[sacw] SACW (30 August 01)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire
30 August 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

[ Interruption Notice: The SACW Posts will be interrupted between the=20
period 31st August to 7th of September 2001]

----------------------------------------

[1.] Resolution on Women at International South Asia Forum Conference=20
in Vancouver (August 2001)
[2.] Graves of the missing haunt Sri Lanka (CELIA W. DUGGER, NY Times)
[3.] India: Statement issued by Bishop Thomas Mar Athanasius,=20
President, Ecumenical Study and Dialogue Centre (Moovattupuzha) and=20
Prof. Ninan Koshy, President, Dr.Paulose Mar Paulose Memorial=20
Trust.(Trichur)
[4,] India: Show them their place ( Hindustan Times Editorial on Shiv=20
Sena Hoodlums)
[5.] How Does It Feel To Be A Solution? South Asians In America's=20
Racial Regime (Radio broadcast & live webcast from New York City)
[6.] UCLA's Amerasia Journal - special issue on the South Asian=20
experience in America
[7.] India / Book Review : ' Spirituality for Struggle ' ( Reviewed=20
by: Yoginder Sikand)

-----------------------------------------

#1.

Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 09:08:42 -0700
From: Hari Sharma <sharma@s...>
Subject: Resolution on Women at International South Asia Forum=20
Conference in Vancouver

Dear friends:

1. Appended below is the Resolution on Women adopted at the 2nd INSAF
conference in Vancouver. For some technical reasons, it could not be
sent with the earlier communication.

[...]

****************************
>INSAF Conference, Vancouver August 2001
>
>Resolution on Women's Rights
>
>While the lives of women in South have improved in certain ways, largely
>due to struggles by women=92s and progressive organizations, their/our
>basic democratic rights are far from being realized.
>
>In order to address this need and link related issues in South Asia and
>North America, BE IT RESOLVED to facilitate the women=92s and gender
>dimensions of INSAF work by holding a conference a year from now to
>identify and develop our work on many inter-related aspects as South
>Asians in North America, e.g. patriarchy and tradition, violence against
>women, patriarchy and religious fundamentalism, gender discrimination in
>property rights, gender identity, militarism and war, racism, refugee
>populations, childcare, trafficking (sex and human), income security,
>neo-liberal economic policies, living conditions of immigrant women,
>etc.
>
>To facilitate our work we further resolve to have a link on the INSAF
>web site.
>
*************

hari sharma
president, INSAF

(apology, if you receive it more than once. The lists will soon be
re-organized to avoid dupliation).
--
Hari P. Sharma, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Sociology
Simon Fraser University

_________

#2.

The New York Times
29 Aug 2001

Graves of the missing haunt Sri Lanka
By CELIA W. DUGGER

CHEMMANI CHECKPOINT, Sri Lanka -- The bones of 15 people, most=20
bearing marks of blunt trauma, have been unearthed from hidden graves=20
around this desolate military checkpoint, where soldiers fighting=20
local rebels had beaten the victims to death and buried them.

But five years after the crimes, and in the two years since the=20
bodies were exhumed, no one has been put on trial for the killings.=20
And the skeletons were only recently sent to be identified through=20
DNA testing.

Secret graveyards like this one are scattered across Sri Lanka, a=20
small island tormented by violent conflict and sometimes wanton=20
killing on both sides.

Since the late 1980's, more than 20,000 people have vanished after=20
being taken into government custody during two violent rebellions,=20
one by Marxist youth in the south that was crushed by 1990 and a=20
second by members of the Tamil ethnic group in the north and east=20
that has raged for 18 years.

While a vast majority of disappearances occurred before President=20
Chandrika Kumaratunga came to power in 1994, atrocities by government=20
forces have continued and almost 700 people have disappeared since=20
then, according to Amnesty International. Nor have some Tamil=20
elements lacked ruthlessness.

The Chemmani cases in particular have come to be seen as a test of=20
Mrs. Kumaratunga's commitment to prosecute the worst spate of human=20
rights abuses during her tenure.

And the excruciatingly slow progress has deepened mistrust of her=20
government here in the north, ground zero in the war between the=20
separatist Tamil rebels and a government that is dominated by the=20
Sinhalese majority.

Two years ago, after a soldier divulged a site where bodies were=20
buried, relatives of some of the hundreds of Tamils who vanished from=20
the northern Jaffna Peninsula in 1996 huddled here on scrubby salt=20
flats and fallow paddies. They watched as investigators painstakingly=20
swept away topsoil to reveal the graves.

Some parents, anxious to know if the disinterred were their children,=20
wonder why it was only this summer that the skeletons dug up around=20
the checkpoint were finally sent to India for DNA testing.

"They kept the bones in Colombo for the last two years," said=20
Paramanathan Selvarajah, 67, whose son was taken into army custody at=20
the checkpoint five years ago and never seen again. "Why are they=20
delaying this identification? The government is happy our children=20
were killed."

The government insists that it is methodically investigating 154=20
disappearances from 1996 in which there is some evidence that=20
security forces were involved. It expects to make a decision about=20
prosecuting some suspects by the end of the year. The delays in the=20
DNA testing resulted from competitive bidding that took a year to=20
complete, officials said.

"Irrespective of the era or the ethnic identity of the victims, the=20
government has set in motion a proper process that meets the law of=20
the country and that is being consistently applied," said Yasantha=20
Kodagoda, the lawyer who leads the missing persons team in the=20
attorney general's office.

But researchers and human rights workers say Mrs. Kumaratunga's=20
government has much more aggressively pursued cases of disappearances=20
that occurred before she took office.

After her election, she appointed presidential commissions to=20
document the murderous record of her predecessors. The attorney=20
general's office is now prosecuting more than 350 cases against 550=20
police officers and members of the security forces for human rights=20
violations that predate her term, said officials in Colombo, the=20
capital.

But she has not appointed a presidential commission to investigate=20
the 1996 Jaffna disappearances as a United Nations group recommended=20
two years ago.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out what that means," said Ingrid=20
Massage, an Amnesty International researcher who has been following=20
events in Sri Lanka for 15 years. "The government is reluctant to own=20
up to its own offenses."

The late 1980's brought unparalleled years of terror to this small=20
nation of 19 million. From 1987 to 1990, at least 20,000 people were=20
reported missing.

The worst excesses occurred in the overwhelmingly Sinhalese south,=20
where a violent Marxist rebellion took hold among young people. Mrs.=20
Kumaratunga's political rival, the United National Party, was then in=20
the midst of 17 unbroken years in power.

When Mrs. Kumaratunga sought the presidency in 1994, she promised to=20
seek peace with the Tamil rebel group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil=20
Eelam, restore the rule of law and protect human life. "We will dig=20
up every grave," she said during the campaign.

Her human rights record has been substantially better than that of=20
the previous government, but the number of disappearances has still=20
been too high, human rights workers say, with the largest number=20
having come in 1996.

"In the vast majority of cases where military personnel may have=20
committed human rights violations, the government has not identified=20
those responsible and brought them to justice," said the State=20
Department's 2001 report on Sri Lanka.

There have been some big blots. On Oct. 27, 2000, young Tamils held=20
in a government rehabilitation camp in central Sri Lanka were hacked=20
to death when the police failed to protect them from an organized=20
Sinhalese mob. Many of those killed had been recruited as child=20
soldiers for the Tigers, a ruthless force that has dispatched suicide=20
bombers to kill civilians.

The government has long made a point of trying to treat such young=20
captives with care. But seven traumatized survivors of the massacre,=20
interviewed recently at another rehabilitation camp on the Jaffna=20
Peninsula, said they had been taken to a military hospital, where=20
they had been cuffed by the hand or foot to their beds for six months.

The youngest of them is 13 and speaks in a small, childish voice.=20
After being interviewed, he asked that a message be passed on. "If=20
you meet my mother, please tell her to come see me," he said.

W. A. S. Perera, Sri Lanka's acting defense secretary, said in an=20
interview that officials in Colombo had first learned from the Red=20
Cross that the survivors had been cuffed to their beds in the=20
military hospital.

"As soon as we knew, we transferred the boys," he said. "I instructed=20
the authorities concerned not to repeat this, because you will not be=20
able to win their hearts this way."

Winning the hearts of the Tamils has not proved easy for this=20
government. And the hundreds of Jaffna Tamils who vanished in 1996=20
still haunt Mrs. Kumaratunga's efforts to make peace. In July of that=20
year, the Tigers made a devastating attack on a military base in the=20
north, killing 1,200 troops, and a suicide bomber blew up a senior=20
army officer in the Jaffna Peninsula.

Immediately, the security forces cracked down. By the end of 1996,=20
350 to 500 Jaffna Tamils had vanished.

Mr. Selvarajah's son, Pirapakaran, was one of them. Then 23, he had=20
ridden to the Chemmani checkpoint on his way home from work as a=20
sales clerk. There, just a mile outside the town of Jaffna, his=20
parents say, he was taken into custody.

Then in 1998, there was an electrifying break in the Chemmani=20
disappearances. Mrs. Kumaratunga personally saw to a rare prosecution=20
of soldiers. The defendants were accused of raping and murdering an=20
18- year-old woman at the checkpoint, then killing the woman's mother=20
and 16-year-old brother when they came looking for her.

Just before the soldiers were to be sentenced to death by hanging,=20
one of them, Lance Cpl. Somaratne Rajapakse, declared in open court=20
that he knew the location of mass graves around the checkpoint where=20
more than 400 people killed by the security forces in 1996 were=20
buried.

To test his credibility, Corporal Rajapakse was flown to Jaffna and=20
taken to the Chemmani checkpoint in June 1999. He led investigators=20
to a grave that held two bodies.

In late August, more than three weeks of full-scale exhumations began=20
in the heart of the war zone. The atmosphere was tense. At the=20
checkpoint, the condemned men were palpably scared, observers say.=20
And international observers, worried about rebel attacks, were=20
heavily guarded.

"We'd drive like hell to get to the checkpoint," said Robert Stair, a=20
forensic archaeologist from Canada who took part in the exhumations.=20
"We took a different route every day."

Corporal Rajapakse and the other soldiers eventually led the way to=20
seven more graves, but the remains of only 13 people were found.

Mr. Stair and William D. Haglund, director of the international=20
forensic program for the Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights,=20
said the Sri Lankan authorities had not moved aggressively enough to=20
seek information about the hundreds of others.

Nor did Sri Lanka, lacking the modern methods used to investigate=20
serial murders in the West, accept advice to get assistance from=20
British, Australian or Canadian police experts, said Ms. Massage of=20
Amnesty International.

"Somewhere within the Ministry of Defense must be blocks against this=20
proceeding," she said.

But even the government's toughest critics acknowledge the logistical=20
difficulties of prosecuting cases in an area where the war has=20
displaced many of the victims' families and made local Tamils wary of=20
Sinhalese investigators from Colombo. And the criminal justice system=20
is grossly understaffed.

But while the cases drag on, the ache of injustice is still there for=20
the families of those who disappeared. Mr. Selvarajah said he and his=20
wife had trouble paying for rent and food because the son who was=20
supposed to support them in their old age was gone. One recent=20
evening, Mr. Selvarajah, who has a bristly shock of white hair and=20
mournful eyes, pulled out a water-spotted, dog-eared carbon copy of=20
the letter he wrote to President Kumaratunga in 1996, the year his=20
son disappeared.

In it, he assured the president that his boy was a dutiful young man=20
who lived at home and would never have been mixed up with the rebels.

"This is the only son I have to look after us in our old age," he=20
wrote. "I shall be very grateful to Your Excellency, the President of=20
Sri Lanka, if you would give your gracious consideration to my humble=20
request, the authorities concerned to release my son, who is=20
innocent, immediately because we are suffering without him." There=20
has still been no word on the fate of his son.

=A9 The New York Times Company.

_________

#3.

Statement issued by Bishop Thomas Mar Athanasius, President,=20
Ecumenical Study and Dialogue Centre (Moovattupuzha) and Prof. Ninan=20
Koshy, President, Dr.Paulose Mar Paulose Memorial Trust.(Trichur)

The parleys between leaders of the Indian churches and those of the=20
RSS raise a number of critical issues of concern not only to=20
Christians but all those who are keen to uphold secular democracy in=20
India. After the dialogue between the representatives of the Catholic=20
Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) and the RSS on 22nd August, talks=20
are scheduled to take place on 12th September between the NCCI and=20
RSS in Nagpur. The secrecy surrounding the talks and the role of a=20
particular member of the National Minorities Commission add to the=20
gravity of the questions for which the leaders of the churches owe an=20
explanation.

Both the CBCI and the NCCI had on earlier occasions admitted publicly=20
the grave risks involved in having dialogue with the RSS and other=20
sections of the Sangh Parivar. Even after that, the RSS leadership=20
had made several attacks on the minorities, including the Christians,=20
questioned their loyalty to the country and demanded reorganization=20
of their structures. Based on a warped and narrow notion of=20
nationalism, the RSS had stipulated conditions for tolerating the=20
minorities. The RSS had stated that a meaningful dialogue with=20
Christians was possible only if Christians stop conversions. Both the=20
CBCI and the NCCI had made it clear that such conditions were not=20
acceptable. The people have a right to know how their apprehensions=20
have been removed and what the conditions under which they have=20
agreed for dialogue are and what the nature of their understanding=20
with the RSS is.

The claim by some church leaders as well as RSS leaders that their=20
aim is to remove the misunderstanding between the Christian community=20
and the Hindu community is highly misleading. The problem is one=20
created by the Sangh Parivar. There is no misunderstanding between=20
the two communities as such. While dialogue between the two=20
communities should always be welcomed, do the spiritual leaders of=20
the churches consider the RSS leaders representative of the Hindu=20
community and therefore their natural dialogue partners? By=20
appearing to accept the credentials of the RSS to speak on behalf of=20
the Hindu community, the leaders of the churches are only weakening=20
their own credentials to speak on behalf of the Christian community.=20
By giving an undue representative character to the RSS, are not the=20
church leaders casting doubt on their own representative character in=20
this exercise?

The attacks that the RSS have launched are not just attacks on the=20
Christians alone. They are part of a calculated campaign against all=20
minorities and all those who stand for secular democracy in this=20
country. They cannot be dealt with by bilateral talks between=20
Christians and the RSS. Or are the church leaders concerned only=20
about the attacks on Christians? It is unfortunate that Christian=20
spiritual leaders seem to forget the agony of other minorities and=20
the larger issues involved in holding secret bilateral talks with the=20
RSS.

The RSS represents a political ideology which threatens the secular=20
democratic fabric of the nation. The church leaders will be deceiving=20
themselves if they think that by negotiations with the RSS they can=20
change its ideology. The issues are not spiritual, religious or=20
theological but political and ideological.

These secret parleys are arranged by a member of the National=20
Minorities Commission from Kerala, who by actions and statements have=20
already shown that he is a spokesman of the Sangh Parivar. It is a=20
pity that many church leaders in India still follow this gentleman=20
who pursues an agenda which is detrimental to the interests of the=20
minorities.

Instead of affirming the rights of Christians as the citizens of a=20
democratic secular nation and upholding the rights of all, church=20
leaders appear to be asking for accommodation and minority status in=20
the Hindu rashtra for which the RSS stands. They need to be reminded=20
that more than at any time they have to show their commitment to=20
secular democracy by joining forces with all those who support it.

Bishop Thomas Mar Athanasius Prof.Ninan Ko=
shy

Trivandrum
29-6-2001

_________

#4.

The Hindustan Times
28 August 2001
Editorial

Show them their place

Even in the worst of circumstances, the most mindless of mobs=20
never attack certain institutions. Schools, places of worship and=20
hospitals are sacred places, their sanctity is never violated to vent=20
one's anger.

But the Shiv Sena is obviously beyond all social ethics or norms of=20
public behaviour. Trust them to do exactly what a civilised society=20
would find utterly repulsive. Is it because they are led by a fanatic=20
whose only philosophy is to predict violent doom for the entire civil=20
society as and when he finds himself in a politically vulnerable=20
situation? That is why it came as no surprise when the Shiv Sena=20
vandals went berserk in Thane in Maharashtra last Sunday.

Only they can attack and burn a hospital, including its intensive=20
care unit. Only they can compel patients in the emergency wards to=20
run for their lives. This is precisely what the flag-bearers of the=20
Shiv Sena did at the Singhania hospital in Thane when 'protesting'=20
against the death of their leader Anand Dighe. But why destroy the=20
hospital? Dighe was injured in a road accident when his jeep=20
collided with a state transport corporation bus. In the hospital he=20
suffered two heart attacks. Despite the best attempts of the=20
doctors, he could not be saved.

But, then, the Shiv Sena has made it a part of its political=20
functioning to cock a snook at both law and civility. That it is a=20
constituent of the central government does not seem to deter it from=20
resorting to the kind of lumpen savagery it specialises in. Digging=20
pitches, threatening rock shows, terrorising couples on Valentine's=20
Day, bad-mouthing the minorities, vitiating the social environment =D1=20
the Sena seems to get away with everything. Even to this day, and=20
despite the Srikrishna Commission categorically indicting some of=20
its top leaders, the Sena has gone scot-free. Will the Maharashtra=20
government deviate from the norm and put these worthies of Thane to=20
the place where they belong -behind bars?

_________

#5.

Tune in from 9-10 p.m.
Wednesday, Aug 29, 2001
ASIA PACIFIC FORUM
on WBAI 99.5 FM, New York City
and webcast live at www.wbaifree.org or www.2600.org

**************************************************
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A SOLUTION? SOUTH ASIANS
IN AMERICA'S RACIAL REGIME
**************************************************

If W.E.B. Du Bois asked black Americans, "How does it feel to be a
problem?," South Asians in the U.S. are faced with a new question, "How
does it feel to be a solution?"

As the latest group to be deployed by mainstream America as a weapon in
the war against African Americans, South Asians risk falling into the
model minority niche-being held up as the docile hardworking model against
those who just "don't make the grade"--i.e. other colored folks. Join us
tonight for a provocative conversation with two South Asian activist
intellectuals, VIJAY PRASHAD and AMITAVA KUMAR, as they dissect the
American racial landscape and the position of South Asians within it.
Through stories, poetry, personal reflections, and manifestos for
organizing, both Prashad and Kumar put forward creative ways for South
Asians to break out of the suffocating model minority stereotype and
realize solidarity in the fight for social change in the U.S.

*Vijay Prashad is director of international studies at Trinity College and
author of The Karma of Brown Folk and the forthcoming Everybody Was
Kung-Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity

*Amitava Kumar is associate professor of English at Penn State University,
author of Passport Photos, and editor of the international review Politics
and Culture.

Tonight's interview was pre-recorded and previously aired on Asia Pacific
Forum. IT was conducted by Aniruddha Das of Asia Pacific Forum and the
SAMAR collective.

***********************************************

Asia Pacific Forum is New York's pan-Asian radio program, broadcast each
Wednesday night at 9-10 p.m. on WBAI-FM, 99.5, New York City, and live on
the Web at www.wbaifree.org (click on "WBAI (NY)" near the bottom of the
page) or at www.2600.com (click on "Listen Live to WBAI" near the bottom
of the page)

For more information on APF and to get more information, contact us by:
email: apforum@egroups.com;
phone: (212) 209-2991; fax (WBAI): (212) 747-1698;
or mail: Asian Pacific Forum, WBAI 99.5 FM, 120 Wall St., 10th Floor, NY,
NY 10005.

Transcripts are also available of earlier weeks' discussions of the
Pacifica national board, its politics, and the court cases against it.
Call or write APF.

*************************************************

For more information about SAMAR, a South Asian Left media resource,
please contact: SAMAR, P.O. Box 1349, Ansonia Station, NY, NY 10023;
e-mail: SAMARCollective@y...; www.samarcollective.org phone:
212-888-7108

_______

#6

For Immediate Release
August 28, 2001

Media Contact: Stephen Lee
UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press
Telephone: (310) 825-2974
Fax: (310) 206-9844
Email: philskid@h...

LOS ANGELES. UCLA's Amerasia Journal publishes a special issue on the
South Asian experience in America. Addressing cultural, historical,
and social justice issues, the new 2001 volume entitled "Act, Memory,
Voice" offers three articles exploring the questions of what it means
to be South Asian in an ever-changing America.

Two years ago, when South Asian Manjit Basuta was sentenced to a life
term for the murder of a white San Diego infant, the San Diego South
Asian community rallied together in her defense. In her article,
"People v. Basuta," Monali Sheth analyzes what the outcome of the
Basuta case means for the greater South Asian community and our
understanding of race generally. What should have been a simple case
of child abuse, transformed into a sort of public trial affected by
public opinion and racial (mis)perceptions. Pointing out the
slap-on-the-wrist that Louise Woodward (a white woman) received only
a year-and-a-half earlier for a similar crime, Sheth uses that as a
starting point to show how the combination of insensitive media
coverage, an indecisive judge, and a racially-biased jury ultimately
caused Basuta's harsh and unjust sentencing.

The Amerasia Issue (vol. 27, no. 1) also examines how South Asian
culture can change meaning when transplanted to America. Ketu
Katrak, director of Asian American Studies and professor of English
and Comparative Literature at University of California at Irvine,
discusses at length in her article, "Body Boundarylands," how the
traditional South Asian dance, Bharata Natyam, changes form but is
still able to retain its "South Asian-ness." Though Bharata Natyam
is a classical dance style from South India, when performed in
America, Katrak points out that it "assumes certain popular
renditions" and in so doing, makes the dance "more accessible to a
diasporic community." Though Bharata Natyam may be "just another"
art form in South India, in America it takes on the additional
meaning of being a valuable way for overseas South Asians to reaffirm
and reinvent their ethnic heritage. Many assume that assimilation is
the ultimate goal for any immigrant community. To the contrary, Ka!
trak shows us how immigrant communities can adapt and change their
cultures and traditions to suit their needs and yet remain
unassimilated.

Finally, the Amerasia Journal's special issue takes a retrospective
view and offers a bit of history on early South Asian immigrants.
Before New York Taxi drivers and before Silicon Valley dotcommers,
South Asian men came as migrant workers to agricultural central
California. Coming largely out of economic necessity, these
pioneering men sent what little they made back home to India while
simultaneously trying to survive the blatant racism of the day.
Professors Shankar and Balgopal, in their article "South Asian
Immigrants before 1950," present an innovative study based on oral
histories and firsthand accounts to try and recreate the lives of
those first South Asian immigrants. Indeed, many of these men are
reaching the end of their lives, which makes Shankar and Balgopal's
study that much more compelling as they record and compile their
stories. How did the early South Asian immigrants overcome national
and religious differences in their communities? How did racist
policies (such as the!
Alien Land Laws of 1913 and 1920) affect their day-to-day lives?
These are among some of the questions they attempt to answer.

In addition, "Act, Memory, Voice" also offers two other articles, a
psychocultural analysis by M. Dick Osumi, entitled "Jungian and
Mythological Patterns in Wakako Yamauchi's 'And the Soul Shall
Dance'" and a sociological report by Michael P. Perez called,
"Contested Sites: Pacific Resistance in Guam to U.S. Empire."

The "Act, Memory, Voice" issue of Amerasia Journal is available for
$13.00 plus $4.00 shipping and handling from the UCLA Asian American
Studies Center Press, 3230 Campbell Hall, Los Angeles 90095-1546 or
order by phone (310.825.2968) email: (thaocha@u...), or through
the Asian American Studies Center's website at
www.sscnet.ucla.edu/aasc.
Annual subscriptions (3 issues) are $35.00 for individuals and $55.00
for libraries and institutions. For class orders, review copies or
bulk discounts, e-mail (thaocha@u...).
---------------
Table of Contents of "Act, Memory, Voice: Critical Encounters 2001"
AMERASIA JOURNAL [Vol. 27, No. 1 (2001)]

Contents/Authors:
"Body Boundarylands: Locating South Asian Ethnicity in Performance
and in Daily Life"
Ketu H. Katrak

"People v. Basuta"
Monali Sheth

"South Asian Immigrants before 1950: The Formation of Ethnic,
Symbolic, and Group Identity"
Lavina Dhingra Shankar and Pallassana R. Balgopal

"Jungian and Mythological Patterns in Wakako Yamauchi's "And the Soul
Shall Dance'"
M. Dick Osumi

"Contested Sites: Pacific Resistance in Guam to U.S. Empire"
Michael P. Perez

Books Reviewed:
BOUNDARIES. By Maya Lin.

CRAZY MELON AND CHINESE APPLE: THE POEMS OF FRANCES CHUNG.
Compiled, with an Afterword by Walter K. Lew.

COUNTERVISIONS: ASIAN AMERICAN FILM CRITICISM. Edited by Darrell Y.
Hamamoto and Sandra Liu.

_______

#7.

Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2001 10:53:12 +0000

Book Review

Name of the Book: Spirituality for Struggle
Author: Poulose Mar Poulose
Publisher: Christhava Sahitya Samithy, Thiruvalla, Kerala 689101
Price: Rs. 50
Pages: 107
Reviewed by: Yoginder Sikand

The late Bishop Poulose Mar Poulose was one of the most prominent of=20
a new breed of socially engaged Indian Christian theologians, among=20
the pioneers of an authentically Indian liberation theology. This=20
book, published after his untimely death in 1998, is a collection of=20
some of his lectures and sermons that deal with a new vision of=20
religion for our times. Although these essays are rooted in a=20
Christian context, their message is truly universal, calling for a=20
new spirituality that must actively take the side of the poor in=20
their struggles for justice.
What Poulose calls for in his appeal for a theology of=20
liberation is, at the same time, a liberation of theology. True=20
commitment to God, he says, lies not in Pharisaical ritualism, but in=20
consciously immersing oneself in the struggle for the liberation of=20
the oppressed. This calls for a re-reading of the scriptural=20
tradition. Poulose makes a clear distinction between what he sees as=20
the basic ethical core of the Bible and socially and historically=20
conditioned aspects of the scripture. The former, he writes, is of=20
universal significance and relevance, while the latter must be seen=20
as relevant for the times when the Bible was written, but perhaps no=20
longer so today. He bitterly critiques Biblical literalism and the=20
notion of the literal inerrancy of the Bible. He also goes so far as=20
to insist that stories in the Bible such as the Creation of Adam and=20
Eve or the turning of Lot=92s wife into a pillar of salt must be seen=20
as symbolic rather than as actual truth. This treatment of the=20
scripture is, however, arbitrary, for although Poulose insists that=20
these stories must be seen as myths, he does not accord the same=20
treatment to notions such as the Virgin birth or the Trinity. The=20
method he adopts in fashioning a theology that is in accord with=20
modern sensibilities thus strikes the reader as selective and=20
arbitrary. All the same, it is a leap forward from the scriptural=20
fundamentalism that has characterised much of traditional Christian=20
understanding of the Bible.
Poulose=92s main concern is to develop an understanding of=20
religion that is relevant for our times. In the Indian context, he=20
says, to be truly religious would necessarily mean to be truly=20
inter-religious at the same time. Each religion, he says, has some=20
common ethical values that it shares with other faiths, and these=20
must inspire believers to work together to combat social injustice.=20
That, he says, is what true inter-faith dialogue is actually all=20
about. While he does not deny the merit of theological exchange=20
between professional theologians from different faith traditions, he=20
sees its value as clearly limited. For him, genuine spirituality and=20
commitment to inter-religious dialogue can be measured only insofar=20
as they work towards liberating the oppressed.
Traditional notions of salvation are bitterly critiqued in=20
line with Marx=92s dictum of the =91opium of the people=92. Salvation,=20
Poulouse tells us, is meaningless if it does not include a better,=20
and socially more just world for the poor and the oppressed in the=20
here and now. Promises of palaces in heaven exchange for poverty and=20
suffering in this world are dismissed as pies in the sky. Western=20
individual-centred and apolitical theology is sharply critiqued, and=20
Poulose calls for an understanding of the faith that includes=20
salvation, in this-worldly terms, for oppressed social groups, which=20
can only come about, he says, if the oppressed are political awakened=20
and mobilised. Jesus, he insists, was not the meek and mild saint=20
that traditional theology has made him out to be. He was, in fact, a=20
revolutionary, crusading against the oppressive political and=20
religious powers of his times. And so must his followers be, he adds.
Although written from a Christian perspective, this book will=20
appeal to readers from other faiths seeking inspiration for a=20
socially engaged understanding of their own religious traditions. Its=20
call for a radical spirituality could hardly have been more relevant=20
in the contemporary Indian context of shrill religious jingiosm and=20
religion-based fascism.

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