Maintain Dry Status, Please

Political leaders in the state have been deliberating on the pros and cons of lifting dry status in the state. As per the paper report, there is no sustained argument in support of maintaining status quo. Instead the policy makers appeared to support lifting of dry status and make alcohol consumption legal. Given that the impact felt on the larger society will be tremendous, there requires sustained debate on the subject involving law makers, civil society, religious leaders, researchers etc. One of the MLAs stated that removing of dry status will ensure production and availability of only quality-controlled liquor to the public. This kind of reasoning is without empirical support. The empirical support would rather point to the opposite direction.

Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and other states legalise alcohol consumption. But even in these states there are plenty of 'toxic' liquor available, and thriving. Just last month – June, 2015 – in Maharashtra 104 people died after consuming illicit alcohol, and over 40 continued to remain hospitalised. In January, 2015, in Uttar Pradesh at least 25 people died after taking local made liquor, and over 100 hospitalised. Prior to that over 40 people died in the same state after consuming local made liquor during a religious festival. Few years before that 130 people died after consuming illicit liquor in West Bengal, with dozens more landing in hospital. In 2008, 180 people died after taking local made liquor in Karnataka. These are small samples of deaths caused by country-made liquor. It is reported that in Maharashtra in certain areas, within just one Ward – let alone district – death through alcohol poisoning occurs every month.

Given that people in the state are equally money minded, if not more, illicit liquor will thrive. State machinery will find it impossible to ensure the quality of alcohol being brewed by the local vendors. If dry status is lifted, the state will have thousands of local brewers, and the state machinery will never be in a position to monitor the quality. When the state machinery is unable to effectively check petrol adulteration, can it monitor and regulate the quality of possibly thousands of local liquor brewers? Empirical findings prove that illicit liquor thrive so much more in states where liquor is legalised compared to dry states. The MLA is mistaken to believe that removal of dry status will engender quality-controlled liquor.

The paper reported that the government expects to make Rs. 300-500 crores through alcohol related business once dry status is lifted. This needs critical evaluation. Tripura, whose population higher than that of Manipur, makes around Rs 124 crores out of alcohol related business last year. It is highly unlikely for Manipur Goverment to generate revenue 2-4 times more than Tripura by removing dry status. If such a monetary figure is to obtain, it can do so only if a significant percentage of population is driven to drinking. But with more drinkers, social cost increases. At present Supreme Court normally directs government to pay Rs. 5 lakhs as compensation for undue death. Placing monetary value on a person's life is problematic. Despite the problem, if one takes this figure, it would take the death of 600-1000 people that government must compensate to neutralise the monetary gain of Rs. 300-500 crores. In a small state, such number of death is unlikely. And God help us that such thing never happens! But even if dozens of death occur in, say, a far flung village in the hill, the chance of the event not being reported is so high. Media coverage in the sate is far below the desired level. And with many villages several miles away from the nearest police station, there is no measure the state government will step in to investigate the disaster and prevent further incident of such sort.

Once dry status is lifted, more men will come home and beat up their wives and children. Domestic quarrelling and beating are much more common in homes where the husband drinks compared to those where no one drinks alcohol. Poor productivity in offices and field will be more widespread. Local fights between drunkards will be common scene. Drunk driving will increase manifold resulting in higher number of accidents and increasing medical care cost to the injured. But the cost for such hospitalisation is not born by the 'bad' boy himself; the cost falls is born by the entire family. Kidney-liver damage will rise substantially, adding financial pressure on the wife specially. With more illicit liquor brewers thriving than it is under dry status, more families will fall under the spell of alcohol related illnesses. It is not just the money spent to buy one drink, which in many cases would have been earned by the wife selling vegetables on the roadside, but the physical abuse on the wife that gets more frequent and the tense environment in which the children are raised which is followed by apathy towards children's education and moral progress. Hundreds of homes will get wrecked by removing dry status. The big question is: Has the government calculated such social cost and converted them in monetary value? What is the net monetary difference between the gain and the loss?

State exists for the flourishing of the citizens. And given this function of a state, it is high time that it cracks down on alcohol business prevailing under dry status. Lifting dry status will rather be going towards the opposite direction the state ought to pursue. Instead of facilitating and developing the skill and excellence of a human person, by removing dry status the state will impregnate the health and minds of the citizens with illness and darkness. Policy makers have moral obligation not to lead the citizens toward such dark abyss. Therefore, maintain dry status, please.

(This article appears on The Herald on 11th July, 2015) 

In Defence of Dry Status

One of the repeatedly stated reasons for lifting of dry status is that the prohibition is not really effective as it was anticipated when the legal provision kicked in. Reason such as this, however, requires further inquiry. In any given decent society, actions like murder or rape are criminalised with heavy penalty. However, no political society has been able to curb such criminal actions with cent percent efficiency. This does not entail that murder or rape can now be legalised because the state machinery has failed to effectively prevent such actions. It rather implies that the state needs to wake up from its slumber and get to work. True, alcohol consumption is unlike rape or murder; after all there is no apparent violation of anyone's right by one's liquor consumption as it is so with rape or murder. However, the given reason that dry status is not quite effective in curbing drinking is not a valid reason for lifting of the dry status; if at all it must imply a lesson, then it is that the state machinery is a failure. Given this factor, maintaining dry status or otherwise would have to depend on the social benefit or social cost that alcohol consumption elicits.

If there are black marketers today making profit from the business, at the expense of the general public, it is not proper for government to fit into the shoe of these black businessmen. With legal provision, government can indeed make black money white. Yet, the moral reason remains; and therefore, the so called white money may not really be white. There are black businessmen making hefty profit for selling heroin, ganja, pseudoephedrine and other tablets. State cannot be venturing in to fill the shoe of this thriving black market and make these businesses legal.

The reason why government had introduced dry status in the first place was due to social cost, and even today if government is to lift dry status, this factor must determine its course of action. Public health experts everywhere are unanimous in voicing that social cost is far higher than the social benefit that the state can dole out through revenue that it generates from liquor business. Kidney-liver damage, poor parenting, accident from reckless drunken driving, local fights, spouse quarrel, lower work productivity etc. are going to be rapidly increasing with far more easy access to liquor. If the state machinery is helpless in effectively maintaining prohibition, to consider effective monitoring of import-export and prevent further social degeneration it is not being realistic.

On behalf of the citizens, political leaders must legislate and pursue a wide range of goal that includes health, education, social harmony etc. Political goal is not about making more money, but about human development and therefore human flourishing. It is not state's business teaching husband how to express love to his wife, but it must be of state's concern if husband would come home drunk and beat his wife and children. If the state needs more money to ensure protection and care of its citizen and also its infrastructural development, it must explore other measures to generate revenue – the kind of measure that will not damage human development. Tourism may serve a fine example for such measure. Any measure that will radically increase physical abuse, health hazard, social tension etc. ought not to be pursued. The state has a moral obligation to steer clear of such policies by virtue of the moral ideal upon which the state is based and also has envisioned for its citizens. The state is not an amoral institution and ought not to be one because human being is an inherently moral animal. Therefore lifting of dry status which certainly will have massive social cost ought not to be considered at this point of time.

What good is money if its pursuit results in damaging human lives?

Overcoming Gender Bias in Institutions

There are two institutions in our society that require modification for the purpose of better functioning. They are functioning okay as of now, but with modification the functioning will get even better. Not only will the institutions function better, such modification will also empower a significant percent of our population more than what it is now, and the cumulative effect of such modification will have a huge bearing on the overall Naga society. The two institutions about which I shall argue for modification are Church and the Village Council.

In our society there is hardly any church that allows women to be part of the deacon board. The deacon board has been 'all male group'. There is nothing inherently wrong in having only the male as members of the deacon board provided all the male deacon members are qualified and that there is no female in the given church who is as qualified as the males members, if not better. However, if there are females in a given village/church who are as qualified as the males, it is important to bring females into the deacon board. Churches/villages which are of moderate or small size struggle to get adequate number of people who are well qualified to take leadership. And given this challenge, bringing in females can very address this predicament. In the Bible, for example, we find Phoebe as a deaconess (Roms 15.1). If early church has a deaconess, why not today even in our churches! A church consists both male and female, young and old. And having, say, two females in a team of church leadership will enable the church to minister more effectively to the church members.

Another area of change that may serve us well is to bring in women into the village council. Traditionally it has been again 'all male group'. But traditions can be changed; rules can be rewritten. And it is we who must rewrite it whenever such rewriting is required. Other people will not come and change our rules. Nor do others know when and how to bring changes. Naga women have been peacemakers for generation. Known for sympathy and honesty, when men quarrel on money matters, women can bring transparency in money management. When villages quarrel over border dispute, women can be peacemakers. In term of brain power, there is no difference between men and women. And when many educated men in the villages are working in the cities, rendering many villages shortage of qualified men to administer the village, bringing in women into village administration can make village council more efficient.

Notwithstanding the more efficient functioning of these institutions that women can contribute to, women deserve to be given the chance to work for the larger society for their own good. Any given society that ignores women ignores 50% of the citizen of the society. And when there is the capability and there is no inherent reason why actualising and flowering of such capability is absent, society must not restrain women to flourish and develop their capability. Women are allowed to become an MLA or an MP or even as Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) or as President ( Pratibha Patil). Given that the world has gone far ahead in term of empowering women, it is high time that capable women are allowed to come into leadership team in different domain of our lives. There is no society that has expressed regrets by allowing women to serve their society with men side by side as partners.

Immovable property inheritance right for women is an area that requires more time to implement given the political matrix in the Naga areas. Considering the land ownership system at present, giving equal right to women on such issue will damage the society instead of bringing a more progressive outlook. For example, to allow a Gujarati man who married a Naga girl own land in village A in Senapati district is too much of a problem for the society at present. This is to bring more harm than good with the present system. However, one can envision our society functioning better and our women empowered to bloom if they are given room to share responsibility and work alongside men in the church as well as in the village Council.

Civic Sense as Common Sense

With health comes wealth; without health goes wealth – goes the saying. If children are ill, parents would be in hospital with the kids rather than go for work. Taking children to the hospital is to spend money. So instead of being able to work and earn money, parents would rather be spending money in the hospital when children fall sick. However, when everyone is in good health, one can work better and there is no additional financial constraint at home. With financial constraint all kinds of problems arise at home. Health is vital for a happy family!

Sanitation or the lack thereof plays a key role in human health. Drainage system which gets clogged specially during rainy season will serve as a perfect nest for mosquitoes and other insects to breed and multiply. Open defecation by humans and animals specially in human settlements contribute to typhoid, cholera, malaria and other diseases.

Throwing around plastic bags and bottles create bottlenecks that prevent free flow of water of the drainage system. The result is that drainage water then spills onto the road and even onto the backyard of many houses. Animals can eat discarded plastic bags specially when the plastic bags have leftover sweets or food items. Such animals can die a painful death. If a sheet of paper or a piece of clothe is discarded in the forest, they will eventually degrade and waste away in few years time. But this not happen with the polythene/plastic bags. The nature of plastic cover or bag is such that even after hundreds of years, they will not degrade and waste away. It possibly takes a thousand year for a plastic bag to photo-degrade – the chemical agents breaking away into microscopic granules after ultra violet light from the sun hit on it. Given this nature, it is best if the plastic bags can be recycled. However, in the villages and smaller towns where there is no possibility of recycling the material, there are certain measures that must be devised to dispose off these objects as safely as possible.

It is not such a difficult task to responsibly to keep our environment clean. But to keep our environment clean, one must bear in mind certain civic sense. To that end there are certain dos and don’t s. One does not have to wait for the rest of the people to apply common sense before one applies it himself or herself. Even if the rest of the people do not act now, what matters is that you act from now onwards. Chances are that if you begin to act now, and consistently do that, more and more people will begin follow your example. After all mankind is essentially imitative!

Instead of throwing around water bottles or plastic bags or cover of sweets or waste paper near the roadside or the market, one should try to find a dustbin to discard them; and until one could fine a dustbin, keep them in your bag or pocket. For example, those who have purchased a paan wrapped in a paper should keep the paper in their pocket, even after the paan is put into the mouth, until they can put the paper in the dustbin or the kitchen fire. Better idea is for the shopkeepers to use a piece of banana leaf to wrap such small items and tie it with a thread! Leaves are biodegradable and are more environment friendly. Plastic bags or bottles can be buried by digging a pit in one's own garden if there is no dustbin around.

Brooming one's own courtyard is a good culture, but brooming other's courtyard is never in our culture. And since we do not broom other's courtyard/backyard, it is also against the culture to litter and dirty other's courtyard/backyard. This culture of keeping private property clean must go beyond to include the street and the roadside as well – one should never litter and dirty the street and the roadside. Just as we respect other's private property by not littering and dirtying it with waste material, we need to respect public property by not littering and dirtying it with waste materials. Out of respect if we can keep other's private property clean, we can definitely respect public property and keep it clean too. A civilised culture will respect public property. Let us keep our town, street, road, backyard and the environment hygienic and safe!

Yoga, Yogi and The Controversy

June 21 will be Yoga International Day. With Modi's government planning to give a big push, the event is turning out to be controversial. The controversy surrounding the event is accentuated by the fact that Yoga is or is being made a Hindu religious practice and is or is being read as forcing down the throat of citizens including those who are not Hindus. 

Is Yoga a Hindu religious practice? The government says that Yoga day has nothing to do with Hindu religion. Many are not convinced as much as they are not convinced with the government's statement that cow slaughter ban (and so ban on beef consumption) in certain states is not about religion. These people believe that cow slaughter ban or Yoga push is part of government's plan to introduce Hindu belief and practice into the larger community life. Personally I am not quite sure whether Yoga is intrinsically linked to religion or not. Yes, at its beginning Yoga was connected to Hindu religion. There is not much non-acceptance at that point. The question is whether it still is the case. For example, if we examine the meaning of 'namaskar' or 'namastey', they have deep religious meaning. But today most people would say not associate them with religion but treat them as part of the cultural life. Question is whether Yoga has become more like 'namaskar/namastey', having lost its religious significance. 

It is said that '0' (zero) is India's gift to the world. This gift has nothing to do with religion; it's more territorial. Similarly, India can say Yoga is India's gift to the world. But if Yoga is inherently religious, then the issue is little different. Just as government of India ought not to promote Hindu religion and endorse it saying it is India's gift to the world, government also must not promote Yoga as India's gift to world if Yoga is inherently a Hindu religious practice. Doing so would tantamount to a state endorsing one religious belief over other religious beliefs. 

Given that Yogi Adityanath, a hardcore right wing Hindu political leader of BJP, spews venom against those who object to government's order that tries to make Yoga posture like Surya Namaskar (which then makes Yogo inherently part of Hindu religious tradition) compulsory PM must emphatically rebuke such remarks in public and clears the air that Yoga has nothing to do with religion. Instead of making a senior Minister speaks, it is high time PM opens his mouth against such repeated hate speech by Member of Parliament belonging to his party and clears the air. And unless PM speaks, it is unlikely religious minorities would be assured of their place in a political environment that is increasingly becoming less liberal. 

Yet in all of this, I can't help wondering why this government is taking up something which is rather controversial. Why can't PM give more energy and life to his wonderful campaign -- Swacch Bharat (Clean India)? Had PM come out with Swacch Bharat-II, that would convey to the citizens that he is determined to, or at least, attempted to sanitize and make India disease free. That would be more productive -- politically and socially. And so despite Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh trying to clear the controversy, the suspicion remains! 

Is Cheating in Exam Good?

From High School till College, it has been known that cheating in exam is a worldwide practice. From United States to Netherland to India, it is there. Even in India it is there in Delhi, in Bihar and in Manipur. But using unfair means is unfair, wherever it is. Cheating is cheating, East or West. The individual student, parents and the concerned authority must all acknowledge that cheating in exam is wrong. To be declared pass is to acknowledge that a student has possessed the requisite knowledge required of a person at such a stage of learning. But clearing an examination by cheating and copying betray the degree the person possesses. A student who clears the exam by cheating deceives himself or herself, cheats the authority and the society at large.

If one has decided not to cheat, yet must pass the exam then the only option is to work hard. I have heard wise parents say, 'pass' or 'failed' is a different matter, but as a student hard work is a must. If you work hard and you failed, the problem is not yours. But if you refused to work hard now, and you failed later, the problem is yours. A child needs to be reassured that if he or she fails to do well in studies despite hard work, the parents will be there to understand the matter and stand with him or her. A hard working child need not fear the parents or the future. Fear of the parents, rejection by the society or a bleak future is one factor that gives rise to cheating in exam. Just as a child needs reassurance, he or she also has to be taught to be responsible for failure that may arise due to his or her laziness. To do away cheating in exam in a community responsible parenting is a must.

As one goes up the academic ladder, it gets more embarrassing to be corrected for the mistakes which one should not have made in the first place. Grammar, arithmetic, basic science etc. are all taught in High School. This is about laying the foundation in order to prepare the student for higher learning in various disciplines later. If a person is cheating at this level, he or she will struggle at the Bachelors. If he or she is cheating at the Bachelors level, the same person will struggle at the Masters level or even when one has got a job with the Bachelor's degree. At that stage, because of the learning you are supposed to possess at 15, but then refused to do so when you are young, life is difficult when you act stupid. However, if one has learned what must be learned at a younger age, one need not face embarrassing moments later.

It is always better to learn what is to be learned at that stage. Going back in time is not easy. As age catches up, different responsibilities emerge. Eyes refuse to cooperate; back refuses to support for long and the mind no longer remains fertile as it used to be. One of the first things that I decided when I came to faith in Jesus Christ as a student in 2000 was that I shall not cheat in exam any more. Over the years I have realised that academically this has been much more productive than I could have possibly imagined when such a decision was made. Certain people may try to justify cheating saying that it is better to cheat than to lose a year. But besides being legally and morally wrong, imagine a situation where a person makes such a justification at every stage of his or her life. Or worse, imagine a significant number of people use such justification for cheating! A whole bunch of generation will emerge with a flawed character. This is not good for the person and also for the larger society. Given such an adverse prospect for all, cheating in exam should be put to an end right away– by the individual candidate, the parents and the teachers.

(This article appears on the Hornbill Express on 2nd March 2015)

Freedom Fighters or Terrorists

There is a saying that is often repeated: One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. At the superficial level, there appears to be truth in the statement. However, if one digs deeper there are at least two reasons why the statement is problematic. This is important to be set right because faulty idea such as this can have a life of its own and later on hurt the larger society. Arriving at a globally agreed understanding of what consists terrorism has been elusive for various reasons. However, as of today a credible case can be built that defines terrorism as 'employing terror as a political tool by state or non-state actor in a deliberate, systematic and sustained manner upon non-combatants in order to attain certain political objective'.

From time to time Imphal valley has witnessed bombs being planted in public places by non-state actors, resulting in several civilians being killed and wounded by the bomb blasts. Barring an incident or two – like the one where a bomb was planted at Mini Secretariat, Senapati, recently – bomb culture is largely absent in the hill districts of Manipur or even in the entire Naga-land. This suggests that the principle with which some of those in the Imphal valley and the hill districts operate are different. All the non-state actors operating in the Imphal valley or in the hills would insist that they are fighting for self-determination, for political space where they can exercise political autonomy. One important distinction, however, is the way the different parties pursue their political objective.

Given the frequency of bomb blasts in public places, it is hard to miss the point that certain non-state actors are resorting to terror to achieve their political objective. Even in a full-blown war, maximum restraint has to be maintained to avoid civilian casualties. Gun-fights and bomb blasts that target the rival armed forces will occur in battlefield. Yet a distinction must be observed between combatants and non-combatants. Bombs in public places that target non-combatants is terrorism. This is a poor reflection of a group that is pursuing self-determination. Even when the political objective is just, the strategy to achieving the goal can damage the cause. Planting bomb in public places is just the kind of strategy that will invite international and local outrage – a perfect recipe for political disaster; a freedom fighter having become a terrorist.

The same concept of terrorism applies to para-military forces as well operating in the region. Fake encounter killing is not an unusual story being circulated among the general public. 'Friends of the hill people' undertaking active effort to befriend the hill people get nullified with an instance of fake encounter killing. Given the history in the state or the region, significant number of people grew up thinking of the armed forces as Devil's stooge. With an instance of fake encounter killing, it is so easy to typecast the entire security personnel with the age old impression. Even without any effort to reach out and befriend the hill people, 'friends of the hill people' might as well look within and try to curb any kind of fake encounter killing and harassment of innocent public. This will be more productive in creating a friendly outlook. Yet the more important reasons is because of the moral implication such an action bears and guilt associated with it – or ought to associate with it.

The North East in general has a sense of historical movement which is rather different from the mainstream Indian society in several ways. For example, the mass uprising against the British Raj did not take place in the North East just it happened in other parts of the country in the 1930s or 1940s. This kind of mass movement or the lack has a bearing on the present political scenario. No wonder there is some sort of a political faultline between the North East and the rest of India. Given this reality, the way these different entities – state and non-state actors – respond to the ever evolving society will determine the course of political future and its speed of change. Let no one take the general public for granted!

( For the Hornbill Express for 23rd Feb. 2015)   

Feast of Merit in Marriage

In the ages gone by, our ancestors did not have wealth so much so that sharing a meal with his fellow neighbours was a costly affair. Going to the field was not safe; headhunters from the neighbouring villages might launch an ambush. Nature was harsh, and he did not have medicine to get back his health whenever an illness strikes him; he has to wait and let natural course have its way towards recovery or death. Rivers and monsoon rain were not domesticated and therefore irrigation system was poor. When taken little more of rice beer, that drunken state makes him unfit to plough his field. All of these factors made our ancestors poor. In such widespread shortage of wealthy ones, to have earned the status of a generous man who could feed the whole village was indeed an honour. It was truly a feast of merit.

It seems that the hangover continues; the search for honour lives on. But this times the feast is dished out during marriage. Not every marriage feast is about seeking honour, but not every marriage feast is also about generosity. The individual knows best the motives behind the action. The bigger question, however, that requires reflection is whether marriage feast that is fast developing into a culture merits affirmation or otherwise. Surely, in any marriage guests, friends and relatives specially who come from afar must be provided a comfortable stay. But the idea and practice of marriage feast goes beyond this.

Depending on the size of the groom's village and the of the bride, if she is from another village, the expense varies. Given the general economy of the district residents, anything around five lakhs is a significant figure. Bigger programme would go beyond five lakhs and modest ones below this figure. But the truth is that even one lakh is so high for most of the households. Many families run into debts as they strive hard to provide education to the children or as an illness hits hard one member of the family. Many more are just about sufficient to meet their needs. Most people would be emptying their life long saving if two lakhs get withdrawn from their purse. Only a small percentage would remain unhurt with few lakhs spent to provide a marriage feast. No wonder even long ago feast of merit was such a rare occasion!

A benevolent giver should be affirmed. Seeking honour is not bad in itself. But when marriage feast becomes a pattern such that it begins to create pressure on those who are unable to afford it, then this honourable action becomes questionable. It begins to put pressure on the society at large when a young man or his relatives begins to feel being 'left out' without such a feast. Feast of merit was optional for our ancestors; marriage is not quite like that. Marriage is widespread across different economic strata. Once it begins to emerge as a cultural practice such that being 'left out' is a shame for the family or the groom, the rich ones cannot just shrug it off and say the poor need not follow the cultural pattern. The rich and the poor have both contributed to the emerging culture, and therefore for the sake of the larger society, a different pattern would have to be set by all the parties.

It is time to make marriage ceremony less expensive – particularly without a feast. The occasion is special. Yet what makes it beautiful and joyful is not necessarily the cost. Simplicity has its own charm. Seeking an honour in a pervasive occasion like marriage, and which only a tiny section could achieve it without getting financial hurt is not a desirable path to earning fame and honour. If generosity is the motive, giving on another occasion that will not develop into a harmful culture in the near future is more desirable. In today's age, hosting a marriage feast is not necessarily the most creative way of showing generosity or sharing one's joy. If generosity is truly the reason, why not pay off someone's debt or the school fees of those children whose parents labour hard in the rain? This is unlikely to materialise because generosity may not quite be the single reason or even the main reason – something else too is involved. Yet at the end of the day, given that the emerging culture of hosting a feast in marriage is becoming more of a burden for most families, it would be more appropriate for a responsible citizen to set a different trend. May the tribe of those who are willing to set a different culture increase! 

(This article appears on 9th February, 2015 at Hornbill Express) 

Politicising the Womb

In recent times, there has been an attempt by certain social and political figures to use womb to further the religious faultline that is now reappearing after NDA returns to New Delhi. Sakshi Maharaj, a Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh and who was selected by the then General Secretary of BJP Amit Shah to contest the election, had recently said that Hindu women should have four children. It was this same person who had said that Nathuram Godse, the one who murdered Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, is a patriot. VHP working President Praveen Togadia went further by urging Hindu couples to produce 8-10 children each in order to ensure that the religion he adheres to survive for years to come. These two are joined by other members of the Saffron brigades who urge Hindu women to produce more children. Given that the preliminary leak of the Census 2011 report suggests that the Muslim's percentage in India has gone up in contrast to Hindus' percentage having gone down, one should not be taken by surprise if the rhetoric heats up.

It is true that Muslims have higher birth rate than most other religious groups, and that Muslims are more conservative about use of family planning measure and that their children specially the girls get married at an age lower than the girls of other religious groups. However, it cannot be established that the growth is due to deliberate plan to emerge as the biggest religious group in the Indian sub-continent or the world and dominate over the rest; nor is it due to imagine threat or insecurity the community perceived from others. The growth can be mainly attributed to religious doctrine, ignorance, lack of access to family planning measure etc. The point that the sharp increase is possibly best attributed to porous border with Bangladesh, however, cannot be missed here. But this is also unavoidable because right within Bangladesh there are 111 Indian enclaves. The people in these enclaves are Indian, but since they are right within Bangladesh Indian Govt. has not set up Police Station, Post Office, etc. for the people. So legally they are Indian, but practically they are more like Bangladeshi. Similarly, there are 51 Bangladeshi enclaves within Indian states – Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal. These people are legally Bangladeshi but practically more like Indian. Given this kind of situation in the border, strict regulation of crossing the boundary is never easy. If the saffron brigades do not want to see Muslims from across the border coming into India, resulting in Muslims' population increasing, then the more appropriate measure is to tell Modi to settle the border issue quickly. Urging the Hindu women to reproduce more to compete with the religious minority specially the Muslim is more of a crude and irresponsible call.

In sharp contrast, the Pope tells his flock not to produce so many children, but shows responsible parenting. All religions would insist that having so many children is not necessarily wrong. However, responsible parenting requires that you produce children not more than you can raise. Having produced so many children, and yet failed to provide decent education or home for them is not an ideal situation. It is even worse if the untrained and uncorrected children grow up to make life difficult for the parents and the society. There are possibly those who are, due to poverty in training or resources, unable to demonstrate responsible parenting and the result boomeranged on them. But the point that the Pope makes deserves paying attention to across different religious lines.

At a time when communalisation of politics is on the rise, politicising the womb not only disrespects the women but also prepares the ground for polarising the religious communities further. Interpreting the call in the light of what all have been happening – undermining secularism, forceful reconversion to Hinduism, praising assassin Godse, pseudo-scientific remark from Vedic era etc. this is another salvo from the quarter close of the ruling dispensation that tries to threaten the rights of the religious minorities and well-being of the larger society. If RSS and its affiliate are given free hand, our society is doomed. In all of this, one can take comfort in the fact that an idea that is destructive will eventually self-destruct. If politicising the womb is a bad idea, the idea and those who advance it will not be able to sustain it for so long. The larger society will eventually realise the futility and chaos that such idea give rise to. After all sustaining a civilisation and taking it forward requires an idea that does not threaten the rights of the other to flourish.

(This article appears @ the Hornbill Express on 2nd February, 2015) 

Why Platinum Jubilee?

Jubilee comes from the Hebrew word 'yôḇēl' ( ram's horn), which when blasted signals the beginning of the Jubilee year. Leviticus 25 gives the significance of the Jubilee year. The Israelites were to count off seven sabbaths of years amounting to forty nine years, and consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty or release throughout the land. This 50^th year shall be the year of Jubilee. The concept of Jubilee is thus inseparably linked to Sabbath year – the year after the sixth year. In Old Testament terms this Jubilee year is thus to be observed every fiftieth year.

In Luke 4 when Jesus invokes the writing of Isaiah's use of the concept of Jubilee, he sets a paradigm shift about Jubilee. Jubilee is no longer going to be consecrated in a cycle of fiftieth year, but its significance is to mark the lives and character of the church everyday. In Jesus a new day is dawn – the Jubilee year is for every single day. Given this significance, Jubilee year is not really about organising a grand programme once in fifty years. The idea of organising a grand programme called Jubilee on the fiftieth birthday of the church is not quite the most appropriate way to mark the significance of Jubilee. Tagging 'Silver', 'Golden', 'Diamond' or 'Platinum' before Jubilee does seem to make it even less significant. The world has made 25^th anniversary as Silver Jubilee or the 60^th year as Diamond Jubilee. But Jubilee for the Old Testament Israel was meant for the cycle of every 50^th year. Israel then failed to practise it faithfully is a different matter – just as the church today perhaps fails to live up to the significance Jesus taught and demonstrated in his three and half years of ministry.

As given in the Leviticus, the Jubilee year must be a year when the slaves are set free. Bonded labourers, to use a modern terminology, are to be set free and be given a new beginning. The land also must be left uncultivated, and the people are to eat on what grows naturally – trusting in the Lord to provide for their needs. The land sold, say, to due economic hardship is to be returned to the original owner thus setting a pattern for a fairly egalitarian society. Jubilee year thus sets a pattern for the Israelites society to be fairly egalitarian. The New Testament pattern does not specify all the detail but the significance of the Leviticus text is embedded when Jesus pronounces the dawning of the Jubilee year as he reads the book of Isaiah.

Given this theological significance, what kind of envisioning and implementation takes place when a grand programme on Jubilee is being organised by a church in our society? Do we see those who are into drugs and alcohols being released from the bondage to freedom? This is highly unlikely because addiction of this sort generally requires treatment longer than a three-four days of grand Conference. But do we see people being set free from greed and selfishness that often are responsible for oppression of the poor and the helpless? Or to put it differently, do we see through such Jubilee programme the poor and the helpless being set free from their misery? Do we see the sick being healed and cared for as an outcome of a grand event called Jubilee? What kind of changes do we observe in the lives of the people and the larger society through massive spending on an event called Jubilee except for the fact that the particular church hosting the programme is now much poorer? Unless the programme triggers renewal in the lives of the church members, organising Platinum Jubilee appears to be a waste of resources.

The more important point, however, is that Jubilee should not really be about an event; the message of a Jubilee year must become part of our lives. As an individual and as a corporate body – the church – the message of the Jubilee year that releases people from all sorts of bondages – greed, hatred, poverty, sickness, pride etc. – must be practised and be observed in our living. Thus the significance of a Jubilee year is not in organising an event, but in being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. The resources are worth spent on an event called Jubilee if it helps the people enlarge their understanding of who Yahweh is and become ethically better. The growth in understanding is to enable the person live more beautifully, ethically correct. To that end if an event to remind the people of the significance of the Jubilee year is organised once in fifty years, it makes sense; otherwise, it makes no sense. It makes no sense all the more if an event called Platinum Jubilee is organised 25 years after the last Jubilee without taking into consideration the purpose of Jubilee as taught and showed to us by Jesus Christ.

( This article appears  @ Hornbill Express on 26th January, 2015) 

Social Myth and Social Exclusion

Few years back my wife and I were in a village in Senapati district as usual. My wife being a paediatrician was giving free medical consultation to the local population then whenever required. One afternoon a couple brought their child to my wife for consultation. The child was indeed ill. The parents narrated that a spell was cast on their child by a person with an 'evil-eye'. Upon careful examination the child appeared to have chest congestion due to pneumonia. Further examination revealed that it was a case of pneumonia, and the illness had nothing to do with 'evil-eye'.

It is a common belief in our society that if a person from such a family of 'evil-eye' casts a spell in the form of a compliment or something of that sort, the person upon whom the cast is spelled would fall sick. And in certain cases the so-called victim would even die. One of my elder brothers was considered to have been 'attacked' when he was 2 by a person with such 'accursed power' that he remained physically and mentally challenged till his death at 32. If there was such a thing as 'evil-eye' I have a valid reason to consider such people as social nuisance for bringing such hardship and suffering in the life of my parents and their children specially my brother who was the 'victim'.

There is a slight variation between different communities about how 'evil-eye' works; how it is transmitted across generations and how to do away the so-called spell. In the community I come from, it is believed that the 'power' is transmitted from parents to children. And suppose a 'clean' person marries such 'unclean' people, then both of them eventually become 'unclean', and their children will also become 'unclean'. The implication of such belief is that 'clean' people avoid marrying such 'unclean' people. And eventually a kind of caste system prevails in the community. One group is considered clean and the other unclean. This continues to the next generation, and the next and so on thus erecting a wall of social exclusion in term of inter-marriage across different sections of the people.

I have now come to believe that this story that some people possess power to cast spell on others is a myth. If a word or a speech can cast a spell that could make another person sick, how could that power be transmitted from the DNA of the parents to that of the children? This makes no sense at all. But if it is transferred from parents to children like sickle-cell anaemia or HIV is transferred how could it possibly then give power to a person to cast a spell on another person? This too does not make sense scientifically. Someone would counter saying that it is the power of the evil spirit that make such things possible. However, if it is the evil spirit that works then how could the evil spirit possibly be transferred from parents to children? Evil spirit is not in a 'thing' that could be passed on through gene from the parents to the children nor could the power of the evil spirit or any such 'supra-natural' power be transferred from parents' DNA to children's DNA. This belief about the natural transmission of evil spirit from one person to another person is both scientifically and theologically untrue. However, if anyone invites the evil spirit and asks power from the evil one, then of course the issue is altogether different! Otherwise, one can rest assured that a person who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ do not have such power from the evil spirit to cast spell on other people. In Christ there is no ancestral descent that is unclean; all are clean. One does not have to be morally perfect to be pronounced genealogically clean; it is rather the other way round – that once one is cleansed, Christ tells a person to live a morally upright life. And this spiritual journey to be morally upright in His sight continues till death calls a person home. Considering a family lineage unclean – possessing a power to cast spell on others – is scientifically absurd and theologically incorrect.

I believe the traditional story has been passed on from one generation to another. And even today the same story continues about those people about whom the story has been told. And because we typecast such people, we find incidents where it appears that people about whom society tell stories for generations cast a spell on certain people. And in a close knit societies like ours where interaction between members of the community is extremely frequent such 'unclean' people interacting with other members is bound to happen, and when some sickness occurs we just attribute it to such 'unclean' people. And so this story continues in the neighbourhood. However, given that the God of the Bible cleanses all people when anyone calls on the name of Jesus Christ and also the kind of understanding provided by scientific enterprise makes it unintelligible, one can confidently bury such belief about 'evil-eye' as social myth that no longer makes sense in this generation. 

NB: This article appears on The Hornbill Express on 1st December, 2014.  

Making Best Use of a Jubilee

According to the latest figure given on July 11, 2013 there are 622 villages in Senapati district, which is less than that of the 2001 report which recorded 621 villages. There are some villages that have two churches; a church each for different denominations. There may also be some villages where there is no church. Taking this factor into account, it is fair to surmise that there would be some 622 churches in the same district. It is also fair to surmise that each village would have its Union or Association for the youth group; and therefore there would be approximately 622 Unions in the district. There would possibly be a Union for each block or tribe. If one may include the Women Society and the Village Council/GB, the number of institutions might possibly cross two thousand altogether. If we take into account all the institutions in the five hill districts of Manipur and also the entire state of Mizoram and Nagaland, the monetary figure would be mind boggling!

It has become a culture to organize the 50^th Anniversary of a church or an association with a not so insignificant display of glory and achievement. For many institutions the Golden Jubilee, as it is commonly known, is over; but the Diamond Jubilee and the Centenary celebration are being awaited and prepared for. Depending on the size of the institution, the budget is made, which possibly would range from a lakh to a crore rupees. If one takes an average of Rs. 10 lakh for a Union/Church and multiplies it by two thousand, the amount is huge! But at the end of the entire spending, what has been achieved? Is there any significant change that has come about as a result of so many Golden Jubilees? Or is Jubilee just another traditional Christmas, much larger in size though, where people get together to make merry and greet one another and go back home with their heart, mind, pocket and stomach emptied?

The original idea of Jubilee is to set people free. To be set free from the bondage of slavery and debt; to be released from sin and shame; to be forgiven and to express one's trust in God. How much of that original vision do we, as a church or as a social organization, incorporate in the Jubilee year that we commemorate? If there has been a flaw in our understanding of Jubilee which has resulted in so much of resources being wasted, it is time we gather our thoughts and actions and chart a new direction. And I would like to suggest how to go about this in the following paragraphs.

Broadly speaking, the key mission of a church is to help people develop a deeper understanding of God and holy living. If growth in terms of understanding and holiness is absent, then such a church requires deep introspection. Growth in terms of understanding must necessarily lead to holier living. Unholy living with a deeper understanding of God is a contradiction! So if one questions whether a person's understanding of God is deep or not, one must look at the moral conduct of the person; or whether the fruit of the Spirit is present or not. The moral conduct of a person is double-edged. It consists in avoiding evil actions and performing good actions. To avoid murder, theft, adultery, swindling of money etc is just one side of being a morally good person. A morally good person must also actively pursue doing good actions. So when a church commemorates a Jubilee and spends ten or fifty lakhs, it needs to set an objective which will result in the members growing in terms of understanding that will lead them to avoid doing evil acts and pursue good and upright actions. For example, a Jubilee pledge of a church can take the form of government employees making a promise that they will never take a bribe; and that they will come for duty on time. This is an example of church members becoming holier; being morally more pure. Setting an objective for a Jubilee may not necessarily result in a drastically noticeable change. However, it is a significant step towards ensuring a meaningful commemoration of a Jubilee.

A social union or an organization can set an objective different from that of a church when it observes a Jubilee. A social institution can set an objective that will enhance the substantive freedom of at least the members of that union, if not that of the larger society. Thus a social institution can primarily aim to improve the literacy rate or the health or the economic condition or all the above points of the members of that union. These parameters are very similar to the Human Development Index set by the United Nations. If observing a Jubilee cannot explicitly engender positive change in the parameters mentioned above, it can still aim to bring about an implicit change in the above parameters. By this I mean to say that the Jubilee year/week can be used to change our perspective on the importance of forest conservation or adult learning or something similar. For example, highlighting the importance of forest conservation during a Jubilee can implicitly effect the economic condition of the people. Since it is known that the indiscriminate felling of trees can cause soil erosion and less precipitation which in turn adversely affects the farming community, highlighting the significance of this can be a key message of a Jubilee.

(For the Hornbill Express to be published on 16th July, 2013)

Is Job Reservation Fair?

Job reservation is an affirmative action by the Govt of India to advance the well being of the backward community. The government thus reserves 7.5% for the Tribals, 15% for the Scheduled Caste and  27% for the Other Backward Caste in the public sector. The controversy regarding who all fit to be in the category of the underprivileged community is a different matter from whether there has to be job reservation at all. 

On Monday i.e 22 October, 2012, there was a sad and an interesting news item in the Indian Express. It carried the story of an infant Damini whose mother died after the delivery on September 20. Since there was no one to care for the baby, the father who was a rickshaw puller was taking care of her on a cloth sling around his neck. And the news item further added that the man was using a hired rickshaw. It is a kind of a worst situation where one could possibly be in!

Hindustan Times on September 23rd, 2013 carried a news item giving the figures of salary of over ten executives in India. Naveen Jindal tops the list, according to the news item. And Jindal's salary was 7342,00000 rupees per year. The second in the list earns 5701,00000 rupees per year, and this second spot has two people. If we divide Naveen Jindal's annual salary 7342,00000 by 12 it comes to 611,83333 rupees -- and that is the monthly income of this man. And if this monthly earning is divided by 30, it gives 20,39444 -- daily income. A daily income of 20 Lakhs 39 Thousand and Four hundred Forty Four! 

With such figures, there is a huge gap between the well-being of Damini and Naveen Jindal's child. (Well-being does not always depend on having so much money, but if one is compelled by the circumstances to starve, question is about survival. And when one is compelled to starve, well-being is seriously undermined.) When well-being is thus divided between members of the community by the economic forces and the governing principles, the system is not fair unless it does something to rectify the gap. Those people who argue for non-intervention by any government agency to regulate the gap -- against reservation policy -- are misguided. To let the rich get richer, aided by the economic and political design and the poor like Damini remain in their miserable state is inhumane. One of ways then to rectify the gap is to device reservation policy, and this policy has to be such that only those who truly deserve it get to benefit from it. Without such policy, there is no way Damini would be able to compete with Naveen Jindal's child!

There is a piece of writing being circulated, attributed to Azim Premji, arguing against reservation. ( I am not sure if it's really his thought). But I am intrigued by his argument. Azim got the best of education in the world -- earning his Bachelors Degree from Stanford University, US. He was born into a family that was rich enough to send him to receive education from one of the finest institutions in the world. He was being lucky! Had he been born in place of Damini, where would he be? To be well-off and to be educated with the finest education is not entirely one's own doing. Yes, he did work hard to pass the exam; but had he not received proper parenting, he might have been a boy out there on the street doing drugs and begging. Had his parents been from a very poor background, he might be illiterate. Had he been born in Capua, (present Italy) in the first century, he might have been a gladiator. For so many people the story of misfortune is not entirely one's own doing; circumstances which are beyond one's own control are also contributing factor to one's present predicament. By similar token, one's own fortune is not entirely one's own doing; there are circumstances that are not my doing that have led me  thus far. Given this reality, to blame the less unfortunate ones entirely or to be least bothered about the welfare of those who are less unfortunate is not morally right. After all our fortune depends on 'cosmic lottery' too! So the question is whether those who are fortunate because 'cosmic lottery' ( family background, in- born talents, location, friendship etc) favours them will enjoy the fruit of their 'cosmic lottery' winning themselves or share with those who are less fortunate? Of course, like non-human animals we can care only for our herds; and leave the rest to feed or to starve. Or we can rise above our basal animal instinct and be like humans -- caring for each other across generations and locations. And practical implication of such caring must result in reservation policy.

And as a society, it is going to be more peaceful if there is relative equality between the members of a society. When some are starving outside, and some are having hundred items of food on the table inside a hotel/home, disaster is not so far away. 

NB: Edited on 27th May 2014. 

Taming Nature: Artificial Rain & River Inter-linking

Making Rain: 

Delhi is facing power cut and water shortage as it experiences summer heat. June 29 is supposed to be the day monsoon arrives in Delhi. And till today monsoon is not yet arrived. The paper says water supply department is praying for rain as its reservoir is drying up. And with many ACs around, there has been power cut too. And in all of this it's the poor, who cannot even afford  inverter, who suffer the most. They face power cut and water shortage more acutely than the middle class families. Nights without adequate power supply is tormenting. And one has to get up in the morning and go for work. Delhi is desperately waiting for rain.

Now to solve this problem, how is it if artificial rain is created specially when the monsoon arrives late. Punjab, Haryana and Delhi would really be helped if such a thing is introduced as these places receive monsoon last. Toward evening, between 6-7 pm, if rain shower takes place for half an hour, till the following day, the weather would remain pleasant. Power demand would reduce and ground water would be replenished.  Inducing rain that way could be used only for a week or two till the monsoon arrives. And since  by June end there is much moisture in the air, creating rain would not be much difficult.

One silver iodide shell would cost less than a thousand rupees; and a rocket around fifteen thousand rupees.  The army could lend one of its plane for few trips to the sky. Beijing was believed to have shot 186 doses of silver iodide into the sky to produce 16 million tons of snow. This is not something that New Delhi could not afford or achieve technical know-how.

Linking Brahmaputra: 

The mighty Brahmaputra is overflowing and  Assam is facing flood once again. Prime Minister has announced Rs. 500 crore to aid flooded Assam. Flood and relief package is not new for Assam. And whenever flood occurs hundreds die and thousands are displaced. And this is not going to be last time Brahmaputra overflows. This is going to happen again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again...unless something is done to stop the repetition. And not only Assam is affected; even Bangladesh too is affected when Brahmaputra overflows.

I see inter-linking Brahmaputra with some other river as the only solution to address this problem once and for all. If inter-linking different rivers in India is environmentally unfriendly, let Brahmaputra alone be linked with a river or two to divert its water. If digging is not feasible, let huge pipes carry the river water to some other region. Rivers like Krishna and Kaveri have too less water and states quarrel over water sharing of these rivers. So why not these few states, Assam and Central Govt share the cost and divert Brahmaputra's water? Rich politicians and philanthropists can also be roped in to share the cost. Too many lives have been lost due to flood that repeats every few years. Times of India reports that 77 lives have been lost this time, and many are reported missing, while millions have been displaced. More lives will perish still when water borne diseases strike. Property would have been destroyed in term of several thousands of crores. It is high time Government seriously considers linking Brahmaputra with some other river.

Evil Eye

Kids nowadays grow up reading fantasies like Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings. And that is the way our worldviews and thought patterns are subtly shaped. But I am sure the little older generations who grew up in the village would have grown up listening to the legendary stories of heroes and heroines like Pou, Proupuzhee, Rohne and others. And many of us take pride in the lesson derived from such folk tales… that we are the descendents of such brave heroes and even today we must maintain our honour and dignity. But there are other stories of one’s own generations and even from other villages that our parents taught us and ultimately influenced the way we live our lives.

One such story that has penetrated our cultural subconscious is the story of evil eyes. The story of ‘hraomai’, if I am allowed to use a Poula. The story is that the power of the evil eyes is passed to the children and spouse, and even to next generation and the next and the next… They can see through human heart, and with a verbal poison they can decapitate even buffaloes and the heroes of the village. They are beautiful and they are rich, so goes the story, and they are intelligent. The story would name people who had ‘victimized’ and been ‘victimized’. And the story lives on demonizing families and clans of the these people.

Stories are powerful tools in communicating and preserving truth and falsehood. No wonder each civilization has produced profound story tellers. Throughout human history we read of story tellers. Homer, Ved Vyasa, Milton, Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, Camus and scores of others. Luke whom Paul referred to as the beloved physician was a powerful story teller too. Luke weaved into his story the story of Israel and Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection and the birth of the Church. If Luke was a 21^st century story writer I am sure he would have used “…” to close his volume II, the book of Acts, because we people living in 21^st century, and all to come, are also the member of the characters yet to appear on stage. But Luke’s story is a sub-plot within the Story that God is writing.

In the story that Lukes narrates to his reader Theophilus, we read of characters like Mary and Zechariah evoking a sense of God rescuing His people from oppression and injustice, a divine promise of liberation. When Jesus came to Nazareth He declared that he was bringing liberation for the people (ch 4). Luke then picked certain teachings and actions of Jesus to communicate the theological idea that God’s kingdom is already here. And in the story that Luke narrates he used healing, feeding, reconciliation, forgiveness etc as signs of God’s kingdom come.

In his story 5:12-16, Luke tells of a man being of his leprosy. Jesus healed skin disease. In 5:17-26, Luke tells of paralytic being forgiven and healed. Jesus forgave and healed bone defect. In 8:40-56, Lukes tells of healing a bleeding woman, and a girl being raised from the dead. Jesus healed sickness related to blood, and He is, in fact, in able to reverse the human body mechanism. Every degenerated DNA comes to live as he spoke. In 10: 37-45, the tormenting evil spirit is driven out of a boy. Jesus has authority over evil spirit. The evil spirit cannot torment Jesus’ children. These events are historical events that Luke used to weave into his story to tell that God’s kingdom is come. The events that Luke used are not fantasy. Finally then , we read of Luke using another historical event to give a punchline, the death and resurrection of Jesus. Luke was here driving home the lesson that Jesus bore the sin and evil of the whole world upon himself as the climactic part of his project, and his Father vindicated him by raising him from the dead on the third day. And this is not fantasy again, but an event that happened in time and space, in history. However, on the 40^th day Jesus moved into another dimension, to use our phrase, and on the 50^th day after resurrection the Spirit came upon those who believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior. This is the birthday of the Church! God is now not far away, so to speak, just believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior and He will come and live in your heart. That’s a promise He gives to all those who believe in son his Jesus as Lord and Savior.

The story of healing that Luke tells is so different from the story that we tell to demonise and oppress the families and clans of the ‘evil eyes’. Luke tells the story of healing and reconciliation based on factual events, and we tell the story of division and hatred based upon pagan hearsay. ‘Evil eyes’ do not have victims, rather they are our victims. We are the oppressors. Through our stories we victimized, ostracized and demonize them. They cry out to God because society considers them to be unclean, and people in the society do not want to marry them. Luke would have been broken if he hears the story we tell today. Because he believed Jesus healed and still heals, mended and mend gaps, destroyed and destroy barriers.

I believe there are people whom the evil spirits use. Black magic, witchcraft, voodoo etc. are real. But even these practitioners get healed when they believed in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Because evil spirit cannot possess and use a person who has believed in Jesus as his or her Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit comes to live in the life of every believer. (Rom 8:23; Eph 1: 14; 2Co 1:22) However, the story we tell about ‘evil eyes’ is little different. Among the story teller there is confusion whether it’s because of evil spirit or because of DNA. If it’s because of evil spirit there is a possibility of people being used to harm others, but the evil spirit cannot be transferred to other people through marriage or childbearing. Transferring of evil spirit to children or spouse is utter nonsense. But if it’s because of DNA (or blood as commonly understood) there is no medical proof to support that words can kill. Medical science has mapped the DNA code of human being and there is no evidence of such kind. We are not mutants. (For those who have seen the movie series X-Men). The entire story is based on pagan myth. There is no empirical evidence to proof that it is not myth.

There are times when people have openly called names. And I wonder what psychological trauma a person would go through when victimized and abused based on unchristian and intellectually stupid story. As Christians we should not let such story shape our conduct, but teach and live to remove all barriers being erected on the basis of caste, class, clans, colour etc. There is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all ( Col 3:11). As Christians we are new creation, the old is gone. (2Co 5:17) In our pagan society cases of evil spirit using people might have been there. But it just does not make sense in light of Christ giving us new life. If we have problem it only exposes our biblical illiteracy and intellectual poverty.

Many will say, “I have no problem, it’s the society”. Well, you and I make the society. If not you, who will change the society. Do not let society dictate you, look to Jesus and follow his path. We sang as kids, “though no joins me, still I will follow”. I think we need to sing all the more aloud now.

Live-in relationship and its effect

In the locality where I stay number of unmarried couples who stay together is high. It is not only the foreigners who practice such lifestyle, but Indians from all states practice it. The old men and women in the locality have also accepted the lifestyle. Nobody seems to be bothered by such arrangement.

Recently when a young married couple went in search of a place to stay on rent they were advised by the dealer to tell the landlord that they are an unmarried couple. Reason is that married couple generally does not move out quickly. Whereas unmarried couple moves out soon. And unless the tenant moves out the rent cannot be increased. And so with married couple landlord cannot make much money. Hence the advice by the dealer to lie about their marital status.

Point, however, is that society has accepted live-in relationships.

I cannot quite agree with such live-in relationship though it is common. Nobody doubts about such couples being in union sexually. And since this kind of union is the most intimate union between two individuals break up of the relationship later leaves a deep scar in the soul of both the individuals. And the rate of break up is pretty high. (I don’t have statistics but I keep hearing of break up stories.) But if one had not gone so far as to have sexual union the wound heals much quicker. Since those individuals who practice such lifestyle are those who are not in a position to give commitment for marriage, it is infinitely better for them to avoid such live-in arrangement so that if things take a different turn they won’t have to go through painful phase.

There is also other negative effect of this practice. As we come to accept the practice more and more, more and more break up will emerge. And as more and more break up results traditional idea of singleness and family will be diluted. Traditionally there are only singles and married individuals. There is no temporary arrangement as live-in relationship for those who cannot marry immediately. But as such arrangement becomes more and more common more people would like to experiment such sexual union without really having to be responsible enough to establish a home. But apart from damaging the individual does such arrangement damage the society? Well, I would prefer a society where everybody experiences joy and happiness; where people don’t struggle with guilt.

However, I can envision more and more single mothers if such practice becomes so widespread. Looking at the West it is so reasonable to argue that such envisioning is being realistic. I also think we need to learn from the West whether this practice is really healthy for a society or not. And I am sure if one does study one will conclude that single mother raising kids is not an ideal situation ‘specially when failed live-in relationship is the reason for such pattern.

I believe it is because Jesus Christ wants us to avoid such unfortunate situation that he tells us to avoid sexual intimacy before marriage.

SLUMDOG millionaire, human rights and poverty

With eight Oscars in its kitty SLUMDOG millionaire has once again generated much discussion. Having won awards one after another it’s now difficult to sustain any conspiracy theory. Personally I find the movie quite better than so many Bollywood movies that have already been made. I don’t know why some people make an issue out of it when they are silent on those movies that have unwanted scenes. Is it that some people find it insulting because that part of India they want to hide has been exposed? Or is it that their pride has been punctured because what we Indian could not do, a foreigner has been able to do – using our weakness to our advantage. After all making money more than ten times its actual cost is an achievement, and it is even likely to cross that figure.

The most important theme to me, however, is the portrayal of human rights of our nation India. I am not sure if the director had any such motive when the movie was being filmed. The intriguing thing about human right is that it has been used to support different causes. From denouncing military torture to supporting gay rights to fight to take one’s own life etc. The idea of the right to eat, however, is not propagated anchoring upon human right. And quite obviously because those who do not have food to eat are not even aware of any ideological concept as human right.

Human right is that basic right and freedom which every human being in entitled to. If poverty is understood as that which deprives people of food, and chains people to hunger then issue of poverty is very much an issue concerning human rights. Nature has made human being to eat, and when one has no food to eat it is against law of nature. Human right is the recognition of the right of an individual ‘given’ by the law of nature. This right is not given by any government or any state so that it can be taken away whenever government or state demands it. Rather government or state just recognises this right ‘given’ by the law of nature. It is for this reason that I believe poverty is a violation of human rights of those who are poor: who are deprived of food for survival.

It is for this reason that one medieval thinker said something like this: “ ... if the need be so manifest and urgent, that it is evident that the present need must be remedied by whatever means be at hand, then it is lawful for a man to succour (help in time of difficulty) his own need by means of another’s property, by taking it either openly or secretly: nor is this properly speaking theft or robbery”. Because in such situation the right to live of the hungry man trumps over the right to private property of the rich. This is so radical, yet this contains a profound truth. This also calls for radical transformation in the thinking of the rich.
The SLUMDOG millionaire exposes the deprivation of human right of many people of India. I don’t suppose that the producer had motive to portray India in poor light. And even if he had any such motive we should have the heart to accept reality. The wise move for us as Indian is to accept such reality and proceed to rectify such gross violation of human rights. Criticising the movie and refusing to accept reality is to turn blind eye to the gross violation of human rights in India.

Prayer in Schools

I am a Christian, and I don’t want my children to follow other religion. ( Btw, I am single.) I shall teach them about Jesus Christ whom I worship, but I shall not force them to worship whom I worship. And I am sure everybody can agree with me thus far.

What would you do if your child is forced to worship ‘god’ that you don’t worship? Would it be okay with you if your child is forced to pray to ‘god’ that you don’t believe in? I am sure no one can agree with that. Suppose, BJP comes to power in India, and makes a rule that all the Govt owned schools recite Gayatri Mantra, whether the child is a Christian or Muslim or Hindu or Sikh and so on, what would you say? I shall protest if such a law is passed by any government. If they perform such thing in a school funded by their religious group, I would have no quarrel, but if anyone makes such a law for all even in Govt funded school, I would strongly protest.

How would an atheist feel if their children are forced to pray “Lord’s Prayer” in Govt school in some western countries? Or what would Jewish parents feel if their children are supposed to pray to Lord Jesus in school because the Christians in that country have successfully made prayer to Jesus a law? They don’t want their children being forced to pray Christian prayer. If I don’t want to be forced Gayatri Mantra upon me here in India, I should not want “Lord’s prayer” to be forced upon atheists or Hindu in the West or East. Should I?

Christians will say that they are praying to real God. And Muslims will say the same. An atheist will say that no such being is there. We can debate the question in civil public square free and fair on who is right and who is not. But until it is agreed by all the parties that a particular position is right, I don’t think prayer to any particular should be made in Govt. funded school.