Brinda Somaya - A great interview

 I just sat through this absolutely wonderful interview of Brinda Somaya.

Brinda is just a fabulous and a fantastic alumni colleague.

Many years ago I wrote an article which was a highly controversial one. It was called "Rural Urbanisation 2010". The original was written in 1976!

It harks back to a paper of the same name that Abraham Thomas (then Managing Director of the building group Southern Investments) and I wrote based on his book "The Affluence Machine" and my experience of running a beautiful farm which had belonged to the late Sir C. V. Raman in Kengeri, near Bangalore.

The technology of creating Rural Urbanisation existed 50 years ago and exists in much greater abundance today. We wanted to reverse the migration of the brural population to urban areas and yet create self-generated wealth in the rural urbanised areas.

Brinda talks in this interview about her experience in an earthquake devastated area in Gujarat where the villagers rebuilt their village based on their needs. 

This is exactly what Abraham Thomas wrote in his book and based on my farming exoerience, could see such development in every nook and corner of India without resorting to "Smart Cities" which will result in the same problems we face in Indian cities of today.

Thank you Brinda for being such a wonderful standard bearer for our school and in the world as a leading lady architect.

Hindu Astrology - Author: Dr. Anthony Stone

This blog entry is in two parts, the first on the book "Hindu Astrology" by my late friend Dr. Anthony Stone (Tony) and the second part of the blog is the inauguration of the Ram Mandir Temple in Ayodhya by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22nd January 2024.

The first part is being cross-posted on all my major blogs while the second part is only being posted on my main blog - Jacob’s Blog.

Late Dr. Anthony Stone

Tony was my teacher of Mathematics in St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and my good friend. His book on Hindu astrology is to be shortly released as a paperback and I wanted to give you a look into the facts behind Indophile, Tony, and our relationship pre the release oif the paperback edition.

I was sent the details of this book by the publisher, another dear friend and alumni of St. Stephen’s College, Professor Prabhu Guptara.  

Tony was the teacher of Mathematics in St. Stephen’s College in 1962-63, my final year. He took over the duties of Principal S. C. Sircar in the Mathematics Department and joined Professors S.R. Nagpaul, S. B. Mathur,  and Ranjit Bhatia (Rhodes Scholar and of Indian Olympic fame) in the college Mathematics Department.

I lost touch with Tony till he turned up on my Kooler Talk Blog in the late 1990s. We established a close  relationship. When his wife Bertha was hospitalised and he had a short holiday in 2000, as he was then caring for Bertha, he decided to visit Annikki and me in Oulu, Finland. He stayed with us for a week and we had wonderful reunion, and discussed many of his projects.

He was well versed in Indian culture and he was working on a few projects, one of which was Hindu Astrology.

He was also working on a special area of mathematical research which coincided with the interest of a Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, friend of mine, Bhupinder Singh Anand (Bhupi).

Bhupi was a couple of years senior to me but stayed on in School to do the 12th standard HSC qualification. He was also from Savage House and in our final year, he was the Head Boy of the school while I was the Savage House Captain.  

Bhupi, the School Captain is sitting third from the left, while I am sitting second from the right.

I did keep in touch with Bhupi as he joined my “Seventh Heaven” Cathedralite Heaven Google Group although he was not technically a 59er. I had great respect for dear Bhupi as he was a sincere individual and a true Cathedralite.

The publisher of this book on Hindu astrology is Professor. Prabhu Guptara, from St. Stephen’s College, junior to me but also a good friend now living in Cambridge in the UK.

Prabhu had done an chapter in the book "Malayali Diaspora" several years ago about the oldest Malayali in Continental Europe (not the UK), which was about me. 

Frank Raj was the editor of "The International Indian till 2017".

Frank Raj (Picture from LinkedIn)

This was later published in his magazine with pictures of us and our family in the Dubai publication “The Indian International” edited by Frank Raj.

In 2014, when for several reason, I was stranded in New Delhi, which is explained in Annikki and my book “The Titanic Called India”, Prabhu put me in touch with Ivan and Silvia Kostka.

Ivan and Dr.Silvia Kostka (Picture from LinkedIN)

I had the pleasure of dining with them and a couple of friends. Just a couple of months after they were harassed by the Hindutava faction because they were practicing Christians devoting their their life to uplifting the OBC Community. They were raided by the Delhi Police in October 2014 for supposedly saying derogatory statements about Goddess Durga. Their publication FORWARD Press was being targeted by the Hindutava faction of Narendra Modi’s BJP/RSS wing claiming that Ivan and Silvia were converting Indians to Christianity.

Here I must make a point that I went to Christian schools in Mysore, Bangalore and Mumbai. In my class in Mumbai we were just 4 Christian’s while the rest of the students were Hindus, Jews, Muslims Parsi, Sindhis and Sikhs, from all parts of the world, not just India. I did not even know or even care, what religion the students in my class were.

60 years later, I am still the fulcrum of keeping the surviving classmates together and there is not one single student who has changed his/her religion. They all subscribe too a secular education which has broadened their attitude to life and there is no discrimination on any grounds whatsoever. 

Christians lead by example of the two principles laid down by Christ. . 

There is only one God (different names: Jehovah, Allah, Brahma). Secondly, we must love our neighbour as ourselves. 

All the other laws are man-made derivatives of these two fundamental principles.

Thefollowing year, I had the good fortune to get an email from Silvia (a noted plastic surgeon) that she and Ivan were likely to transit through Helsinki and they were likely to be delayed in their return trip to India. She was interested in meeting up with me.

I did offer to put them up in one of the apartments that Annikki and I had in Helsinki during their stay but we lost contact after that.

Ivan was the Founding Editor of FORWARD Press and it was likely to be shut down by the intolerant society which had spread its wings under Narendra Modi. Silvia had told me then that the last edition of FORWARD Press was likely to be in March of that year (2015).

However, FORWARD Press has survived and is thriving even today under Anil Varghese who is the current editor-in-chief.

So that is my personal background to the book on Hindu Astrology penned by Tony.

Until a few years ago, interest in astrology was widespread - but thin. 

Now the astrology market is growing by leaps and bounds.

In the US, over the four years to 2019, revenue from the top 10 astrology apps market saw an astonishing  compound growth rate of 72.8 percent per year! In India, ten astrology firms in 2021 raised INR 1300  million -300% the combined amount raised by ALL such start-ups over the previous five years!!

No figures for the UK are available, but here is a BBC report:

 https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210205-why-astrology-is-so-popular-now

Into this burgeoning international demand, Prabhu Guptara’s “Pippa Rann Books” imprint is publishing the paperback version of Tony’s book, Hindu Astrology.

The hardback came out some decades ago, but only in India.

The author, late Tony, was an Oxford PhD in Mathematics who went as a university teacher to India, where he was so intrigued at finding most highly-educated people allowing their lives to be ruled by astrology that he learned Sanskrit for the specific purpose of reading the texts in the original language, and writing an adequate history of Indian astrology as well as evaluation of it. 

Brief information on the book is attached below, in form of the full cover the book.

But of course the field is highly contested!  

The honourable Supreme Court of India proclaimed in 2004 that astrology is a SCIENCE.

On the other hand, Madhavankutty Pillai argued in OPEN magazine (2011) that astrology is a HOAX - 

openthemagazine.com/features/living/the-scientific-case-against-astrology/

In a 2018 article in The Guardian, “I was an astrologer”, Felicity Carter concludes that astrology is a form of ENTERTAINMENT.

And here is a recent article arguing that astrology is a SCAM: Digital ‘Vedic Astrology’: The $40 Billion Scam | Madras Courier

Naturally not with reference to the articles mentioned immediately above but, in general, Tony concludes: “…it is a pity that many critics of astrology argue at a very superficial level. My purpose in this book is to shed some genuine light on the subject.  I hope the book will stimulate serious discussion about astrology.”

Do we need to start more knowledgeable debates and discussions on astrology?

Read the book and come to your own conclusions.

Outstanding Alumni: Prof. Ajeet Mathur

In a new series, parallel to "Guest Blogging by Alumni", I have started a new feature which will highlight many of our alumni who have acheived their mark not only in Indian but international spheres.

As a first in this series I have chosen a good friend who has a shared alumni with me both in Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, and also in St.Stephen's College in Delhi University.

Considerably younger to me, our paths crossed when he came to Finland in 1993. We struck up  a friendship  which has grown stronger over the last 26 years. 

You can read his detailed biodata and his huge list of publications, research areas, teaching experience and the numerous awards he has been given on his Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, website. Prof. Ajeet Narain Mathur

.

We have worked together on several projects, even writing a joint paper many years ago. In many of his writings he has acknwledged the contributions of both Annikki and myself in shaping some of his ideas. 

In his most recent book, he has given us a great compliment by referencing one of our major writings "Handbook for Survival in Finland" first published in 1994 and updated in 2014. It was the 1994 edition of our book that helped Ajeet to settle down in Finland.

We were especially happy when he wrote a short acknowledgement when he handed over a personal copy of his book for us.

Although this book covers the business opportunities between the two countries, Finland and India, it is much more than that in that his in depth coverage of the socio-economic conditions, political background and the pros and cons in both countries is much better than many other books that I have had the chance to read.

An excellent feature is the listing of the top 500 companies in both Finland and India. A study of these is most revealing in that it shows the typical differences in the structure of these countries.

Those who know Finland will understand why it is among the top countries in the world in several fields as Innovation, Quality of Life, Happiness, Education, Freedom of Speech, Environment, to name just st a few. 

Taken against our last book "The Titanic Calied India" published after our last visit to India in 2014, the stark contrast between these two countries is obvious.

 

When Ajeet was living in Finland, we had regular alumni get-togethers, which were always 100% attendance as we were were then the only two in Finland. :-)

If you are interested in picking up Ajeet's book about Finland and India you can go to these links in either UK or in the US.

Amazon UK Link for "Finland-India Business Opportunities"

Amazon US Link for "Finland-India Business Opportunities"

For your help here are a few reviews of the book which I found:

“ Due to his long and rich experience of working with Finnish and Indian companies and passionate research at IIM Ahmedabad in India , Aalto University, Helsinki and University of Tampere in Finland, Professor Mathur has a very deep knowledge of how to do business in both countries. I think that every company leader who considers starting Finnish-Indian business should read this new book. This valuable new book will help companies entering new markets to flourish by building robust sustainable business relations.”

- Päivi Leiwo, Chairperson Oilon Oy, Lahti, Finland

“This book is a treasure trove of knowledge explaining the business opportunities, policies, cultures, institutions, country trajectories and nuances pertaining to Finland and India. The author has worked in business, government and academia in India and abroad. He has also had a long association with Finland and is able to bring you an insider’s perspective of both countries”

- Ashok Sharma, Ambassador of India

“The author’s deep insider experience in the two countries enables him to make very sharp observations on both sides. This book will definitely help in understanding the cultural differences and in making all interactions and communications smoother. It is also very interesting and helpful to read about the differences in legal structures and where these differences originate from.”

- Iiro Rossi, Managing Director, Holiday Club Resorts, Helsinki

“This book is a delightful and important guide for those who want to do business between Finland and India. It brings you the numerous business opportunities which wait to be availed, and highlights the deep understanding of the author of the culture and institutional environment of both countries. Read this book, learn and be surprised!”

- Niina Nummela, Vice Dean, Professor of International Business, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, Finland

“This book is a reflection of Ajeet’s penchant for deep research on a topic and ability to structure and articulate content. This will be extremely helpful to both academia and practitioners who want to develop Indo-Finnish business relations specifically and international business in general. Sonata is currently engaged with business in Finland”

- Srikar Reddy, Managing Director, Sonata Software Limited, Bangalore

From the two of us, Annikki and myself, we can certainly say that is one of the best books that has come over our table during the last few years, and it is even more of great honour that it has been written by one of our alumni. 

Thanks and well done Ajeet.

Reason for being a top school

I was informed by one of my best and learned readers that his comment about why our school is at the top of the charts was missing. I do not know how that happened.

From Cathedral School, Mumbai

>

However, I reproduce here what 49er Yezad Kapadia wrote:

Quite some time ago. I had clicked on comments  and sent the comments.

Although there are various factors at play, I believe a lot of credit should go to the Founding Fathers for their vision and the sense of purpose with which the School was founded. The value system endowed at that time prevails even now. I guess the same reasoning applies to the the Public Schools in England too.

I have worked for the House of Tatas. Fortune magazine has estimated that the average life span of a corporate entity is 17 years. There are at least three corporates/entities in the Tata stable (Tata Steel, the Taj Mahal Hotel and the Indian Institute of Science) which, after being around for more than 100 years, are world class! I can only attribute this to the vision and the sense of values of the Founder. We all know what a great man he was. Very few know how great!! 

This comment is specially interesting as most of our family companies are also of thatbreed of over or near 100 years. The Malayala manorama is now 123 years old, MRF is over 70 years old and most of the plantation companies as Badra, Devon, Balanoor are in their 80s.

To last just 17 years for a corporate seems a bit astonishing!

Our reunion plans

59ers have put together what I think will be the Mother of all Golden Reunions. We are busy getting the attendance figures organised.

I had a great disappointment today morning when I received an email from one of our classmates who lives in Pakistan. He is one of our very active and much-loved 59ers. He informed me that he may not be able to make it to the reunion!

Why?

His mother passed away at the beginning of the year. He travelled to Mumbai to perform the last rites.

It seems that if one gets one visa in the year, then Pakistanis cannot get a second visa the same year.

I wonder if Pakistan also follows this protocol?

If so, it only shows the stupidity of the politicians and the bureaucrats in both countries.

What logical reason could there be in stopping genuine travel between two countries? It is not as if the governments are doing anyone a favour. They charge money to issue visas.

I hope some of our friends will draw the attention to people in high places to stop this stop of ridiculous bureaucracy!

Two faces of sport in India

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the Mumbai Cathedralites Seventh Heaven Blog and the Delhi Stephanians Kooler Talk Blog.

Cathedral School Hockey side in 1959:
I am the goalkeeper!

I have always been a hockey player and enthusiast.

(My interest in hockey, especially to be a hockey goalkeeper started in 1952-53 when I was a 10 year old living in Bangalore. I used to live opposite the St, Joseph College Hostel and sports grounds.I had many friends studying in the college. One was a guy called Abe Tharakan. He was the hockey goalkeeper for the college. I used to watch the team train and watched all their games. Abe inspired me to take up the game and the position of goalkeeper after I moved to Bombay in 1954. Today, Abe and I are good friends and he runs a popular blog Song of the Waves - I repaid him by bringing him into the world of blogging at which he has become a real expert and writes beautifully!)

I played for the First XI of the school for two years. I played for St. Stephen's College, Delhi, till injury cut short my further prospects to play for the College, the University and higher. When I played for the College, I played alongside some of the future greats of Indian Hockey, with Arun Shourie as my Captain.
In London, I played for my college and then played in the trials for London University. Injury again kept me from progressing my hockey career.


Shrewsbury Town Hockey Team:
I am fourth from left.

Then when I started my professional career in Plastics at Shawbury Village near Shrewsbury Town, I played for the Town team regularly, first in my preferred spot in the goal and then as the centre half in the line up.

I loved to play hockey. Though I wanted to see good hockey, I never got to watch it on TV as it has never been a popular spectator sport to merit much TV time.

I love football equally, and though I played it at school, I never progressed much, as my love for hockey was over-powering. However, as it was on TV in England, I watched a lot of it and learnt much about strategy and the game from the hours spent in front of the box. The real highlight was watching such greats as the Portuguese wizard Eusebio and the Brazilian Pele along with the English household names of Bobby More and Charlton, with England winning the World Cup in 1966.

I used much of what I learnt of the sport from watching the best players on TV to help me manage youngsters getting into the sport. I became a master of strategy in a game that I hardly played, even though, if I had played, I would have progressed as far as I did in the sport of my choice.

I played many other sports as table tennis, badminton (right up to the age of 55). I was active in athletics. I enjoyed TV coverage, however limited of each of these sports. My last sporting exploits was when I skied for the first time in my life at the age of 57 and finished the 20 km course tearing every ligament in my body. And then at the same age I raised a crew of long boat rowers to row the 30+ kilometers from Muhos to Oulu.

I enjoyed my gym training doing as much as 2 hours of intensive gym work to ensure all my muscles were kept fit and also helping me to solve serious problems with my back and also avoiding operations on my knees.

Now at 65, I keep fit by walking whenever I can, sometimes as much as 20 km keeping my pulse rate at as high as possible for my age - 140 to 150 pulse beats per minute!

My interest in cricket was generated by the excellent radio commentary that I used to listen to when I was just 7 to 8 years old. England playing against Australia and the Commentary broadcast by Radio Australia and BBC were the starting point, later followed by following the fortunes of the Indian Cricket team with stars such as Mushtaq Ali, Vijay Merchant, Vijay Hazare, Ghulam Ahmed, Polly Umrigar, S.P. Gupte, Bapu Nadkarni. And we had some good Indian Commentators too, but some exasperating ones, as well.

I did not liked watching cricket on TV as the sponsors hogged so much of time that I hated sitting through the irritating ads. However, when the International Cavaliers played the Sunday afternoon 40 overs, with great names as Sobers, Lloyd and others showing their unbelievable poweress with bat and ball, as well their superb fielding, and with NO ads intervening, I really took to watching ad free cricket on TV.

What I could, however, not understand was the super star status given to the Indian Cricket players. Yes, they may have been good players, and Kapil Dev's team winning the World Cup certainly gave the players the boost.

But considering that the Indian Hockey side dominated the Olympic and World Hockey agenda for generations, I could never understand why they were never given the super star status of the cricketing counterparts. It was no wonder that Indian Hockey sunk into the toilet.

This year was no exception. The Indian Cricket team won the Twenty20 Cricket Tournament and the whole of India and the politicians have been all rolling over to be seen with the cricketers.

In the same period the Indian Hockey side won the Asian Hockey Tournament against major rivals, and it was difficult to even find this mentioned in the headline news.

The news that the State Bank of India was doing something to correct this by giving each hockey player in the winning side $ 12,500 for the world beating performance was news, but in comparison to what has been showered on the cricketers, the air coverage time, the print space given to each sport, it really makes my heart sink.

India can quickly produce the best hockey players of the calibre of Dyanchand if it wants. It can beat other world sides if the Indian side was given only walking sticks to play with. But when the sport and its players are treated so shoddily, can we ever expect the Indian Team to ever become the real world class they are capable of being!

On a final note. the commercialisation of sport where one has to pay money to hear a cricket commentary between two country sides, unlike the time when I was a small boy, will only destroy the sport in the long run.

Open letter to the Indian President

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the Delhi Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog and the Mumbai Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog.

This just reached me. It is an is an open letter to the President of India submitted through the Governor of Karnataka. It is from Dr. Sajan George, who is the President of the Global Council of Indian Christians.

There are three major reasons that I am publishing this letter on my blogs.

First and foremost is that my grandfather held the post of First Member of the Privy Council of the Mysore Maharajah, a post given to a Christian by a Hindu who valued the individual and his capabilities rather than which ethnic minority the person hailed from.

My grandfather was a person from what is now known as Kerala and was not a Mysorean. But all through the State of Mysore, this Keralite and Christian was known as Mysore Matthan. Even 30 years after his death respect, when I was living in Maddur in Mandya District, was shown to me just because I was his grandson!

Many Matthan's have served the State, Mysore and Karnataka, selflessly and have yet practiced their faith without fear. After retirement they have considered Karnataka as their home. They are sons of the soil of Karnataka.

The second reason I am publishing this letter is that around the middle it draws attention to the controversial action by the Officiating Principal of my alma mater, St, Stephen's College, Delhi, about the admission policy that was introduced this year.

The third reason is that Prof. Ajeet Mathur, a fellow Cathedralite and Stephanian, was in Oulu a couple of weeks ago and gave an interesting talk. He holds the position of Director of the Institute of Applied Manpower Research of the Planning Commission of India. His Research Group is working on the 9% growth that is presently being seen in India and the rapid expansion of educational facilities to meet this need. 30 new Universities, 7 new Indian Institute of Technologies and many hundreds of thousands of educational institutions of every level requires a huge input of highly skilled and talented people of every level.

What message will such actions, as are described in the letter below, become knowledge of people who intend to come to work in India?

Here I am entertaining requests from many tens of Finns wanting to go and work in India and from Finnish companies wanting to find opportunities to establish their operations all over the Indian sub-continent.

What answer will I give them when they ask me about conditions prevailing in India for them to work safely in their jobs or to run their companies?

I shudder to think of the consequences to our National Policy if those who play for short term political gain are allowed to carry on regardless.

To Her Excellency The President of India,
Rashtrapathi Bhavan,
New Delhi

Through the Governor of Karnataka,
Raj Bhavan,
Bangalore

Your Excellency:

We offer our respectful greetings and humble salutations, on behalf of the Christians of India, especially those who have suffered greatly on account of their religious faith. In this regard, we submit the following for your kind and benevolent attention:

We are gravely concerned about the escalating violence being perpetrated against Christians in the state of Karnataka for the past 20 months, and we have evidence to clearly link the same to the change in the government at the state level. In other words, after the BJP came into the coalition, there has been a climate of impunity for any acts of violence that are committed in the name of Hindutva. To place the facts and relevant documentation on record, we herewith submit a detailed report on attacks against Christians in Karnataka between Jan 28th and July 29th 2007 wherein it is clear from the facts that unprovoked attacks by communal elements have occurred inside homes and the places of worship of Christians, as people are praying and worshipping within the privacy of their homes and churches. Later, the police are pressurized to file cases against the victims. The hardest blow to the victims however is the inaction and neglect of our just grievances by the law-and -order machinery and the State. In fact, the police officials in several cases have said that they have received orders from the Dy. Chief Minister and the local (usually BJP MLA)on how to act. Therefore, the widespread attitude (though not universal) is that of treating Christians as second class citizens. We have failed in numerous peaceful efforts to get justice, namely redressal of the violation of our Constitutional and Fundamental freedom of Religion and Conscience. We now approach your kind self in the hope that you who are well known for your secular outlook, will certainly take steps to ensure that justice and the right to constitutional remedies, hitherto denied to the majority of the Christian victims of persecution, will be made available to them in a speedy and time-bound manner.
.
The Christian Rights Rally in Bangalore held on 22nd June 07' was the largest gathering so far of victims of religious persecution by the communal forces in India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Gujarat to Orissa. Christians in Karnataka are observing Awareness Day on 22nd September 2007 to raise the awareness of the public against Christians in general and in Karnataka in particular and are converging on Bangalore to make their voice heard against the injustice meted out to them and share their experiences and agony and express solidarity with other victims of the extreme distress faced by the Christian community in India. They are joined by a number of persons from all walks of life, various Christian churches and groups including those from other faiths who came together to express solidarity and share their grief and sorrow.

Your Excellency, the Christian community - which continues to be a tiny 2.04% of this nation's population according to the 2001 Census data - has been at the forefront of service to the massive numbers of poor and needy in our country. Our patriotism and commitment to the nation has been tangibly expressed in the form of committed service to the deprived and disadvantaged sections of society in the fields of education, healthcare, and training in vocational services far in excess to our share in the population. A large section of the Christian community, including the cream of our young men and women have dedicated their lives to socially productive activities full-time. Even though they can easily choose to migrate to any country and enjoy a very good quality of life due to their qualifications, they choose to work in Indian running schools, hospitals, orphanages, leprosy rehabilitation centres, nursing schools, counselling centres, colleges which are known for their excellence, etc. Christians are among the largest groups intervening with people living with HIV/AIDS. They work among the poorest of the poor in remotest regions of the country, facing life-threats from the so-called "patriotic" Indians for their work, starting schools, spreading literacy and offering primary health care where state interventions are totally neglected or absent. Their inspiration is the life of Jesus Christ, known for spending his brief and youthful life on this earth in healing the sick, and reaching out to the disabled, the untouchables and the downtrodden those rejected by mainstream society, in preaching the "good news to the poor". His personal example continues to inspire people all over the world and down the ages to express their faith through service to fellow-human beings through a life dedicated to God's will.

Despite this track record of committed service to the Indian people, Christians are constantly referred to by their detractors as foreigners and as people having allegiance to forces outside the country. How long do we need to keep on proving our credentials as full citizens, peace-loving, law-abiding and committed to the advancement of the nation? When India was a nascent state, Christians showed their confidence in the Constitution and their trust in the mainstream by declining reservation in the seats in Parliament. This shows how well the Christian community consider themselves integrated into society. It is sad that the degeneration of the political climate has caused Christians in India to be isolated from the
mainstream by small, noisy, violent groups of communally divisive elements who attempt to damage the pluralism that has been the most abiding characteristic of Indian society for centuries, by bringing pressure on the police and the judicial system. These communal forces raise their voices and weapons against this tiny, dedicated, service-oriented and peace-loving community. They engineer increasingly violent and murderous attacks against not only the Christians themselves but also those whose hope for a better future is kindled by the compassionate service and love shown by these dedicated citizens of India: there are allegations that Christians "convert" those who they serve.

There are attempts to demonise the Christian community through allegations of force, fraud and inducement to convert - through offering services such as education or jobs. Laws aimed at "preventing conversion through force, fraud and inducement" have been passed in several states. But despite several decades of these laws existence, not a single case has ever been successfully prosecuted under these laws. What then is the reason for their existence except to serve as a threat to those who serve the poor? Some of the Christian service institutions in the country have been functioning for over a hundred years, but has the population in the surrounding areas converted enmasse? To the contrary, every year, 8 million students come out of the portals of Christian institutions. Can anyone prove that even 0.001 % of this group has "converted" as a result of indoctrination? Then what is the motivation for these false claims?

We assert that the real reason is that these vested interests and their children, community and class actually welcome and enjoy the services provided by the well-established and older Christian educational and health institutions located in cities and towns. But they do not want availability of these facilities to the poor and disadvantaged in rural and tribal areas. As long as some welfare and charity work is done there is no problem, but when hitherto voiceless and powerless sections of Indian society begin to get education and a socially empowered self-image there is a huge reaction. Witness the outcry against the management of St. Stephen's College, Delhi, for announcing reservations in seats to some of the disadvantaged sections of society, something well within their constitutional rights. The progress of the subaltern groups is not tolerated by those who have enjoyed the fruits of the economic, social and political marginalization of the subaltern groups in India. There is fear that if these groups, hitherto marginalised, become educated and aware, the access of the elites to power, their social and economic status will be eroded. Therefore, they mislead young and gullible sections from the subaltern groups to attack the defenceless Christians, while keeping themselves free of the taint of violence.

In the wake of the recent exposure of these manipulations a violence in the electronic media, who gave publicity to violence against Christian workers, these groups are attempting a damage control exercise. But the nation has now woken up to the grim reality of the extreme, brutal and widespread violence against the Christian community all over the country which has so far been successfully kept from the public by a mostly (though not entirely) complaisant media. Several Christian groups have attempted to highlight these attacks with very little response. However, we must mention that in some cases the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Minorities have responded positively and taken steps to ensure that the matters were enquired into. Justice delivery, however has been slow if not totally absent in most cases.

Also complicit in the "invisibilisation" of these outrages are some lower-level functionaries in the police and judiciary who have often abused their positions to harass and deny Christians their constitutional rights, and support the anti-social and unconstitutional excesses of the Sangh Parivar activists. Even cases of murder of Christian pastors and workers have not been investigated. Due to their own ideological learning towards the communalists most cases the police refuses to file an FIR or take up the matter with any enthusiasm. It goes without saying that these officials would not get away with these actions if it were not for the patronage of politicians allied with the BJP and Sangh organizations.

In view of the above facts, we therefore humbly request your Excellency

1. to call for an independent investigation into the atrocities against the Christian minorities in India, and especially in Karnataka in the recent past, by a specially empowered group in a speedy and time-bound manner. GCIC pledges its support to such an enquiry.


2. To enquire into the reason for the blatant discrimination by the State law-and-order machinery and the judiciary in the matter of incidents against Christians, and their support to the unconstitutional activities and antisocial behavior of persons against the Christians.


3. In cases where undue delay in investigations are established, to fix responsibility at the appropriate level and take punitive administrative and criminal action against those responsible.


4. Baseless reports against the Christians and Christian institutions in the vernacular media have fuelled hate crimes against the Christians in several states, notably Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.


5. Specifically, we want to bring to your notice that there has been a rape of an 8-year old girl, a daughter of an impoverished Dalit worker in Bidar for her religious identity. F.I.R 100/07 in Nenyara Police station Bidar District, Karnataka state, has been registered and we have brought the matter to the notice of the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women.


6. Finally, Your Excellency, we humbly call upon your kind self to exercise your Constitutional Authority and repeal the 1950 Presidential Ordinance which has denied the Constitutional Rights of Christians of Dalit Descent.
   
   Through this one action, you will create history by righting the historical wrongs against a deprived and oppressed section of Indian Society and earn the immense gratitude of millions.

We remain,

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Sajan George, President, Global Council Of Indian Christians

Let us be clear, it is not the common folk of Karnataka who are following this route, but, as usual, those who are lobbying for power.

I am grateful to John Dayal for drawing my attention to this letter and the issues that it highlights.