Intensifying Complexities in the Global Context, People's reporter Vol. 32 no.24, December 2019

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- Annual Special Issue 2019
Intensifying Complexities of the Global ContextIntensifying Complexities of the Global ContextIntensifying Complexities of the Global ContextIntensifying Complexities of the Global ContextIntensifying Complexities of the Global Context
The Complex Global Context
The 21st
century began generating a new hope of a better world.
The end of the cold war, possibilities of greater strength to democratic politics
because of the fall of the Communist rule in Europe, promises offered by the neo-
liberal economic policy, unbelievably fast expansion of the horizons of Information
and Communication Technology, promises of Nano Technology and increasing
use of Artificial Intelligence were the reasons for a New Hope. But, very disturbingly
we find all-round despair at the close of the first two decades of this century.
Although the Cold War based on ideological differences ended, in the last two
decades, the whole of West Asia has been changed into a ‘permanent theatre of
war’. The end of Communist rule, instead of strengthening democratic forces,
has given way for the rise of fascist forces in the US, India, Turkey and in many
countries in Europe. The neo-liberal economic policy, instead of helping to improve
the health of the economy and welfare of the people produced recession in the
US in 2008 and in advanced countries subsequently, and intensified the misery of
the people. The on-going recession threatens the life of the people in India too.
The US that imposed neo-liberal policy with much promise and fanfare has
abandoned it, and announced its opposite, Trade War. While Information/
Communication/Cyber technology has broken new paths of success, and the
improvement of the life-situations of the people it is being misused by the
miscreants and the governments against freedom of individuals. The progress
of Research and Development of Artificial Intelligence raises not only the threat
of the intensification of unemployment, but also ethical issues related to the
substitution of humans with machines. Although neo-liberal policy has proven a
failure, the Market still controls and dominates the economy, society and culture.
Along with these issues the transformation of culture, religions , and ecological
catastrophe to serve the interests of the Market, makes the situation in the 3rd
Decade of the 21st
century extremely complex and even frightening.
Profound and systematic efforts to understand the nature and dynamics of
these issues would be the key to face the new threatening challenges before us.
Democracy
and Its Discontents
M. A. Oommen
The topic ‘democracy and
its discontents’ is wide and
comprehensive. It
encompasses the concept,
content and practice of
democracy. Democracy has
immense intrinsic value, in
and of itself, because it is the
only means to ensure
collective choice. It is not an
unattainable utopia. It has
tremendous instrumental
value in promoting inclusive
development, freedom,
progress, human welfare
and tremendous capability
for arbitration between
conflicting interests and for
ushering in a just society.
Therefore, how democracy
flourishes is key to human
development and civilization.
This article is a brief
reflection on the
contemporary context of
democracy and the
dissatisfaction and
discontent that one observes
in its conceptualization as
well as its working.
We can certainly say that the era of
kings and land-owning feudal class
ended by the 20th
century.
Can we then say
that the era of democracy
has dawned?
We cannot.
Quite often we are reminded
of the direct democracy of
Athens. But looking back we know
that the Athenian democracy
which kept out women and slaves,
was more a patriarchal and
elitistic governance system.
Democracy in the 21st
century is an
engaging and vital issue. Its discontent is
important because its blossoming is
crucial for the creation of a better world.
We are witnesses to Arab
Spring, Pink-Tide (Latin America),
the Occupy Wall Street protests,
the Hong Kong protests and so
on, but they are no more than
green shoots and do not show
sustainable democracy devoid of
the ills of capitalism.
Continued on Page 2 Col. 2 ..>>>
Alternatives to
Death-Bound Capitalism
Ulrich Duchrow
Continued on Page 3 Col. 1 ..>>>
Introduction
Imperial Capitalism
has conquered the globe
in its financialized
neoliberal form
since the late 1970s.
Why is itWhy is itWhy is itWhy is itWhy is it
death-bound?death-bound?death-bound?death-bound?death-bound?
Briefly summarized
you can say:
- Structurally the whole
capitalist economy is driven
bytheonemotor:capitalmust
grow. Capital is not just
money. It is any asset,
measured in money, invested
to get out more than what
was invested – and not only
more, but maximum profit at
all costs, including social and
ecological devastation.
- This functional
mechanism stimulates the
desire to accumulate limitless
money and it is, at the same
time, made possible by the
desire to have more,
consume more and buy more.
We call it the interaction of
greed and greedy money1
.
The limitless structural
and human dynamic
leads to compulsory
growth.
This is why the capitalist
system is creating
the climate catastrophe,
the extermination of
species and
the poisoning of the earth.
When capital must grow
at all costs and without limits,
you have to increase
the material output
in production.
And you have to
increase consumption
in order to sell your products.
The results are visible
to everyone with open eyes.

Thought for the Fortnight
If the last four millennia had witnessed
the ascent of man the thinker,
we now seemed to be living through
the ascent of man the banker
– Niall Ferguson– Niall Ferguson– Niall Ferguson– Niall Ferguson– Niall Ferguson
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Intensifying Complexities of
the Global Context: Alliances:
Alternatives to Death-Bound Capitalism
Either transition to Socialism
or regression into Barbarism
Cosmic Christ:
The Hope of Humans and Cosmos
Kerala Is Secular
Contents
The New Media of Communication:
Prospects and Challenges
Urbanisation and Peoples’ Development:
Smart Cities – Are they safe and
sustainable for people at large?
The crisis in the Indian economy
Paupers, Yet Enriching All
Amos’ simple message
for a complex world
Christianity as
a Movement in Solidarity:
In Response to Ecological Crisis
“Amet-truth; met-death”
Where are we heading to?
See, hear, travel and
be radically transformed
3
4
5
6
7
8
10
11
12
13
14
15
Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context
Democracy in the 21st
century is an engaging and vital issue. Its discontent is important because its blossoming is
crucial for the creation of a better world. We are witnesses to Arab Spring, Pink-Tide (Latin America),
the Occupy Wall Street protests, the Hong Kong protests and so on, but they are no more than green shoots
and do not show sustainable democracy devoid of the ills of capitalism.
Democracy and Its Discontents
Dr. M. A. Oommen is
Honorary Professor
at the Centre for Development Studies,
Thiruvananthapuram
M. A. Oommen
Many people throughout the
world equate democracy with
balloting and periodic elections.
Not only the political class, even
great scholars like Samuel
Huntington and Joseph
Schumpeter subscribe to this
view. This indeed is a
reductionist approach and
ignores the tremendous
instrumental potential of
democracy in transforming the
world in which we live, without
compromising on human
dignity.
Sadly, this potential is largely
ignored or by-passed. True there
are conspicuous exceptions like
the Scandinavian countries
which promote social
democracy, to which we may
come back later.
Democracy is not merely
overthrowing arbitrary power or
fighting state terrorism and so
on. This is a negative approach.
Of course these movements and
protests are a great force in
changing aggressive
governments and putting
pressures for better governance.
But that is not the right way to
herald durable and well-
functioning democracy. While
we underscore strongly the fact
that democracy cannot exist
without freedom of political
choice, realizing the full potential
of democracy is an altogether
different kettle of fish.
The Occupy Wall Street
Movement, in September 2011,
which raised the pertinent
slogan ‘a government of 1% by
the 1% for the 1%’ which
characterized United States of
America was a great eye opener.
Democracy has lost its relevance
and sense of fairness. But
Americans later voted Donald
Trump to power who belonged
to this minority and unduly
favoured this minority through a
plethora of tax concessions and
hand-outs. That Michael
Bloomberg, a media baron with
a net worth of about $55 billion
(far richer than Donald Trump)
announced his candidature on
December 1, 2019 as a potential
Democratic Party candidate,
shows that plutocracy is well
entrenched in USA. When
Joseph Stiglitz tells us (see his
well-argued book ‘The Price of
Inequality’) that the top 1% of the
Americans gained 93% of the
additional income created in the
country in 2010 as compared with
2009 (and now the situation by
all counts might have worsened),
a relevant question is: what sort
of democracy is the superpower
Contd. Page 14 Col. 1 ..>>>
Some Burning Issues of
Indian Economy Today
The image of God
9 16
Contents
Indian Christian Women’s Movement
At the threshold of
the third decade of the century
The last century ended with a lot of hopes and promises for
the next century. The end of the Cold War, demise of the
communist governments in Europe, introduction of neoliberal
economic policy across the world, progress of information,
communication and nano technologies and Artificial Intelligence
machines raised great hopes of better, more prosperous and
peaceful life, for all across the globe, in the new century. But,
when we enter the third decade of the century, we find an
alarmingly complex global situation.
In politics, the fall of Communist regimes, instead of
strengthening democracy has only weakened it. The political
parties, generally, are only making lip service to democracy and
have caste away ideals and worthy ideologies.And voters across
the world have conveniently shifted towards populist leaders
who, by and large, uphold fascist policies. The practice of
politics, based on the opportunism of some leaders, and not
on any great ideology is a grave threat to humanity. After the
bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, we hoped that
fascism would not raise its heads again. But, today, the spectre
of fascism looms large across the world; not only in politics, but
also in the fields of education, culture and religion. Whereas
during the pre-1945 period only a few political leaders were
fascists, today, unfortunately people, in general in all areas of
life, are switching over to fascist mindsets.
At the dawn of the century, there was a hope among the
people that neo-liberal economic policy would make their life
more comfortable and secure. But, the neo-economic policy
during the two decades have turned more people shockingly
poor, jobless, homeless and indebted, than ever before. And
widened inequality in the distribution of income and wealth
within each country and across the world more than ever before
in history. Apart from this, during the last two decades,
unbelievably, the indebtedness of nations reached
unmanageable levels and countries like Portugal, Iceland, Italy,
Greece and Spain became bankrupt. In fact, the bankruptcy of
governments created a situation of the IMF-World Bank-
European Monetary Authority-the trio, appointing the Prime
Ministers of Italy and Greece, bypassing the democratic process.
It is true that in the past two decades there is some economic
development in many places. But, the means and strategies
adopted to achieve this also aggravated ecological imbalance
and scarcity of water and pure air - the two sources of life provided
by God freely, to sustain the life of all. Although, private
appropriation of water is a crime against humanity and an
encroachment on the domain of God, this issue is not taken up
as a human rights violation and an attack on the authority of
God. Although, religions are very vigilant in influencing the
governments in so many issues, they conveniently allow this
attack on the life of the people and the Will of God. The
unprecedented increase in the flow of migrant workers and
refugees in each country, and across the world, and the rise in
the level of crime are the other impacts of the drive for more
development! The volume of solid and liquid wastes being
created as the by-product of development every minute makes
the earth uninhabitable.
Although all these problems raise severe threat to the
existence of humanity, even the learned people fail to understand
adequately that the type of development we embrace is violence-
ridden. The fall of religions, and the Churches that are expected
to enlighten the people on these issues, is the biggest calamity
we face. In fact, the religions, and the Churches that teach their
followers to hate the other, on the one side, and that are mired
in undemocratic and corrupt practices that beat even the Church
in the Dark Ages, to increase accumulation of wealth on the
other, are highly disappointing. The religious, political and
humanitarian institutions and agencies have to begin a deep,
sincere self-examination and renewal. And there is the need of
a new dawn.
>>> Contd. from Page 1 Col. 1
Life Giving Agricultural Centre
Life Time Achievement Award - 2019
to Dr. Bennet Benjamin
P. N. Benjamin passes away

Alternatives to Death-Bound Capitalism
Dr. Ulrich Duchrow is
Professor of Systematic Theology at
the University of Heidelberg, Germany
Ulrich Duchrow
Solidarity
Vs Competing Individuals
What is the role of alliancesthe role of alliancesthe role of alliancesthe role of alliancesthe role of alliances
in this situation?
It is crucial at various levels.
At the fundamental level the
status quo is characterized by the
fact that capitalism is building on
the individual homo
oeconomicus competing with
other individuals for more power,
wealth and reputation.2
Since the end of the 19th century, corporations
have been regarded as legal persons. At first glance, they may seem
to be ready for alliances, “strategic alliances”. But these are meant to
kill or to devour other competing companies, not to work with them.
The capitalist economy is ‘disembedded’ from the social life of
people.3
Modernity is built on Platonic and Aristotelian assumptions.
Modernity is understood in the sense that behind the phenomena we
have ideas in the form of mathematical structures, (Plato). It
understood Aristotle as saying that everything is a substance in itself
and only secondarily relates to other substances or, in the case of
persons, individuals. According to Descartes, therefore, the I as an
individual faces various objects. These are the fundamental concepts
of modern science and technology, including capitalist political
economy and anthropology.
By contrast, all alternatives to capitalism build on person-in-
community and other concepts privileging constructive and life-
enhancing alliances. As a matter of fact, we are currently
experiencing a deep paradigm shift from mechanistic modernity
to relational cultures of life. Meanwhile, in most sciences you find
progressive minorities putting relations first, as the primary reality –
moving more towards Buddhist and Daoist philosophy4
, starting with
the assumption that everything relates to everything. Brain research
shows that human beings have an inborn tendency towards empathy
through their “mirror neurons” and also towards cooperation.5
Relational psychology proves that humans become subjects, selves,
through inter-subjectivity.6
Biology is the science of life itself. Here, we
have the most dramatic rethinking of the wholeness of the web of life.
We can learn from researchers like Margulis and David Korten, who
use their insights for designing a post-capitalist economy.
At the fundamental level the status quo is characterized by the fact
that capitalism is building on the individual homo oeconomicus competing
with other individuals for more power, wealth and reputation. Since the end
of the 19th century, corporations have been regarded as legal persons.
At first glance, they may seem to be ready for alliances,
“strategic alliances”. But these are meant to kill
or to devour other competing companies, not to work with them.
The capitalist economy is ‘disembedded’ from the social life of people.
– Courtesy:
Soical Justice,
Aug/Sept 2019, Sri Lanka –
Alliances:
There are Alternatives
Relating these basic
methodological shifts to the
concrete political economy and
strategies of transformation,
Kairos Europa, the organization
I work with, has developed what
is called the double strategy. It
was developed in the European
Kairos Document (1998): “Fora
socially just, life-sustaining and
democraticEurope–Acalltofaith
communities, trade-unions and
all movements and individuals
that are working for social,
political and economic change,
to build coalitions to work for the
liberation of society from the
stranglehold of the deregulated
globalised economy and its
competitiveculture”.8
The double
strategy means: There are two
components in the
transformation of death-dealing
capitalism into a life-enhancing
economy:
(1) Cooperating at local and
regional levels in post-capitalist
concrete ways.
(2) Building alliances of
these cells and different
sectors of society to intervene
in the economic and political
macro-structures towards
change.
References:
1 Cf. DUCHROW, Ulrich/
Hinkelammert, Franz: Transcending
Greedy Money: Interreligious
Solidarity for Just Relations. New
York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2012.
2 In classical form developed by
the English philosopher Thomas
Hobbes in the 17th century. Cf.
DUCHROW, Ulrich / Hinkelammert,
Franz J.: Property for People, Not for
Profit: Alternatives to the Global
Tyranny of Capital. London and
Geneva: Zed Books in association
with the Catholic Institute for
InternationalRelationsandtheWorld
Council of Churches, 2004, chap. 2.
3 See POLANYI, Karl: The great
transformation. New York [u.a.]:
Rinehart, 1944.
4 In Germany the Buddhist
philosopher and economist Karl-
Heinz Brodbeck has extensively
written about this, especially in Die
Herrschaft des Geldes. Geschichte
und Systematik. Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft,
(2009) 2012; cf. BRODBECK, Karl-
Heinz: The Rule of Money, Summary
by Peter Johnson. - 8 Sept 2009
(https://www.opendemocracy.net/
en/die-herrschaft-des-geldes-the-
rule-of-money/). The Brazilian
theologian Leonardo Boff and the US
physicist Mark D. Hathaway bring
together many sciences in the same
perspective:Cf. The TaoofLiberation:
Exploring the Ecology of
Transformation.Maryknoll,N.Y.:Orbis
Books, 2009.
5 Cf. DAMASIO, Antonio:
Descartes‘ Error: Emotion, Reason
and the Human Brain. New York:
Vintage, 2006, and also BAUER,
Joachim: Prinzip Menschlichkeit:
Warum wir von Natur aus
kooperieren. München: Heyne, 2008.
6 Cf. WINNICOTT,DonaldW.:Ego
Distortion in Terms of True and False
Self. In: id. (Hrsg.): The Maturational
Process and the Facilitating
Environment. London : 1965.
7 Cf. MARGULIS, Lynn/Sagan,
Dorion: What is Life?: The Eternal
Enigma. London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson, 1995; MARGULIS, Lynn:
Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at
Evolution. New York: Basic Books,
1999; KORTEN, David: The Post-
Corporate World: Life after
Capitalism. West Hartford, CT/San
Francisco, CA: Kumarian Press/
Berret-Koehler, 2000; KORTEN,
David:TheGreatTurning:FromEmpire
to Earth Community. West Hartford,
CT:Berrett-KoehlerPublishers,2006.
8 See http://kairoseuropa.de/wp-
content/uploads/2015/10/Kairosdok-
eng.doc.
Wish YouAll
A Blessed New Year 2020
The Rt. Rev. Dr. A. C. Solomon Raju
Bishop in Medak
Mrs. A. C. Vajra Santhosha Kumari
President,
Diocesan Women’s Fellowship
Rev. K. A. Charles Wesley
Ministerial Secretary
Rev. Dr. U. Daniel
Treasurer
Rev. Dr. T. Bhaskar
Vice- Chairman
Mr. D. David
Lay Secretary
Mr. B.J. Deenadayal
Registrar
CSI Diocese of Medak

Vibhuti Patel
Dr. Vibhuti Patel is Professor
at the Advanced Centre for
Women’s Studies, School of
Development Studies, Tata Institute of
Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai
Either transition to Socialism
or regression into Barbarism
In this year of the death centenary of Rosa Luxemburg, I would like to quote
her prophetic and most suitable statement, “Bourgeois society stands at
the crossroads, either transition to Socialism or regression into Barbarism.”
Market fundamentalism of
neo-liberal economic
globalisation, religious
chauvinism and cultural
nationalism, financialisation of
the world economy, right wing
sectarian political leadership
both locally and globally,
valorisation of toxic patriarchy
and hyper masculinity with
hyper nationalism and jingoism
by globally controlled media
barons have intensified
complexities in governance,
polity, livelihood and survival
struggles in the midst of
climate change, for the mass of
rural and urban workers,
peasants, forest dwellers/
tribals, fisher folks, petty
traders, small scale
industrialists, sexual minorities
and women.
Predatory Role
of Financial Capital:
Global financial networks of
global economic oligarchies are
pressurising the developing
countries to surrender their
economic sovereignty for the
super profits of Transnational
corporations and Multinational
corporations controlled by
predatory capitalism. Financial
liberalisation has greatly eroded
regulatory structures and
mechanisms resulting in the
nexus of financial capital and
politicians robbing citizens of
their savings, earnings, assets
and basic survival needs.
Financial scams by nationalised
banks, Non-Banking Financial
Companies, Cooperative Banks
and Chit Fund Societies have
become an order of the day. On
the one hand, when farmers are
committing suicides due to their
inability to pay debt, billionaires
are roaming around in their
luxuries even after being caught
for financial scams. The super-
rich have impunity for their
economic crimes as entire
criminal justice system
subserves their interest.
New International
Division of Labour
Multinational corporations
have long realised that the best
way to reduce the wage bill and
to enhance profits is to move
parts of the production process
to poorer countries like India, Sri
Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia,
the Philippines, Thailand. The
cheap labour of Asian women is
regarded as the most lucrative
way to enhance profits. Women
in developing countries are a
‘flexible’ labour force. Their
cheaper labour forms the basis
for the induction of women into
export industries such as
electronics, garments, sports-
goods, food processing, toys,
agro-industries. Women are
forced to work uncomplainingly
at any allotted task, however dull,
laborious, physically harmful or
badly paid it may be. A large
number of poor women looking
for work within the narrow
confines of a socially imposed,
inequitable demand for labour
have become ideal workers in the
international division of labour.
Globalisation is riding on the
back of millions of poor women
and child workers in the
margins of the economy.
The relationship between the
formal sector and the
decentralised sector is a
dependent relationship. The
formal sector has control over
capital and markets, and the
‘informal’ sector works as an
ancillary. In India, more than 90%
of women work in the
decentralised sector, which has
a high degree of labour
redundancy and obsolescence.
These women have almost no
control over their work and no
chance for upward mobility
because of the temporary and
repetitive nature of the work.
The shift from a stable/
organised labour force to a
flexible workforce has meant
hiring women part-time, and the
substitution of better-paid male
labour by cheap female labour.
The new economic policies
provide State support to
corporate houses that are
closing down their big city units
and using ancillaries that
employ women and girls on a
piece-rate basis. Home-based
work by women and girls gets
legitimised in the context of
increasing insecurity in the
community due to a growth in
crime, riots, displacement and
relocation. Sub-contracting,
home-based production, the
family labour system, all have
become the norm. This is being
called an increase in ‘efficiency’
and ‘productivity’. The casual
employment of urban working
class women in the
manufacturing industry (textiles
is a glaring example) has forced
thousands of women to eke out
a subsistence through parallel
petty trading activities (known as
‘informal’ sector occupations).
Working Class-Context
very precarious
Globalization, aided by
significant changes in
transportation and technology,
has meant wider and even
deeper production networks and
markets. These have aided
changes in the “geography of
production”, new globalisation
triangles have emerged
throughout Asia where financial
hubs reign supreme while
suppliers of cheap labour and
raw materials are impoverished.
Competition has redefined
product market context and
necessitated reorganization of
labour market transactions and
regulations. Given the interface
between product market and
labour market, the employers
supported by global financial
institutions and some
academics have managed
liberalization of industrial
relations systems and labour
market such as decentralization
of collective bargaining,
liberalization of inspection
system, anti-worker labour
codes that allow employers
freedom to lay off and retrench
workers and close down
industrial undertakings (without
prior permission), free
employing of contract labour,
dormitory labour system, putting
out system, anciliarisation and
subcontracting. Feminisation of
labour in SEZ, FTZ and EPZ is
promoted by the state
governments. Tamiladu’s
Sumangali scheme and Tirupur
model of production for global
market have used dormitory
labour system in which young
unmarried women are made to
sign contract for 3 years to work
at SEZ at less than minimum
wages and stay at the
dormitories provided by the
employers. Government of
Haryana promoted similar
scheme named ‘Sabala’ where
adolescent girls are inducted
into manufacturing sector as
cheap and easily controllable
labour. To meet the production
targets, employers intensify
production violating labour
standards and occupational
health and safety measures.
Ecological Crisis
Unfortunately, for capital, the
restructuring undertaken to
manage the crisis that emerged
in the 2008, has further
deepened the crisis. The
accumulation process has
brought about serious
environmental challenges for the
sustenance of human civilization.
It has brought about
unemployment, impoverishment
and concentration of wealth of
such magnitude that civil
societies are being torn apart
with rampant corruption,
increased crimes, and mindless
ethnic or religious conflicts. Most
important, the financial
dynamism which overshadowed
everything else in the recent past
has reached a chaotic stage. The
world financial structure and the
production structure are now far
more closely knit than during the
1930’s, and therefore the threat
of a breakdown looms larger.
Social Anarchy and
Choice
before the Humanity:
Socialism or Barbarism?
Increasing economic
inequality has resulted in social
anarchy that manifests itself in
the form of Racial attacks,
xenophobia, communal conflicts,
ethnic cleansing, arbitrary
killings, more intensified
violence against women in their
private life and in public,
trafficking of human persons and
war mongering. In this year of
death centenary of Rosa
Luxemburg, I would like to quote
her prophetic and most suitable
statement, “Bourgeois society
stands at the crossroads,
either transition to Socialism or
regression into Barbarism.”
Rays of Hope
People’s movements
demanding democratic and
participatory governance and
polity, that ensure social justice,
distributive justice and gender
justice and solidarity of the
marginalised across inter-
sectionality, with faith thatAnother
World is Possible, keep our
morale going in these difficult
times.Young girls fighting for their
right to education in Africa and
South Asia, youth fighting against
autocrats in the middle east,
people in the industrialised
countries fighting for job security,
women fighting for dignity and
safety at the workplace provide
rays of hope in the midst of
civilizational crisis.
Efforts must be intensified
to strengthen the global
solidarity movement—united in
its determination to fight
against the concentration and
centralisation of wealth in the
hands of a microscopic
minority, the destruction of our
earth due to capitalist greed,
consumerism and hedonism,
and the proliferation of poverty
due to anti- people policies and
inequalities based on class,
caste, race, religion, ethnicity
and gender.
We must think and actWe must think and actWe must think and actWe must think and actWe must think and act
locally and globallylocally and globallylocally and globallylocally and globallylocally and globally.....
JAYARAJ ANNAPACKIAM CSI POLYTECHNIC
MARGHOSHIS NAGAR, NAZARETH - 628 617
Ph.No: 04639-277117 Fax: 04639-278118
******************************************************
JAYARAJ ANNAPACKIAM CSI
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
MARGHOSHIS NAGAR, NAZARETH - 628 617
Ph.No: 04639-279906 Fax: 04639-279905
WITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROMWITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROMWITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROMWITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROMWITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROM

Cosmic Christ:
The Hope of Humans and Cosmos
The Rt. Rev. Dr. P. J. Lawrence,
former Bishop in the Diocese of
Nandyal of the Church of South India is
presently the Director of the Centre
for Theological Leadership Training
(CTLT), Cayman Islands
P. J. Lawrence
Human spirit has survived
through unbearable hardships
and most painful struggles
throughout the history of
humanity. A few individuals and
families with control over
institutions of power ruled over
common people through
oppression, and trampling their
humanity. Natural resources
were plundered with no
consideration for future
generations. This process is
continuous and ongoing in the
name of royal heritage or political
elite. Ultimately, what we witness
is loss of all moral and ethical
values and having consideration
only to selfish greed of very few
individuals and institutions.
Globalization, scientific and
technological advancements,
artificial intelligence etc., are at
the service of this post modern
Empire builders, eroding the
whole of cosmos.
The resisting politics of
Jesus, the Cosmic Christ who
lived and witnessed at the height
of one such empire, the great
Roman Empire, is the living
example of Hope for all
generations. Especially, in the
context of the present day empire-
a nexus of Industrial and military
production, pharmaceuticals,
banking and insurance
businesses, and natural
resources like oils, minerals and
precious stones.
Jesus, the Christ, came as
the Saviour, hope of humanity
and cosmos:
“The spirit of the Lord is up
on me, because he has anointed
me to proclaim good news to the
poor. He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight to the blind. To
set the oppressed free. To
proclaim the favorable year of the
Lord.” Luke 4:18 and 19
The favorable year of the Lord
according to Leviticus 25:10 “So
you are to concentrate the fiftieth
year and proclaim liberty to the
land for all its inhabitants. It shall
be your jubilee, when each of you
shall return to your property and
to his clan.” Implications of
jubilee year is also in the
cancellation of all debts. To live a
debt free lives.
The Gospel of Jesus is the
Gospel of Love, Light and Liberty.
Jesus demonstrated that he
cared for people with an infinite
care and loved them with
everlasting infinite love.
Jesus’ message has striking
notes of courage, hope and faith.
He sought to inspire every one
with new hopes, telling the
possibilities of goodness and
perfections. He summons as to
a life of purity, unselfishness and
faith. In his tone there is
boldness, conviction and
hopefulness that was itself a
victory.
Jesus’ Gospel was a Gospel
of light. He was a Light-bringer.
Jesus himself had a wonderful
power of vision. His eyes were
divinely bright for they carried their
own light. He had the forward-
looking eye. And he had the eye
that looked within and saw the
heart and soul of things. Jesus
was the true light that enlightens
everyone. Jesus gives sight by
renewing and regenerating life by
creating a new a clean heart
within us.
The gospel of Jesus was a
Gospel of Liberty. This liberty is
both amnesty and
enfranchisement. One offers
freedom to the captives and the
other offers freedom to the
slaves, while together they form
an act of emancipation for
humanity, giving the poorest, the
freedom of God’s world.
Jesus Christ also embodies
the prophetic vision of cosmic
harmony as in Isiah 11:1-9
“A shoot will come up from the
stump of Jesse;
From his roots a branch will
bear fruit.
The spirit of the Lord will rest
on him-
The spirit of wisdom and
understanding,
The spirit of counsel and
might,
The spirit of knowledge and
the fear of the Lord-
And he will delight in the fear
of the Lord.
He will not judge by what he
sees and with his eyes,
Or decide by what he hears
with his ears;
But with righteousness he
will judge the needy,
With justice he will give
decisions for the poor of the
earth.
He will strike the earth with
the rod of his mouth;
With the breath of his lips he
will slay the wicked.
Righteousness will be his
belt
And faithfulness the sash
around his waist.
The wolf will live with the
lamb,
The leopard will lie down with
goat,
The calf and the lion and the
yearling together;
A little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the
bear,
Their young will lie down
together,
The lion will eat straw like the
ox.
The infant will play near
cobra’s den,
And the young child will put
his hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor
destroy
On all my holy mountain,
For the earth will be filled with
knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea”
This passage allows us to
celebrate Jesus’s ministry in the
past and especially in the
present. The text also urges us
to the place of intercession,
where we long for creation’s
promised destiny, as a place
where peace, justice and grace
have the final word.
Paul’s letter to Colossians
1:15-17 is the supreme summary
of Cosmic Christ;
“The Son is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn over
all creation. For in him all things
were created: things in heaven
and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or
powers or rulers or authorities;
all things have been created
through him and for him. He is
before all things , and in him all
things hold together.”
God created all things
through Christ, and he is
reconciling those same things to
himself through Christ.
As James Dunn puts it:
“What is claimed here is quite
simply and profoundly that the
Devine purpose in the act of
reconciliation and peacemaking
was to restore the harmony of the
original creation.....resolving the
disharmonies of nature and the
inhumanities of human kind, that
the character of God’s creation
and God’s concern for the
universe in its fullest expression
could be so caught and
encapsulated for them in the
cross of Christ”
We are reminded that God
who works, completed God’s
creative and receptive work on
earth.
God invites us to work along
side God here and now.
The Gospel of Jesus is the Gospel of Love, Light and Liberty.
Jesus demonstrated that he cared for people with an infinite care
and loved them with everlasting, infinite love.
Jesus’ message has striking notes of courage, hope and faith. He sought to
inspire every one with new hopes, telling the possibilities of goodness and
perfections. He summons us to a life of purity, unselfishness and faith. In his
tone there is boldness, conviction and hopefulness that was itself a victory.

Six women, members of the
Indian Young Lawyers’
Association, petitioned the
Supreme Court of India in 2006
to lift the ban against women
entering the Sabarimala
temple. They argued that the
present practice of not allowing
women between 10-50 years
was a violation of their rights.
The Supreme Court on 28
September 2018 ruled that “We
have no hesitation in saying that
such an exclusionary practice
violates the right of women to visit
and enter a temple to freely
practise Hindu religion and to
exhibit her devotion towards Lord
Ayyappa. The denial of this right
to women significantly denudes
them of their right to worship”.
Since then Kerala has been
witnessing highly disturbing
incidents in the name of women,
their temple entry, religion, caste,
etc. Has Kerala changed? Put it
differently can religion be
politicized in the State of Kerala?
When Swami Vivekananda
reached Thiruvananthapuram on
13 December 1892 and spent
time with the royal family, it was
an unplanned visit and, above
all, for him personally, that journey
through Kerala was shocking.
Swami’s original plan was to visit
Mysore, and then Madras, and
end his tour of India in
Rameswaram.
Who was responsible for
changing Swami Vivekananda’s
original travel plan? Dr. Palpu, a
medical practitioner in
Bangalore who had a degree
from Madras and who had
studied in Europe. He was not
allowed to take up medical
profession in Kerala because he
belonged to the ‘untouchable’
caste - Ezhava. In Bangalore
Dr. Palpu got an opportunity to
meet the Swami and explain to
him the prevalence of horrific
caste system and untouchability
in his State. On the request of
Dr. Palpu, Swami cancelled his
travel to Rameswaram and went
to Kanyakumari travelling by train,
bullock cart and boat from north
to south of Kerala. While in
Trichur he was very eager to visit
the Kodungallur temple. Even
after waiting for three days,
Swami Vivekananda was not
allowed to visit the temple
mainly because his caste was
not clear to the temple
authorities as he was from
another State. Observing the
dehumanizing caste system in
Kerala, when Swami
Vivekananda said, “Kerala is a
lunatic asylum, a mad house of
casteism”. It became a talking
point all over the world.
More than 125 years have
passed since the Swami visited
and felt the dehumanizing caste
system in Kerala. At that time the
living condition of the low castes
(the untouchables) was
inhuman, to say the least.
Over the years since 1892,
Kerala saw radical social change
because of two factors: one, the
Kerala people were exposed to
global society and two, education
became the primary drive for all.
Floodgates were opened when
Rani Parvathi Bayi declared on
17 June 1817 in Travancore that
all children must go to school
and the cost of their education
would be borne by the State. As
Amartya Sen puts it: “… the
totality of foreign exposures,
including Christian, Jewish and
Islamic elements, drawn from
the Arab world and the
Mediterranean, side by side with
indigenous Hindu, Jain and
Buddhist ancestry, must have
had its impact on this part of India.
Tolerant pluralism is itself an
educational influence, and by
opening the door to other people
and other cultures, a host society
remains alive to learning from
other traditions and other ways
of living, including the uses of
education and schooling
elsewhere”.
Kerala began to feel its
impact through Dr. Palpu, Sree
Narayana Guru, Chattampi
Swamikal, Ayyankali, Mannathu
Padmanabha Pillai and many
others from all castes and
religions.
The radical changes towards
the secular ethos were evident
when Sree Narayana Guru said:
“one caste, one religion, one God
for all”. Then no one attacked
him; on the contrary, he became
a hero. His ideas led to the Kerala
people travelling all over the
country and beyond; growth of
radical writings, cultural
developments like theatre,
cinema and so on followed. The
novels, stories and writings of
thinkers led all Malayalees to
become a debating,
argumentative community. No
one was a victim of radical
thinking.
When Vayalar Ramavarma
wrote the Malayalam song,
meaning “Man created the
religions, Religions created the
Gods; and man, religions and
Gods together shared the land,
they shared the mind”, he was
not attacked by anyone; instead
he became a well known poet.
K. J. Yesudas sang this song for
the film Achanum Bappayum in
1972, which reverberated across
the streets and corridors of
Kerala.
All these happen because of
deep community bonding in
Kerala, which began centuries
ago. This community bonding
leads to secularization. That is,
Kerala is not in the iron frame of
a religious or caste ‘community’.
The secular identity is very strong
in Kerala; the people hold hands
with every one; for them, there is
no religion, caste, or gender
distinction. That is why when an
IAS officer K. Jayakumar said
Kerala is ‘God’s own country’
everyone took it with a smile.
Thus Kerala has been
transformed over the years as an
iconic State for secularism and
socialism.
Two events, which happened
since 1980, are acid tests of
secular Kerala.
First, there was a serious
conflict between Hindus and
Christians over Nilackal, where
according to Christian tradition,
St. Thomas, disciple of Jesus,
built a church in the first century.
There a cross was said to be
found and soon disappeared. It
sparked off a serious communal
tension in March 1983. There
was a war cry from a section of
Hindu organizations to save the
Nilackal temple and church
leaders wanted to save Nilackal
for Christians. It went to the extent
of some predicting that the cross
found and lost at Nilackal would
become the crucifixion of
Kerala’s communal harmony. But
there was no violence; not a drop
of blood was shed and after eight
months the social fabric of Kerala
regained in its original texture; the
fundamentalists, who wanted to
fan communalism, failed. They
were ridiculed by the secular
stream.
The second was the 1987
elections to the Kerala Assembly
when B. J. P. - Hindu Munnani
(Front) claimed that
communalism had come in a big
way in the State. They contested
122 seats out of 138 throughout
the State with the support of a
section of resourceful upper
caste Hindus.
But the Left Democratic Front,
led by the CPI (M) and its leader
EMS Namboodiripad had a
different view: the LDF preferred
to sit in the Opposition rather than
aligning with politics of
communalism. EMS’ question
was: “The Left Democratic Front
makes the people of different
castes and religions human.
Which is the need of Kerala?”
The Kerala people elected the
Left Democratic Front and the
BJP –Hindu Munnani could not
win even a single seat.
Swapan Das Gupta writing
about the Kerala electioneering
in the Statesman (18.3.1987)
stated “Kerala despite being
hotbed of communal politics is
remarkably tolerant and devoid
of communalism. The gulf
between politics and social
relations is striking”.
Kerala finds itself at a critical
juncture. God’s own country
can’t afford to fail. Kerala will
assert its unique identity.
Secularism is Kerala’s manifest
destiny. This was evident from
the Vanitha Mathil (women’s
wall) formed on 1 January 2019
across the Indian state
of Kerala to uphold gender
equality and protest against
gender discrimination. The wall
was formed solely by women
and extended for a distance of
around 620 kilometres (390
miles) from Kasargod to
Thiruvanathapuram. Around
three to five million women
participated in the event on their
own. Witnessing it was an
exciting experience for me.
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Challenge” published inChallenge” published inChallenge” published inChallenge” published inChallenge” published in
The Indian Express.)The Indian Express.)The Indian Express.)The Indian Express.)The Indian Express.)
Kerala Is Secular
Dr. George Mathew is
the Chairman of
the Institute of Social Sciences,
New Delhi
God’s Own Challenge?
George Mathew
“The totality of foreign exposures, including Christian, Jewish and Islamic
elements, drawn from the Arab world and the Mediterranean, side by side
with indigenous Hindu, Jain and Buddhist ancestry, must have had its
impact on this part of India. Tolerant pluralism is itself an educational
influence, and by opening the door to other people and other cultures, a
host society remains alive to learning from other traditions and other ways
of living, including the uses of education and schooling elsewhere”.
With Fraternal Greetings from
Centre for Rural Health and Social Education &
Human Resources Development Centre
A collective of community development practitioners
CRHSE’s Mission
To promote a self-supporting health system among rural and tribal people through education
and training, and that which is simple, inexpensive and appropriate to the needs of the
communities; to directly empower the most disadvantaged groups, particularly women; and
to participate in programmes promoting a secular and democratic society in India.
CRHSE’s Concerns
Community Health; Community Development; Siddha Medicine; Micro Financial Initiatives;
Self Help Groups; Youth Welfare; Legal Awareness; Environmental Awareness; AIDS Awareness;
Coastal Communities Development; Human Resources Development ; Community Colleges.
Address :
Dr. Bennet Benjamin, Director
Centre for Rural Health and Social Education
215/216, Kottaiyur Road, Yelagiri Hills – 635 853
Vellore District, Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Telefax : + 91 4179 245339, Tel: + 91 4179 245235
E-mail: crhse@rediffmail.com; bennetben44@gmail.com

Prospects and Challenges
Rev. Dr. Samuel Meshack is
Pro-Chancellor of
Martin Luther Christian University,
Shillong, Meghalaya
“In questions of mind, there“In questions of mind, there“In questions of mind, there“In questions of mind, there“In questions of mind, there
is no medium-term: either weis no medium-term: either weis no medium-term: either weis no medium-term: either weis no medium-term: either we
look for the best, or we live withlook for the best, or we live withlook for the best, or we live withlook for the best, or we live withlook for the best, or we live with
the worst.” John Gardnerthe worst.” John Gardnerthe worst.” John Gardnerthe worst.” John Gardnerthe worst.” John Gardner
Imagine a university without
buildings or classrooms or even
a library. Imagine a university ten
thousand miles away from its
students. Imagine a university
without academic departments,
without required courses or
major or grades. Imagine a
college open 24 hours a day,
seven days a week, 365 days a
year. Imagine a college
proposing a bachelor’s degree
in individualised studies or
Interdisciplinary studies, with a
catalogue of more than 4,000
different courses. Imagine a
degree valid only for five years
after graduation. Imagine a
higher education system where
institutions are ranked not by the
quality of their teachers, but by the
intensity of electronic wiring and
the degree of internet
connectivity. Imagine a socialist
nation which charges market-
rate tuition fees to obtain full cost
recovery in public higher
education. Are we entering the
realm of science fiction? Or are
these evocations of real-life
stories of revolution in the world
of higher education on the eve of
the twenty-first century? (LCSHD
paper series No.62)
This statement of Jamil Salmi
writing on “Tertiary Education in
the Twenty-First Century:
Challenges and Opportunities,
stated in the context of
transformation in higher
education from a global
scenario can very well connect
to the prospects and challenges
the New Media of
Communication is pushing on
the world of the future generation
in every sphere of life, be in
educational, social, economic,
cultural, spiritual or health or any
sphere of human existence.
What were seen in science
fictions are becoming a reality.
What is the secret of the rapidly
evolving world a What is likely to
happen to a society or a nation
or a church or educational
(secular/theological) system
which are not willing, or able, to
change?
We are crossing the first two
decades of the 21st
century and
witnessing very distinct
occurrences. The technological
revolution has made us redefine
the meaning of communication.
By renegotiating the meaning of
communication, we have also
successfully re-named our own
identity with a global culture,
which suggests an increasingly
global scope of political,
economic, social, cultural and
religious activities. Therefore, to
identify future issues concerning
human existence, one must
accept a symbiotic relationship
between communication and
globalisation, realising that one
is symptomatic of the other.
Marshall McLuhan, in his
book, The Gutenberg Galaxy
(1962) described the end of the
events initiated by the invention
of the printing press as the end
of the “Gutenberg era”, indicating
that communication and
information technology affected
the cognitive organisation and
thus social organisation
(1962:41). Gutenberg culture
flowed into Google or yahoo
culture, which refers to the
digitised, globalised and
connected world and the
multitude of relational networks
enabled by social media. Sweet
(2011) says that the “Googlers
have rewritten the rules of forming
networks, connections, and
relationships. In the hands of
Googlers, technology has been
bent to the purposes of core
human longings: knowing, being
known, belonging,
perception.”Eric Harr (2012),
rightly observes that social
media is everywhere, pervading
every area of our lives…social
media has not changed one
thing, but it has changed
everything. As a self-directed
mass communication, social
media allows people to
communicate with each other
encompassing a broad range of
activities, platforms, and
technologies with the ability to
rapidly publish to the Web and to
communicate with an audience.
Social media allows us to create,
comment, converse, rate, review,
or publish. Hence, the role of
social media, as an agent of
change amounts to nothing less
than a social revolution.
Social media has brought an
exciting democratisation of
communication. The citizen’s
journalism or citizen’s media is
on the increase which provides
space for every voice to be heard,
exercising freedom of expression
and freedom of speech. It
provides a shorthand description
of everything from a blogger from
his/her mobile communication
system, which challenges the
mainstream media which tries to
set agenda for people to accept
what it says is truth, pushing
some agendas and squashing
others as Mc Combs M, Shaw D.
(1972) pointed out. The more
coverage a topic receives in the
news, the more likely it is to be a
concern of the public in gaining
attention or ignoring it.
On the contrary, the new
media provided space for people
to gain attention to enable people
to seek out and find the news they
want versus the news they need.
It provides an opportunity for
churches and religious
organisations, civil society and
community groups of all kinds to
take responsibility to control their
messages, enabling citizens not
just consumers of the news and
information but to be creators and
publishers of news and stories.
We should come out of the
comfort zones that force us to slip
into a false sense of security, but
we must learn and teach our
young people to employ a critical
eye to question things as never
before. Two generations ago,
there were many mainstream
media owners; today, there is a
mere handful.
The new media of
communication paved the way
for fast-paced innovation, and
expansion of knowledge or
transitioning into a new age
called the Age of Knowledge,
which a few scholars call a
‘conceptual age’. The stone age
was transformed to agrarian age
and the agrarian to the industrial
The New Media of Communication:
Samuel Meshack
We are crossing the first two decades of the 21st
century and witnessing
very distinct occurrences. The technological revolution has made us
redefine the meaning of communication. By renegotiating the meaning of
communication, we have also successfully re-named our own identity with
a global culture, which suggests an increasingly global scope of political,
economic, social, cultural and religious activities. Therefore, to identify
future issues concerning human existence, one must accept a symbiotic
relationship between communication and globalisation,
realising that one is symptomatic of the other.
and the industrial to information,
and now the information age has
given way to the age of
knowledge or a conceptual age.
It must enable future citizens to
cope with the pressures that it
causes and the needs it creates.
They highlight two critical issues:
1) What are the knowledge,
attitudes, and skills necessary for
success in this new age, and 2)
How should education be
transformed to address these
changes.
Sam Brinson (2015)
observes that Higher-order
Thinking and Creative Problem-
solving are the new in-demand
skills in the 21st century, which
rely on our ability to find meaning,
to see things that exist outside of
raw facts and numbers, to see
the beauty and identify meaning
in patterns and creatively use our
insights to solve problems that
cross a variety of different fields,
learning new systems, and
finding creatives way to apply this
knowledge.
There are a hug and cry
among elderly parents, teachers
and administrators that children
are spending an unlimited
amount of time on their devices,
and it is ruining their creativity.
Technology is becoming a
distraction for their education and
social and community life.
However, Lori Rice of Kaplan
University says that children and
young people are learning more
than we ever did, faster and better
and it is our fear and ignorance
that make us complain that the
children are not learning. She
says that we have to adapt to the
fact that this is how our younger
generation wants to learn and
they are going to be the smarter
generation.’ They are children of
the conceptual age or in the age
of knowledge and creativity, and
they are multi-taskers. Let us
help them to see a new meaning
of their life in this fast-changing
world. We have to help them
establish a new media model or
new media citizens charter with
the principle of democratisation
of communication to help many
voices in the globalised society
achieving societal agreement for
a better world.
In conclusion, in questions
of mind, there is no medium-
term: either we look for the best,
or we live with the worst. Let us
think about what we want to
offer to our children, looking for
a future in the conceptual age,
the age of Knowledge and
creativity that the new media of
communication is offering.
Recognized by National Council for Teacher Education
and Affiliated to Tamilnadu Teachers Education University
(Run By St. Stephen’s Educational Trust, Madurai)
St. Stephen’s College of Education for Women
Hosanna Mount, New Natham Road, Kadavur, Chatrapatti P.O., Madurai – 14, Tamilnadu.
Principal/Director: The Rev. Dr. Milton Jeganathan, <mjegenathan@yahoo.com>
Tel: 0452 – 3200135, Cell: 99439 80489, 9843050489, www.stephenscollegemdu.com
Vision and Mission
St. Stephen’s College of Education for Women is run by St. Stephen’s Educational Trust, Madurai – 7
with a great vision and commitment to impart value based teacher education and promote Professional
Ethics among teachers.
The motto of this institution is Devotion, Sacrifice and Excellence so that holistic development can be
provided to the students which can equip the students serve as catalysts for the Transformation of the society.
In the context of advanced technical and scientific developments etc, equipping women as well as girl
students particularly from rural areas is focused through imparting contextual, relevant and meaningful teacher
education programme with theoretical, practical and community based training and research that can contribute in
the context of Nation building today.
Infrastructural facilities
Very spacious library, the store house of knowledge, entertains and evokes enthusiasm among the students
with its vast collection of books.
A variety of journals are also within reach to assimilate and enhance awareness.
Various community oriented programmes and extra-curricular activities like Spoken English, ComputerApplications,
Life skill development, etc. are provided along with the regular course.
Internet facility is made available to students to keep abreast of the latest developments in all fields of study.
Well-equipped labs ensure 100% practical application of, what is studied in theory are provided. The vast play
ground in the College enables students to have a good physique. Various athletic events will be conducted for
aspiring sportswomen at Stephens. High quality cafeteria offers highly nutritional food at nominal rates. Hostel
accommodation will be provided. The college is having well organized transportation facilities to cater to the needs
of students from various locations. The college is situated at Hosanna Mount, New Natham Road, Kadavur, which
is 11Km from Madurai city. It is surrounded by natural beauty, aesthetic view and Eco-friendly atmosphere.
B.Ed. OPTIONAL SUBJECTS: Tamil; English; Maths; Physical Sciences; Biological Sciences; History; Economics;
Commerce; Computer Science; Social Science; Geography.
St. Stephen’s College
of Education for Women

Urbanisation and Peoples’ Development
Smart Cities – Are they safe and
sustainable for people at large?
Bennet Benjamin
Though people believe that development is essential and are happy that
some development happens in their city, they also have concern regarding
the type of development happening. The Smart City should be for the
people. The city should be inclusive and sustainable. Moreover, they look
for a Smart City and not a smart place in the city as a display piece.While
they demand the efficient and effective implementation of the plan by the
government, also equally emphasize the responsibility of the citizens to
participate in city development and maintain the facilities properly.
Nearly 31% people of India’s
current population live in urban
areas and contribute 63% of
India’s GDP(Census 2011). With
increasing urbanization, urban
areas are expected to house
40% of India’s population and
contribute75%ofIndia’sGDPby
2030. This requires
comprehensive development of
physical, institutional, social
and economic infrastructure.
Development of Smart Cities is
considered as a step in this
direction.
Though urbanization is linked
to economic factors and growth,
the emerging cities, especially in
Asia and Africa are confronted
with the challenge of
sustainability. Between 2014 and
2050, India is expected to add
404 million people to the existing
urban residents, which will be a
large addition to urban
population. Due to this growth in
urban population, the existing
socio-economic problems are
bound to reach alarming levels.
Further, the problem is
compounded by the fact that India
is vulnerable to a number of
Dr. Bennet Benjamin is
the Founder Director of
the Centre for Rural Health
and Social Education,
and the Human Resources
Development Centre,
Yelagiri, Tamilnadu
climate change impacts such as
uncertainties in rain patterns,
increasing sea level, extreme
cases of disasters.
In India, urban development
is impacted by policies and
decisions at the levels of the
Central Government (providing
policy-guidelines), the State
Government (providing policies)
and the Urban Local Bodies
(implementation of the policies)
such as municipalities and
corporations. Jawaharlal Urban
Renewal Mission (JURM) was
the first over-arching effort at the
Central Government level to
influence urban development
policies across the country. In
2015, SMART City Mission, which
aims to develop 100 Smart Cities
across the country, was
introduced as a flagship
programme. In the same year, the
global Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) were announced.
These SDGs lay out a 30-year
development trajectory for the
world through a framework of 17
goals and 269 targets. In this,
Goal 11 specifically relates to
‘making cities inclusive, safe,
sustainable and resilient’.
Therefore, it is important to
review the SMART cities of the
Government of India from
the SDG framework perspective
of making cities inclusive, safe,
sustainable and resilient. An
analysis done by some apex
NGOs under SDG 11 shows that
India in general is far away from
the core principles of
sustainability and that the Smart
Cities need to imbibe these
principles. A vision of
‘Sustainably Smart Cities’ on the
basis of the SDG 11 is imperative
for India, more than just SMART
cities. The role of citizens is key
in this effort, for the Central and
State Governments’ approach to
focus on being enablers of this
vision. This requires to align the
SMART city with SDG 11,
integrating the principles of
sustainability and inclusivity.
Specifically, concerns around
climate change resilience,
sustainability, and socio-
economic inclusivity should be at
the focus of SMART CITY
planning policies in India.
Are Smart Cities inclusive,
safe, and sustainable? Are they
really planned and implemented
considering the aspirations of the
citizens and with their
participation? Do Smart City
plans align with the SDG 11,
ensuring sustainability and
inclusiveness? These emerging
questions and associated
issues make it necessary to
validate the smart city project and
proposals from the peoples’
perspective and of the SDG
framework.
The overarching issues that
need to be addressed along the
enthusiastic promoting Smart
Cities are:
· Good and affordable
education
· Nature conservation –
protecting existing greeneries
· Sanitation and drainage –
in line with WHO standards
· Healthcare services –
available, accessible and
affordable
· People centric development
– notwithstanding the scourge of
slum clearance etc.
· Awareness among youth –
responsible use of amenities
etc.
· Proper implementation –
coordination by all departments.
· Safety of children –
travelling, movement, leisure
time activities
· Women friendly city –
placement of marketing at
convenient and proximal areas,
housing, water supply etc.
Though people believe that
development is essential and are
happy that some development
happens in their city, they also
have concern regarding the type
of development happening.The
Smart City should be for the
people. The city should be
inclusive and sustainable.
Moreover, they look for a Smart
City and not a smart place in the
city as a display piece.While they
demand the efficient and effective
implementation of the plan by the
government, also equally
emphasize the responsibility of
the citizens to participate in city
development and maintain the
facilities properly.
The Smart City Mission
Guidelines also propose the
same with an objective to
promote cities that provide better
infrastructure and a decent
quality of life to its citizens, a clean
and sustainable environment
and application of ‘Smart’
Solutions. With a focus on
sustainable and inclusive
development, it attempts to look
at compact areas for
development;create replicable
models for other cities to follow.
The primary purpose of the
Smart Cities Mission is to drive
economic growth and improve
the quality of life of people by
enabling local area development
and harnessing technology,
especially technology that leads
to smart outcomes. This
includes area-based
development to transform
existing areas into better planned
ones, thereby improving livability.
The pan city development
includes application of Smart
Solutions to improve
infrastructure and services.
Comprehensive development in
this way will improve quality of life,
create employment and enhance
incomes for all, especially the
poor and the disadvantaged,
leading to inclusive cities.
With respect to smart city
initiatives, it is important that
citizens are provided with the
information, data, and expert
opinions with diverse views for
engaging in meaningful
discussions around these
questions. A voice to the weaker
sections is essential to ensure
inclusive plans.
This is an ongoing and
evolving process and the
outcomes of this public
discourse would guide the
planning and implementation of
the Smart City projects to deliver
better on the desirable results
as envisaged in the Smart City
Mission and expected by the
citizens.
The learning,from the people
across the cross section of the
society, provides an opportunity
to contemplate mid-term
changes for those cities which
have already been initiated and
an SDG framework for those
which are in the process of
planning.
Why? Because all aspire for
an inclusive, safe, sustainable,
and resilient living place and
may be willing to work for such
a Smart City.
“To have a right to do a thing
is not at all the same as
to be right in doing it”
– G. K. Chesterton –
All Good Wishes
AWell Wisher
Kottayam

Some Burning Issues of
Indian Economy Today
Dr. V. Mathew Kurian is
the Joint Director of
Dr. K. N. Raj Centre of
Mahatma Gandhi University,
Kottayam, Kerala
Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context:
V. Mathew Kurian
Introduction
It was with unbounded,
rising expectations that the
people of India participated in
the great nationalist movement.
Their hope was that the post-
independent India would be
economically prosperous and
socially just. Responding to the
aspirations of the people,
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first
Prime Minister of India, in his
historic ‘Tryst with Destiny’
speech said that the imminent
task of the Indian state was to
end poverty, ill health, illiteracy
and inequality in social and
economic areas.
Now the country has crossed
more than seven decades of
freedom. But the original
commitments made by the
Indian state to the vast masses
of people remain unfulfilled.
Further, in recent times, the
economy of India is facing a
number of burning issues. This
article attempts to explore some
of these issues.
1. Economic Slowdown
In the neo-liberal era, there
was a great celebration, both
within India and outside,
regarding the hike in the GDP
growth rate. But that hype is now
almost evaporated with the
slowdown. Even though the
present Narendra Modi
government rhetorically claims to
take the Indian Economy into a
$5 trillion one by 2024-25, the
performance of the economy is
not at all in tune with this
perception. In its fifth Bi-monthly
Monetary Policy Review, Reserve
Bank of India lowered the GDP
growth forecast of India for the
financial year 2019-20 to 5%. For
the July- September quarter of
this fiscal year, the GDP growth
rate is estimated to be only 4.5%.
One could notice consistent fall
in the rate of growth of the GDP
during the last six quarters. All
multilateral institutions like the
World Bank and the IMF and
rating agencies like the Moody’s,
picture dim performance of the
Indian economy.
In October 2019, the factory
output of India contracted by
3.8%. Many economists now fear
that the negative industrial growth
coupled with poor agricultural
performance and hike in the
retail prices would lead the
economy into a situation of
‘stagflation’.
There are many reasons for
this vulnerability of the Indian
economy. Among them, the most
crucial one would be the 2016
‘Demonetization’. This, along
with the GST, destroyed the
informal economy of India. The
decline in the lending capacity of
the Commercial Banks due to the
piling up of Non Performing
Assets (NPAs) may be another
factor in the slowdown of the
Indian economy. The dim global
economic environment is yet
another disincentive factor. The
present social and political
climate in India is not at all
favorable to better economic
performance and growth.
2. Poverty and Inequality
According to the just
released 2019 Human
Development Report of the
UNDP, in Human Development
Index, India ranks 129 out of 189
countries with a value of 0.647.
Our position is much behind
even some other South Asian
countries like SriLanka (71) and
Maldives (104)! In multi
dimensional poverty, “India
accounts for 28% of the 1.3
billion multi dimensional poor”.
Widening inequality is a
burning issue of India. According
to the 2019 Human Development
Report, India’s Inequality
Adjusted Human Development
Index (IHDI) is only 0.477. When
we compare India’s HDI with
IHDI, we can notice a loss of
26.3% due to inequality in the
distribution of the Human
Development dimension indices
(1. Per capita income, 2.Life
expectancy and 3.Education). In
Gender Inequality Index also our
rank is very low. Out of 162
countries, India’s rank is only
122nd. According to the latest
World Bank Report,” more than
36 crore of Indians still cannot
afford three square meals a day”.
According to the latest Oxfam
Study Report, the richest 1% of
the Indians now own 58% of the
country’s wealth. In their study
entitled, ‘Indian Income
Inequality, 1922-2014: from
British Raj to Billionaire Raj,
Lucas Chancel and Thomas
Piketty pointed out that the top
one percent of Indians enjoy 22%
of the country’s total income. In a
recently published report by the
Development Finance
International Inc. and Oxfam, on
the commitment to narrow
income inequality, India’s rank is
only 122 among the 152 nations.
3. Swelling Agrarian
Distress
Farmers have become the
most vulnerable section of India
today. They find it difficult to earn
their livelihood in agriculture.
There are heart-breaking news
like ‘farmers selling their children
to fetch a livelihood’. About 52%
of farmers are reported to be
under severe debt. The average
debt of a farmer comes to about
Rs.47,000, while the prices of
agricultural products fluctuate
and show a declining trend, and
the costs of cultivation
consistently grow upwards.
Since 1995, more than 3 lakh
farmers have committed suicide
in India.
4. Environmental
Hazards
Ecological crisis has become
another grave issue of India.
Climatic changes are inflicting
detrimental effects on the
functioning of Indian economy. In
the number of deaths due to
environmental pollution, India
tops in the world. Mainly due to
industrial pollution, the rich
mineral resources in the states
like Odisha and Jharkhand have
become a ‘curse’ to the life of
millions of people. Metropolises
like Delhi are now so notorious
for atmospheric pollution.
5. Unemployment
In the neo-liberal period, India
has been experiencing ‘jobless
growth’. The present
unemployment rate is 6.1%, a
four decade high, possibly
caused by the 2016
Demonetization and the
imperfect implementation of the
GST. Declining agriculture
makes rural work force
redundant. The recent ‘distress
migration’ form Northern parts of
India to the Southern states is
mainly due to the decay of the
agrarian sector in the North.
6. Widening Inter-
Regional Inequality
Another burning issue of the
Indian economy is its unequal
spatial development. Cities and
metropolises grow at the
expense of villages. ‘Gram
Swaraj’ of Mahatma Gandhi still
remains a day-dream. Further, if
we exclude the spatial
contributions of the GDP by
metropolitan centers, we could
find a stagnant Indian economy.
7. Rampant Corruption
The great Swedish
economist and Nobel laureate,
Gunnar Myrdal dubbed India as
a ‘soft state’. According to him, a
‘soft state’ is inefficient and
corrupt. Corruption has become
a cancer of the Indian political
economy. It makes the economic
system rigid and inefficient. The
malfunctioning of the Indian
economy is largely due to it.
Conclusion
In this brief article, we have
noticed the decaying, unjust and
unsustainable nature of the
economy of India. The present
pro-corporate economic
policies of India need to be
changed to make the economy
genuinely prosperous and just.
For that, we need to rediscover
and integrate the great visions
of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal
Nehru and B.R. Ambedkar.
According to the just released 2019 Human Development Report
of the UNDP, in Human Development Index,
India ranks 129 out of 189 countries with a value of 0.647.
Our position is much behind even some other South Asian countries
like Sri Lanka (71) and Maldives (104)! In multi dimensional poverty,
“India accounts for 28%of the 1.3 billion multi dimensional poor”!!
THE CHURCH OF NORTH INDIA
The Inauguration of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations of the Church of North India
was held at Nagpur on 29 Nov. 2019
Office-Bearers of the Church of North India
Moderator: Most. Rev. P. C. Singh, Deputy Moderator: Rt. Rev. Bijay Nayak,
General Secretary: Mr.Alwan Masih, Treasurer: Prof. Jayant Agrawal
Golden Jubilee Inaugural Meeting

Intensifying Complexities of the Global Context:
The crisis in the Indian economy
Dr. P. J. Philip,
a Yale University Scholar,
is former Principal of
St. Thomas College, Kozhenchery
P. J. Philip
There is now unanimity in
the assessment that India is in
the beginning of an economic
decline. The differences are
only on the nature of the
downturn. Some say, it is a
periodic fluctuation and it will
be corrected eventually. The
Finance Minister’s packages
like targeted bank credits, fiscal
initiatives in health and rural
services, tax exemption to the
rich hoping that they will
reinvest their savings are all the
results of such an evaluation.
But according to the majority
of economic and social
analyses, India’s and the world’s
economic fortunes are going
downhill. India particularly
vulnerable as about seventy
percent of Indian people do not
have economic or social
entitlements like land, capital
stocks, skill education. An
analysis of the National Sample
Survey data (EPW, November 9,
2019) declares that India is
currently facing “From Job-less
to Job loss Growth”.The share
of wages in the Gross Domestic
Product is steadily coming down.
In the absence of ownership or
possession of cultivable land,
poor rural people will have to buy
from the market their food grains,
vegetables, milk and other
essential commodities. In the
States, where there is a reliable
public distribution system, the
poor will be saved from
starvation if they possess ration
cards. But in the absence of
regular employment, majority of
the poor will not get money for
the domestic consumption of
quality food, health care and
education.
The Twenty to twenty five
percent of the middle class in
India are the driving forces of
consumption, notably that of
consumer durables like cars, two
wheelers, refrigerators, air-
conditioners and so on. The
phenomenal expansion of
finance capital, and real estate
transactions, tele-
communication net-works,
computers and mobile phones
expanded the service sector
industries, providing
employment to the educated
youth in big cities and towns from
the 1990s upto 2016. The
“Demonetization’ and the new
GST regimes have deflated the
real estate and service sectors.
There have been some
formalization of the tax regime,
but because of the slump in
market transactions, the
revenues of both central and
state governments have gone
down. The fall in the government
revenues consequently,
depresses development
activities and social welfare
spending all over the country. This
year’s Nobel Prize winner, Abhijit
Banerjee says that such a fall in
the income of the workers and
peasants causes fall in
consumer demand, leading to
recession.
The upper classes in India,
who are big business
proprietors, own the chunk of
private capital in the country. The
banking, trade and technological
expansion of the last three
decades, phenomenally
increased their assets and
capital base. They are the fair
weather friends of any political
ruling class. They donate hugely
An analysis of the National Sample Survey data (EPW, November 9, 2019)
declares that India is currently facing
“From Job-less to Job-loss Growth”.
The share of wages in the Gross Domestic Product
is steadily coming down.
to elect their governments and in
the mean time get access to
foreign rulers and capitalists as
part of trade and business
delegations. Indian big business
people have secured, it is learnt,
privileged immigration status for
their families in developed
countries and set up foreign
business and consultancy
offices. They are unlikely to invest
their capital in India when there
is a recession. The current
foreign exchange reserve
position is good. But if the
balance of payment situation
shows trends of fallin
remittances and export earning,
and also increase in the
petroleum import bill, then the
flight of capital may occur. The
stock market, the currency and
derivative trade components,
have all shown expansionary
trends in 2018 and 2019, but if
the past experiences are any
indication, foreign capital may fly
away, when the economy shows
recessionary trends. Already, the
last quarter GDP has gone below
the crucial 5%. This has to be
read with the comment of the
former advisor to the Prime
Minister that Indian GDP
estimates are really 3% lower
than the Government’s data. In
other words, the present GDP
growth would be below 3%. If we
take into account the present
inflation rate, especially that of
food items, many families’
income has gone to negative
scales on the graph.
Automation and Job-loss
One of the reasons for the
paradigm shift in the employment
is the wide-spread use of
robotics and artificial intelligence
in the production of goods and
services. Many research studies
have predicted that employment
of labour in the world is going to
shrink. The World Economic
Forum Survey in 2016 estimated
that 7.1 million jobs would be lost
because of automation. The
McKinsey Institute in 2017
estimated 80% of the labour
force to be affected. Machine
tending and soldering jobs in
factories are already affected. In
India statistics related to the
introduction of robotics show that
big companies are shifting to
new technologies. Automobile -,
and electronics - manufacturing,
which employs machine-
manufacturing techniques, has
reportedly scaled down their
production.
The cumulative effects of
technological shifts in industries
and services are likely to reduce
employment opportunities in
India during the next two
decades. To compensate for the
loss of jobs, many experts
suggest labour relocation and
training of the younger labour
force in artificial techniques. With
a huge population of youth in
India, many suggest that there
should be opportunities to
provide skill-training and
diversification of skills in health-
care, agro-processing , social
and cultural asset building and
so on.
What we understand from the
latest economic scenario.1. The
traditional economy comprising
of agriculture and small scale
industry is squeezed by the
falling demand of the seventy
percent of common masses and
the ensuing fall in employment
and income. 2. The high-
technology sector is gearing up
towards automation. The huge
capital stock in the possession
of the rich is not reinvested within
the country. The banking and
monetary sector is still suffering
from the backlash of non-
performing assets and de-
monetization fears. The multiple
tax rate in the GST and non-
realization of the Central and
State’s share, is causing
hardships to Central and State
finances.
In the meantime, the Central
Government appears to be
dividing the country on religious
and ethnic base, hoping that a
sizable people’s loyalty to the
nation, as the majority
community, will weather all
storms. If history is any lesson,
the people will not pardon
wrong doers.
WITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROMWITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROMWITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROMWITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROMWITH BEST COMPLIMENTS FROM
C.S.I. JAYARAJANNAPACKIAM COLLEGE OF
NURSINGANDALLIED SCIENCES
MERRY DEW HILLS, JONESPURAM,
PASUMALAI, MADURAI -625 004
Ph No: 0452-2370676,2371741 Fax: 0452-2370676,2373057
E-mail:jaconmadurai@yahoo.co.in
Best Wishes
From
Thomas John (Benny)
Suby Thomas
Jeremy John Thomas &
Jaimy Ann Thomas
Chenathara Kuttiyil
Cherukole,
Mavelikara,
Kerala

Daniel Premkumar
Rev. Dr. Daniel Peramkumar is
Founder of the Home for HIV Infected
or Affected Children, Adoni, and
of the Life Giving Agricultural (LGA)
Centre, Malapalle Village, Mantralayam
Mandal, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh
Paupers, Yet Enriching All
The bottom most segment
of Indian populace is the
marginal and small farmers and
landless agricultural workers.
Most of these hail from Dalit and
tribal communities. One
substantiating indicator for this
conclusion is the number of
suicides committed by them
surpassing even the numbers
of collateral deaths in Iraq and
Afghanistan combined!
The poorpoorpoorpoorpoor mentioned by Paul
in 2 Cor 6. 10 bestows a picture
of one who cowered down, one
bent over, deeply destitutedeeply destitutedeeply destitutedeeply destitutedeeply destitute,
completely lacking resources
(earthly wealth) – i.e. helpless ashelpless ashelpless ashelpless ashelpless as
a beggara beggara beggara beggara beggar.
This aptly describes the state
of today’s agricultural workers
and marginal farmers. This
segment of the Indian society is
the bolts and nuts of complex
agrarian machinery that feeds
the nation with vital agricultural
produce.
Since external inputs in
agriculture like chemical
fertilizers and toxic pesticides
have become more and more
expensive, small and marginal
farmers ultimately end up in debt
trap leading to suicides. The Only
way out of the present impasse
is for the small farmers to shift to
non-Chemical methods of
agriculture. The key to this
turnaround is the humble desi
(country) cow, servicing land with
her nutrients and land friendly
essential microbes defending
the crops. This paradigm shift in
agricultural method not only
liberates peasants from debt
trap it also helps consumers with
poison free food grains.
Moreover this shift deters
farmers from indiscriminate use
of chemicals destroying the
vitality of the soil, water bodies
and environment as well.
Consequently, we have initiated
a Movement – Donate a Cow and
Become an Active Defender of
Mother Nature at Life GivingLife GivingLife GivingLife GivingLife Giving
Agricultural Center (LGA)Agricultural Center (LGA)Agricultural Center (LGA)Agricultural Center (LGA)Agricultural Center (LGA),
Malapalle Village, Mantralayam
Mandal, Kurnool District of AP. At
the LGA Center we have been
practicing Cow-based agriculture
for the last 4 years and organizing
Farmers’ meetings on the issues
confronting them and offering
trainings on cow-based
production of organic fertilizers
and pesticides.
Paul in his Second letter to
the Corinthian (Chapter 6) lists
trials and tribulations he faced in
Since external inputs in agriculture like chemical fertilizers and toxic
pesticides have become more and more expensive, small and marginal
farmers ultimately end up in debt trap leading to suicides. The Only way
out of the present impasse is for the small farmers to shift to non-Chemical
methods of agriculture. The key to this turnaround is the humble desi
(country) cow, servicing land with her nutrients and land friendly essential
microbes defending the crops. This paradigm shift in agricultural method
not only liberates peasants from debt trap it
also helps consumers with poison free food grains.
A Farmer’s Reflection on 2 Cor 6.10
his ministry describing himself
as- ‘poor yet making many rich,poor yet making many rich,poor yet making many rich,poor yet making many rich,poor yet making many rich,
having nothing, yet possessinghaving nothing, yet possessinghaving nothing, yet possessinghaving nothing, yet possessinghaving nothing, yet possessing
everything’.everything’.everything’.everything’.everything’. If we understand the
Good News of Jesus as
ushering in Fullness of life to all
especially to the vulnerable
sections of the society, and the
created order like Planet Earth,
then the shifting of humble
marginal farmers to Cow-based
organic mode of production,
surely not only enriches
consumers with non-poisonous
food grains but also enriches the
land and water bodies preventing
them from becoming toxic,
affecting micro-climate change.
It is a Strategy to Increase to the
Agrifood System’s Sustainability.
The livestock sector is of great
importance for the sustainability
of rural economies and many
ecosystems; however, it also has
a high environmental impact.
There is a need to revisit
traditional livestock production
systems that allow the
combination of food security and
sustainability. Within this context,
organic livestock may be a useful
strategy to achieve such a pivotal
goal From a cultural perspective,
the particularities of the different
livestock systems are crucial for
the conservation of the heritage,
including breeds, landscapes,
and habitats of high aesthetic
and environmental value [6-7],
which on the economic
development of the rural areas.
When looking at comparisons
between organic livestock
farming systems and
conventional ones, several
studies have shown that organic
systems have a greater potential
to preserve the environment,
mainly with regard to biodiversity.
These positive externalities are
the consequence of many
factors, such as the reduced use
of inputs, better nutrient recycling,
less use and exploitation of non-
renewable/external resources,
and finally, eco-toxicity.
These aspects are of great
importance, since the increasing
degradation of the agricultural
soils and the reduction in the
supplies of fresh water are two
of the most serious problems
that Indian farmers are facing.
These problems pose an
impediment to achieving food
security, especially if one takes
into account the growing
population and demand for
animal products. It is even more
relevant in semi-arid areas Like
Rayalaseema in AP
characterized by pasture-based
(low-input/pasture-based/
extensive) production systems.
According to several authors,
organic livestock systems have
the potential to contribute to the
sustainability of these areas.
Finally, and more urgently, as few
farmers shifting to organic mode
of production are concerned
about the marketing strategies of
organic products (organic plus
products and marketing
channels) since this is the main
constraint of the sector, and it is
the point where there are more
possibilities for improvement for
both farm profitability and overall
sustainability of the food system.
Regarding the environment,
livestock activity involves lots of
environmental benefits,
especially when it is carried out
under environmentally-friendly
production systems, such as the
extensive, pasture-based, low-
input, and/or organic systems.
At this juncture we also need
to make mention of humble desi
(native) Cow which is fast
becoming extinct giving place to
more exotic varieties of imported
varieties of milchcows which fits
the bill for MNC’s marketing
equations. It is a proven fact by
science that Indian Desi Cows
though low on milk production
have other goodly outputs she
can make enriching the soil and
nature in general. More
importantly, small and marginal
farmers can now enjoy
independence from predatory
market forces and be
emancipated from debt trap. It is
a win-win situation for one and
all including Mother Nature. Let
us support Cow based
agriculture in our localities and
get proactively involved in
relieving the agrarian distress.
Let us revisit the apostolic
model of preaching the Gospel
of spreading wellness all
around! At this advent Season
let us remember how Jesus
comes down to live among
humans inviting us to stand in
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Cynthia Stephen
Ms. Cynthia Stephen
is an independent writer
and researcher
Amos’ simple message
for a complex world
As the second decade of the
third millennium draws to a
close, there is a sense of
impending doom over the
planet-Forest fires in the
Amazon basin, in Australia’s
wilderness and in the
Californian deserts. The ice-
cover over the Atlantic melts
rapidly, and causes sea levels
to rise, inundating islands and
coastal towns and cities. Venice
seems to be on its way into the
sea, as are several Pacific
islands and a good part of the
littoral areas in Bangladesh.
Measles, TB, even some
polio are taking a toll as
immunization coverage goes
down due to loss of credibility of
vaccination, lower levels of
funding for public health, etc.
Ebola and other unknown viral
fevers are afflicting vulnerable
populations, including children,
the aged, and the infirm.
Antibiotic resistance threatens
medical systems as we know
them.
The number and the intensity
of violent storms are increasing,
even as the rainfall pattern and
the snowfall become
increasingly erratic. This affects
food production and creates
climate refugees, mostly in poor
communities in developing
countries. Water and food, health
and education, are no longer
easily available as political and
economic systems are grappling
with rising debt, lowered GDP.
Income inequality rises across
the world.
War and civil strife continue
to ravage a number of regions
across Asia, Africa and Latin
America. Younger generations
are growing up with little
prospect of jobs and decent life-
styles even as literacy rises and
they have improved educational
and professional qualifications.
Technological innovations
promote jobless growth by
automatic processes, that used
to employ humans.
The natural world – soil, air,
water, forests, the seas, wildlife,
trees, birds, insects crucial to life
on earth like bees – are at an
unprecedented existential crisis
due to unchecked exploitation,
pollution, pressure due to fossil
fuel based industry and
agricultural processes like
monocropping, chemical
agriculture, GM crops, and
mechanized and corporate driven
agriculture.
Children now raise
questions to global leaders,
international and multilateral
bodies and funding agencies
and banks about their errors of
omissions and commissions,
social and economic injustice,
climate change, and the wars
across the globe.
In such a grim scenario, is
there anything positive ahead?
What can the Bible tell us
in such a context?
Pondering such a doomsday
scenario, I was drawn to the book
of Amos, written by one of the
“Minor Prophets”, who lived about
750 years BCE, during the reign
of the kings Jeroboam II and
Uzziah. He hailed from the
kingdom of Judah but preached
in the kingdom of Israel. He was
older to, but a contemporary of,
the prophets Hosea and Isaiah.
Scholars say that he wrote at a
time of relative prosperity but also
of neglect of God’s laws. His
themes were social justice and
the increasing disparity between
the very rich and the very poor.
He was not a part of the
religious establishment, nor was
he from the lineage of the
prophets of Israel. He says that
he was a herder of sheep and a
farmer of figs. He makes this
disclaimer because of the
reputation that the prophets of the
time had for being flatterers of the
powerful, and were ignoring their
duty to denounce the misdeeds
of the rulers. The book of Amos
is short, with just nine chapters,
opening with a note on the
prophet, locating him in the space
and time, and an oracular
statement on the nations
neighbouring Judah. But in the
second chapter, there is a
judgement on the kingdom of
Judah and Israel. This means
that no nation will be spared from
punishment and judgement by
God, be they Jewis or gentile. He
declares in 3:6b “Does disaster
come to a city, unless the Lord
has done it?”. He continues “For
the Lord does nothing without
revealing his secrets to his
servants the prophets. The lion
has roared; who will not fear? The
Lord has spoken; who can but
prophesy?”
The next section, chap 4-8,
covers prophetic warnings to the
women of Samaria, the rich of
Samaria, and the rich of Judah.
There is a short passage, 7:10-
17, where the priest of Bethel
accuses Amos before the king of
Israel of making dire prophesies
of doom against the king himself.
The priest also advises the
prophet to leave for the Kingdom
of Judah and to prophesy there.
To this, Amos defends himself
saying that though he didn’t
belong to the company of
professional prophets, it was the
Lord himself who asked him to
go and prophesy to Israel. He
continues with an oracle against
those who want to engage in
“business as usual” in the face
of huge tragedies and social
injustice. The Lord declares a
number of consequences for the
society - famine, thirst,
destruction, and disaster.
The book of Amos appears
to have been written just for this
complex world where famine,
thirst, war, destruction and all
kinds of climate disasters are
being experienced, where the
very elements are becoming
more unstable and violent, and
where peace and stability are
lacking for large populations
displaced by war, ethnic and
religious strife, and climate
change. Nothing good seems to
happen all through the book and
all because the nations depart
from justice and righteousness.
In chapter 5 he warns: “Seek
good, and not evil, that you may
live… Hate evil, and love good.
Establish justice at the gate…Let
justice roll down like water, and
righteousness like and ever-
flowing stream.”
Thus the connection between
social, political and ecological
processes and the health and
well-being of the society is made
very clear. The prophet declares
that good and ethical behavior,
justice in the courts, and dealing
appropriately with evil are the
keys to peace and security in the
world.
The world and its problems
may be complex and difficult,
but the solution is simple and
straightforward – choose the
good, ethical, just and righteous
way, and peace, plenty and
security will result.
What choice will we make
as individuals, families,
countries and as the
international community?
The book of Amos appears to have been written just for this complex
world where famine, thirst, war, destruction and all kinds of climate
disasters are being experienced, where the very elements are becoming
more unstable and violent, and where peace and stability are lacking for
large populations displaced by war, ethnic and religious strife, and
climate change. Nothing good seems to happen all through the book and
all because the nations depart from justice and righteousness.
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Christianity as a Movement in Solidarity:
In Response to Ecological Crisis
Rev. Dr. Praveen PS, Perumalla is an
ordained Presbyter of the Church of
South India, Diocese of Karimnagar,
working as CSI-EMS Liaison Officer at
CSI Synod Secretariat, Chennai.
Praveen P. S. Perumalla
“Today we are faced with
life-killing civilization,
manifested in economic
injustice, ecological
destruction, the threat of
Empire, and the escalation of
religious conflicts. This
compels us to urgently explore
the possibility of life-giving
civilization which affirms
relationships, co-existence,
harmony with creation, and
solidarity with those who
struggle for justice.” World
Council of Churches/ Council for
World Mission, Jangsenong,
Jeollanam-do, Korea, 2007.
1. Introduction:
The above statement
expresses the mind of Church
across the globe realising the
dangers in which the humanity
as well as the nature struggle.
Climate change is threating
globally. At the same time the
Christian responses to climate
change and ecological crisis are
important to understand the
responses from the religions. To
bring in religion into the
discussion on climate change, is
not to valorise Christianity. It is
important to remember that Lynn
White Jr had accused Western
Christianity for causing
ecological crisis world wide.
“..In its Western form,
Christianity is the most
anthropocentric religion the world
has seen. As early as the 2nd
century both Tertullian and Saint
Irenaeus of Lyons were insisting
that when God shaped Adam he
was foreshadowing the image of
the incarnate Christ, the Second
Adam. Man shares, in great
measure, God’s transcendence
of nature. Christianity, in absolute
contrast to ancient paganism and
Asia’s religions (except perhaps,
Zoroastrianism), not only
established a dualism of man
and nature but also insisted that
it is God’s will that man exploit
nature for his proper ends. (Lynn
White Jr. “The Historical Roots of
our Ecological Crisis.” 1966).
Christian theology and
mission projects have been
accused as colonial projects by
the Indian scholarship (K.M.
Panikkar, Asia and Western
Dominance: Survey of the Vasco
Da Gama Epoch of AsianHistory
1498-1945, Kuala Lampur: The
Other Press, 1993). The
Christian Piety was critiqued by
Mahatma Gandhi for the
perverted Christian motif.
“…While you (Christian
Missionaries) give medical help,
you expect the reward in the
shape of your patients becoming
Christians.” (Quoted by Dr. B. R.
Ambedkar, Dr. Babasaheb
Ambedkar Writings and
Speeches, New Delhi: Dr.
Ambedkar Foundation, 1989, Vol.
5 p. 446.) An important critique
on Christian dualism, in its
missions, is by Arya Samaj
Sanathan Dharmi leader Pandith
Lekh Ram and Swami
Dayananda. They say that the
Christian White Padiri (European
missionary preacher) distances
from the Untouchables in the
presence of Caste Hindus yet,
preaches equality and
brotherhood. (Kenneth W. Jones
(ed), Religious Controversy in
British India: Dialogues in South
Asian Languages, Albany: State
University of New York Press,
1992, Pgs. 72- 74.) In the light of
serious questions raised,
pointing at christianity, the
Church is not called to be
apologetic about its faith
statements. Instead, it is a call to
be self-critical and to become
relevant in addressing the
concerns of ecological crisis.
This paper initiates the
discussion on relevant Christian
responses to the ecological
crisis. This paper is not
discussing the Biblical
resources for addressing the
ecological crisis. Instead, it is
aiming to deal with dualism in
terms of separating ecological
questions from the overall
developmental debate. Also, to
discuss on Christianity as an
institution without any
conversation with the social
movements and need to
envision Christianity as a
movement for our times.
2. Posing Problem on
Ecological Crisis:
Focus of the Ecological crisis
is on pollution in different forms -
pollution of air, water, land,
climate change and its
consequences. It is rightly
analysed as a problem of the
increase in CO2 emissions
causing imbalance in the
atmosphere. Therefore, the way
to overcome pollution is
discussed in terms of reduction
in CO2 emissions globally.
Nations across the globe are
invited to be partners in
addressing the climate change
challenges through a critical
review of their respective
economic systems, and
governance, in relation to
ecology. They are asked to take
adequate steps to sustain life, for
an amicable co-existence of the
neighbourhood that includes
nature. since the time of Rio
Sumit in 1992 and the 2015 UN
gathering in New York on
Sustainable Developmental
Goals. The journey of facing
climate change challenges is
continuing, looking upto 2030. A
global solidarity movement
through partnership is seen as
an important way forward.
In India and elsewhere
projects are designed in the
name of ‘Green’ such as planting
trees, green campaigns to avoid
plastic and technological
solutions to the climate change
challenges. At the same time,
there are no steps taken towards
alternatives in economic
activities and in governance
policies to address the
ecological crisis. Lack of
analysis in posing problem on
ecological crisis seems to be a
strong obstacle in promoting
solidarity and partnership across
the nations as well as within the
civil society. The civil society is
otherwise engaged with issues
mostly related to ideology of
nationalism, accumulation of
money, fast and easy ways to
make money, luxurious life style,
striving for honour, etc. In stead
of looking into the problem, it is
looking away from the problem,
which includes shifting the
responsibility on the climate
scientists to develop adequate
technology. Some fiction stories
and films do seem to suggest
that climate change is not a
problem if only technological
revolution is carried on in order
to take full control over the sky
and earth through blocking
radiation from Sun and make the
oceans suck more and more
carbon emissions. Some
sections of the society do look at
the climate change in a fraction
of time saying that nothing can
be done about it; some time they
joke over it or justify it as
Apocalyptic fulfilment (a religious
justification).
Denying climate change
challenges and environmental
crisis are at the centre of the
problem. As reported by Naomi
Klein there is climate change
denial movement in the global
North which draws its strength
from the right- wing think tank.
Klein further explains that
publications of such a category
since the 1990’s constitute 72%
of the total literature that is
published on climate change
(Naomi Klein, This Changes
Everything UK: Penguin Books,
2015, p.38, 52-53). She further
points out that global solidarity
on addressing climate change
challenges through partnership
is undermined by the market
forces as well as trade related
international institutions. For
instance, the World Trade
Organisation had attacked on
Jewaharlal Nehru National Solar
Mission in India (NAPCC 2010) -
a large, multiphase, solar
support system; undermining
self-sufficiency of the nation
which is ecologically
sustainable; considering it to be
a protectionist project by the
WTO. The breath chocking time
is converted into a money-
making opportunity is yet another
climate change denial
movement. People are turned in
to consumerists in their very
psyche by the market forces. By
doing so, the same people stand
careless about environmental
crisis. Tim Kesser, a
psychologist at Knox College,
Illinois, along with Tom
Crompton, a British
environmental strategist says “
To the extend people prioritise
values and goals such as
achievement, money, power,
status and image, they tend to
hold more negative attitudes
towards the environment, or less
likely to engage in positive
environmental behaviour” (Ibid. p.
60).
Having looked at the forces
at work to prevent the line of
debate on ecological crisis, on
pollution and climate change,
let us turn towards the problem
itself.
The breath-chocking time is converted into a money-making opportunity
is yet another climate change denial movement.
People are turned into consumerists
in their very psyche by the market forces.
By doing so, the same people stand careless about environmental crisis.
VICHARA
MAVELIKARA, KERALA
PROGRAMMES FOR THE EMPOWERMENT
OF THE TRIBAL PEOPLE IN ORISSA (PETPO)
A very significant work that Vichara is engaged in, is running two homes
for the poor, hapless,Tribal Children in the remote Tribal villages, Pennikona and Kattikona,
in Rayagada District in the state of Orissa.
In this great Mission, we, earnestly, solicit
the whole hearted support and co-operation of all concerned people.
We request them to partner with us -
with their prayers, valuable advice, financial contributions and sponsorship.
VICHARA
MAVELIKARA, KERALA - INDIA.
Ph: 0091-9446916374 / 0091-479 - 2300096. E-mail: vicharaind@gmail.com

Some Thoughts on Democracy and its Discontents
Where are we heading to?
boasts of ? Can there be equality
of opportunity in such a
democracy? By and large this is
true of most liberal regimes
which in the name of democracy
subject it to the power of the so
called entrepreneurs who alone
are projected as capable of
rational behavior for the common
good. Building, on political
freedom, free enterprises,
commercial consumption and
technological modernization, the
liberal approach restricts
democracy to the rich and the
elites. The extreme form of this
is the growing inequality that you
find in America and its
democratic counterparts in most
countries of the world. What the
people in a country want and
what the political system delivers
are entirely different products.
Although in a democracy,
government is the institution
through which people act
collectively to solve their
problems, they are denied many
things which they need. Even so
the finance capital gets what they
want. In the contemporary world
they can threaten to move billions
of dollars out of a country like India
overnight. What democracy can
you envision when you are
dictated to, by a handful of foreign
financial institutions.
Interestingly the government
hastens to welcome them back
on more pliant terms.
That a capitalist system of
development leads to mounting
inequalities and results in
exploitation of natural resources
leading to disastrous
environmental consequences is
now fairly well accepted by all
dispassionate scholars. The
tide of economic growth cannot
lift all boats together. History
tells us that revolutionary
alternatives have not led to
egalitarian democracy. The
prognosis that crisis of
capitalism will automatically
generate socialism has never
happened.
Mitigating the various
hazards and iniquities is one
thing, but transforming society
needs a different social choice.
Efforts at building strong
democratic linkages of state and
society, through civil society, trade
unionism, media, judiciary,
relevant policy intervention
towards transparency
guarantees, accountability
mechanisms, creating local
infrastructures and institutions
that respond spontaneously to
people’s needs and so on, are
important pre-requisities for
deepening and truly
democratizing the so-called
representative democracy that
exists in the world today.
A majority government that
imposes its will on the minority
is certainly not a democracy.
Even a minority of one, has to be
respected and protected. A multi-
religious, multi-cultural, multi-
lingual and multi-ethnic society
like India can be democratic only
if it recognizes its unity and its
internal conflicts and diversities
at the same time.
Social democracy as it
functions in the Scandinavian
countries like Denmark, Sweden
and Norway is quite often
projected as examples. They
generally use over 50% of their
national income for common
good. How many countries can
do this and still remain
democratic is a great question.
Nehruvian socialism had
several elements towards
building a social democracy. But
today Nehru is an outlier.
In short, what I have tried to
do in this brief but somewhat
discursive presentation is to
bring home the message that
democracy in its practice is far
away from its ideal. Throughout
the world we see fascist
tendencies emerging. Even so
there is a meaningful alternative
to usher in a government of the
people, by the people, for the
people. The country which fought
a civil war to protect democracy
has betrayed it.
S. Chandra Mohan
Rev. S. Chandra Mohan, CSI Pastor &
Faith Activist is the President of
Maharashtra Village Ministries, Nagpur,
and Trainer of Trainers, Church and
Society Issues, and Peace Building.
“Amet-truth; met-death”
Re-capture the Deuteronomic Vision of ‘Jubilee Year’
The complexities in the
globe make me to shudder and
tremble out of fear and
revulsion at the way the USA,
the EU, India and others behave
against fairness and justice.
They and their economic
perspectives, besides their
attitudes of war- mongering,
have seized hold of a polity that
dominates all the 193 countries
in the world as prey under their
octopus tentacles.
In India, a fascist regime is
on the rein. Ideology of this
fascism is from KB Hedgewar
who, in 1925, dreamed of a
confederacy of a Brahminical
rule rooted in inequality that was
successful in 1775 to rule a
larger part of north and central
India, as Peshwa rule, hating
Aurangazeb the Mughuls. His
Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh
(RSS), backed by Zamindars and
upper caste people is
masquerading as a cultural entity
strategically working for a political
Hindutva power in the Indian
Subcontinent.
It is a movement with
membership from multiclass
and it cleverly manipulates the
ignorance of populace and their
adherence to a culture of
Obsequious-Sycophancy in the
veins that goes ease with
fascism.
In the words of Emilio Gentile,
in 1996, it is a party militia, with
the mission to war against
political adversaries aiming at a
successful power of politics
using terror. It creates a regime
that destroys the Republican
Parliamentary Democracy to
replace it with that of a dictatorial
one.
Its political wing the BJ Party
has no botheration about the
economic down swing, with
lesser and lesser income to
middle and poor families since
2014. It has no agenda to
address the gaps in the
economy and the situation where
56% of the wealth goes to the rich
10%, 33% goes to the 40%,
middle class, the 11% goes to
the poor 50%, It has no strategy
to address the health of the
nation, its nutritional standard
and the erasing of education, it
has plunged the nation into the
102th
rank out of the 117 countries
in the Global Hunger Index.
But it hates any dissension
from the public and brands them
as treason and anti-national.
In that scenario it has
abrogated Article 370, to torture
Kashmiris.
It has not revived the micro,
small and medium enterprises
but it backs up the plunder by the
Corporates, by providing them
exorbitant tax concessions and
undue privileges.
As a party it hails Equality,
Dharma and Peace at
International Interviews, but in
India, it brutalizes and
intimidates States usurping even
their ‘breach cloth’. It wants the
Centralization of power and
undermines the federal
constitutional values of equality,
fraternity and freedom. It wants a
police-military fascism rule
combine and promotes a caste
hierarchy society considering it
as divinely ordered.
It introduced Demonetization
in 2016, and in 1 July 2017 the
Good and Service Tax (GST) to
make millions jobless and a
section of India lose their small
trades. It controls and crumbles
factual data from the Sample
Surveys on the Economy. It
propagates a falsity that it would
achieve a GDP of $5 Trillion in
2024, against the present $2.4
Trillion. It is an attempt to fool the
Indians.
The Hebrew word for Truth is
AMET. MET means Death. The
BJP-RSS combine is proposing
death to India, a warning to all
Democratic forces to take up
counter-actions to restore
democracy.
Church in India has a big role
to play to uphold justice and the
Deuteronomic Vision of Jubilee
Year. Mere rituals/ piety and club
activities will plunge Churches
to yet another destruction not
only in India but globally as well.
Church in India has a big role to play to redeem justice and
the Deuteronomic Vision of Jubilee Year. Mere rituals / piety
and club activities will plunge Churches to yet another destruction
not only in India but at the global level as well.
Building, on political freedom, free enterprises, commercial consumption and technological modernization,
the liberal approach restricts democracy to the rich and the elites. The extreme form of this is
the growing inequality that you find in America and its democratic counterparts in most countries of the world.
What the people in a country want and what the political system delivers are entirely different products.
Although in a democracy, government is the institution through which people act collectively
to solve their problems, they are denied many things which they need.
A true democracy will be
inclusive and quint-essentiallyquint-essentiallyquint-essentiallyquint-essentiallyquint-essentially
egalitarian. No one should be
kept out or left out and
everyone should be integrated
on his or her (including
transgender) terms. It is a
grand social choice which only
a truly democratic society can
afford to usher in. We may sit
back and reflect: where are we
heading to!
Best Compliments From
Chakkanattu Puthen Purayil,
Kanichanalloor, Muttom P O.,
Haripad 690511, Kerala
EIPE C. VARGHESE PARIMANAM
RANI EIPE,
AMAL EIPE

The Birth Through Mary’s Eyes – 3
“And when the time came for their purification“And when the time came for their purification“And when the time came for their purification“And when the time came for their purification“And when the time came for their purification
according to the law of Moses, they brought him up toaccording to the law of Moses, they brought him up toaccording to the law of Moses, they brought him up toaccording to the law of Moses, they brought him up toaccording to the law of Moses, they brought him up to
Jerusalem to present him to the Lord… Now there was aJerusalem to present him to the Lord… Now there was aJerusalem to present him to the Lord… Now there was aJerusalem to present him to the Lord… Now there was aJerusalem to present him to the Lord… Now there was a
man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and thisman in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and thisman in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and thisman in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and thisman in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this
man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolationman was righteous and devout, looking for the consolationman was righteous and devout, looking for the consolationman was righteous and devout, looking for the consolationman was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation
of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him…and Simeonof Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him…and Simeonof Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him…and Simeonof Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him…and Simeonof Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him…and Simeon
blessed them and said to Mary his motherblessed them and said to Mary his motherblessed them and said to Mary his motherblessed them and said to Mary his motherblessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this, “Behold, this, “Behold, this, “Behold, this, “Behold, this
child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.”…Andchild is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.”…Andchild is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.”…Andchild is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.”…Andchild is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel.”…And
there was a prophetess, Anna,…And coming up at thatthere was a prophetess, Anna,…And coming up at thatthere was a prophetess, Anna,…And coming up at thatthere was a prophetess, Anna,…And coming up at thatthere was a prophetess, Anna,…And coming up at that
very hour she gave thanks to God,…” Luke 2: 22-38.very hour she gave thanks to God,…” Luke 2: 22-38.very hour she gave thanks to God,…” Luke 2: 22-38.very hour she gave thanks to God,…” Luke 2: 22-38.very hour she gave thanks to God,…” Luke 2: 22-38.
See, hear, travel and
be radically transformed
411
Mammen Varkey
[Continuation of the
reflection ‘Along with Him-410’]
3. The third reference to
Mary, in the narratives by Luke
of Jesus’ birth, is in the verses
Luke 2: 22-38. These verses
give a description of the
presentation, by Mary and
Joseph, of the child Jesus to the
Lord at the Jerusalem Temple,
and of the notable encounters
they had, in particular, with two
very devout persons Simeon
and Anna.
[This is not an exhaustive
reflection either on the
encounters or on the words
recorded to have been said by
them.]
i. Take them all together
In an effort to understand
deeply Luke’s narratives of
Jesus’ birth, as recorded in the
second chapter of the Gospel,
it is necessary to take all the
narratives as a single whole.
Luke’s narratives of Jesus’ birth
in the manger, the angel’s
Annunciation, the shepherds’
visit to Bethlehem, the
presentation of Jesus at the
temple,… all these constitute a
whole. The swaddling cloths, the
shepherds and Simeon all point
to the same Truth. The accounts
in chapter 2 are meant primarily
to witness to the whole truth
concerning the birth of Jesus
and not to inform the readers
separately, about the various
events, during the early days of
Jesus. So viewing them,
through the eyes of Mary, all
together as a single whole, is
extremely, decisively important.
ii. The contrasts together
make the whole
When the different birth-
narratives, the different accounts
of the events related to Jesus’
birth, are all taken together, they
assume a new meaning and they
send out a new message.
Jesus is born in a manger,
but he is presented to the Lord at
the Jerusalem Temple. Manger
is utterly earthly, but Jerusalem
Temple is taken as the abode of
the divine.
The shepherds go to
Bethlehem and pay respects to
baby Jesus, but Simeon goes to
the temple and takes up child
Jesus. Shepherds are unclean
and absorbed in their daily
chores, but Simeon is devout,
righteous and blessed with the
Holy Spirit. Luke 2: 25.
The angels sing songs in the
open, but Simeon announces
salvation in the Temple. Luke 2:
29. Angle’s songs were an
assurance of peace among
men with whom God is pleased
but Simeon warned ‘Behold, this
child is set for the fall and rising
of many in Israel! Luke 2: 34 and
cautioned Mary of sword.
iii Against homogenizing
experiences
Many more parallels can be
cited, apparently different and
dialectical but all pointing to the
single reality. In the present
world of opposing realities, of
conflicts of the opposites, it has
a unique message to give us.
One of the strongest tendencies
of the present globalizing
context is to homogenize, to
reduce every reality to a
uniform pattern. Realities are
diverse and many a time
opposing. In understanding
these realities, Luke’s
narratives of Jesus’ birth have
a very significant lesson for us.
In the midst of concerted efforts
to shut eyes and to close ears to
the warring realities and to
become propagandists of a
unilinear vision, seeing the birth
of Jesus, through Mary’s painful,
conflicting experiences, will be a
profoundly transforming
experience.
iv. Against elitism
Another disturbing tendency
of the present world is to be
elitist in the intellectual pursuits
and religious perceptions.
Elitism shuts its eyes against a
comprehensive vision. Stark
realities, harsh words, miseries
and conflicting contexts are
consciously avoided. Luke’s
narratives are a warning against
this. Authentic religious
experiences are bound to
embrace all aspects of human
life on earth and to elevate them
to the divine domain.
Unique
If we open our eyes towards
Mary and see her experiences
during those days; if we tune
our ears to Mary’s praises,
prayers and cries in the
angel’s presence, in the
manger and in the temple and
if we travel with her from
Nazareth to the hill country in
Judah, to the manger in
Bethlehem, to the temple in
Jerusalem and back to
Nazareth, if we are willing,
penitent, humble and
committed to look all, through
Mary’s eyes, it will be a
uniquely renewing, rewarding
and transforming experience
for us.
The appalling manner in
which women are subjected to
horrendous sexual violence in
India seems to be proving over
and over again that this country
is the most unsafe place for
women in the world. The
perilous conditions in which
Indian women live and the
dismal record of steps taken to
create a society where women
and children are secure,
explain why sexual crimes have
become an everyday event.
What is very evident is the
increasing climate of impunity
against perpetrators,
submerged in the deafening
silence of those in power. In the
past week - the horrific gang rape
of a young woman veterinarian
in Hyderabad; a 6 year old child
sexually brutalised and killed in
Tonk, Rajasthan; a Class 11 girl
abducted and gang raped in
Coimbatore; an Adivasi law
student abducted and gang-
raped by a group of armed men
in Ranchi and most recently the
murder of the 17-year old girl who
had been raped a little over a
year ago in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh.
She suffered 90 percent burns
but it remains to be seen whether
the five accused (including the
Village Headman’s son) will now
be booked for murder, given the
dismal experience of a year ago.
Indeed this is not a nation for
women!The Indian Christian
Women’s Movement joins the
voices of protest against the
increasing acts of violence
against women. Even as we
condemn the rape and murder
of the 27-year old veterinary
doctor in Hyderabad, the “police
encounter” killing of the four men
accused, fills us with outrage. We
assert that crimes against
women and children need to be
tackled through law enforcement
and not in an arbitrary manner.
Our churches have been, by
and large, silent in responding
to crimes against women and
girls in this country. The ways in
which the Churches have
responded to incidents of abuse
and even rape in their own
environs, underline the apathy of
the church authorities to speak
out against rape and violence
against women. In this context,
as Christian women in India, we
see this situation with deep
concern, and want to respond
with courage. We join hands with
all people of goodwill in this
country and call on the
government, the law makers, the
politicians, the judiciary and the
church leadership to respond,
with a sense of urgency. We insist
on a code of accountability and
responsibility for law
enforcement agencies.
In this dreadful situation of
unbridled gender violence and
sexual crimes, we demand a
country that is safe and
peaceful for Indian women and
girls.
Dr.Aruna Gnanadason,
National Convener, ICWM &
National Team: Dr. Kochurani
Abraham, Marcia D’Cunha,
Rev. Dr. Jayachitra Lalitha,
Dr. Joycia Thorat,
Dr. Lalnghakthuami,
Ms. Sushma Ramswami.
Email: icwmjan14@gmail.com;Email: icwmjan14@gmail.com;Email: icwmjan14@gmail.com;Email: icwmjan14@gmail.com;Email: icwmjan14@gmail.com;
Website: www.icwmindia.orgWebsite: www.icwmindia.orgWebsite: www.icwmindia.orgWebsite: www.icwmindia.orgWebsite: www.icwmindia.org
TTTTTwitter: @icwm_india,witter: @icwm_india,witter: @icwm_india,witter: @icwm_india,witter: @icwm_india,
TTTTTel: +91 9445567405,el: +91 9445567405,el: +91 9445567405,el: +91 9445567405,el: +91 9445567405,
+91 9820448542,+91 9820448542,+91 9820448542,+91 9820448542,+91 9820448542,
7 December7 December7 December7 December7 December, 2019, 2019, 2019, 2019, 2019
Christian women demand
an India safe for women and girls!
Indian Christian Women’s Movement P. N. Benjamin passes away
P N Benjamin, founder of the
Bangalore Initiative for
Religious Dialogue (BIRD),
passed away on December 2
at his residence in Bangalore.
He was aged 74 years.
P. N. Benjamin S/o. Panavelil
Varghese Ninan, grew up in
Mallapally in Pathanamthitta and
came to Bangalore in the early
70s. He was employed with ANZ
Grindlays Bank before he took
voluntary retirement in 1996.
While he worked in the Bank, he
found time to be a freelance
writer for the Deccan Herald, The
Week and The Hindu. He was
passionate about writing and
debating on topics related to
Gandhism, Christianity and
Churchianity.
In his efforts to promote
peace and facilitate a dialogue
between warring communities,
he established Bangalore
Initiative for Religious Dialogue
(BIRD). He was awarded the
Karnataka Rajyotsava Award
in 2012 for his contributions
towards promoting religious
dialogue and harmony. He has
been a committed campaigner
and crusader of promoting
communal harmony, religious
tolerance and understanding,
pluralism and secularism
through his writings and action
during the past four decades. He
was also the ex-Member, of
the Karnataka State Minorities
Commission.
His wife May Benjamin
passed away in 2017. He is
survived by his daughter Nina
C. George, Chief Reporter with
the Deccan Herald, and his son-
in-law Cheeramkuzhiyil Georgy
George and grandson Yohaan
C. George.
Best wishes from
A well wisher
MUMBAI

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EditorEditorEditorEditorEditor
Valiyapurayidam
Mammen Varkki
Ability may get you to the top;
But it takes character
To keep you there
– Stevie
The Image of God
M. J. Joseph
The pastor said on Sunday that I was created in the image of God!
I was under the impression that I am
the replica of my father and mother.
I was taught that I carry their genetic code
My face is exactly like my mother where as my nose like my father’s.
How can I be in the image of God?
Tell me, whether I was made in God’s or human likeness?
I stood in front of a big mirror, I could see my own image
My complexion is dark
My IQ is only 120 whereas the IQ of Stephen Hawking is 160
Should I think that the divine image in Stephen Hawking
is superior to mine?
In the new humanity of Christ,
there is the reflection of God’s nature everywhere
The image of God is present in all living creatures
How can all that breathe praise God, if there is no image in them?.
The whole creation is groaning to share the
liberty (image) of the children of God.
O Image of God, you are a revealed mystery in the whole creation.
YMCA Madras: 129th Anniversary Celebrations
L to R: Mr Asir Pandian (General Secretary & CEO, Madras YMCA).
Er. M.M. Selvakumar (Vice President), Bishop Stanley Jose (Bishop of CLC and
Treasurer of UELCI), Adv. Martin Kennedy (President of Madras YMCA),
Dr. Bennet Benjamin, Dr Vincent George (Treasurer) &
Mr. Benjamin Franklin (Vice President, Madras YMCA).
Life Time Achievement Award - 2019 to
Dr. Bennet Benjamin
The Madras YMCA has
completed 129 years of its
significant service to the young
people and society at large. It
celebrated its anniversary on
14 Dec. 2019.
The Madras YMCA is the
oldest YMCA in India. It is known
for its community and social
activities, especially catering to
the needs of the city youth. It is
also running junior and senior
boys homes with residential
facilities.
In recent times, Madras
YMCA has established
collaborative contacts with the
YMCAs of London, Brazil, South
Africa and Srilanka. And efforts
are afoot to extend cooperation
with the YMCAs of Indonesia and Taiwan as well.
In the recent Anniversary Celebrations, the Madras YMCA has
begun to recognize some important leaders in the fields of social
and spiritual development, irrespective of their religious affiliations
and they are presented Life Time Achievement Awards.
This year, Dr. Bennet Benjamin, Founder Director of the Centre
for Rural Health and Social Education, and of the Human Resources
Development Centre, Yelagiri, was presented the Life Time
Achievement Award - 2019 in appreciation of his outstanding
contributions to the YMCA and his excellent service to the society,
especially to the poor, the deprived and the excluded. He has been
involving himself in the activities of the YMCAs for well over 50
years.
The Anniversary Celebrations included a Carol Festival. The choirs
from Churches and Christian Institutions sang Christmas carols and
the best choirs were presented prices. – Reported by YMCA Madras– Reported by YMCA Madras– Reported by YMCA Madras– Reported by YMCA Madras– Reported by YMCA Madras
Life Giving Agricultural Centre
Malapalle Village – 518 333, Mantralayam Mandal, Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh
Welcome to the Farm Centre practising Life
Giving Agriculture with facilities like Rythu
Bhavan (Farmer’s Meeting Hall) for Farmers to
come together for hands on training in
Sustainable Practices in Agriculture. Horticulture
is being practised at the Centre with fruit trees
grown without any chemical fertilizers or
pesticides, and for Dalit Christian farmers Bible
studies on Life Giving Agriculture. The Centre has
two cows – Jamuna and Savithri and Savithri’s
calf – Narigis to become self-reliant on producing
organic fertilizers and pesticides. The Centre also
organizes exposure visits to the farms where Life
Giving Agriculture is practised. The Centre is
forging a Federation of Farmers engaged in Life
Giving Agriculture to explore marketing avenues
for organic produce.Apart from hand-outs, recently
a book in Telugu is produced on The Bible and
Life Giving Agriculture: Role of Village
Congregations. The Centre focuses on Inter-faith
Resources that contribute towards Life Giving
Agriculture.
Contact: Rev. Dr. R. Daniel Premkumar Ph.D, Faith Home for Children Overcoming HIV & AIDS,
Adoni – 518 302, <rajanugraham@gmail.com> ; 08512-231448
The Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph is
former Principal of
Mar Thoma Theological
Seminary and
former Director of
the Ecumenical Christian
Centre, Bangalore

Intensifying Complexities in the Global Context, People's reporter Vol. 32 no.24, December 2019

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Intensifying Complexities in the Global Context, People's reporter Vol. 32 no.24, December 2019