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OAK FELLOW FIGHTS INDIA'S CASTE SYSTEM-FATHIMA BURNAD

                           Oak Fellow Fights India's Caste System


                                Fatima Burnad, Oak Fellow, 2011

At age 11 Fatima Burnad was already making trouble for civil authorities. Near Chennai, in southern India, where Burnad grew up, one of her friends was severely mistreated -- burned and beaten -- by the family that employed her as a maid. The 11-year-old girl complained to the police but was taken right back to work at her employers', who were not even reprimanded. Burnad was so outraged she wrote up a petition of protest, collected signatures around the neighborhood, and presented it to the police.


So began a lifetime of activism that led to more than one incarceration -- and to Burnad being named the 2011 Oak Human Rights Fellow at Colby. The fellowship offers a semester of respite for research, teaching, and writing and is awarded to one front-line human rights activist each year.


For the past 35 years Burnad, 59, has worked to end India's caste system and discrimination against the Dalit (sometimes called "Untouchable") and tribal people. Those groups, which make up 24 percent of India's population, are routinely excluded and marginalized. Affirmative action has led to educational opportunities, said Burnad. But, despite degrees and credentials, they are denied interviews, not to mention actual employment in government and private sectors, because their names reveal their caste.


"We have about 550 judges in the supreme court. Out of that, we have only 13 to 15 Dalit judges," said Burnad, herself a Dalit who, like her father, is a Christian convert. "The Dalit will get the fourth-class job. First, second, third is occupied by the higher castes, so Dalits are always at the bottom." The result: the Dalit people remain poor and largely landless. "The discrimination continues."


Burnad previously visited the United States (Atlanta), Japan, and Australia, where she saw de facto segregation and discrimination against African Americans, Burakumin, and Aborigine populations respectively. She also studied United Nations human rights reports. "The worst thing is in my country. The worst of all. We are not able to change the situation, and it's getting worse."


And Dalits are increasingly afraid to challenge the status quo. "No other communities are helping them to develop," Burnad said. "If a Dalit girl is raped, only the Dalit are raising their voice. Only the Dalit women -- the Dalit men do not take it as a problem."


Burnad said her father encouraged her to become an activist in the 1970s, when she was a teenager. "I was trained as a community organizer on Alinksy's method -- Saul Alinsky from Chicago ghettos." A colleague of Alinsky's came to her village to lead the training. "That was my beginning."


Her father urged her to take up the cause of 30 poor shoemakers's families in the village where he taught. They had been given 49 acres in the 1950s, but other Dalits sold the land to a higher-caste man for construction of a church. "It created a very big problem," Burnad said. When she brought the church's bishop to the village to confront him, local leaders disrupted the meeting and deported the trainer from Chicago.


In 1979 Burnad founded the Society for Rural Education and Development, which seeks economic opportunity and political influence for the marginalized people of India, especially Dalit women. She is now recognized as a national leader in India's social movements.


Burnad was jailed in the 1990s for protesting land grabs by the government when it displaced Dalits from their ancestral community to build a naval air station. "They were all the time talking about national security," she said. "For us, people security is very important."


Soon after arriving at Colby she was mobilizing allies to protest the planned execution of Sri Lankans implicated in the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi 17 year ago. They merely supplied batteries they didn't know would be used to make a bomb, she said, but the moral issue was her opposition to taking anyone's life. The condemned were granted an eight-week postponement by a court in Chennai, she said, vowing to continue the protest.


She also looked ahead to her semester on campus. "I want to read and write and then, in seminars, to learn from the students what their reactions are to what I'm doing," Burnad said. "I want to see how far the protests, the demonstrations, the public meetings are exposing the issues. Is this enough? Or do I have to do something much more? What is going on? Why still our community remains the same? How are we going to change the mindset of the people? It's not enough if we are not questioning the whole fundamental aspect of the caste system."


Her goal -- to take her activism to a new level. "I want this college help me to see a proper way of doing things."

CHURCH PROPERTY FIGHT TURNS VIOLENT IN INDIA

Church property fight turns violent in India: The Church of England Newspaper, July 29, 2011July 29, 2011

Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of North India,Property Litigation. 

First published in The Church of England Newspaper.

A battle for control over a church school in the Diocese of Lucknow turned violent last week after three bombs were tossed at the front gate of the Girls High School of Allahabad in North India.

The fight has prompted the Bishop in Lucknow, the Rt Rev Morris Dan to seek police protection against supporters of former headmaster CV Innes.

Founded by the East India Company in 1822 to educate British and Anglo-Indian children of the company’s servants, the Boys High School and Colleges (BHS) and Girls High School and Colleges (GHS) in Allahabad were established at their present site in 1861 and run by missionaries of the Church of England.

The dispute arose between the Bishop and the former headmaster after Mr Innes attempted to change the school’s bylaws to remove the Bishop as head of the schools. The dispute was brought to the courts and the Allahabad Supreme Court ruled last month the attempt to oust the Bishop was unlawful and confirmed the Bishop’s nominee, Mr David Luke, as the new headmaster.

On 5 July three bombs were tossed against the wall of the girl’s school, demolishing the gate and front entrance, while police reported that a crowd of approximately 200 people attempted to force their way into the school, allegedly to oust Mr Luke as headmaster.

The Indian Express reported that the situation was defused after senior police and administration officials responded to the riot with armed police.

Speaking to the press after the riot, Bishop Dan charged his predecessor, Bishop AR Stephen with colluding with Mr Innes to take control of the school. While the resort to violence in Allahabad was unusual, disputes over the control and ownership of church schools in India are common, as they provide a sizeable source of income for the Church.

Church schools also are a source of illegal income anti-corruption activists have charged, claiming that bribes are often paid for places in India’s premier private schools — of which the majority are affiliated with the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches.

VASCO DA GAMMA'S TOMB, COCHIN

Heaven Came down-Gharana the choir.calicut

Gharana


The Menu : We hope to present a mind boggling variety of sacred group vocal harmonies. Do come for the concert ‘cause we gonna sing for you ‘Traditional four voice hymns’, ‘Negro Spirituals’, ‘Masterwork compositions of Mozart and Handel’, ‘Gospel Bhajan’, ‘Maramon convention songs’, pucca semi-classical devotionals and just for the heck of it, a slice from the evergreen musical, ‘The sound of music’.

The Choir : A lively bunch of 30 odd, high energy performers, who’d luv to move u with their zing n zest! We have as members, ‘doe eyed’ teenagers, ‘no nonsense’ housewives, heads of institutions, Guitar gurus, Planters, Pensioners and professionals from a bewildering variety of fields, which makes ‘Gharana’ a veritable melting pot of creative ideas, cultures, emotions and of course heart stirring devotional music.

The Need : We long to build a warus meaningful relationship with u. We would be deeply touched, if u could support our choral group, Gharana. U could sponsor or co-sponsor our upcoming concert or maybe you would rather make a sincere contribution towards the expenses.

You could, or rather, u should shout out from your rooftops – about our upcoming concert!! But seriously speaking, we want u to bring in ur friends, family and colleagues – using your charisma n social networking skills!

In short, u could be a wonderful brand ambassador, for Gharana!!

If you would love to sing and am mighty thrilled to be a part of the ‘Gharana’ family – please do get in touch with us, we are on the lookout for fresh faces and not to mention refreshing voices!!

Wherever you are, and whatsoever U are doing, kindly spare a bit of your precious time, to pray for us. Also, please do pray for the upcoming ‘Choral Sandhya’ so that, it turns out to be a blessing for one and all!!

We are not by any stretch of imagination, gifted vocalists or professional musicians. We are, simply put, mere instruments in His hands.

You can contact us at

K. Pratap Paul (Choir Director) 9447455909, 0495-2369424

Paul Vijayan (Choir Secretary) 9447379421, 0495-2373630

Samuel Thomas 9349732117, 0495-2383262

Shine Philip

Gharana the choir,

“Gharana”

No. 3/435, Pottangady Raghavan Road,

Opposite Aishwarya Villas,

Nadakkavu P.O., Calicut 673011


Gharana the Choir : Members
Choir Director

K. Pratap Paul
Sopranos

1. Minila Rony
2. Sonia Sam
3. Sofie Lukose
4. Merlin Johnson
5. Joycee Edwin
6. Christina Arnold
7. Babitha
8. Gladys Isaac
9. Christin Kuruvilla
10. Ruthmol
11. Edna Pearson
12. Shelina Arnold

Altos

1. Mini Sam Furtado
2. Miranda Johnson
3. Mini Pratap
4. Sushma
5. Susan Philip
6. Asha Paul
7. Sishira

Tenors

1. Paul Vijayan
2. Samuel Thomas
3. Shine Philip
4. Raju K. R.
5. Suneeth Pulikkal
6. Daniel

Bass

1. Cherian Abraham
2. Binal Sathyadasan
3. Victor
4. George Simon
5. Edwin
6. Stilson Antony
7. Roshan



Gharana the Choir : Instrumentalists

Keyboard : Ashish Raj [for Malayalam, Hindi, English(pop)]

Georgie [for Classics, Do-re-mi]

Manuel Pratap Paul [Hymns]

Tabla : Sudhas

Violins : Shaju

Robert

Rhythm Pad : Shijin Chandran

Bass Guitar : Sanjay

CORRUPTION- ----SPEAKING RECORDS

Save Church of South India >>>>>>>CLICK

THE CASE AGAINST NEW MANAGER WAS DISMISSED

Mr.C.M.BABU,the former Corporate Manager for All CSI schools in Malabar and wayanad filed a suit before the Hon. Ottapalam sub- court against the BISHOP, CSI North kerala Diocese as the first respondent and Rev.Vinod Allen,the newly appointed Corporate Manager as the other respondent.


As everybody know the last executive committee meeting of the CSI North Kerala Diocese held on 20.07.2011 unanimously decided to 'REMOVE'  Mr.Babu and appoint Rev.Allen as the new manager. We understand that there are number of allegations against Mr.Babu, like appointment of his own daughter by denying the claim of others,illegal transfers,illegal appointments,gross negligence in duty,illegal payments to building contractors,operating single signatory bank account(As per CSITA rules operating single signatory account is a criminal offence),maladministration and so on.


The appointment letter for Rev.Vinod Allen was signed and handed over to him by the Bishop.
IN the light of the appointment letter Rev.Allen requested Mr.Babu to come to corporate manager's office on 01.08.2011 to hand over the charges.But unfortunately he didn't turn up.Rev.Allen was compelled to assume charges in the absence of Mr.Babu.He assumed charges in the presence of the former bishop's commissary,many priests,working committee member,number of diocesan council members,office staff,number of church members and the public.            Rev.Allen is functioning full fledged and till today according to our knowledge Mr.Babu has not turned up and handed over records.


He had approached the Hon.High Court of Kerala on 01.08.2011 itself with a complaint against the Bishop that he was removed from the post.But the Hon.High Court dismissed his petition and directed him to approach the concerned civil court.Then a petition No.OS 291/2011 was submitted by him before the Hon.Sub Court of Ottapalam against the 'BISHOP' and the newly appointed Manager The.Rev.Vinod Allen.


This suit was filed to challenge the 'ORDER' passed by the Bishop  who is the Chairman of the Diocese.So the Bishop has to counter the case,defend the arguments by appointing an advocate.That is the process when somebody files cases against the head of the institution.BUT UNFORTUNATELY IT ALSO HAPPENED!!!!!.THE BISHOP NEVER GIVEN A COUNTER AFFIDAVIT IN THIS CASE BUT HELPED THE FORMER MANAGER TO GET AN EX PARTE  INJUNCTION FROM THE COURT.


GOD IS GREAT.ADVOCATE.K.R.GIRI AIYER,the leading advocate of ottapalam courts saved our employees and students of the Corporate Management by interfering in this litigation and helped the newly appointed manager to file the counter affidavit in time without giving room for  ex parte injunction to the former manager.We understand that no instruction was given to the new manager by the Bishop for filing counter affidavit.So it was  the 'NASTY PLAY' of the bishop by not submitting self counter affidavit and also the counter of the new manager.It is crystal clear that The Bishop doesn't like a Management which is 'FREE FROM CORRUPTION,ILLEGALITIES,IRREGULARITIES AND MALADMINISTRATION.IT IS ONE OF HIS DRAMAS TO SABOTAGE THE MANDATE OF THE PEOPLE.


Now,on 27.08.2011 the Hon.Sub Court of Ottapalam 'DISMISSED' the application of Mr.C.M.Babu after hearing both  the sides. As per our constitution the executive committee has full authority to remove a manager when it feels that the continuance of manager is not good for the interest of the schools.


We hatts off and salute- the timely intervention of Advocate.K.R.GIRI AIYER  helped thousands of our students,employees and their families.


csipass workers.