Seeking Peace and Justice in a Corrupt World

I was browsing randomly the newspaper laid on my tea table this morning and came across a revealing fact published on the front page of Times of India (dated 18th November 2009) that India continues to be one of the most corrupt nations in the world with many of its public institutions given to rampant misdeeds.

Corruption when put in simple words mean "misuse of public power for personal gain," when allowed freely would hamper the normal functioning of organisations, hampering economic development, diminishing public trust in the organisation, and undermining the image of the nation in the international community.  Leaving aside the immorality of bribe-taking, influence-peddling, embezzlement, and other abuses of power for personal or narrow group gain, corruption exacerbates inequality, desecrates the rule of law, and undermines the legitimacy of democratic regimes. This could eventually affect the very constitution that protects the country from all ill effects.

Corruption is India's bane and threatens to derail its rapidly growing economy.  Mera Bharat (My India) ranks a dismal 84th in a list of 180 countries, according to Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index, a measure of domestic and public sector corruption.

The corruption watchdog says that many African, East European and Latin American nations fare much better than India.  If it is any consolation, India actually climbed one spot up from 85th (it's 2008 rank) to 84th. India's integrity score this year is 3.4, down from 3.5 in 2007, says the survey. Its score in 2006 was 3.3.

Till 2007, India shared the slot with China, but Beijing has managed to cut down corruption and is ranked 79th in this year's list.  However, this is not an indication that India has become more corrupt but that nations like China now appear less corrupt.  That is because China has launched a sustained anti-corruption drive and intensified a crackdown on corruption in the public sector, investigating and prosecuting ministers, public officials and employees.  Corrupt officials above provincial levels were disciplined and preventive measures to deal with stimulus packages to tackle the financial crisis have helped keep China's score stable in 2009, though still low at 3.6.  I am wondering whether we can learn a lesson from China to curb corruption in India.

In reflection I was thinking how the churches in India can work towards fulfillment of Romans 8:21 “that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”  I am we sure we can root out corruption but there is a precondition ‘that we, the church, must be honest’ – I am not sure if we can substitute ‘honest’ with a better word to describe ‘free from corruption’.

"If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14.  This verse throws challenges at us to be channels of blessing for our country.  We can do this because ‘God has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them we may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.’  I Peter 1:4.

Kindness and truth will meet; justice and peace shall kiss in our country if we are honest.

Kasta Dip

Dalits and Indian Politics

Continuing his visits to Dalit households, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spent a night at a Dalit's house in a village in Shravasti district on 24^th September 2009 while he was on a surprise visit to Uttar Pradesh.  He visited Ram Nagar area in Barabanki district and then arrived to Shravasti district in the evening and drove straight to Chutkaideh village under Rampur Devman Gram Panchayat area where, after mingling with the locals, he spent the night in the house of a Dalit Gram Pradhan Chedi Pasi. This is not the first instance but the Amethi MP and the AICC General Secretary had spent a night in the house of a Dalit in Kansapur in Amethi district and had food with locals earlier too on 6^th August 2009.

Given this fact, does one think that Dalits are no longer considered ‘untouchable’ or they are being played with?  Despite the fact that "untouchability" was constitutionally abolished in 1950 the practice of "untouchability" - the imposition of social disabilities on persons by reason of their birth in certain castes - remains very much a part of rural India. "Untouchables" may not cross the line dividing their part of the village from that occupied by higher castes. They may not use the same wells, visit the same temples, drink from the same cups in tea stalls, or lay claim to land that is legally theirs. Dalit children are frequently made to sit in the back of classrooms, and communities as a whole are made to perform degrading rituals in the name of caste.

Most Dalits continue to live in extreme poverty, without land or opportunities for better employment or education. With the exception of a minority who have benefited from India’s policy of quotas in education and government jobs, Dalits are relegated to the most menial of tasks, as manual scavengers, removers of human waste and dead animals, leather workers, street sweepers, and cobblers.

Even in these modern times, all over India the Dalits are still treated as Untouchables in the eyes of the elite and even of the ordinary people. Having undergone three thousand years of slavery and discrimination, the Dalits find it nearly impossible to get out of this terrible trauma. The general situation of Untouchables is miserable but it is all the more wretched in the case of those Untouchables who have become Christians and are identified as Dalit Christians.

I wonder whether Mr. Gandhi and other politicians have these as findings from their visits to the Dalit families otherwise their visits are nothing but political gimmicks.

Kasta Dip

Caste based discrimination in India is a blot on humanity

Untouchability has its roots in India’s caste system, a powerful tool for social segregation, which is supposed to be more than 2,500 years old.  Discriminatory and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of over 165 million people in India has been justified on the basis of caste. Caste is descent-based and hereditary in nature. It is a characteristic determined by one’s birth into a particular caste, irrespective of the faith practiced by the individual. It denotes a traditional system of rigid social stratification into ranked groups defined by descent and occupation.  This is how I know that I am a Dalit!

Castism runs deep in the minds of Indians and has implications in everyday life. It weakens the human urge to excel and liberate since there is little chance of rising above one's status at birth. Despite caste being a violation of international human rights standards and domestic law prohibiting caste-based discrimination it continues to exercise a debilitating influence on the lives of millions in India daily.

Caste divisions in India dominate in housing, marriage, employment, and general social interaction—divisions that are reinforced through the practice and threat of social ostracism, economic boycotts, and physical violence.  Thus, untouchability is not just social discrimination; it is a blot on humanity. 

The Constitution of India provides certain safeguards against caste discrimination. However, the constitutional remedy is often inaccessible to Dalits and lower castes, therefore literally taking away the equality quotient of human rights in terms of implementation. Considering India's vastness and its limited resources and poverty, the possibility of a victim, who is otherwise deprived of basic standards of living, approaching a constitutional court is most unlikely. Compounded by the burden of expenses in litigation and the immense time it takes for reaching a final verdict, such legal attempts are rarely taken by victims.  India has consistently cited its numerous legislations and government policies as a measure of compliance with its obligations to end caste-based discrimination, choosing to ignore its failure to implement these measures which has resulted in continued, and sometimes enhanced, brutalities against Dalits.

Hence, given this concern of mission, I firmly believe that the Churches in India have an irrefutable obligation to stand in solidarity with Dalits (the untouchables) in their struggle for peace and justice ensuring their human dignity and rights to equality because we worship a God who is always mindful about the people chucked to the periphery by social systems and prejudices.

Kasta Dip

Youth and Society

Today the young people in our society, church is not exception, have potential to contribute substantially to the overall growth of our nation in different ways but unfortunately the pace of growth is very slow because the youth are wasting their energy for wrong things.  News about disturbing incidents which involve youth and students are becoming headlines. Students carrying knives and lethal weapons like pistol and going on rampage in campus is no more unusual.

So, the question we need to ask is why have our young friends become more violent than ever before?  Probably, developments in internet facilities, excessive violence in movies, the increase in the number of television channels from abroad and India, developments in communication technology and easy availability of weapons, etc are some of the most important reasons for such a violent attitude among the youth. Adding fuel to the problem, there has been a decrease in the vigilance by parents on their children's activities. Most of the parents go for work in the wee hours and return only late in the evening thus the children have been getting a lot of free time to do whatever they like in the free time. If the youth of our churches spend their valuable time for productive purposes then our nation will get benefited in many ways.

Lack of education among the parents, the quarrels among them, lack of awareness about the importance of discipline in life, economic factors, cultural and social factors are some other reasons for poor character levels among some youth. For instance due to poverty some youth dropout from the educational institutes and involve in anti social activities including theft. If the relationships between parents are strained some children may leave the house and become orphans leading to a directionless life due to lack of guidance, love, security and support. In some cases the youth would become bonded laborers, child laborers, etc due to debts, crop losses, and other family problems.

In India we have numbers of youth organizations and clubs which are good for our society but they should involve more in productive activities. For instance there is a need to create awareness in the society about many aspects of life such as the importance of voting, value of a disciplined life, importance of non-violence, truthfulness, educating the masses about law, and many such issues which play an important role in their day to day life.  In this way the youth of our great nation should cultivate all those habits which contribute to the overall well being of our people. Such an attitude would help them in becoming role models for the future citizens. This is a mission that youth, especially church youth, must realize and witness Christ by acting in a responsible manner.

Kasta Dip

Youth and Politics

Soon India will have its most attractive dance of democracy in the form of General Election this year.  Campaigns have begun and manifestos are making headlines.  Democracy – people have a choice of their own, but does it make sense to voters?  The uproar in Parliamentary sessions has reached the farthest and remotest places in our country.  Our political leaders have become objects of mockery with no sense of responsibility.  Getting into parliament is a matter of power and not of opportunity to serve the nation.  The secular fabric of India is undermined by fanatics.  Can there be some hope for India to be ruled better?

Recently the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has called upon educated youth to play a key-role in politics for the "rightful position" of the country among other nations, feeling that politics have been criminalised and in this context, politics requires more attention from the educated youth.

He said that values are steadily declining in all sections of the society and in all walks of life. It is the time for educated youth to offer their valuable services to the nation.  As educated youth are harbingers of the new era of democratic values and torchbearers of a developed nation they must realise and accept the responsibility to free the people from injustice, corruption and divisive trends.  To translate people's expectations into reality, a large number of committed youth are needed in national and regional politics.

I strongly believe that young people have the ability and skills to create a culture of commitment to democracy and democratic values such as equality, justice, freedom and secularism.  We may not be able to contest the election but we can certainly educate people we come across in our daily life to vote and to vote for the one who is educated, efficient and concerned about people and their better living.  In this way, we can contribute towards the establishment of Kingdom of God on earth.  Let’s get involved and make a difference!

Kasta Dip

Peace: An Expression of Love

Whether we are in India or Pakistan or even in United States of America or in the United Kingdom, we all live in a very disturbed and turbulent times wherein internal strife, hatred, destruction, hopelessness, violence, terrorism and fundamentalism are rampant. In the given situation what we all want in common is peace. No one is against it.  But what is that very elusive quality we call peace?

Somebody once said ‘to terrorists or tyrants, getting peace means eliminating those who stand in their way - but what they really want is complete control.  To followers of Eastern religions, peace comes from being one with the universe and having no awareness of self - but what they really mean is serenity.  The person who is trying to sleep while a loud party is going on next door also says he wants peace - but he really means quiet.’

Peace is what we say we want when we're worried about being able to pay our bills - but what we want is prosperity.  Peace of mind is what a person is hoping for while waiting to get the results back from a suspicious biopsy - but what s/he really hopes for is good health.

When we don't have what we think we should have, when we don't feel the way we think we should feel, we say we need peace! We often define peace as that condition of life that we think ought to exist. But in all of the turmoil of life, who really has the right or capacity to determine what should or shouldn't be? If all of us could obtain the kind of peace we wanted, it would probably end up being at someone else's expense.

The story is told of two men who were having a violent argument. The police were called, and when they arrived they found windows broken, furniture overturned, curtains torn down, one man dying and the other dead. They lifted the dying man, who whispered, "We are two doctors of philosophy. We had agreed on our desire for universal peace, but we have disagreed somewhat on the proper methods for attaining it."

So today where can we look for a peace that is appropriate for everyone?  Certainly we do not have to go anywhere looking for peace.  Peace is right within us and it is expressed through our love.  Christ himself became one of us to demonstrate his love as the way of peace.   In the New Year it should be a challenge for us to love others as much as we love ourselves as an effective method of building peace.  Only ‘LOVE’ and ‘TOLERANCE’ can beget ‘PEACE’ not anything else!  And peace emerged out of love is appropriate to one all.

May we all have Peace!

Kasta Dip