By James Torrens, SJ Garden Urgency Fear not, young woman, the mystery I tell you. Yield and fear not. The unfathomable will be in swaddling clothes, a cloth wrap, and the unknown be known curled in<strong>to</strong> infancy, heaven in flesh. From the impinging dark a love note hurries, all thanks <strong>to</strong> you. James Torrens, SJ, is a prolific writer, literary critic, and a former edi<strong>to</strong>r of the Catholic weekly magazine America. Courtesy : America JIVAN: News and Views of <strong>Jesuits</strong> in India NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 2
What do you think? NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 Edi<strong>to</strong>r: M.A. Joe An<strong>to</strong>ny, SJ Ed. office administration, typing & layout: Udaya Prabhu Visuvasam Correspondents: Benedict San<strong>to</strong>sh, John Rose, Shailendra Boora, Vic<strong>to</strong>r Edwin Advisory Board: Agapit Tirkey, Benny S., Jerry Rosario, John Joseph, V.T. Jose, Luke Rodrigues, Michael Amaladoss, Rex A. Pai Published by Jerry Sequeira, SJ for Gujarat Sahitya Prakash Society P.B. 70, Anand - 388 001 and printed by him at Anand Press, Anand - 388 001. 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Readers are requested <strong>to</strong> donate generously <strong>to</strong>wards Jesuit ministries. It looks darker than ever. The news - from <strong>here</strong>, t<strong>here</strong> and everyw<strong>here</strong> - is shocking, as the events show you the gory, ugly and blood-stained hands of evil that do not spare even <strong>to</strong>tally innocent humans. First t<strong>here</strong>: You must have read about Rimsha Masih, the minor girl afflicted with Down Syndrome who was arrested under the blasphemy law in Islamabad, Pakistan for allegedly burning pages of the Koran. Later it came <strong>to</strong> be known that a local Muslim cleric had planted ‘the incriminating evidence’ - put pages of the Koran in the polythene bag containing burnt papers that Rimsha was carrying. His intention <strong>to</strong>o was revealed. This is what you should note: A religious official does not hesitate <strong>to</strong> cause so much of suffering <strong>to</strong> a poor little girl with Down Syndrome just <strong>to</strong> ensure an exodus of Christians from a slum. If Christians leave the area, the land mafia could seize and sell the land. This is what happened. Soon after Rimsha was arrested, nearly 300 Christian families fled the area. Some of them said that the police encouraged them <strong>to</strong> leave, instead of offering them protection. After the truth was out, the Court ruled that the girl could be released on bail, if the girl’s family paid two sureties of Rs 5 lakh each. W<strong>here</strong> will the helpless, poor family find the money? An organization came forward <strong>to</strong> pay the money. Later knowledgeable insiders said this generosity was not due <strong>to</strong> the poor girl’s plight, but it was <strong>to</strong> ensure that the pitiable condition of the girl does not mobilise public opinion in favour of diluting the blasphemy law! Now <strong>here</strong>: Do you remember reading about this former ISRO scientist, S. Nambinarayanan? In 1994 he was accused of espionage and arrested. The day he was arrested t<strong>here</strong> was a big crowd at his gates and people were pushing <strong>to</strong> break the police cordon and throwing punches at him as he was being taken <strong>to</strong> the police jeep. But from the beginning the scientist, who till then had a distinguished career, maintained he was innocent, that he had nothing <strong>to</strong> do with the allegations. Two years later, a CBI investigation completely exonerated him. Usually when the State governments are unable <strong>to</strong> find the truth, they call for a CBI enquiry. In this case the State government that accused and arrested him refused <strong>to</strong> accept CBI’s findings and ordered reinvestigation in<strong>to</strong> the case! Who will reinvestigate except the same elements that were responsible for the scientist’s ordeal? It <strong>to</strong>ok another two years before the Supreme Court quashed the case, taking the State government <strong>to</strong> task for ordering yet another investigation by the police, evan after the CBI probe found that the allegations were false and the magistrate court ordered the release of all the accused. In 2001 the National Human Rights Commission ordered the State government <strong>to</strong> pay him a compensation of Rs.1 crore, of which Rs.10 lakh was <strong>to</strong> be paid immediately. In spite of all the developments, the Kerala government did not want <strong>to</strong> admit its missteps and pay him the compensation. This September a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court directed the State government <strong>to</strong> pay an interim compensation of Rs.10 lakh, as ordered by the National Human Rights Commission. Make a note of this: even after a dignified, innocent man’s career is destroyed and his innocence is proved, t<strong>here</strong> are people in authority who do not want <strong>to</strong> make amends. “My professional life as a good ISRO scientist was shattered. My personal life was shattered. My wife had problems,” says Nambinarayanan (The Hindu, 8 Sept ‘12) Is it the same everyw<strong>here</strong>? Read on p.27 how a Jesuit was killed in Madagaskar and who committed the ghastly murder and for what reason. The darkness that seems <strong>to</strong> be everyw<strong>here</strong> originates inside us. Does it spare us, the religious? Can we claim that such heinous acts that harass the innocent don’t take place in our midst? So don’t we need the Light more than ever? No wonder Pope Julius -- thought that the right time for celebrating Christmas was the middle of the dark, cold winter (see p.23). “From the impinging dark, a love note hurries,” says the Jesuit poet, James Torrens (see p.2). May you - may everyone everyw<strong>here</strong> - have a bright Christmas! - M.A.J.A. JIVAN: News and Views of <strong>Jesuits</strong> in India NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2012 3
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