The Pharisees of Today

There are many things which disturbs us every now and then, and there are certain things which disturbs us more than others just because there is something about it which makes us feel extremely betrayed and cheated. The recent instance where several Church leaders in Kerala were prostituting themselves at the altar of power and making a mockery of the Christian faith was one such instance. At a time when witch-hunting of minorities in my country has been on a phenomenal rise; when large number of Muslim youth are being picked up and tortured without any shred of evidence that is sustainable in a court of law in the name of fighting ‘terrorism’; when the degree of fear that has taken over the Muslim community has reached such levels that some of my Muslim friends would rather not go out of their homes after dark; when many Christians, especially Dalit Christians, have been hunted down, raped, killed and rendered homeless; when many Christian churches, homes and schools have been burnt down; when fear of an imminent attack looms large; some prominent church leaders in Kerala, apparently representing me, were sitting in a hotel room, making a pact with leaders of the Sangh Parivar under the guise of “inter-faith” dialogue. Yes, the same Parivar that has been perpetrating all these crimes mentioned above.       

They called it an “inter-faith” dailogue. Inter-faith? On the one hand there were church leaders, who apparently represent Christianity, and on the other hand there was the Sangh Parivar. Which faith do they represent? Hinduism? Most of my Hindu friends would feel insulted if I ever told them that Sangh Parivar represented Hinduism. But, I guess for the church leaders in Kerala that did not matter.

During this “inter-faith” dailogoue, church leaders and the Sangh Parivar resolved to thrash out their differences, have mutual respect for each other’s religious beliefs, prevent forced conversions while upholding the right of individuals to embrace the faith of their conviction and work towards “communal harmony”. Most interestingly, they even asked the believers to be beware of the machinations of politicians who are “out to take advantage of religious sentiments and to instigate communal passions.” I wonder which politicians were being refered to here. Surely, they were not pointing their fingers at themselves. They are all too self-righteous for that.

According to Archbishop Baselios Cleemis, head of the Malankara Catholic Church, the attacks that have been going on in the country for the last few months are not attacks on the Christian community but on persons bearing Christian names. Following the “inter-faith” dialogue, he loudly proclaimed that “an attack on a person bearing a Christian name need not be construed as an attack on the entire Christian community”. In other words, Christians should not panic over the recent spate of violence against them, those are just an attack on persons bearing Christian names. The representatives of the RSS, VHP and Hindu Aikya Vedi present at the meeting could not agree with him more.

At the core of this nefarious alliance is the common interests that the Church leaders in Kerala share with the Sangh Parivar, namely preserving the status quo and resisting any progressive change. Till very recently, these same church leaders were in the forefront fighting for their right to educate the rich and the affluent and not educate the poor. When the government told them that even the poor needs education, they shamelessly proclaimed that it was not their responsibility. Needless to say, Christ went through another Good Friday on that day. Similarly, when the left government brought out new social science school text books as per the guidelines set by the National Curriculum Framework, these same church leaders were in the forefront defending caste and tradition. They wanted chapters that critically discussed caste and communalism removed from the text book altogether. In all this, it is needless to say,  they had the tacit support of those who, today, they sit with and talk about “communal harmony”.

As a Christian, I often wonder what Christ would have done in a situation like this. Would he have again taken that whip and driven out all those who had turned the house of prayer into a den of thievery? Would he have ranted at these ‘high priests’ and ‘Pharisees’ of today and exposed their hypocrisy? Would he have called them a “brood of vipers” or “wolves in sheep’s clothing” as he once called Pharisees? I think he would have. 

A Stubborn Pride

IT IS with a laugh that Sanjay Kumar narrates his story — not because it is an amusing story to tell, but because it helps him confront his past and move ahead in life with dignity. If it were not for laughter, he would very likely have given up, letting ‘fate’ decide the course his life would take, like so many others in his community do. Sanjay, a chamar by caste, was the first in his family to pass the Intermediate. He grew up in Kolkata, where his father Guru Prasad was a migrant labourer
at the Bata factory.

Forced to take voluntary retirement in the early 90s following the mechanisation of the factory and the related cutting down of work force, Guru Prasad then shifted to Japla, in Palamau district of Jharkhand. He eventually settled down there, barely sustaining himself and his family as a vendor of satthu or roasted gram flour. Even as a child, Sanjay was determined to study as much as he could, regardless of the poverty at home and the hostile environment created by upper caste teachers and peers at school. Much to his classmates’ envy, he consistently came first in class from elementary school onwards.

Having developed a love for reading, but with little access to books, he would often stand by magazine stands reading, until shopkeepers shooed him away. Many a time, he would borrow money from friends just to buy books; Premchand was an early favourite. Used to the relative anonymity of Kolkata, it was in middle school in Japla that he first encountered the demon of caste. On his first day at school, the upper caste class monitor and teacher demanded that he, like other Dalit students, sweep the classroom floor. Angered by the demand, Sanjay firmly refused, for which the class teacher beat him. He did not budge, and finally the teacher withdrew his demand. He would need to demonstrate this resolve again and again in the tough years that lay ahead.

In class seven, disturbed by chronic teacher absenteeism in his school, Sanjay organised some of the students and did a successful signature campaign demanding that teachers take their classes regularly. The reaction of an upper caste teacher to this act of ‘rebellion’ was revealing: “Saale bahut padakku bante ho, utake patak denge ki kohre ki tarah phat jaoge.” (“Trying to act studious? I’ll slam you so hard you’ll break into pieces”) Around the time he got to high school, his family was hit by an acute financial crisis. There were times when money would not come for months, and Sanjay often had to survive on just milk and bread.

The situation got worse when he entered Intermediate in Patna. Caste atrocities on Dalit students in the hostels made him opt for a rented room, which meant more expenses. His father being unable to support him now, he took up jobs, first as a peon in a film distributor’s office, later, as a courier boy, and so on. In between jobs, when the pocket was totally empty, there were days when he would go without any food whatsoever. During his undergraduate studies, the situation got so desperate that he went to Silwasa in Dadra Nagar Haveli to work as a watchman at a factory. Disgusted by the abuses his supervisor hurled at him for reading, he soon left his job and returned to Patna. Ridicule, especially on caste lines, was something he could never tolerate, even if it meant losing a job.

THROUGH ALL this, Sanjay kept himself up to date with studies, wrote exams and pursued his love of reading. He completed graduation and post-graduation with a first class, yet, when it came to finding a job, his caste once again posed a problem. He finally landed a job as an ad-hoc lecturer in a private college run by an upper caste management in Noida, but only because he had concealed his caste identity. Sanjay went on to do a B. Ed from Delhi University and an M. Phil in Education from Jawaharlal Nehru University; he now looks forward to a career in academics.

He’s grateful to some of his teachers in both institutions, who created a conducive atmosphere for him in a system that is unfriendly to his dreams. Yet, finding himself illequipped in an academia where ‘excellence’ is often measured by one’s knowledge of the English language, he had toyed with the idea of dropping out. But he knew that to do such a thing would be to go back on all that he had struggled for since his childhood.

In a sense, Sanjay’s story itself is a form of laughter. Laughter tinged with irony, directed at a situation where upper caste students, faced with reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs in higher education, try very hard to portray themselves as ‘victims’ of an unjust situation.

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 14, Dated April 12, 2008

The Worshippin People

There is a prayer here, there is a prayer there
There is a prayer in the morning, there is a prayer in the evening
There is a collective prayer, there is a personal prayer
There is a fast and prayer, there is an eat and prayer
There is a speakin in tongues prayer, there is an all too familiar language prayer
There is a prayer here, there is a prayer there.

There is a song here, there is a song there
There is a slow song, there is a fast song
There is a worship song, there is a feel good song
There is a sentimental song, there is a song for the rock and roll fans
There is no song for the people, no song for the Lord
There is a song here, there is a song there.

Christ was crying that day, sittin by the road
They were busy prayin
Christ was lonely that day, standing in the crowd
They were busy singin
Christ was nearly killed that day, marching on the streets
They were busy worshippin
Christ was crucified that day, on top of a hill
They were busy sleepin.

Run brother, run sister, the cross is too heavy, no time for love
Let us go and pray, the cross is too heavy, no time for love
Let us go and sing, the cross is too heavy, no time for love
Let us spend time in worship, the cross is too heavy, no time for love
Let us not venture out of the city gates, the cross is too heavy, no time for love
It is too heavy, it is too heavy, no time for love.