Just Jo

Who does not encourage that? Is it the men?

There are some people who thinks that it will be a ‘market’ like situation if women come to the fore front (of politics). Some fear that their seats will be lost. To a certain level, the male dominance and their prejudices have made women withdraw themselves.

The above is an excerpt from an interview with a retd. prof. Annie Johns from Thrissur. She was being interviewed by “Catholica Sabha“, the official monthly newspaper of Thrissur Arch Diocese. The interview was about the need for women to enter politics. What made me smile after reading the interview and the above quoted piece in particular is the time that the interview is published. The Catholic church in Kerala is more fervently being involved in Kerala politics than any other time in Kerala’s history. But before I come into all that, let me quote the history of the newspaper that’s called “Catholica Sabha” (meaning “Catholic Church“).

In the About page of the Catholica Sabha website, it says that the original publication was started in 1977 as a magazine. But even though we live in a Catholic neighborhood, I or the people I know including the older generation  have had no idea about the existence of this newspaper until it was delivered to our homes since a couple of years back. And it was during the Church vs. Communists fight on self-finance colleges issue that it was very promptly started appearing monthly in our homes.

Just one look at the newspaper and all you see is anti-Communist propaganda and not much of anything else. It is as if the Church administration started this newspaper, not to spread the news related to the Church activities but to fill their pages with their anger against their enemy no:1 – Communists. The language of the articles that appear in this newspaper can compete with any third-rate tabloid. Take the column “nErum nuNayum” for example (or this, this and this). I don’t think even an official Congress party mouthpiece would use such level of intolerant language. It is pathetic to see it coming from a religion in the name of Jesus Christ.

But you should notice that the language that the Church is using against Communists is different from the language they use against Hindutva brigade or any extremist forces of other religions. It is quite evident from the copies of the newspaper which was published during the Orissa riots. In those copies, the language mellowed down and the tone was soft (but that ain’t surprising as the Church claimed that their greater enemy is Communism during the anti-Christian riots of Orissa). A recent example is Prof Joseph’s hand-chopping incident. Apart from a couple of press protests, there was no serious forms of protest from the bishops or priests.

The ordinary Catholics, as dumb as they are, did not raise any question as to why the Church authorities chose to speak softly on Sangh Parivar when the community members were being hacked to death in Orissa or in places as close to Kerala as Mangalore or in Kasaragod. They did not ask why the priests were rather arranging massive protest rallies and meetings against the Communist government in the name of self-finance colleges and a silly text book issue. They were also planning to lead the second liberation struggle, which of course popped like a balloon. So the attitude of the Church is clear. The Catholic church in Kerala cares only about their money and power and don’t give a hoot about the lives and security of their fellow community members. They use the mass power of the community members to sustain their financial and power interests. Now imagine if the hands of Prof Joseph were chopped off by a CPM member than the Popular Front activists; by this time, the Church would have brought down the government itself.

I have been wondering about the sudden urge on the Catholics side, particularly in the Thrissur Arch Diocese, to fight the ‘evil of Communism’ and then I could draw some ‘co-incidences’. In one of the issues, “Catholica Sabha” newspaper stated that K Karunakaran was one of the most capable politicians of our state (Emergency? Rajan murder case? What are they??). The late Thrissur bishop Joseph Kundukulam was a close friend of K Karunakaran and it is alleged that he openly asked the community members to support the Congress party (legend has it that the priests would raise their hand and show it like the hand symbol of Congress party and say “all of you should caste your vote” during the sermons). The next Thrissur arch bishop Mar. Jacob Thoomkuzhy was a soft spoken priest who did not have any political control ambition like his predecessor. But soon arch bishop Mar. Andrews Thazhath who was a close aide of late Bishop Kundukulam took in charge and he is the guardian of the newspaper now while the assisting bishop (also newly crowned) Mar. Raphel Thattil (who also was close to Bishop Kundukulam) is the chief editor. So it is obvious how the political ambitions and it’s related dirty politics have come to the Thrissur Archdiocese.

Bishop Thazhath has played more politics than his guru Bishop Kundukulam. He, along with Changanacherry Arch Bishop Joseph Powathil, had lead a massive campaign against the Communist government on the issues of 7th standard text book and self-finance college. He also openly advocated for the candidature of Tom Vadakkan in Thrissur constituency in the last Lok Sabha elections and rumor has it that the requests went straight to ‘high-command’. But ultimately the Congress party turned down the request and Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, a sensible man and the supreme leader of Syro Malabar Catholic church, issued a strong statement saying that it is wrong for bishops, priests and Church leaders to intervene in the selection of candidates during the elections.

The newly released “Catholica Sabha” newspaper, which we Christians in Thrissur had not heard of until Bishop Thazhath took in charge, is yet another attempt by the church administration of the Thrissur Arch Diocese to play the political games and claim their political power. I think somebody from the higher authority, like Cardinal Vithayathil, should check with this newspaper and ask the editorial team to control themselves. I go to Church and I hear the Bible interpretations of love, tolerance etc and then come home to read “Catholica Sabha” to read all the intolerant political pieces in a cheap, venomous language. I’m not interested in that and many people I know who are afraid to speak about it are also not interested in that. Particularly when the Church has no interest in protesting against the communal forces but spend all their energy on Communist bashing.

Coming back to the interview that I mentioned in the beginning of this post, what made me smile all the way is the Church’s interest in getting Christian women in to politics. Perhaps it is the pessimist in me who links this to the electoral seats reserved for women. But it is not exactly that which made me laugh. It is the recent news of Vatican still not allowing women priests and I wonder if prof. Annie Johns would have the exact same answer if she is asked about the priesthood of women and Vatican’s decision – “There are some people who thinks that it will be a ‘market’ like situation if women come to the fore front. Some fear that their seats will be lost. To a certain level, the male dominance and their prejudices have made women withdraw themselves.” Would she say these exact words then?

I think “Catholica Sabha” may want to publish a piece on that.

It is official now. Suresh Kalmadi, the organizing committee chairman of the Commonwealth Games has officially stated that beef will not be served during Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Even though he has offered no reason for the beef-ban, the issue was first raised by the former BJP president Rajnath Singh when he wrote to Kalmadi asking him to keep cow meat out of the menu during the Games. Meaning, congress has chosen to succumb to BJP.

What makes me petrified is that this could be the beginning of governments like this surrendering to the demands of religious extremist forces. I think this will lead to an anti-beef bill nationally and Congress’s will take up the role to help BJP implement its agenda (the anti-cow slaughter bill and anti-conversion bill are BJP’s prime agendas). Think about a federal government calling itself ‘progressive‘ and ‘secular‘ doing this in such an international event. What is next? Will they ban pork meat too because radical Muslims find pork meat offensive?

The ultimate question here is about surrendering to the religious extremist forces and taking away a citizen’s freedom of choice. By the same so called ‘progressive‘ and ‘secular‘ government.

Suresh Kalmadi, I bestow upon thee, the Order of the Holy Cow. You and your sirs and madams in Congress can now proudly bear your soft-Hindutva badge on your sleeves.

Recently I posted this comment in Facebook about the news that the BJP led Karnataka state government has banned cow slaughter. In India, fanatics of various religions always give us something to write about.

So the comment was this and it seems that some people got pissed off by it:

Holy Cow! It’s official now. You can’t eat beef in the BJP ruling Karnataka state anymore. The new-age Vegetarian converts, mostly consisting of people who took on Vegetarianism as part of Brahminical Elitism and who have already declared a ‘food casteism’, can now thrive upon this news. And BJP is silently forcing their communal agenda on the people of Karnatak state. Not that it surprises me.

And I wanted to say a couple of things to those who have been pissed off by my comment and pouring their anger on me throughout facebook. The pity is that they don’t even have the guts to quote my name in those pissed-off comments and make strange references.

So to them,

• I do not hide my views and opinion under the rug, like you.
• I do not think silence would help the cause of peace.
• I do not think everybody who keeps silence on issues is a person who stands for harmony.
• I think learning, thinking and writing/talking about is the first step towards changing something.
• I do see your selective response on selected issues/comments. Do not think I am an idiot who cannot see your closet fundamentalism.
• I do not have to express myself for “publicity”. I have had my fair share of media presence, even though I’ve never asked for it.
• If I cared about popularity and publicity, I would just resort to singing in my blog, saying beautiful things that the public would agree upon, like you.
• I will not trade my commonsense for your acquaintance. I already have a solid set of friends who understands me.

Now that I said all of these, I guess they can still get pissed off.

In my post about Prof. Joseph’s hand-chopping incident, I had written about the intrusion of religious elements into the liberal, democratic and political spheres of Kerala in disguise. I think this is more dangerous than the Hindutva politics because Hindutva politics is there on the surface for everybody to see. Hindutvavaadis thrive on anti-minority sentiments and extreme Hindu-nationalist views, and everybody knows that. Hindutavavaadis never hesitate to boast upon their beliefs (except for the grooming campaigns of Narendra Modi these days), but on the other side, the hard-core Islamists chose to play different. When they learned that terrorism and an extreme Islamist movement is a growing concern in the public, they put on the mask of liberal activism and tried to play more left than the Left. While the Left in Kerala has left itself to be rotten, there was an empty space in the field of activism that was available for others to occupy. And the Islamists were quick to fill in that space. It is said that ‘even the BJP is Leftist in Kerala’. So the best way to get public acceptance was obvious – be more left than the Leftists.

The first step in that direction was taken long back – starting with media. A prominent Malayalam weekly and news daily is owned by such a group. They invited the prominent figures in the socio-political-liberal sphere to write for them and made a mark. Then came their student/youth organizations. They started campaigns and agitations on several issues – Capitalism, Globalization, Bourgeoisie, Western Imperialism, Environment, Development, Human Rights etc. When they shouted slogans against America and Israel, their tones were sharper than the Communists. When they talked about freedom of speech for M F Hussain, they kept mum on the threats and Fatwas issued to Taslima Nasreen. When they talked about Imperialism and Human Rights, they never talked about the Islamic imperialist countries and the grave human rights violation in those countries.

When Madani was released from jail, he also played the same political card. Madani was smart. He saw the possiblity of a wider political spectrum and thus included “Dalits” in his come back. The term “Dalit” had already become a fine selling point of all political parties by then. Madani also banked upon the same “anti-imperialistic” politics of the other Islamist organizations.

But people failed to notice it or chose to ignore. And our socio-political leaders kept taking part in their meetings and that image has been used to boast upon their public acceptance. And now the final step – Jamaat-e-Islami is forming a political party in Kerala. And what is their declared obective? Their Wiki page says, “Establishment of (Islamic) way of life in all aspects of life“. And their core doctrine? “the Divine Being is solely Allah, there being no God except Him, and that Muhammad is Allah’s messenger“. Tell me how it is different from the dream of a Hindu nation proposed by the Sangh Parivar.

Now we have a number of such “political parties” and “activist organizations” in our public sphere. And the news of bombs and detonators being placed in the public spaces and people being hacked in the name of religion is increasing day by day. Even though some of the socio-political leaders and intellectuals have turned a blind-eye towards such developments, the consolation is that there are people like Hameed Chennamangaloor who have been voicing against these groups openly since a very long time. And publications like Mathrubhumi weekly having open debates about this as cover stories. But that is not enough. People have to stand up and say, we don’t want an Islamic or Chrsitian version of BJP or Sangh Parivar. We don’t want religion in our political space. We don’t want that one God or multiple Gods and their doctrines to rule us, instead the secular ethos envisioned by the founding fathers of this country. We want to keep our democracy in place, how much shortcomings and failures it has.

The news of a Malayalam professor whose hands have been cut off by a group of Muslim extremists is the talk of Kerala these days. Professor Joseph’s right palm was cut off by a gang of six people while he was returning home from Church on a Sunday. Two Popular Front activists have been arrested in connection with this incident. Popular Front, of which the accused are members of,  is alleged to have links to Islamic terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba and SIMI (Student Islamic Movement of India) as is read from their Wiki page.

The incident has to be condemned and the culprits should be brought to justice, as we cannot excuse any form of terrorism or extremism, regardless of which community it comes from – the majority or minority. But there are a couple of issues attached to this incident.

The problem arose when Mr. Joseph, a professor of Malayalam in Newman College Thodupuzha, included a narrative in a question paper that he prepared for the students of the college. The narrative was from an article written by film maker/politician P T Kunjumuhammed. Kunjumuhammed had written about the script that he wrote for his award winning movie “Garshom”. He wrote that the scene in which the protagonist of his film talks to God was inspired by a lunatic in his hometown. So the lunatic would call God and God would respond “what is it, you son of a dog“? (I am unsure that “Son of a dog” interprets it’s Malayalam usage “Naayinte mone” well though). The question that came with the narrative was to supply the punctuation.

P T Kunjumuhammed’s article:

The controversial part of the question paper:

Courtesy: Mathrubhumi.com

Prof. Joseph took the passage and instead of leaving the lunatic nameless (as in the original passage) he added a name (which he did not have to do) and the name he chose was Muhammed (which also he did not have to do as there are many other common Muslim names if he had to give one). This was really unnecessary for Prof Joseph to include such a twisted version in the question paper. When this became a controversy, the college management and Church apologized for having to hurt the Muslim sentiments and they suspended Joseph when the question paper became a controversy which was a rightful thing to do.

But this gruesome act of extremists leads us to another thing – how a group of radical Islamists have begun to unleash their terror openly in the Kerala society. They are in large numbers and comes in different names. They have infiltrated into the liberal, democratic and political spheres in disguise. And if they are not stopped now, Kerala will soon become an Islamist playground. The under current is already on.

Because for men, it teaches leadership – says Mr. Rizdam. And it helps women control their desires and jealousies and bring them closer to God, says Rizdam’s wife Dr Gina Puspita. Both of them are supporters of Polygamy Club (yes, you read it right) in Indonesia.

Coming to think of controlling the desires (and thus bringing their men closer to God), the women out there should have asked their husbands to stick to monogamy, right? So does this mean that the women don’t care if their polygamist husbands are rot in hell? But it is not just about Indonesia. About an year back, a famous cleric from Kerala had justified polygamy because “Women’s menstrual cycle prevents them from sexual contact for 5-6 days“!

Anyways, not all women in Indonesia think in the same line as Dr Gina Puspita. For example, Nursyahbani Katjasungkana says this:

“When the scripture revealed to the Prophet Muhammad its direction on polygamy, it was during the time of war,” she says.

“I believe it was a direction to the Muslims of that time that all the victims of war or widows and children who lost a father or a husband have to be protected. That’s the message of the scriptures – it wasn’t really a command to men to have a second or third or fourth wife.”

Three of my good friends who are Christians married Hindu girls. All three of them were either studying or working together when they first met and fell in love. The girls got converted to Christianity. What do I call this? Love Crusade? I would like to know what Catholic Church has to say about this.

Two of my Hindu friends married Christian girls. The girls got converted to Hinduism at Arya Samaj offices. What do I call this? Love Karseva? I would like to know what Viswa Hindu Parishat has to say about this.

I have mentioned this over and again in many communications that at least in Kerala, those who have to compromise on their religion for a wedding happen to be Women. I have said that this is more of a gender issue because I have never heard of a boy converting to his girl’s religion to get married.

However, when the boy happens to be a Muslim and the girl happens to be a Christian or Hindu, why is it linked to the word Terrorism and an immediate interest in calling it Love Jihad? Why is it that our media even called it an organization without even investigating a little? Why are they remaining silent now that the DGP has submitted a report before the court that there is no such organization and no indication of anything like Love-Jehad? How could the Catholic church shamelessly join hands with VHP in keeping the numbers of the herd intact?

To conclude, an old online acquaintance of mine who happens to be a Muslim married a Christian boy some years back. Both of them have not changed their religions.

What do I call THAT?

And now comes another blow at the Sangh Parivar and BJP. Straight from the head priest of Ram Janmabhoomi, Satyendra Das.

But Babri Masjid was demolished so that Ram Mandir could be built.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid was an unfortunate incident. It was like a mandir only [sic]. It protected Ram Lalla and pujas were regularly organised there. Thousands of devotees thronged the place. After they destroyed the masjid, Ram Lalla stands unprotected in storm and rain. There’s only a makeshift structure. They said they would build a mandir; their intention was to grab power. Earlier, nobody had a problem with the fact that pujas were held inside the masjid, nobody protested. But all problems started after the Babri Masjid was demolished.

Local Muslims never had a problem with pujas being held inside the Babri Masjid?

Nobody had any problem. They even used to say that let us all sit together and find a solution to the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid issue. It was only when the BJP and the Bajrang Dal came and started the Ram Janmabhoomi movement that relations soured between the two communities. There was bloodshed, mandirs were destroyed. Now everything is normal again. It is not an issue in Ayodhya, never was. Hindus and Muslims have always lived in peace in Ayodhya. The BJP’s lust for power created all the problems.

Read more at Mid-Day.

(Image courtesy: Mid-Day)

The Communist party in Kerala was the only party to openly state that Muslim League is not a secular party. Their reasoning was simple, that Muslim League is a party consists of Muslims alone and it cannot be called a secular party. But it is not a secret that the CPM’s stand against Muslim League is based on League’s long-term alliance with Congress in Kerala.

But this is not the case with PDP or it’s chairman Abdul Nassar Madani. He was accused of
religious extremist activities earlier and was in jail for long. But he was acquitted of the cases against him and looked all changed and new when he came back from the jail. He said his fight would be against the imperialistic forces (read as America) and he will voice for the downtrodden and Dalits of India. But it does not seem all well and good for him.

An investigation into some recent terror incidents reported to have pointed out to Madani’s family. Majeed, an accused in the case of setting fire to a Tamil Nadu government bus in Kochi, has alleged that Madani’s wife Sufiya Madani had called him to avenge for Madani’s treatment in TN jail. Another case is about a Kashmiri militant (recruited from Kerala) who reportedly have had telephone conversations with Sufiya Madani.

These incidents come as an embarrassment not only to Madani’s new avatar, but to the Communist Party in Kerala as well. The Communist party has been against Muslim League for it’s so-called “communal nature”, but have no qualms in dragging PDP to it’s fold. Eyeing on the Muslim votes, particularly at Ponnani in Malappuram district, Madani has become the guarantor of Muslim votes for CPM in the upcoming elections. Many people in Kerala are worried about how this CPM-PDP alliance would influence the legal cases against Madani and his family. Not only that, the CPM allies in the Left front have openly come against an alliance with Madani, particularly the CPI, calling PDP as a communal party.

Madani has admitted that he had taken wrong steps earlier and promised that he would never go back to those days. His new avatar is of a savior for not only Muslims but of Dalits as well. Some people are of the opinion that Madani as a politician is better than Madani of the old days. But not many are sure as there are so many parties and organizations these days that bears the slogans of “anti-imperialism” and “anti-Americanism” and some people doubt that it is not based on an ideological level, but on a religious level. But the CPM is not worried about any of these and anything “anti-American” plus can get some votes would go well with them.

And do not forget Madani’s statements when he came out of jail. He had alleged that almost all party leaders had written to him when he was in jail, requesting his support during the elections. In his first public appearance after his release from jail, he had named leaders from all parties – Congress, CPM and… BJP.

It is not a secret that the Church in Kerala has always stood by the Congress party during elections. I have heard a story, that in the early days, during the Sunday sermon, the priest would raise his “hand” up in the air and say “every one should vote“. The raised hand was to indicate that the faithful should vote for Congress party, without openly campaigning for it. I am not sure how authentic this story is, but this was to point out the close alliance between the Congress party and the Church in Kerala.

In my days, I have seen politicians making frequent visits to the Vicars of Churches in their constituency as part of their campaigns. It was also during this time that the late Bishop of Thrissur, Mar. Joseph Kundukulam, compared K Karunakaran to Jesus Christ (I wrote an article in those days against the Bishop’s statement, in a handwritten magazine published by CLC – a Catholic youth organization). K Karunakaran’s friendship with Bishop Kundukulam was very infamous in those days.

Time flew and the Church softened it’s stand against Communists. But it did not last long. With the 7th standard text book and the self-finance college issues, the Church went on a rampant campaign against the Communists, under the leadership of Thrissur Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath and Changanassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Powathil. Now that the elections are approaching, different Churches in Kerala are taking different steps to make sure that they get a fair share of the political pie. But surprisingly, the Congress party chose not to play with the tunes of the Church.

First it was the Thrissur Archbishop, Mar Andrews Thazhath, who supported the candidature of Tom Vadakkan for Thrissur constituency. But the proposal was turned down by AICC, followed by a strong statement from the head of Syro-Malabar Church, Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayathil. This statement has just added my respect to Mar Varkey Vithayathil, even though his is a lone voice in the Syro-Malabar Church supreme administration.

Cardinal Vithayahil, who is also the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) says it is wrong for bishops, priests and Church leaders to intervene in the selection of candidates during the elections.

”The Catholic Church and Christian leaders should not intervene in party politics. Church can ask the people to vote for the right candidates, but should not involve in electioneering and selection of candidates for particular constituencies,” Cardinal Vithayathil told reporters. [ via ]

The Latin Church, which is an influential force in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram districts have gone a step further. The Varappuzha Archbishop, Daniel Acharuparambil, sent a list of four candidates to Sonia Gandhi. But Ramesh Chennithala, the Congress chief of Kerala, rejected the communal interference.

The letter was written by the Varapuzha Archbishop Daniel Acharuparambil, who is also President of the Kerala Regional Latin Catholic Council, the body that looks after the social and other activities of the church.

The church has given three other names. The list does not contain the names of sitting Ernakulam Congress legislator and former minister K.V. Thomas or former Congress legislator and former minister Dominic Presentation. [ via ]

The Orthodox Church went even further. When their candidate request was turned down by Congress party, the Orthodox Church in Kerala decided to put up four candidates on their own for the polls. Now this is something new as no Church in Kerala has openly placed it’s candidates in elections.

The Orthodox Church had sent a letter to Sonia Gandhi expressing its wish that one of its members, who are active Congress supporters, be fielded. George Joseph, secretary of the church, said that the Congress had not even acknowledged the letter, said a report from IANS. [ via ]

The Congress party and Sonia Gandhi have wisely turned down the proposals from the Church supremos in all these cases which is a good sign. Or else BJP would have used this chance to accuse the “Christian” Sonia Gandhi playing in tunes of the Church. But now that will not have any substance.

It is clear that the faithful (except the ignorant lot and the power hungry creamy-layer in the community) is not going to blindly follow the orders of the Bishops like Mar Andrews Thazhath or Mar Daniel Acharuparambil. Because whenever the church has sponsored a Congress candidate, with public statements and pastoral letters, he lost. Edezhath, a close confidant of the high priests, lost by over 70,000 votes to an LDF independent in 2004 [via]. Thrissur in particular has a history of failing the over-confident power politicians. History has it that when Karunakaran contested from Thrissur he was defeated and when his son Muraleedharan contested from Thrissur in the very next polls, he too was defeated. In those two years, Thrissurians decided to send a noble man, V V Raghavan (of CPI), to parliament. And this year, it will be very interesting to see the results.

(Image source: Internet)