the constitution, he is</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">actually attempting suicide," he said. "A majority doesn't mean</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">anything could be imposed on people."</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">And Modi brought in references: From Vajpayee to his own speeches to</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">social reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwarchandra Bidyasagar</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">(calling him Vidyasagar Rao) and others.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The efforts were to showcase a more inclusive, tolerant and liberal</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">PM. To claim Ambedkar and be in his shoes.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Why is Modi doing this</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">"In 2009, we celebrated 60 years of Constitution in Gujarat. We placed</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">a big copy of the Constitution on an elephant," Modi said. This is not</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">the first time Modi and the school of thought he follows has tried to</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">bag Ambedkar.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">There have been several attempts. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">has claimed several times that Ambedkar was happy with the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">organisation's work.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Ambedkar, in fact, fought his entire life against the core merits of</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Hinduism. In the end he accepted Buddhism along with his supporters.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The mantra of Madhukar 'Balasaheb' Deoras was social engineering,</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">focused on looping in more and more people. This was not possible</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">without bringing in the majority castes, which are Dalits and</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">backwards.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">This is the reason why Vallabhbhai Patel, who banned the RSS after</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Gandhi's assassination, is now part of the RSS-BJP pantheon. The Sangh</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Parivar now uses Patel on its prime posters to gain wider</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">acceptability. Not to forget, the giant statue of his that Modi has</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">promised.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Of late, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has released several books where</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">writers from the Sangh stable have tried to re-write the Ambedkar</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">story in a light favouring their ideology. Expect more books on</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Ambedkar and Gandhi, sources in the organisation said. Such efforts</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">have been accelerated in the Modi regime.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">From Uttar Pradesh to Punjab and in many other states, Ambedkar could</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">give the BJP passage to Dalit votes.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">What exposes Modi and the government</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">"It is an attempt (NDA's) to worm into the national movement where you</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">have no role," said Sitaram Yechury, who represents Communist Party of</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">India (Marxist) in the Upper House.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">He and the leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad told the House that</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">the notification for the celebration was issued by the Ministry for</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Social Justice on 19 November. "This is technically not possible as it</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">has to be done by the Home Ministry," said Azad.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Also watch: Sitaram Yechury's comments on commitment to India's constitution</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">They also produced orders issued by the education ministry on 10</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">November - a full nine days before the notification was issued -</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">regarding the celebration. "How come the orders came before the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">notification. This is illegal and wrong way of doing things," the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Congress leader added.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Both Yechury and Azad pointed out that Ambedkar himself had said the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Constitution would be fully adopted on 26 January. That's the day</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">India celebrates Republic Day. Then why does the BJP wants to rewrite</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">history.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">"It is an event. You know event management and through it you want to</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">claim the space in the history where you didn't contribute," Yechury</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">said.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Watch more: Gulam Nabi Azad's comments on the discussion on commitment</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">to India's constitution</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The Opposition has reasons to doubt Modi and his government. The</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">opening speeches by Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha and Arun Jaitley in</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Rajya Sabha focused on the larger agenda of claiming Ambedkar and at</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">the same time, provoking a debate around the main elements of the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Constitution.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Ambedkar had not put the word 'secularism' in Constitution and now it</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">is the most misused word in India, Singh said. Jaitley talked about</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">clauses about equality and uniformity, elaborating how the period of</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Emergency was biggest setback to the Constitution.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Also watch: Arun Jaitley initiating the discussion on commitment to</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">India's constitution</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Yechury called it a pick-and-choose tactic, accusing the government</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">for playing with clauses of its choice according to convenience. Azad</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">called it divide-and-rule while Janata Dal (United)'s Sharad Yadav</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">said the country still awaits implementation of social justice and</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">dignity to the poor and marginalised, who form the majority.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Actually, speeches by BJP leaders had four key objectives:</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">claim Ambedkar</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">blame the Opposition</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">attempt a cocktail of Ambedkar and their ideology</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">open a passage to debate and amend/change the Constitution.</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Modi's Idea of India and contradiction</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The PM ended his speech by slogans: "The government has only one</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">religion - India First. The government has only one holy book - the</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Constitution" and so on.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The problem with his speech and his 'idea of India' is rooted in his</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">personality, his party and its ideology.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">modi hijacks ambedkar embed</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Architects of communal violence have found place in his government. He</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">has preferred criminals and the corrupt over clean and committed</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">people. The PM is hardly democratic and not at all inclusive in his</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">style of governance.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The hate speeches in the Bihar election campaign and incidents such as</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">the ones in Dadri and Faridabad are completely opposite to what Modi</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">said in the House on Friday.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">Ambedkar's idea about economic policies, foreign policy, federalism,</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">home affairs and the commitment to social inclusiveness are elements</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">missing from Modi's actions.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The way the minorities, the marginalised, academicians and the people</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">of arts, literature and sciences are suffering in this regime is</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">completely against Ambedkar's vision and idea. The problem of Modi is</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">that he can't control the core organisations of the ideology.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">The pledge for Ram Mandir and commitment to the Constitution is like</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">mixing oil with water. It can't work. That's the fabric of the country</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">and Modi can't change it.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">A senior parliamentarian warned: "Don't get confused with the makeup.</span><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-size: x-small;">It won't last."</span><br /><span style="color: #888888; font-size: x-small;">-</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-47558251659598154212015-11-28T09:07:00.004-08:002015-11-28T09:07:45.064-08:00ADVENT BEGINS NOVEMBER 29, 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="color: magenta; font-size: large;">ADVENT BEGINS NOVEMBER 29, 2015</span></b></div>
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Anthony De Mello, S.J., told about the following exchange between a student and his spiritual director:</div>
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Student: Is there anything I can do do make myself enlightened? <span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;"><br />Director: As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.</span></div>
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Student: Then of what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?<br />Director: To make sure you are not sleeping when the sun begins to rise.</div>
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Advent comes to us when the nights are darker, the days are colder, and the earth is dormant. Most of us begin to yearn for the warmth and life that come in spring. Over time, the longer days come and the earth sprouts with new life. Christ too comes to satisfy the longings that arise in our darkness. He is "the tender mercy of the Father, the dawn that shall break upon us to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. He is the one who will guide our feet into the way of peace." (Luke 1:78-79)</div>
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Are you awake as the sun begins to rise?</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-30866039807953593042015-11-28T09:03:00.002-08:002015-11-28T09:03:09.694-08:00THE ACTION HAS BEGUN!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<tr><td align="center" style="border-top-width: 0px; height: 1950px; margin: 0px; padding: 10px; width: 787px;" valign="top"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>TIME IS RUNNING OUT!<br />LET'S PRAY AND ACT FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE!</b></span><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: 0px; max-width: 600px !important; width: 100%px;"><tbody>
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<tr><td style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 9px 18px; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><pre style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">
Dear Cedric,
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Just hours ago, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes of Brazil presented over 800,000 of your<a href="http://global.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=4b97303ddd&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">Catholic Climate Petition</a> signatures to United Nations and French officials in Paris along with the petitions of other interfaith groups. <strong>Collectively the messages of <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=fcd504aac4&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">over 1.7 million people of faith</a> calling for climate justice were delivered from all over the world. </strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">During the event, Cardinal Hummes stated, “I pray for political leaders to “hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (Laudato Si # 49) and to respond to the climate justice demand from faith communities.”<br /><br /><strong>Already Catholics have joined actions in Nairobi, Dhaka, Melbourne, Manila</strong> and other parts of the globe to voice their concern for our common home as part of the<a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=2b885fb61d&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">Global Climate March</a> (see some pictures <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=360007ef39&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">here</a>!). Thousands more of us will do the same in our communities today or tomorrow.</span></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Will you be one of them?</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">If you haven’t done so already, check <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=627110b9ff&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">here</a> for details on Catholics marching in your area (there have been updates, so double check for sure!). If you don’t see anyone listed, use the search button at the bottom of the march page to find a local event.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td align="center" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 15px;" valign="middle"><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=77bbc767ff&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: white; display: block; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Check for an event near you">Check for an event near you</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>This is a new moment in history, as we Catholics are helping to shape the future of our climate in historic numbers. </strong>We bring a special contribution, along with other faith groups, of elevating the moral and spiritual dimension of this crisis. This is a question of living our faith to care for others, especially the poor and vulnerable among us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Cardinal Hummes ended his speech today with, “Time is running out. <strong>Let’s pray and act for Climate Justice!</strong>”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, let’s heed his words and pray and act this weekend!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you for turning Laudato Si’ into action,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomás on behalf of the GCCM team</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S. If you take pictures or video, please share them with us <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=1a247570a2&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">here</a> and share them on social media with the hashtag #climatemarch and #LaudatoSiAction. You can already see some of the photos of Catholics marching at: <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=e748771ba6&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">http://<wbr></wbr>catholicclimatemovement.<wbr></wbr>global/global-climate-march/<wbr></wbr>updates/</a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6em;">PPS. Following the tragic attacks on November 13, mass marches and demonstrations around Paris have been prohibited by the French authorities. </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=f6214f2538&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf; font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6em;" target="_blank">Register here</a><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.6em;"> to dedicate your march for a Parisian unable to join in. It’s a beautiful act of solidarity.</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-89916070748633115832015-11-27T10:23:00.001-08:002015-11-27T10:23:14.239-08:00SABRANG IS NOW ONLINE!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> <wbr></wbr> </span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">For Favour of Publication</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">November 26, 2015; Constitution Day</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">This day is of special significance for us. After several birth pangs made more painful by vicious attacks of the state, the re-invented online version of <i>Communalism Combat</i> is before you, online on <a href="http://www.sabrangindia.in/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.sabrangindia.in</a> Do have a look, visit us, send in your feedback. The special features include the ‘In Fact’ section that de-constructs propaganda and myths; Image stories from India’s best photographers as they offer us a worldview through their lens, investigation and opinions on issues that matter. A very special feature is the peace map that maps, at regular intervals, structural violence and conflict on <a href="http://www.peacemap.in/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.peacemap.in</a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><a href="http://www.peacemap.in/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><br /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Our video interviews, started a year ago will also be featured regularly. <i>Combat</i> in collaboration with Newsclick.in and Hillele.org have, over the past year, interviewed the finest Indian minds, be their academics or activist. Historian Romila Thapar’s interview has been viewed substantially and our inaugural edition comes to you with a vibrant conversation with <i>Hindustani </i>music composer and singer, Shubha Mudgal.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Through the mid 1980s until the early 1990s virulent rightwing majoritarian organisations built up the volatile communal climate which culminated in the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. This movement was speared by an aggressive politics that targeted India’s minorities, both physically and through a distorted public metaphor. The Shiv Sena-led anti-Muslim pogrom in Bombay (now Mumbai) was accompanied by widely sanctioned hate speech that in fact set standards of a new national norm.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">In response to the concerted campaign to transform secular democratic India into a <i>Hindu Rashtra, </i>we the undersigned<i> </i>quit our jobs in the mainstream media to channelise our professional skills in fighting the cancer of divisive politics. The launch of a monthly journal, <i>Communalism Combat</i> in 1993 was an outcome of that effort. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">It was our conviction then, as it is now, that a free media cannot be value neutral. A free media is only conceivable in a society that values freedoms, can only flourish in a secular democratic environment. It follows that those with claims to being part of the free media must walk the talk. Far from being passive consumers, they must remain vigilant, passionate protectors and promoters of the fundamental freedoms and rights of all citizens guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. In that alone lies its own freedom.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">From the very beginning and throughout its nearly 20-year long journey, <i>Communalism Combat</i> eschewed the he-said-she-said brand of ‘objective journalism’ and remained a ‘partisan’ journal. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Partisan, in <i>favour</i> of principles and values enshrined in the Constitution of India and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): secularism, democracy, non-discrimination and equal opportunities, equality before law and equal protection of law, freedom of speech and conscience, celebration of diversity and pluralism, communal harmony.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Partisan, <i>opposed to</i> the politics of prejudice, discrimination, hatred and violence, religious intolerance and extremism, divisiveness, communal discord. The journal did not oppose religion <i>per se </i>but the manipulation of religious sentiments for political ends. At the same time it maintained that religious beliefs and practices in conflict with ideals of fundamental freedoms and rights must be open to critical review and reform.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Never indulgent towards communalism of any hue, <i>Communalism Combat </i>campaigned against majority and minority communalism, caste and gender discrimination with equal fervor. In particular, it functioned as an ever-vigilant watchdog against spreading communal virus. While most of the mainline media in India was (and remains) content with episodic reportage, between 1997-98 and 2002, <i>Communalism Combat</i> published five cover stories and several special reports alerting society and state functionaries about the systematic build-up to the genocidal targeting of Gujarat’s Muslims in 2002.</span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Communalism Combat</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> stood for and defended the rights of all religious minorities, including Kashmiri Pandits, whether in India or elsewhere in the sub-continent. Recognising that communalism is a malady afflicting all of South Asia, throughout its two-decade existence the journal frequently highlighted the plight of and atrocities against religious minorities – Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, Ahmediayas – in neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka. It was the first Indian publication to focus on the ominous rise of the Taliban in the 1990s. <i>Hell on Earth</i> was the cover story of the journal in November 1998, long before the Taliban had committed the sacriligeous act of destroying the Bamiyan Buddhas. By late 1998, it had made life a living hell for Afghan women.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Partisan though it unashamedly was defending certain core values and principles <i>Communalism Combat </i>maintained a high standard of professional integrity and journalistic ethics. A journal with limited circulation but wide reach, <i>Communalism Combat </i>gained national and international recognition and awards from the very first years of its publication. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Financially, however, the journal lived precariously throughout. Committed to free and independent reportage and analysis, we had to stop publishing in late 2012. We are re-launching now, redoubled in our efforts, committed to our credo: <i>Hate hurts, Harmony works.</i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">In the growing climate of intolerance, and worse, now prevailing in India a forum such as <i>Communalism Combat</i> is needed more than ever before. With the launch of two mutually complementary online platforms (<a href="http://www.sabrangindia.in/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.sabrangindia.in</a> and <a href="http://www.peacemap.in/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.peacemap.in</a>) on this Constitution Day, November 26, 2015 we are re-affirming our commitment to the pledge that ‘We, the People of India’, gave ourselves soon after gaining Independence from colonial rule.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">The content we have to offer is serious but the effort is to make it viewer/reader friendly. For the endless hours over many months devoted to the design and development of the two platforms by an amazing array of IT professionals who volunteered their expertise, our grateful thanks. A vast band of supporters and volunteers have put in hours of hard work with creative inputs. Through a particularly difficult period for us, this show of whole-hearted support has been both rewarding and sustaining.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Our many thanks also to highly regarded columnists, writers and social activists who have so generously offered to contribute editorial content for <a href="http://www.sabrangindia.in/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.sabrangindia.in</a> on a regular basis. Apart from the many new elements being introduced by us, through this platform viewers will be able to access the content earlier published over nearly 20 years in the old issues of <i>Communalism Combat</i>. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">We count on your support and contributions to make this new venture viable.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Happy Constitution Day!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Teesta Setalvad Javed Anand</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Co-editor <wbr></wbr> Co-editor</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-81526551107472463022015-11-20T04:03:00.002-08:002015-11-20T04:03:44.630-08:00ARUN FERREIRA: A SAGA IN COURAGE by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">ARUN FERREIRA: A SAGA IN COURAGE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On September 27<sup>th</sup> 2011 <b>Arun Ferreira</b> was released from the
Nagpur jail after being illegally incarcerated since May 2007 on charges of
being a naxalite. Just as he stepped out
from the gates of the jail even as his aged parents and other family members
waited outside the jail to welcome him back into their loving embrace, Arun was
forcibly arrested once again and that too without a warrant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The next day, on September 28<sup>th</sup>
he was produced at the JMFC Court in Gadchiroli district, Maharashtra in a
fabricated case of criminal conspiracy of 2007 despite the fact that the Trial
Court had exonerated him of every single charge the previous day. He continued to languish in jail till January
3<sup>rd</sup> 2012 when he was granted bail; only on January 29<sup>th</sup> 2014
was he finally acquitted of all the false cases which were foisted on him by
the State and other vested interests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Arun Ferreira is a saga in courage. An
alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, he is basically a human rights
defender, engaging in social and political activism. As a college student, he
organised students to fight for their rights and against social
atrocities. He deeply involved himself
in the ‘right-to-housing’ struggles of Mumbai slum dwellers and later on with
the tribals and other marginalised communities in rural Maharashtra. For his
commitment to the rights of the poor, he was picked up in 2007 and was falsely charged
of being a naxalite. For nearly five years in jail after that - besides being
charged with several crimes like criminal conspiracy, murder, possession of
arms and rioting - he was tortured and suffered greatly from police brutality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGkorBQXhl0teSQ0nL-xbDGNRoqsgPTTdXlJf4euqoHBD1P3D2z-_5E4gzFuortfXYLtfYzXflRI9jmAANxLIy_K-qVwTHJihcO2tN5Ojr9h25IuRsBZuQEuiodoTTVkb1B-vAg/s1600/Arun_CP-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGkorBQXhl0teSQ0nL-xbDGNRoqsgPTTdXlJf4euqoHBD1P3D2z-_5E4gzFuortfXYLtfYzXflRI9jmAANxLIy_K-qVwTHJihcO2tN5Ojr9h25IuRsBZuQEuiodoTTVkb1B-vAg/s320/Arun_CP-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Arun was our guest at ‘PRASHANT’ on
November 16<sup>th</sup> 2015, the day which is observed by the United Nations
as ‘<b>the International Day of Tolerance’</b>.
We had invited a select group of our collaborators and well-wishers to listen to
his painful and traumatic experience in prison. Without rancour or anger, but
in a way which touched the hearts of all present, he shared with those present
the ordeal of being a prisoner in India today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> His
prison memoir entitled ‘<b>Colours of the
Cage’</b> contains a fair bit of what he went through in jail. On the cover
page of the book is a note from well-known author and activist Arundhati Roy “<i>Arun Ferreira gives us a clear-eyed,
unsentimental account of custodial torture, years of imprisonment on false
cases and the flagrant violation of procedure that passes as the Rule of Law.
His experience is shared by tens of thousands of our fellow countrymen and
women, most of whom do not have access to lawyers or legal aid. This country
needs many more books like this one</i>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">During his conversation at ‘PRASHANT’, Arun
highlighted the need and importance for civil society to work for prison
reforms; the condition in the jail, he says, are abominable, inhuman with very
archaic rules which govern them. Secondly, he asserted, that people should come
out to fight draconian laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA),
2004 which is draconian, violative of basic human rights and goes against the
letter and spirit of the Constitution of India; such anti-people laws need to
be abolished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the foreword to ‘<b>Colours of the Cage’</b>, Naresh Fernandes writes “<i>Arun Ferreira reminds us that diversity of opinion and debate are
essential for any society to flourish. The worst thing we can do to ourselves
is to imprison our imagination</i>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Today, Arun continues his activism as an
advocate focussing on issue of political prisoners, prison reforms and on the state
of Indian democracy. He is truly a prophet for our times: <b>a saga in courage</b>!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">20<sup>th</sup>
November, 2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 11.0pt;">*(<b>Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ</b> is the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights,
Justice and Peace.)</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Address: ‘PRASHANT’,
Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">Phone:
(079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax:
(079) 27489018 Email: </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt;">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-81388545991551880572015-11-19T21:41:00.001-08:002015-11-19T21:41:22.374-08:00JOIN THE GLOBAL CLIMATE MARCH!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="color: #202020; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; margin: 0px; padding: 9px 18px; word-break: break-word;" valign="top"><pre><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">
Dear Cedric,
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">The Catholic Climate Petition has over <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=17888c5b07&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">500,000 petition signatures</a> from over 140 countries! </span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">While our spirits are high with this accomplishment, our hearts are heavy with the recent attacks in Paris and Beirut. <strong> We offer our prayers of healing and courage</strong> where there is grief and fear. And now it is time to stand behind our signatures with a renewed resolve to embrace fully God’s infinite love and mercy.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;"><img align="right" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhNXMgm5vIBF84lmFlZ73EaFQ9FqxwcM4M09BJ_VlfZIZHat5otiuFyrMXHQlT4RV7pxPEBBWgx6ownzuiU43vZo4BReCzd4PUn8ZagL6p0KVXTLZbNGbNuqC3SaeKG3dPKT8XbVYYI__Et8pU6t6CbfLTSv1lnL1iTeQGfybQo6ewdOfeMVHDs15K24y9EkKBpZl1tyvr_0UNXBCyhLtSspNQ=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; margin: 5px; min-height: 275px; outline: none; width: 275px;" width="275" />In 12 days, hundreds of thousands of families and people of all ages will be taking to the streets for the <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=5432d5c401&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">Global Climate March</a> on November 29.</span></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Help us get at least 100,000 Catholics to “pray with their feet” by joining <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=57b26199b7&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf; font-weight: normal;" target="_blank">this historic march</a>.</span></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">We have put together a <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=5fd7488d59&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">Global Climate March Toolkit</a> with everything you need to reach out to your priest or fellow parishioners: posters, banners, talking points, sample letters, and more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Then dedicate your efforts to mobilize for the Global Climate March to Christ when we make our 5th stop in this <a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=7380206045&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #2baadf;" target="_blank">Month of Climate Action: Journeying with Laudato Si’</a> on <strong>Sunday, November 22 for the Feast of Christ the King.</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is this week’s checklist:</span></span></div>
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<img align="left" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEim1J_i78cKfULxe8N9AMi79WIWbtJ9NJ4xS47VN_pSQp-RGaLRoIZqgFwKP-HZUfF8QSJaAj8aqkihdhGr8UlzFbSfD7oadxSIqEHP5J7WTLP3ytq0J3Gfuwr7ydPuRM-tuIuhbyE7np0C8T4zWA7Q27Tf6gCzAWzjFqgNVh4xW0nNulFRMbA37kOJ-0afBF2ja64cBC151s-qfJR87KIiC5M=s0-d-e1-ft" style="border: 0px; margin: 4px; min-height: 121px; outline: none; width: 150px;" width="150" /><span style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="color: darkgreen;"><strong>CHECKLIST FOR STOP #5: NOVEMBER 22, FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING</strong></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: green;">▢ <strong>ACT:</strong> Promote the </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=38323d0023&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank"><span style="color: green;">Global Climate March</span></a><span style="color: green;"> in your parish by asking your parish priest if you can post one of these </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=9a9fdc86ef&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank"><span style="color: green;">posters</span></a><span style="color: green;"> on the church billboard and/or or make one of these </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=7e72d0114c&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank"><span style="color: green;">announcements</span></a><span style="color: green;"> after mass. Invite 10 people to join you in the Global Climate March by sharing </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=c4b6dc689f&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank"><span style="color: green;">this video</span></a><span style="color: green;"> or one of </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=b3d8cf459e&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank"><span style="color: green;">these banners </span></a><span style="color: green;">on social media or through email.</span></div>
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<span style="color: green;">▢ <strong>REFLECT: </strong>This week we reflect on chapters 3 and 4 of </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=6619cebe8b&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank"><span style="color: green;">Laudato Si’</span></a><span style="color: green;">. The </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=28a0029a1c&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank"><span style="color: green;">Franciscan resource </span></a><span style="color: green;">we are using asks us to reflect on several questions including, “Pope Francis affirms that “intergenerational solidarity is not optional, but rather a basic question of justice”. What must be done to guarantee a better future for the generations to come?”</span></div>
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<span style="color: green;">▢ <strong>PRAY: </strong>As we near the end of the liturgical season we reflect on the enduring power of Christ and His selfless love which we are all called to embody in our own actions. We pray for the people of Paris, Beirut, Kenya, Burundi and other places living in the aftermath of recent and ongoing waves of violence. With the recent attacks in Paris, we especially </span><a href="http://global.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=9a4574228876a94c19d41644f&id=33d143e240&e=3a89d196b9" style="color: #656565;" target="_blank"><span style="color: green;">#Pray4cop21</span></a><span style="color: green;"> that a strong climate agreement will still emerge in the upcoming negotiations.<span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Reflecting on the recent tragedies in Paris, Pope Francis shared “Jesus’ triumph will be the triumph of the cross, the demonstration that the sacrifice of oneself out of love for one’s neighbor, in imitation of Christ, is the only victorious power and the only stable point in the midst of the upheavals and tragedies of the world.” </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>It is love that will triumph over the sins of the world,</strong> from the violence committed in Paris to those being being perpetrated against our Mother Earth. May your participation in caring for our common home reflect how Christ’s power of love can transform this world.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">Your companions on the journey,<br /><br />Christina, Tomas, Mary, Janine, Igor, Fabian, Leila, Lou, Marie, and the rest of the GCCM team<br /><br />P.S. Here is the beautiful timeline of our journey together:</span></span></span><br /> </div>
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Global Catholic Climate Movement<div>
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PO Box 29106</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-83757646431560712622015-11-16T00:29:00.002-08:002015-11-16T00:29:56.542-08:00MAINSTREAMING TOLERANCE by Fr. Cedric Prakash sj (November 16th 2015)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">MAINSTREAMING TOLERANCE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Never before in the history of
post-independent India has “<b>intolerance</b>”
become such a subject of heated debate, much divisiveness and which seems to bleed
the heart of ‘the idea of India’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Intolerance, one might argue has always
existed! We see small and big acts taking place all over society and even in
the security of one’s own family. As Indians,
we do pride ourselves of being a ‘tolerant people’ and we certainly get very
upset when growing acts of intolerance hog the limelight. In a defense reaction, we put on a mask saying
“<i>we are not like that</i>”. This was so
evident, when a few days ago, a motley group met the President and the Prime
Minister ‘to protest’ against those who were saying that India is becoming an
intolerant nation! The irony is that this very group was abusive of some of the
media present at their protest and they also made very intolerant remarks
against those taking a stand against intolerance!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">In recent months, there have been a spate
of intolerant acts all over the country: from the killing of rationalists like
Pansare and Kalburgi to the burning of dalit children; from ‘banning’ programmes
by Pakistanis in India to the killing of someone who apparently eaten beef. In the
wake of these acts, some of the most eminent people of the country including
several intellectuals like writers, scientists, historians and even celebrity
film stars, have strongly voiced their protests; some of them have had the
courage to return their duly merited awards from the
Government. The point they have been making is that the Government of the day
does not show any political will to address these acts of hate, divisiveness
and violence but on the contrary, it even seems to patronise, shield and
provide legitimacy to the perpetrators of these heinous acts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">This intolerance was symbolised in the
fact that several functions were held on November 15<sup>th</sup> in different
parts of the country to honour Nathuram Godse, the man who killed Mahatma
Gandhi; for his dastardly deed, Godse was hanged on November 15, 1949 and the
fact that right-wing factions have the audacity to treat him like a hero speaks
volumes for itself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAXPAOdu3p-LzrWnmvXseTQYcQDihM6AJ-aAwoS4xR3WzMrC9SgddUTa2cMd1M82Tzp6VOSH8mUdH8vL2bbQC4j5ruovYGIQBPmbe5gcxsm71OK-SJULXOdp6pYtb1m5RgQEQOQ/s1600/tolerance-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRAXPAOdu3p-LzrWnmvXseTQYcQDihM6AJ-aAwoS4xR3WzMrC9SgddUTa2cMd1M82Tzp6VOSH8mUdH8vL2bbQC4j5ruovYGIQBPmbe5gcxsm71OK-SJULXOdp6pYtb1m5RgQEQOQ/s320/tolerance-21.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">It is therefore appropriate that the
United Nations every year invites all member States to observe <b>November 16<sup>th</sup></b> as ‘<b>the International Day for Tolerance’</b>. The meaning of “tolerance” provided by UNESCO
“<i>is respect, acceptance and appreciation
of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways
of being human</i>”. “<i>Tolerance is not concession, condescension
or indulgence. Tolerance is above all an active attitude prompted by the
recognition of the Universal Human Rights and fundamental freedoms of others</i>.”
“<i>Tolerance is the responsibility that
upholds human rights, pluralism and the rule of the law......it does not mean
toleration of social injustices or the abandonment or weakening of one’s
convictions</i>”. A meaningful definition indeed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">The terrible attacks in Paris on
November 13<sup>th</sup> certainly need to be condemned by one and all! At the same time, one should never forget the
many millions who are killed and brutalised throughout the world all the time but
do not get the media attention and the world leaders speaking up for them. In
April, more than 148 people (of these 142 were students) were killed by an Islamic
extremist group in Kenya; those executed were mainly Christians. There is a muted
response to the killings of innocent people be it in Syria and Lebanon, Egypt and
Afghanistan, Palestine and in several parts of Africa. The refugee crisis is
certainly an outcome of great intolerance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Exactly twenty-six years ago, on 16<sup>th</sup>
November 1989 six Jesuit Priests together with their housekeeper and her
fifteen year daughter, were brutally murdered in El Salvador by the military
junta of that country. The powerful, vested interests were not able to tolerate
the way the Jesuits took a stand on behalf of the poor and against the growing
injustices and fascist acts of those in power.
We remember these martyrs today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">We have much to internalise and to mainstream
where tolerance is concerned. Let’s hope and pray that on a day like this, each
one of us has the courage and the humility to act: to be more tolerant and to make
our world a more humane, just and peaceful place for all!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 11.5pt;">November 16<sup>th</sup>
2015<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt;">*(<b>Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ </b>is the Director of <b>PRASHANT</b>, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights,
Justice and Peace.)</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Address: ‘PRASHANT’,
Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;">Phone:
(079) 27455913, 66522333 Fax: (079) 27489018 Email: </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="mailto:sjprashant@gmail.com"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">sjprashant@gmail.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><a href="http://www.humanrightsindia.in/"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">www.humanrightsindia.in</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.0pt;"> <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-41865704889466293132015-11-14T10:44:00.000-08:002015-11-14T10:44:02.282-08:00ANOTHER 14th OF NOVEMBER -Fr Cedric Prakash sj <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ANOTHER 14th OF
NOVEMBER <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><i>-Fr Cedric Prakash sj<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It’s November 14<sup>th</sup>
2015</b>! Awoke this morning after a short and restless sleep, to learn of the
terrible <b>attacks in Paris</b> the
previous night! At the Eucharist with the Missionaries of Charity- we prayed
for all those affected by this latest round of violence! Later, I posted this
message on my facebook page <i>“ </i><i><span style="background: white; color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">We condemn and are pained by the inhuman and
dastardly act of violence in Paris</span></i><i><span style="color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Our
hearts go out to all those affected very specially the families who have lost a
loved one<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br />
<span style="background: white;">The
perpetrators must be brought to book particularly those who master- minded the
attack<span class="apple-converted-space">.</span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">We pray
and hope that every form of violence is eschewed by all”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><br /></span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">And during the day, remembered the many millions killed and
affected by man’s inhumanity to man, all over the world! We hardly raise our
voices when innocent people (children, women and men) from Palestine and
Lebanon and Afghanistan and Syria and in other places are killed or made
refugees, just because they are <b>‘NOT
LIKE US</b>!’We forget that pain and suffering, brutality and violence to
anyone anywhere- should be condemned in no uncertain terms. We also need to become
aware of the role that the powerful nations, the big corporations (specially
the arms and ammunition industry) and other vested interests (like
fundamentalist and fascist forces), play in fomenting violence, hate and in
keeping people divided!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Today we celebrate the memory of <b>St.Joseph
Pignatelli</b>-who a little over two hundred years ago-literally became the
bridge between the old and new Society of Jesus! His dogged determination
ensured that the Society which was suppressed for several years- would
ultimately be restored to its lawful place in the Church and the world. Several
years later, <b>Fr Pedro Arrupe</b> (born
on this day in 1907), as the Superior General of the Society –initiated the
faith & justice mandate into the Jesuit way of proceeding. On this day in
1980 Fr Arrupe gave the world a most precious gift: <b>the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS).<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #141823; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Speaking to day in Rome to the JRS, Pope Francis said<i>,</i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; color: #444444;"> “ </span></i></span><i><span style="background: white; color: #444444;">Father
Arrupe, who had lived through the atomic bomb explosion at Hiroshima, realized
the scope of that tragic exodus of refugees. He saw it as a challenge
which the Jesuits could not ignore if they were to remain faithful to their
vocation. He wanted the Jesuit Refugee Service to meet both the human and
the spiritual needs of refugees, not only their immediate need of food and
shelter, but also their need to see their human dignity respected, to be
listened to and comforted.</span>”</i><span style="background: white; color: #444444;">There is another ‘special’ about this red-letter ‘Jesuit Day’:
in 1983- Gujarat became a <b>Jesuit
Province</b> after being a Vice-Province for several years!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #444444;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #444444;">It’s <b>Children’s Day</b> too! As we celebrate the
simplicity and joy, the innocence and spontaneity of a child– we remember the
many millions of children all over who are denied their childhood. This tragedy,
we all know, is caused by those who have allowed evil to reign supreme in their
lives! This day dedicated to the children is because of <b>Jawaharlal Nehru</b> our first Prime Minister; he did so much to build
a modern India. We celebrate him with gratitude on his 125<sup>th</sup> birth
anniversary!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 4.5pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Its five years now since my beloved
<b>mother Cynthia</b> was called to her
eternal reward and I say<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #444444; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “</span></i><i><span style="color: #141823; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mum -<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
FIVE YEARS TODAY-since you said your earthly GOODBYE<br />
You did so, at the twinkle of an eye: suddenly and silently!<br />
As the year fly by-memories grow deeper and fonder<br />
The pain of you not being around -ever more harder!<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">The values you embodied and communicated to all,</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Will always be treasured by both big and small!</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Your strength was compassion, fortitude and
fidelity</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">You were truly a woman of substance and integrity!</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<i><span style="color: #141823; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">THANK YOU MUM! FOR BEING THE WONDERFUL PERSON YOU WERE!<br />
INTERCEDE FOR US FROM ABOVE!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 14.5pt; margin-bottom: 4.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<i><span style="color: #141823; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #444444;">Today was
packed with plenty more – people and events; interactions and movements! It is
also a special day for many I know: birthdays, anniversaries and more!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #444444;">As I look back
at a day which was <b>NOT</b> like any
other day- I thank God for it; I pray for all those in pain and suffering; and
I tell the Lord <b><i>“well, it was certainly another 14<sup>th</sup> of November !”<o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-46749035494616908542015-11-14T02:58:00.003-08:002015-11-14T02:58:50.003-08:00THANK YOU MUM !!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTFl5f8SbwqX8f57v37-TWDYo-dFeLtxORcEzKRd32I3g6zjWa5O7KpU1xyrXDYYDevC-f45sJS4jv_dLpdjPZ5KMv52NkPbM4jJsI5-f66Upg0o_o-wBe8lXirukBMc488_oRw/s1600/Fr_Mother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCTFl5f8SbwqX8f57v37-TWDYo-dFeLtxORcEzKRd32I3g6zjWa5O7KpU1xyrXDYYDevC-f45sJS4jv_dLpdjPZ5KMv52NkPbM4jJsI5-f66Upg0o_o-wBe8lXirukBMc488_oRw/s320/Fr_Mother.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b> - MUM - </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
FIVE YEARS TODAY-since you said your earthly GOODBYE</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You did so, at the twinkle of an eye:suddenly and silently!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As the year fly by-memories grow deeper and fonder</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The pain of you not being around -ever more harder!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The values you embodied and communicated to all,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Will always be treasured by both big and small!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Your strength was compassion,fortitude and fidelity</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
You were truly a woman of substance and integrity!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
THANK YOU MUM! </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
FOR BEING THE WONDERFUL PERSON YOU WERE!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
INTERCEDE FOR US FROM ABOVE!</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13072117247399126718noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15608335.post-44620627386068214792015-11-10T03:34:00.000-08:002015-11-10T03:34:06.393-08:00GUJARAT CITIZEN’S STATEMENT AGAINST INTOLERANCE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr">
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 6pt 0in; text-align: left;">
<b><u style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">GUJARAT CITIZEN’S STATEMENT </u></b><b><u style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">AGAINST INTOLERANCE</u></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Contact: Narmad Meghani Library,</b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Opp. Natraj Railway Crossing,</b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Meethakhali, Ellisbridge,</b></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ahmedabad-380006.</b></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ph. No. (079) 26579962.</b></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">10 November 2015</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">To,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sh. Pranab Mukherjee,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The President of India,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rashtrapati Bhavan,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">New Delhi.</span></div>
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<b><u style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">GUJARAT CITIZEN’S STATEMENT </u></b></div>
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<b><u style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">AGAINST INTOLERANCE</u></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">His excellency,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We, the concerned citizens of Gujarat, stand by the artists, scientists, writers, academicians, intellectuals who oppose the atmosphere of intolerance, hatred and fear; and return their awards. We feel that this is the time when the civil society should rise and resist what is going on in the country. Intolerance as well as communal and caste hatred have been in the country since long. But after the rise of Mr. Narendra Modi and RSS, intolerance, violence and hatred have become the instruments of power and have been politically and deliberately encouraged. The cold blooded murder of the intellectuals, two in Maharashtra and one in Karnataka is its glaring example.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The fanatical propagation of cow slaughter and killing people in the name of so-called holy cow, the horrible incident of Dadri and burning of Dalits in Haryana have become incidents in the country with the reason that atmosphere of fear and insecurity has increased throughout the country. There are direct attacks on freedom of speech and expression. Still worse, these violent incidents are supported by the member of ruling party and silence of the Prime Minister show that present government is committed to this ideology. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Arrogant defense like statement of Mr. Arun Jaitley that Mr. Narendra Modi has become the object of great intolerance is ridiculous because the non violent opposition to intolerant Modi cannot be considered as intolerance towards Modi. We believe that these acts of violence, hatred and intolerance pose a great threat to democratic, secular, pluralistic India which is the very foundation of our constitution. All these incidents are proof of a conscious movement towards fascism based upon racial pride, violence, hatred and intolerance. These anti democratic forces seem to be determined to convert India into a theocratic state where all minorities and non believers have to live at the mercy of majority. This is also violating the fundamental duty of every citizen to develop the scientific temper, humanism and spirit of inquiry and reform. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Prime Mister Mr. Modi in his foreign tour once pronounced that now people feel proud to be an Indian. But the reality is just the opposite. The recent incidents show that people rather feel ashamed. The Sangh Parivar and the government want to take the country into the ancient age. In Gujarat also, the atmosphere of Fear, Hatred and Intolerance prevails. Freedom of Expression and Right to Protest are denied. The protestors of Dholera SIR have to approach the High Court for their Protest March & Sedition Act is used for Political Vendetta in the State.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Under the circumstances, we request you to intervene and maintain the democratic and secular fabric of our country.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We also appeal sane, liberal and progressive members of the civil society to stand up and resist the direct attacks on basic principles of Constitution.</span></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">N.B. WE REQUEST YOU TO GIVE AN APPOINTMENT DURING YOUR VISIT TO GUJARAT (AHMEDABAD) ON 1<sup>ST</sup> OF DECEMBER.</i></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yours Sincerely,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We are</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>PRAKASH N. SHAH</b><b>(President, PUCL, Gujarat) M. 9879919421 </b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>GIRISH PATEL(</b><b>Well known advocate)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>MALLIKA SARABHAI(</b><b>Danseuse and activist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>PROF. ROHIT SHUKLA(</b><b>President, Gujarat, AISEC)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>INDUKUMAR JANI(</b><b>Editor, ‘Naya Marg’)</b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. DINESH SHUKLA</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>DWARIKANATH RATH(</b><b>Secretary, M.S.D.)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DR. RAGHU RANGARAJAN(<b>Scientist )</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. GHANSHYAM SHAH(<b>Social Scientist</b><b>)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>GAUTAM THAKER(</b><b>General Secretary, Gujarat, PUCL)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">FR. FRANCIS PARMAR</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">URVISH KOTHARI(<b>Journalist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>FATHER CEDRIC PRAKASH(</b><b>Director, PRASHANT)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>SAGAR RABARI(</b><b>Secretary, Gujarat Khedut Samaj)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. BHARAT MEHTA(<b>Reader, M.S. University)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. BABUBHAI DESAI</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>PANKTI JOG(</b><b>RTI Activist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>MANISHI JANI(</b><b>Gujarati Writers’ Association</b><b>)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">SAROOP DHRUV(<b>Writer)</b><b></b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. SANJAY BHAVE</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">HIREN GANDHI(<b>Director, ‘Darshan’ )</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">SVATI JOSHI(<b>Retired Professor, Delhi University)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DHIRU MISTRY(<b>Artist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">VINAY MAHAJAN(<b>Artist, ‘Loknaad’ )</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">CHARUL BHARWADA(<b>Artist, ‘Loknaad’)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>MEENAKSHI JOSHI(</b><b>Activist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>RAJANI DAVE(</b><b>‘Gujarat Sarvoday Mandal’)</b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. KUNTAL MEHTA</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>DILIP CHANDULAL(</b><b>Activist)</b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. DHAVAL MEHTA </b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>HARINESH PANDYA(</b><b>‘Janpath’)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>MANJULA PRADEEP(</b><b>‘Navsarjan’)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>RANJANBEN DESAI(</b><b>Citizen)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>NAYANABEN SHAH(</b><b>Citizen)</b><b></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>HANSABEN SHAH(</b><b>Citizen</b><b>)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>NILA ANIL BHATT(</b><b>Citizen)</b><b></b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. VIPIN H. SHAH</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>MAHENDRA JETHMALANI(</b><b>‘Patheya’ )</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>BHARATSINH JHALA(</b><b>‘CRANTI’)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>SADHANABEN PANDYA(</b><b>Citizen)</b><b></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PERSIS GINWALLA(<b>‘JAAG’)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">MEHUL DEVKALA(<b>Artist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DR. HANIF LAKDAWALA(<b>‘Sanchetna’)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DR. JHARNA PATHAK(<b>Economist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PRAVIN PANDYA(Writer )</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">BEENA MACWAN(<b>Activist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ARIF MIRZA(<b>Citizen</b>)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">JOHN. DSOUZA(<b>Citizen)</b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. MANGALABEN MEHTA</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ISHWAR PRAJAPATI(<b>Activist )</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">ASHOK SHRIMALI(<b>Activist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DR. ILABEN JOSHI</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">MAHESH PANDYA(<b>Editor, Paryavaran Mitra)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. HEMANTKUMAR SHAH</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DR. NIVYA PATEL</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">RAVJI SONDARVA(<b>Cinematographer)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">REKHA MAHIDA(<b>Citizen</b>)</span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DR. DAMINI SHAH</b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">KANJI PATEL(<b><span lang="EN-GB">Litterateur)</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">DR. SUBHASH JOSHI(<b>Social Scientist)</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>YASHWANT MEHTA(</b><b>Writer)</b></span></div>
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<b style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">PROF. KANU KHADADIYA </b></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>MAHADEV VIDROHI(</b><b>Sarvodaya Seva Sangh)</b><b></b></span></div>
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