MM Thomas - Life, Legacy and Theology

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THEOLOGY OF MADATHILPARAMPIL MAMMEN THOMAS WAGING PEACE, BUILDING A WORLD IN WHICH LIFE MATTERS: FESTSCHRIFT TO HONOUR GABRIELLE DIETRICH INTERVIEW WITH GABRIELE DIETRICH Gabriele Dietrich is German by birth who naturalised herself to India. Dr. Gabriele Dietrich live at the Social Analysis Center, Tamilnadu Theological Seminary in Madurai. RR stands for Rini Ralte who interviewed GD which stands for Gabriele Dietrich. http://empower.co.il/healingkiss/K.I.S.S.LOG/2008_04/04_25.htm So how did you go about it? GD We had been connected with the Ecumenical Centre Hendrik Kraemer House in Berlin under the leadership of Be’ Ruys. Due to this, we had a contact with M.M. Thomas. Through the Youth Commission of the Christian Peace Conference we also had a connection with Margret Flory in 1970 and became the first non-American interns, together with Koos Koster, the Dutch journalist who was later murdered in El Salvador. We met M.M. Thomas for one hour in the station of Hannover when he came through and he agreed that we could plan a research stint of two years with the CISRS in Bangalore. We left Europe in December 1971 during the Bangla Desh War. 109
THEOLOGY OF MADATHILPARAMPIL MAMMEN THOMAS How was it to work under M.M. Thomas at CISRS and how has he influenced you? How has TTS influenced you? GD We felt a great sense of freedom at the CISRS. M.M. was then the chairperson of the Executive of the WCC and traveled to Geneva frequently. He also stayed in his house in Thiruvalla frequently. When in Bangalore he shoved his suitcase under a bed in the CISRS and got on with his work. He was a great taskmaster and knew how to extract work, to make people read and write. He was also always keen to create a situation of debate and gave me all his manuscripts to read to get comments. He encouraged people to figure out what they wanted to do and then expected them to go ahead and do it. We traveled a great deal and got in touch with Marxists like Ajit Roy of the Marxist Review who became a close friend and who also befriended M.M. Thomas. We also came to know many Gandhians, most importantly S. Jaganathan and Ms. Krishnammal who had moved to East Thanjavur area after the Kilvenmani incident in which 44 Dalits were burnt in a hut in the end of the sixties, to support Dalit land struggles. M.M. was very open minded, influenced by Lohia socialism but open to Marxist and Gandhian thought. He had a strong commitment to participation in nation building and to the marginalized, which he specified to be Harijans, tribals and women. It was only later that the terminology shifted to Dalits and adivasis. Though my own research was mainly in the East Thanjavur area, the work in CISRS helped me to develop a certain grasp of the country as a whole. I also came to know some of the influential social scientists like A.R. Desai. Did you have any differences with MM? GD (Laughs) Actually I first clashed with him when I had been at the youth assembly of the EACC (later renamed CCA) in Singapore in 1973. I had attended a workshop on women and the report which we brought home was such that, many delegates got into difficulties with their churches over it. MM was quite disapproving of this report, because we had castigated family violence and accused the churches of being an agent of women’s oppression. Later he himself became much more of a feminist. 110
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MM Thomas - Life, Legacy and Theology

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