ON SPORTS, CRICKET, INDIA & PAKISTAN.

Sports and fight because of sports is not a new phenomenon. Sports is organized to create peace and friendship but in the name of sports worst of enmities are created. Also in the name of sports best of friendships and strongest rapports have been created between and among the competing teams. Some of the greatest wars have been halted in the name and because of sports or at least during the matches played between the two waring enemy countries. In the name of sports and with the excuse of sports USA and Communist China under Mao and Cheu-en-lai created not only friendship but established diplomatic relationship. Henry Kissinger was the Secretary of State for USA under President Richard Nixon, Kissinger was a very brilliant statesman and when he realised the sports called Ping Pong the national sports of China will bring USA closer to China, he embarked on to the mission to Peking to talk of having a Ping Pong contest between USA and China. This led to the visit of US Ping Pong team to China followed by the official visit to China of President Richard Nixon and then establishment of diplomatic link between the two great nuclear powers. The friendly link created between the two nations thru the sporting event Ping Pong friendly is still in going strong.

In thirties Australia hosted England under the great skipper Jardin having in his team the deadliest ever bowler Larwood notorious for his fearful Bodyline bowling. Thru this type of bowling Larwood dismissd not only mediocre Autralian batsmen but also the great Bradman, Ponsford and their likes dismissing Australia very miserably. Within a minute Larwood became a Devil in Australia feared not only by the batsmen on the field but even outside the field. So much fear Larwood created in Australia during that time that crying children at night time were put to sleep by their mothers in the name of Larwood saying “come on baby, come on, go to sleep quickly otherwise Larwood will come to take you and he will bowl you on your chest and head and you will die”. Such was the terror Larwood has created and during one Innings Bradman while going back to the Pavilion hurt on the chest by the robust delivery of Larwood, angrily told one of the Pressmen enquring what has happened, “there are two teams out there on the field but only one is playing Cricket” and then continued on saying, “if we play Cricket like this then we better stop playing Cricket altogether”.

Next day in main cities of Australia banner appeared saying “we must severe our diplomatic ties with UK and cut our link with the Queen of UK”. In a similar manner some dailies in Australia next day issued statements forcing Foreign Office in UK to issue a diplomatic statement “offering its apology to Australia for the injuries unintentionally done to some of the best Australian cricketers but since Captain Jardin of England who is in charge of the situation we have full confidence in him and his captaincy that England is playing a fair game as per the rules of the game”. This has happened because of Cricket in a Cricket mad country Australia where Cricket is lie religion. Such a situation has never occurred anywhere in the Cricketing world except in Australia.

In a Cricket mad country India we see lot of fire into the common persons because of Cricket especially when there is a contest between India and Pakistan. In the last semi-final between India and Pakistan the atmosphere in India was NOT CRICKET but Warlike. I fail to understand why such an animosity appears in Cricket mad Indians when India play against Pakistan and when Pakistan is also equally guilty for creating such atmosphere in Pakistan and among common Pakistanis. On Wednesday the game of Cricket was uprooted from primary level and placed not only on secondary level but on tertiary level. It was not Cricket semifinal but Politics and revenge against Pakistan. We should in the name of Cricket avail the available opportunities to create a strong bond between the two neighbours. Manmohan Singh has rightly grabbed this opportunity to create a good link between the two nations while Cricket mad Indians all over the country and even outside created an impression that India is going for War against Pakistan. Pakistanis too acted in a similar manner.

We must create a feeling into the minds of common Pakistani that we are still their friends inspite of their dislike for India. I want a strong friendship between India and Pakistan created by the peoples of both the countries. Pakistan is a hurt nation because of the defeats it suffered from India in all the three wars Pakistan fought with India. Pakistan is not only deeply hurt but deeply distressed that India destroyed East Pakistan from the West. This hurt feeling of Pakistan and its citizens will not easily disappear from their minds. Besides, the atrocities committed on Muslims by Hindus and Sikhs during the partition of India are still fresh into the blood of Pakistanis especially the elders who as routine narrate these historical mishaps to their youngsters; this does not mean that Muslims were innocent, they were also guilty. Pakistan and common Pakistanis still feel that the major share of undevided Indian assets was grabbed by India thereby denying Pakistan its due share – even Ghandiji accepted this and felt guilty. India as a big brother should understand the hurt feelings of Pakistan and thereby show some signs of surrendering its rights and given an opportunity should condescend to pacify the hurt feelings of Pakistan. The tirade of the type Thakkarys under Siv Sena vomit against Pakistanis should be stopped by the Indian intelligencia because Indian government got no guts to confront wrong acts of Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena are not the custodians of India and they have no right to dictate terms to India. India needs a peaceful neighbour in Pakistan and in this direction India must make its first move even by condescending. Pacified and peaceful Pakistan will bring lot of peace in India.

Pakistan is undergoing crisis and its ripples can create disorder in India as well. The civilian government in Pakistan needs India’s support for creating peaceful atmosphere in Pakistan. India must offer its warm handshake to Pakistan. What terrorism a few disgruntled Pakistanis created in Bombay in October 2008 should not hinder India’s moves of reconciliation with Pakistan. If our Coast Guard system was in proper order those Pakistanis would never enter Bombay. Those terrorists were like robbers and if you keep your doors open and sleep nicely in your bedroom, naturally the thieves will rob all your money and the gold kept in your cupboard. Pakistani government still feels it is not the work of it, Pakistan is also controlled by other systems and agencies there over which government has very little supervision or no supervision at all.

About Cricket, Indian cricketers are almost as rich as any rich footballer in Europe because India has created ample of avenues for its cricketers including the IPL tournament to amass wealth. Such avenues are not existing in Pakistan for this reason may be some of the Pakistani cricketers are going for Match fixing, this does not mean I approve the Match fixing system to make money. Though Pakistan lost in the semifinal against India on Wednesday yet I salute them for playing an excellent cricket keeping in view the spirit of sports. Compared to India Pakistan is a small nation with small population having small number of opportunities to improve its performance yet they played well. During last two years there was no international cricket played in Pakistan yet they played well in the international tournament called World Cup. Inspite of so many hurdles Pakistan played so well reaching up to the semifinal where they lost to the host country India. It was luck that favoured India on Wednesday when Tendulkar was dropped for so many times otherwise final on Saturday in Bombay would be between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

A. Veronica Fernandes,

Kuwait.

CATHOLIC PRIEST ATTACKED IN NORTH INDIA.

By: Nelson Rodrigues.


Priest attacked in Khandwa diocese in Madhya Pradesh.

Father Sebastian Kaiparambil in hospital
A Catholic priest was attacked and seriously injured by three youths today in Khandwa diocese in Madhya Pradesh.

Father Sebastian Kaiparambil, who received head injuries and multiple fractures, said the assailants entered his bedroom around 2:30am local time after breaking a window and demanded several school documents from him.

The priest, who runs St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School, in Badwah, Khargone district, said he told them to come to his office in the morning at which point one of the attackers hit him over the head with a spade handle.

“I ran to the toilet screaming but the assailants, all in their twenties, followed hitting and kicking me,” he said from his hospital bed.

After beating me up, the assailants fled with two mobile phones and 70,000 rupees (US$1,555) in cash, he said.

After the attack Father Kaiparambil said he somehow managed to reach a security guard who informed some nuns.

The nuns took him to the government hospital in Badwah from where he was rushed to a private hospital in Indore, 70 kilometers away.
Doctors said the priest’s condition is not life threatening.

Khandwa Diocese public relations officer Father Philip Kaduthanam said police had been informed and were investigating.

ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE IN GOA.

Those opposing English MOI has a chequered background.

The Congress legislative party in Goa did it once again, it has done what it is best at – dashed the hopes of its voters by doing a volte facie on the ‘Medium of Instruction’ (MOI). And this time round they have stabbed parents of school going children and retracted from the promises of including English as one languages for MOI from the next academic year from primary level onwards.

The demand of the parents was simple give us the right to choose the best for our children, do not impose your view and dictate terms to us as we are living in a democracy and not under dictatorial rule. And to make their point, tens of thousands of parents gathered at Azad Maidan at a very short notice as a show of strength.

Here too promises were made by Congress party ministers and legislators that they respect parents anguish and would address the same promptly. But as days passed not only anti-English activists but also anti-Goans came together to forge a group to oppose grants to English medium schools in the state of Goa.

The people that are opposing grant-in-aid to English medium of instruction to our children are not at all parents of school going children, but some old haggard’s having no standing in the society and wanting 15 minutes of fame and publicity. For example Shashikala Kadokar’s love for Maharashtra is well established as she along her late father’s side tried to merge Goa with Maharashtra. Today she is spent force wanting to stay in the public eye. It is also well established that she has no love lost for the Konkani and will not lift a finger for the development of the mother tongue. What is she interested is in just making Marathi popular here in Goa. Should the government even take cognizance of this anti-Goan?

Then we have members of the RSS in the group opposing English as the medium of instruction at the elementary level. These are the people who had assassinated Father of the Nation Mahtatma Gandhi and were banned for many years. These are anti-national group who are also involved in terror activities in Mumbai. But they have the cheek to term parents as anti-national just because we are demanding English to be included as medium of instruction. Chief minister Digambar Kamat and Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar belong to this Hindu Fundamentalist outfit. Do we need these elements who breed and propagate hatred, ill-will, intolerance, fanaticism to tell us how to educate our children?

Then we have so called educationists in the group also. What can one except of personalities like the ones who go on a rampage of desecrating sign boards. How can they be role models to our children. And the less said about the priests supporting the movement against English is better as even the church has kept them at bay from the laity or its flock.

Such are the elements that have formed a pressure group to oppose a genuine demand of lakhs of parents. Sadly though Congress ministers and MLAs are falling prey to these personalities. Their only claim is that if English medium of instruction is allowed it will divide communities on communal lines and destroy the harmony and social fabric in the state.

Such logic does not hold any water as most of the private unaided English schools has equal number of students of either community studying in complete harmony. The only difference is that these parents can afford exorbitant fees charged by the managements of these schools, while poor are left behind. This is an indication that communal politicians and communal educationists like the ones grouped together to deny children their right to be educated in English medium of instruction should not be given the ear by a responsible government. Secondly a sizeable percentage of Hindu community students are studying in schools and convents run by the Archdiocese Board of Education and Diocesan Society of Goa in a secular fashion. How would allowing English as MOI destroy this fabric. It is only the wild imagination of the fundamentalist in BBSM.

However the government of Goa basically constitutes of Congress party MLAs who times in memorial have not only used, misused and abused the minority voters but have also taken them for granted for a simple reason that minorities do not subscribe to the BJP idealogy.

But now it is seems that the Congress’ run is over. People may forgive for the harm caused to themselves but no parent will forgive somebody for the harm caused to their children. And this time all the parents should consciously vote against any MLA who is opposing English medium of instruction. It should not stop at that, all the ministers and MLAs specially the ones from Salcete, who had attended the FORCE rally at Azad Maidan and showed their solidarity with the parents but as today have back-tracked should be shown the door. As for the chief minister Digambar Kamat, from the very beginning nothing much was expected of him as his is a member of the RSS whose aim is to be the main stake holders in the education sector, secondly his closeness to most of the managements running English unaided private schools who are Saraswats and most importantly his government is of the ministers, for the ministers and by the ministers and Digambar Kamat will go to any level to cling on to his chief minister’s chair.

The fight for inclusion of English as MOI is far from over. Before the commencement of the new academic year parents should boycott classes, the ABE and Diocesan Society of Goa should keep their schools closed till the government gives in to the parents demand and lastly parents should vote against those MLAs who are not only opposing English medium of Instruction, but also those collaborating with the chief minister and those not support the Education minister who want to bring about the change.

Send your comments/reactions to nisserdias@gmail.com Or SMS 9422437029)

NISER DIAS.

AWAKEN CUSTODIANS OF CHRISTIANITY.

Bill Gates & Warren Buffet are atheist and the two greatest philanthropists who have already donated BILLIONS of dollars to various ngo’s & charity groups involved in helping poor christians as well as poor non-christians. It doesn’t matter if Bill Gates & Warren Buffet are atheist because by serving the poor they are serving Jesus. Jesus Christ said “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me”.

Here in Bombay the Catholic Clergy should follow the philanthropic example of Bill Gates & Warren Buffet and utilize church assets, resources, wealth & vacant church properties for the benefit of the bombay lay catholics. Unfortunately the Bombay Catholic clergy have become selfish and greedy and don’t care about the bombay lay catholics this is the reason why many of our poor catholics in bombay have left the catholic church. During Sunday sermons the clergy which includes parish priests, bishops & cardinal preach from the pulpit about poverty and helping the poor with cash and kind which includes housing but the Clergy themselves don’t practice what they preach. HYPOCRISY AT ITS BEST IN THE CHURCH OF BOMBAY!!!!!!!

One Bombay based English newspaper came up with the article ‘EastIndians oppose sale of church land’ the clergy reacted with anger another Bombay based English newspaper came up with the article ‘Church Land Going Going Gone’ the clergy reacted with anger. Just as the catholic clergy have the right to react with anger similarly the catholic parishioners also have a right to react with anger and stop the clergy from selling away church land.

The official weekly magazine of the Archdiocese of Bombay which is available for Rs.10/- is filled with one sided content which gives an impression that whatever the catholic clergy say and do is right it’s a different matter that there is hardly any bombay lay catholic who reads that magazine because the magazine does not have any content in it that will improve the health, wealth, housing of the bombay lay catholics. What we need in Bombay is for some lay catholic group to start a subscription based monthly magazine and provide information on the corrupt activities the clergy are indulging in as well as put content in it that will improve the health, wealth, housing of the bombay lay catholics and make the magazine available through the courier service because the catholic clergy will not allow the sale of this magazine in & around the church premises. As of now most catholics are not internet savvy and information posted on internet may not reach them hence the need for a magazine.

Ask the average Indian what they think of the Christians in India, and you will get the reply -- "peace loving." Dig a little further and you will probably be told that they are a contented lot, who don't easily get agitated or involved in public life. You may also hear that they are not particularly ambitious.

There was a time when the clergy was financially dependent on the contributions of the laity. In turn the laity was dependent on the clergy for spiritual solace. Two factors have changed this bond of mutual love and respect. One partner (the catholic clergy) has become too powerful and dominating, while the other (lay catholics) has correspondingly become more docile. This imbalance is unhealthy.

Prior to Vatican II the clergy and religious lived an ascetic and arduous life. They have since abused the responsible freedom of Vatican II to jettison all forms of asceticism. They have "secularised" themselves in work, thought and dress, even more than the laity who are supposed to live and work in the secular sphere.

With the easy accessibility of foreign funds, dollar mass stipends, money from sale of vacant church properties and mushrooming growth of money-generating institutions, the catholic clergy are now self dependent, leading to self-complacency.

The only other time that the catholic clergy requires the laity is when a priest or missionary has been killed by right wing hindu organizations. Then the laity must come out in vast numbers to support the clergy.

The Church cannot walk on one leg if it seeks to get anywhere. This is precisely what is happening. The clergy and religious are using the laity as a crutch to prop themselves up. This is crippling the church. Both legs must be strong and walk in tandem. Since the laity has been reduced to a peripheral and passive role, it has become increasingly uninvolved in church life. This is evident also in the growing diffidence to Catholic associations, which are or should be the public face of the church in socio-economic, political and media affairs.

What is the vast majority of lay Catholic's involvement in the life and mission of the Church? We are often referred to as Sunday Catholics. Those who are involved in the catechetical ministry refer to it as a petrol-filling station, where you just come to get something, to fill up for the week.

Others sense that catholics are united. This is akin to saying that bodies laid side by side in the graveyard are united, because they don't raise their voices. There is no true unity in the Catholic community which every catholic knows.

First there is the clergy-laity divide, which is widening by the day. Then there is the ethnic divide -- the Malayalees are separate, the Adivasis are in their own cluster, the English speaking don't mingle with the local folks, and so on. This is why, in many urban areas, there are strong associations of Malayalees and adivasis, who have more members and better finances than the cosmopolitan and heterogeneous Catholic associations.

Homogenous groups are comfortable in their own familiar milieu, and don't want others to rock the boat. To add fuel to the fire is the increasing divisiveness of Rites. This particular phenomenon was earlier restricted to Kerala. However, with Malayalees now spread all over India in sizeable numbers, this historical divide has spread like a virus throughout the Church. Unfortunately, its flames have been fanned by the hierarchy and clergy, further dividing a fractured framework. In certain parts of south India, which boasts of being an older Christian community, the caste divide is shamefully rampant. So the image that we see of us is divisiveness.

As per information provided in one newspaper, only 25% percent of Catholic children and youth (between the ages of three to 21 years) are actually studying in Catholic institutions. This is a startling figure, which the bishops of India are unable to face. The harsh reality is that three out of four Catholic children are not in Catholic institutions.

The Catholic Missionaries, Caritas, Catholic Relief Services & other Catholic social welfare services operating in India are not catering to the needs of poor and deprived Catholics instead they are catering to the needs of poor Non-Catholics with an intent to convert them.

Just as India is a country of many hues, so is the Catholic community that is spread out from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and Gujarat to Arunachal.

GOD'S OWN COUNTRY, KERALA: Described as God's own country, it was the first place in India where Christianity was established in apostolic times. Today Kerala accounts for more than two-thirds of the number of personnel joining seminaries and missionary groups. Whether it is clergymen or nurses, the image of Kerala Christians is that of assimilation and hard-work on the one hand, and a tendency to be CLANNISH on the other.

Moving up the coast from Kerala comes MANGALORE or South Canara. An important aspect of Mangalorean Christians is that they too remained rooted in their local culture and language. Their attitudes are influenced by the Kerala Christians to their south, and their northern neighbours, the Goans.

GOA, WHERE HISTORY HAS BEEN FAR FROM IDYLLIC: Goa today is projected as an idyllic destination for honeymooners, and an ideal place for setting up pharmaceutical, cosmetics and software industries. But the history of the Church in Goa has been far from idyllic. Because of Portuguese repression, and limited opportunities, Goans were among the first Indian Catholics to migrate to other parts of the country in substantial numbers.

THE NORTH, A POTPOURRI OF MANY PEOPLES: This vast expanse, in ecclesiastical terms, covers the entire non-tribal regions of north, central and western India. It is a potpourri of many peoples, with just small pockets of local Catholics. The Church in north India is a Church of outsiders. The first migrants to the north were the Goans, followed by the Tamilians. There were of course the Anglo-Indians, who have since migrated in large numbers to Canada and Australia. Today the major groups that form the bulk of the Church are the Malayalees and the adivasis. There are hardly any local vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Ahmedabad in Gujarat is the first diocese to have a local bishop. All the others are either Malayalees, Mangaloreans or a remnant of Goans.

One the WEST of Maharashtra are the EastIndian Christians (or North Konkan Christians or Salsette Christians) who have been devastated by the Land Acquisition Policy…..The Land Acquisition Policy which the British Raj invented & carried forward by the State Governments has ruined and displaced many communities across India that includes the East Indians. From human security angle, displacement involves ‘impoverishment risk’ the common elements of which are: “landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, food insecurity, increased morbidity and mortality, loss of common property assets, and social disarticulation”……East Indians are the only large Christian community in India who are indigenous to a metropolis. Being sons of the soil they find themselves strangers in their own lands. All their ancestral lands in Bombay are acquired and their houses in the gaothans are ruined. For want of money their children cannot get higher education, and for want of higher education, they cannot get better jobs……..Some of the East Indians who were unable to maintain their dilapidated houses and gave away their properties to corrupt mafia backed builders for redevelopment are now living in penury. Small time builders with political connections, conned the East Indian bungalow owners, with the connivance of the local administration and constructed repair permission houses which have leakage, monsoonal problems and walls as thin as papers. At the moment Repair Permission is passe now towers are coming up, within the same Gaothan infrastructure, whatever is being done in widening the drainage, roads or laying of new water pipelines is not for the old residents but for the new residents who will move into these towers. The construction of these towers has resulted in water shortage in gaothans. Most of the political giants in Bombay are builders by default we all know it only the paper thin walls don't know it…. The Roman Catholic Church in Bombay did nothing to help the east indians....the Church has no political will.. it only believes in numbers and head counts at the Sunday Mass. So this is it, the EastIndian community, is a peaceful quiet community, controlled under duress, a few leaders but all rubber stamp type.. the only fire and brimstone is during the sermons in the Church. Peace Marches happen, Candle light marches happen but the East Indian lives in darkness.

Few practical suggestions for improving the economic conditions of Catholics in India :

1. The Lay Catholic Associations should be the public face and spokesperson of the Church in all socio economic and political affairs. Catholic associations and sabhas must become more active and representative of their people. Bishops and clergy must "let go" of domination in temporal affairs. It is not enough to pay lip service to the role of the laity. The hierarchy must humble itself to actively encourage the leadership of the laity.

2. We need many more Catholic historians. As it is said, those who are ignorant of history are bound to repeat its mistakes. Those who know history, including Church history, can be conscience keepers, to guard against repetition of the same.

3. We need many more journalists in the print and electronic media, and especially in the vernacular press.

4. We need parish priests who are selected & elected by local catholic parishioners and not by the Bishops house. Only those parish priests should be selected & elected who have indepth knowledge of Bible, current affairs, environment who are good, humble & honest who will disclose how church funds are utilized in parish bulletins who will disclose the vacant church properties in possession of the church in parish bulletins who will utilize vacant church properties for the housing needs of poor christians who will not refuse admission to children of poor christians in parish schools who will be prepared to lead from the front who will be prepared to take up the problems faced by the lay christians with the goverment, muncipality, etc.

5. We need reservations in central/state government undertakings, municipality, banks, etc.

6. We need nomination of special representatives from the catholic community in the Indian Parliament & State Legislative Assemblies.

7. We need to put up our people to contest Lok sabha, Assembly and Muncipal/Corporator elections. Ofcourse winning elections is not possible because of our small numbers but that is not the issue the issue is to make catholics politically active.

8. We need 50% seats in catholic institutions including convent/catholic schools reserved for catholics.

9. We need to encourage the Catholic youth to work towards becoming IAS-IPS officers, Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, etc and not just call center workers or hotel workers.

10. We need to provide some of our people who are addicted to alcohol with free anti-alcohol medicines.

11. We need to utilize the parish halls not just for some wedding functions or parties but also for political meetings.

Heart wrenching poverty, potholed roads, traffic jams, overcrowded trains, encroachment of mangroves-openspaces-saltpanlands, inadequate water supply, overflowing gutters, garbage, an all pervading stink, increasing slums, stress & frustration due to poor management. Who is to be blamed ????? Ofcourse the Politicians in rural & backward districts of India who neither care about strictly enforcing the two child policy and who neither care about improving infrastructure, electricity, water network, road network, telecommunications, industries & job opportunities as a result the people from the rural & backward districts of India are left with no option but to migrate into Bombay & other cities of India for job opportunities and to improve their standard of living but in the process they end up crowding the cities and not only make their lives miserable but also the lives of others.

Corruption breeds crime in India. Recently a Politician in Maharashtra has demanded from the Central govt. to pass law giving death penalty to those who are involved in milk adulteration. Can this Politician also demand death penalty to those politicians & sarkari babus who are involved in corrupt activities ????

People come...People go...Life goes on. Amen.

Gabriel D'souza
Bombay.