Indian bishop suspended for assault-Anglican Ink

Money, politics and power behind the dispute activists claim

ARTICLE | APRIL 11, 2013 - 6:36PM | BY GEORGE CONGER

The church of South India has suspended the Bishop in Thoothukudi-Nazareth Diocese for assaulting the church's general secretary during a meeting of the Synod's Executive Council in February.

On 3 April 2013 Sun TV reported that moderator of the CSI, the Bishop in Kanyakumari Diocese G. Devakadasham, had assumed temporary oversight of the diocese following the suspension of Bishop J.A.D. Jebachandran  for assaulting General Secretary M.M. Philip.

Spokesmen for the bishop and the executive council did not respond to requests for clarification but the anti-corruption lay group Youth4CSI reports the spat between the bishop and the Synod's Executive Council is politically and financially motivated.

The altercation began at the start of Synod Executive Council meeting held in Chennai on Feb 25, 2013. Bishop Jebachandran objected to the minutes of the Council's January meeting that discussed the affairs of his diocese.

"The General Secretary had obtained a complaint saying that the Bishop/Diocese are planning to withdraw the case from the Thoothukudi sub court which they had filed for the recovery of misappropriated funds amounting to Rs 3 crores from the former Lay Secretary, Mr D. Dorairaj," the minutes reported.

The Council went on to ask the diocese to prosecute the lawsuits for theft by insiders from diocesan coffers and to dismiss the chairman of the diocesan council.

After the general secretary declined to strike that portion of the minutes,  Bishop Jebachandran allegedly rose from his chair, grabbed Mr. Philip by his collar, took away his microphone, and shoved him from the podium.

Uproar ensued, and a vote was taken by the council to suspend Bishop Jebachandran. Later in the meeting the Bishop in Madras Bishop V. Devasahayam and the Bishop in Madhya Kerala Thomas K. Oommen objected to the suspension saying the council did not have the authority to take such an action and that the  matter must be referred to the  House of Bishops. A formal notice suspension was subsequently served upon Bishop Jebachandran last week.

Youth4CSI reports the dispute "stems from a decision of the bishop to switch political loyalties to AIADMK [All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or All India Anna Dravidian Progress Federation] which won the last elections in [Tamil Nadu] state. The appointments made by Jebachandran in diocese-run education institutions replaced supporters of the erstwhile DMK [Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or Dravidian Progress Federation] administration with AIADMK ones close to S.T. Chellapandian, the AIADMK strongman in Thoothukudi who is also the Labour Minister in Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa’s cabinet. Sources say a prominent DMK supporter on the board of the CSI Trust Association was miffed with the bishop for his appointment changes and dragged the Synod into the vortex of Tamilnadu’s contentious Dravidian politics."

In 2007 a commission chaired by the Bishop concluded that the former diocesan Lay Secretary, D. Dorairaj, had misappropriated diocesan funds and instituted a legal action for restitution. However when the AIADMK came to power in 2011, Bishop Jebachandran backtracked on the lawsuit.

Jobs were also handed out to friends of the government. Youth4CSI stated these new appointments were made at "the cost of those who were close to [new] Lay Secretary D. Mohan who is also a director of the CSI Trust Association."

Bishop Jebachandran allregedly lost his temper with the CSI General Secretary M.M. Philip and accused him of "acting at the behest of Mohan to make life difficult for him. The direction in the Executive minutes that the bishop should not “under any circumstances” withdraw the cases against Dorairaj and others and that he should withdraw the appointment of the new Council Chairman are seen as being dictated by Mohan misusing his perch in the Synod office as a director of the CSITA, a body of which Philip is also the Hon. Secretary," the anticorruption group noted.

A source within the CSI leadership who asked not to be named as he was not speaking on behalf of the executive committee said they anticipated Bishop Jebachandran would file a civil appeal seeking to block the suspension.

source-Anglican Ink&Anglican TV

Still No White Smoke, Only Dark Clouds

Still No White Smoke, Only Dark Clouds

INDIAN BISHOP JAILED FOR FORGERY: The Church of England Newspaper,

 March 31 2013, p 7. April 3, 2013

Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of South India,Corruption, Crime. 
Tags: Devaraj Bangera, Manickam Dorai

Manickam Dorai

A retired Bishop of the Church of South India (CSI) has been sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined Rs 15,000 for forgery and fraud.  The conviction of the Rt. Rev Devaraj Bangera, the former Bishop in the Karnataka Southern Diocese last week follows news that the Indian tax authorities have seized the assets of the former Bishop in Coimbatore, Manickam Dorai– who last year was defrocked by the CSI for fraud and theft.

On 20 March 2013 a judge in Mangalore sentenced Bishop Bangera after the trial court found he had forged his birth certificate in order to avoid mandatory retirement at age 65. Elected Bishop in 2005 the bishop declined to step down from office on his 65^th birthday on 29 June 2009.  He presented a birth certificate showing he had been born in 1945 and brought suit to block his retirement.

However the newly appointed treasurer of the diocese, while investigating allegations of theft made against Bishop Bangera, uncovered a birth certificate dated 1944. An inquiry with the municipality that had allegedly issued in 1945 birth certificate found it was a forgery and bishop’s true birth year was 1944.  Bishop Bangera currently is on bail pending appeal.

Last month the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of the Indian tax authority attached properties registered in the name of the life and brother of the former Bishop in Coimbatore Manickam Dorai under the rules governing the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.  The levies came after the Tamil Nadu state police registered a case against Bishop Dorai and his brother for “misappropriation of Diocese funds, a public charitable trust, to the tune of Rs 7.93 crore” (£865,000).

In 2012 Bishop Dorai was defrocked by the CSI after he was found guilty of fraud and theft of church funds.

Corruption Stalks Church of South India- Special Report

CHENNAI, India: Corruption Stalks Church of South India 
Fifteen out of 21 Anglican bishops said to be corrupt according to Central Intelligence Authorities
Nearly two million dollars given for Tsunami victims by The Episcopal Church that were siphoned off reveal tip of financial corruption
Corruption Stalks Church of South India 
By David W. Virtue in Chennai 
www.virtueonline.org 
March 27, 2013

Nearly two million dollars given by Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), the social service arm of The Episcopal Church, for victims of the 2004 Tsunami never got to those for whom it was intended. A Church of South India General Secretary diverted a third of the money to a private clinic run by her medical daughter, a Dr. Beneta.

The money was supposed to have gone to fishermen who lost their boats following giant earthquake driven Tsunami waves that killed 155,000 people and decimated the fishing industry. Money was given to rebuild their homes and to buy new fishing boats destroyed by the 50 foot waves. They received minimal sums of money for boats but nothing for reconstructing their lives and homes.

This is just one of numerous stories of a decades-long history of corruption in the Church of South India that has left Christians cynical that change is possible and good order can ever be restored to the biggest Protestant Church in India. One Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) detective (the equivalent of the FBI) says that the problem remains so widespread in the Church of South India that as many as 15 of the church's 21 bishops have been tainted by corruption over the years.

Major J. Victor, an Anglican lay activist, General Secretary, Laity Association of CSI and whistle blower who has railed against corruption of the Church of South India for years, sat down with VIRTUEONLINE in Chennai. He told the story of corruption that has riddled his Church, resulting not only in fines and jail time for crooked bishops, but a weakened witness for the gospel while bishops grew fat on money from Anglican agencies abroad including The Episcopal Church.

"What has been going on here for at least a decade is unconscionable, unbiblical and has undermined the gospel enterprise. The Anglican Church has not grown because of the corruption, while Assemblies of God, Pentecostal churches and other denominations have flourished." According to Victor, many members of CSI pay a nominal sum to keep their membership in the church for the sake of baptism, marriages and burial while they attend other churches on a weekly basis and give their tithing to them.

Corruption has emanated from the highest levels of the church - its bishops - with charges of tax fraud, cronyism, nepotism, money hijacked from land deals, hospital fraud, stolen Tsunami funds, vote buying, and much more.

Despite new and ongoing revelations, corruption remains endemic in the Indian church, Victor charges. One state investigator alleges that 15 of the CSI's 21 bishops are tainted by corruption. "At one point in 2010, I told Suzanne Parks, an assistant to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, about the corruption in the CSI but nothing was done. This was a shocking abdication of responsibility," added Victor.

The whistle blower showed VOL hundreds of pages of documents and files detailing decades of corruption. Some of it led to legal action with charges and arrests brought against bishops resulting in protracted law suits, court battles with the bishops slipping through the legal system owing to corrupt judges bribed by the bishops. "There is not one case the bishops have won in the law courts, what they have succeeded in doing is delaying the legal process by years to prevent final judgment," said Victor.

"Over the years, I estimate that as much as $4 million dollars has been stolen by bishops who then purchased expensive new foreign cars, built multi-level homes and lined their own pockets," Victor told VOL.

Most of the bishops come from the despised Dalit classes, India's poorest who suffer from poor self esteem. Christianity has brought them wealth from old colonial British days via money left in properties that the bishops now hold in trust and can dispose of without any accountability. It is their ticket out of poverty. Psychologically, many are still trapped in deep feelings of inferiority. For the Dalit class, money is a way to climb out of the deep personal self-judgment they feel. Dalits are not respected like Brahmins, India's ruling class. When judgment in the courts or by police looks like it is going against them, they play the Dalit card, said Victor.

"That is no excuse for taking money and misusing it for personal reasons. It goes against the gospel and it results in widening ripples of corruption that never gets fully resolved and only weakens evangelistic efforts of the church," said Victor.

courtesy-http://www.virtueonline.org/portal

Securing the Indian state from the people By Ninan Koshy

SPEAKING FREELY Securing the Indian state from the people By Ninan Koshy Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. The day that the "Iron Lady" of Manipur, Irom Sharmila, who for the past 12 years has been waging a battle for the repeal of the much-dreaded Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), was hauled up before a Delhi court on the farcical charge of attempting to commit suicide, senior Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader Saifuddin Soz came out in support of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's long-standing demand for the repeal of the Act. Tuesday's killing of a youth in Baramulla, allegedly by security forces, compelled the Congress leader to do so. It is not only the AFSPA that needs to be repealed; other laws in the National Security Statues of India also need to be scrapped. In March 1984, on a visit to Colombo, I met Lalith Athulathmudali, on the day he took charge as the first Minister of National Security in Sri Lanka. I asked him what the portfolio of national security meant when there were already ministries for defense, home and foreign affairs. He laughed and then said seriously, ''It is everything''. National security doctrine was developed in the United States at the beginning of the Cold War. It began with an attempt to bring the various dimensions of foreign policy and military affairs together. With the new doctrine, anything that happened in any part of the world became a matter of national security for the US. Soon the Soviet Union had its own national security doctrine. National security doctrines became useful for all authoritarian regimes and dictatorships, like those in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Some states called it "total security", meaning that this doctrine guides all activities of the state and controls all those of its citizens. This was what Athilathmudali had in mind when he said, ''It is everything''. Rather strangely, India's national security institutions - the National Security Council, National Security Advisory Board and National Security Advisor - were put in place only when India became a nuclear weapon state in 1998. This not only gave the impression that nuclear weapons were indispensable for national security, but also that national security is synonymous with the possession of nuclear weapons. India's National Security Advisor, Shivasankar Menon, told a P C Lal Memorial Lecture on ''The National Security Challenges and Issues'' to the Air Force Association on April 2, 2012: "For a nation undergoing social and economic changes at a rate unparalleled in its long history and where expectations are rising exponentially, India as a society is remarkably at peace it with itself.'' If India is "a society remarkably at peace with itself", one may ask why the panoply of draconian laws in the name of security? Security laws in India seem to be enacted and applied on two assumptions. One is that sections of the people are enemies of the state, and the regime should be secured against them. The second assumption is that democracy needs to be protected from itself. It has to be secured from the openness and freedom which democracy allows. In this disturbing logic, undemocratic means are required to safeguard democracy. This also assumes that the interests of democracy can be folded into that of state security. The notion that state security can be reduced to regime security or the security of a particular government was thrust upon the Indian system, by the Emergency, a 21-month period from June 1975 to March 1977 when president Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, upon request by prime minister Indira Gandhi, declared a state of emergency under Article 352 of the constitution of India, effectively bestowing on her the power to rule by decree. The Emergency led to the legitimization of the use of emergency powers and security laws which go against the tenets of democracy. India's democratic institutions were suspended and fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution were violated on a massive scale. The Supreme Court betrayed the nation by abjectly justifying all this. Opposition to the Indira Gandhi government was recast as threats to the national sovereignty of India, thus giving an anti-people twist to the notions of nation and state. The regular additions to the plethora of security laws today give the impression of a creeping emergency in the country. What is striking is that the draconian security laws India has are in general a continuation of the laws in the colonial times enacted to control a rebellious population fighting the British Empire. Some of them have been renewed or revised in the light of neo-imperialist notions of security. The state's power to enact laws to maintain public order is not in question. What is questionable is when such laws go beyond reasonable limits in the name of security endanger people's security. It is when the extraordinary becomes the routine that the problem arises. Extraordinary laws have been used to target political opponents, human-rights defenders, religious minorities, Dalits, tribal communities, the landless and other poor, disadvantaged people. The Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) 2002, made in the aftermath of terrorist attacks in Washington and New York and the attack on the Indian Parliament, was a statute built upon a long tradition of anti-terrorism and security laws, dating to well before independence. It was also influenced by the Counter-Terrorism resolution of the UN Security Council 1371 on 28 September 2001 - a resolution misused by several states to curtail fundamental rights - and the US's Patriotic Act. POTA's definition of what constituted a terrorist act was too broad, criminalizing even political activism. The law permitted prolonged detention without charge and reversed the presumption of innocence which is the bedrock of the criminal justice system. In line with the Congress-led coalition's Common Minimum Programme, which vowed to launch terror-specific laws, the Manmohan Singh government repealed POTA. But in an unexpected act of betrayal, the government also reintroduced some of POTA's stringent provisions in an altered version of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and then amended the law a second time in the wake of November 2008 Mumbai terror attack. A number of important human-rights issues are raised by anti-terrorism laws in India. The basic problem is a vague and ambiguous definition of terrorism that fails to satisfy the principle of legality, Pre-trial investigation and detention procedure infringe upon due process and personal liberty. Enforcement is often arbitrary and selective on the basis of religion, caste, tribal status etc. Hundreds of innocent persons have been incarcerated under these laws, many without trial for years and then released. A day after his release from jail, 26-year-old journalist Muthi-ur-Rahman Siddiqui accused the police of harboring an "institutional bias" against the Muslim community. Siddiqui was arrested by the crime Branch of the Bangalore Police, along with 14 others, in August 2012 on charges of plotting to assassinate prominent Hindutva (roughly, a form of nationalist Hinduism) leaders as well as some journalists. The National Investigating Agency, which later took over the case, found no evidence against Siddiqui. Thirteen others arrested along with him are still in jail. This is only a recent example of the cruel misuse of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The AFSPA is taken straight out of the colonial statute book. It is based on a British ordinance - Armed Forces (Special Powers) Ordinance 1942 - aimed at containing the Indian independence movement during the time of World War II. The Act, enacted in 1958 for application in North East India, is still in force there and from 1990 in Jammu and Kashmir. The Act allows the government to define, at its discretion - its language is deliberately vague - and without judicial review, an area as disturbed and empowers the armed forces to shoot to kill, conduct warrantless searches and arrests, arbitrarily detain people and demolish structures in order to maintain public order. The Act provides de jure impunity to the armed forces. No legal proceedings can be brought against any member of the armed forces acting under AFSPA without prior sanction from the central government, which is almost impossible to obtain. The rule of the Army has a drastic effect on the daily life of the average citizen. The Act has legitimized a series of gross human-rights violations in northeast India and in Jammu and Kashmir, where it is in operation. Fundamental rights, such as the right to life (article 21), the right to a fair trial, the right to remedy and reparation and to peacefully assemble and protest as well as a series of economic, social and cultural rights, have been systematically violated in the area where the act is in operation. There have been several documented instances of the use of force causing death by the army in disturbed areas in the northeast and in Jammu and Kashmir. It is no wonder that people in these areas consider the Indian Army an occupying force, adding to the sense of alienation from the Indian nation. The resentment is deep and widespread and the authorities are totally insensitive to the issue as shown by the cynical indifference to the poignant witness of Irom Sharmila of Manipur. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed the need for reviewing the AFSPA. But the government has taken no action on the Jeevan Reddy committee's recommendations for changes in the Act. One thing is very clear. Any change to the AFPSA, that seeks even to moderate the powers given in it to the armed forces or its partial withdrawal, will be vehemently opposed by the army and the Ministry of Defence. That the army personnel are above the ordinary laws of the country was once again shown in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Order 2013 on offenses against women. Contrary to the recommendations of the Justice Verma Committee, the ordinance on sexual assault does not include any reference to the AFSPA. The committee had suggested that sexual crimes by armed forces should be tried under ordinary criminal law but it was rejected by the Defence Ministry and the Army. The most blatant way in which the colonial mentality is buttressed in the Indian legal system today, is in the offense of sedition in section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This was the section used by the British masters against the stalwarts of India's freedom struggle, including Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. This provision stipulates that whoever excites "disaffection" towards the government established by law in India shall be punished by imprisonment for life. The validity of this provision was upheld in the Kedarnath Case in 1962. The Supreme Court held that "strong words used to express disaffection of the measures of Government with a view to their improvement or alteration by lawful means would not come under this section and that prosecution under sedition laws should be conducted only in cases where there is incitement to violence". Justice Rajinder Sachar, former chief justice of the Delhi High Court and defender of people's rights and security noted, "with regret", that "the Supreme Court refused to recognize the difference between the state and the government. Disloyalty can only be to the Indian State. But to spread disloyalty peacefully to the government because it is considered to have anti-people policies is the very foundation of a vibrant democracy. ''Disloyalty to a government is different from disloyalty to a state. But alas, because of the Kedar Nath Singh case the police confidently go on resorting to Section 124 against social activists and being non-bailable, the courts as a routine deny bail and the activist remains in jail for years even without the trial starting. A greater degree of human rights violation is hard to imagine". Our highest court has reduced state security to regime security. This provision has been used against a number of human-rights activists, journalists and public intellectuals in the country. Among them are Arundathi Roy, Binayk Sen, and Udaya Kumar, the leader of the anti-nuclear Kudankulam agitation. When the Supreme Court has laid down clearly that the provisions of section 124 A are applicable only when there is a tendency to public disorder by use of violence or incitement to violence, how is that so many cases and First Information Reports (FIRs) continue to be registered against the media and others for their speeches and writings? The Report of a Seminar conducted by the Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy, National Law School of India University, Bangalore and Alternate Law Forum, Bangalore, in February 2011, is entitled "Sedition Laws: the End of Free Speech in India''. The Report has raised important questions on the undemocratic nature of the laws and their validity in a constitutional democracy like ours. The law on sedition is being used to stifle any dissenting voice and prevent any exploration of an alternate political philosophy which goes against the ideas of the regime. The right to free speech in democratic India is held hostage to an old colonial law, enacted under entirely different circumstances. There is absolutely no justification for a draconian law of this kind in independent India. The Information Technology Act is the latest addition to the statutes book undermining the constitutional right to freedom of expression. A national daily reported recently. "On February 6, 2013, Sanjay Chaudhary was arrested under Section 66 A of the Information Technology Act for posting 'objectionable comments and caricatures'', of Singh, Union Minister Kapil Sibal and Samajwadi president Mulayam Singh Yadav, on his Facebook wall. This arrest follows numerous others over the past few months for political speech through social media: Manoj Oswal for having caused 'inconvenience' to relatives of Nationalist Congress Party Chief Sharad Pawar for allegations made on his website, businessman Ravi Srinivasan in Puducherry for an allegedly defamatory Tweet against the son of Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram; Asseem Trivedi accused of the violation of the IT Act for drawing cartoons lampooning parliament and the constitution to depict its ineffectiveness. However, the incident that rocked the nation was the arrest last November of two young women, Shaheen Dadha and her friend Renu Srinivasan, in Mumbai for a comment posted on Facebook that questioned the shutdown of Mumbai following the demise of Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray. The girls were arrested under Section 66 A(a) of the IT Act for allegedly sending "a grossly offensive" and "menacing" message through a communication device. Kerala cyber-police on Sunday, February 24, booked a total of 111 people for allegedly defaming PJ Kurien, deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha who is reportedly involved in the Suryanelli gang-rape case, in Facebook postings. In addition to the person who posted the allegedly defamatory comment, the other 110 people booked have been charged under Section 66 A of the IT Act. Several Public Interest Litigations (PILs) have been filed challenging the constitutionality of Section 66A of the IT Act. Obviously the provision is a clear violation of articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution, the right to equality, the right to freedom of expression and the right to life. The most condemnable use of security provisions, related to sedition laws currently in force, is against the peaceful agitators against the Kudankulam nuclear plant in Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government has filed 325 cases including sedition, waging war on the Indian state and on other sections of Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Penal Code, with 5,296 named as accused and even larger number unnamed accused at one police station alone near the plant site. The struggle in Kudankulam is one of the most remarkable people's struggles in independent India. It is a peaceful agitation of the people around the plant to secure their rights for survival and livelihood - yes, people's security. There has been a ruthless attack on the struggle by the State with the machinery at its disposal, political, administrative and police. In addition to the continuing physical harassment and attacks, as we mentioned thousands of police cases have been foisted upon the agitators, charging them with ''sedition'' and ''war against the State''. Our prime minister said in his New Year Message of 2013, said: "Our democracy is our strength. It is the basis of our unity. It is also the most important guarantor of internal security". His government has failed miserably to apply this principle to governance in the country. Ninan Koshy is a political commentator based in Trivandrum, Kerala, India, and formerly Visiting Fellow, Harvard Law School. He is the author of War on Terror: Reordering the World andUnder the Empire: India's New Foreign Policy.  Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. (Copyright 2013 Ninan Koshy)

FLASH NEWS-Former CSI Bishop Sentenced in Forgery Case

MANGALORE March 20, 2013: A former Bishop of Church of South India - Karnataka Southern Diocese (CSI-KSD) Devaraj Bangera has been sentenced to three years simple imprisonment and fined Rs 15,000 in a case related forgery and cheating by the Second Chief Judicial Magistrate Court judge Bhagya here on Saturday. Bangera has been given bail in the case.

The case pertains to the former Bishop allegedly forging his birth certificate in order to secure an additional year's tenure as bishop. Bangera was the CSI Bishop from 2005 to 2009. He retired on attaining superannuation by completing 65 years on June 29, 2009. Bangera had filed a suit in the civil court contending that he was born a year later (1945) and therefore had one more year of tenure as CSI Bishop, but it was dismissed by the fifth additional civil court (junior division).

A private complaint was filed by advocate Chandrahas K at the Second CJM court based on the initiative of Udayaraj Kaunds, now the treasurer of CSI-KSD - after they found out that Bangera had allegedly indulged financial irregularities.

When they probed further, Kaunds found out that the Bishop had allegedly forged his birth certificate. Bangera was born in Udupi and studied at Udupi Christian School. It was alleged that the Bishop had produced fake documents reportedly issued by the Kasargod municipality, which mentioned his date of birth as June 29, 1945. However, according to documents obtained by the association using RTI Act, his date of birth in his SSLC certificate is June 29, 1944. The association also using RTI ascertained that Kasargod municipality had not issued a birth certificate 608/1945 in the name of Devaraj Bangera.

In 2009, some CSI members had launched an indefinite strike against the health project (hospital) proposed at the decades-old heritage Mission Bungalow in Mysore expressing fears that the heritage structure would be demolished. Protesters had alleged that CSI-KSD bishop Bangera had leased the place where the heritage building stands, to a US-based company for construction of 300-bedded hospital, by unfair means.

The case was argued for the state senior assistant public prosecutors B Shekhar Shetty and Ajith Kumar Hamaji.

(Times of India)

Pic: Bishop Bangera inspecting a church near Mangalore damaged in a Bajrang Dal activist attack in 2008

ദരിദ്രര്‍ വെള്ളം കിട്ടാതെ മരിക്കുന്ന കാലം

ജാഫര്‍ പുല്‍പള്ളി

1970-എഴുപതുകള്‍ മുതല്‍ക്കു തന്നെ ഗൗരവമായ ശ്രദ്ധ കൊടുക്കേണ്ട ഒന്നായി നിലനില്‍ക്കുന്ന പ്രശ്‌നമാണ് ആഗോള ജലപ്രതിസന്ധി. 21-ഇരുപത്തൊന്നാം നൂറ്റാണ്ടില്‍ ലോകം കാണാന്‍ പോകുന്ന യുദ്ധങ്ങള്‍ ജലത്തിനു വേണ്ടിയുള്ളതായിരിക്കും എന്ന ആശങ്ക ദശകങ്ങള്‍ക്കു മുമ്പേ ഉടലെടുത്തിരുന്നു. ആ ആശങ്കയ്ക്ക് ആധാരമായ സംഗതികളുടെ ഇന്നത്തെ അവസ്ഥ പരിശോധിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ മനസ്സിലാവുക പ്രശ്‌ന പരിഹാരം ഇന്നും വിദൂരതയിലാണെന്നാണ്. ഒരു ചെറിയ ഭേദഗതിയോടെ ആ ആശങ്ക ഇന്നും നിലനില്‍ക്കുന്നു: ജലത്തിനായി ഇന്ന് യുദ്ധം ചെയ്യുന്നത് ദരിദ്രനാണ്. അവന്റെ പട്ടിണിയും യാതനയും പതിന്മടങ്ങ് വര്ദ്ധിക്കാന്‍ ഒരു പ്രധാന കാരണം ഇന്ന് ജലപ്രതിസന്ധി കൂടിയാണ്.

തുടക്കം ഇരുപതാം ശതകത്തില്‍
പ്രതിസന്ധിയുടെ ഘടകങ്ങള്‍: മനുഷ്യോപയോഗത്തിനുള്ള ജലത്തിന്റെ ദൌര്‍ലഭ്യവും അതിന്റെ മലിനീകരണവുമാണ് ഈ പ്രതിസന്ധിയിലെ പ്രധാന ഘടകങ്ങള്‍. ഭൂമിയുടെ ജലസമ്പത്ത് നിശ്ചിതമാണ്, അത്് കൂടുകയോ കുറയുകയോ ചെയ്യുന്നില്ല. ലഭ്യതയുടെ പ്രശ്‌നങ്ങളാണിവിടെ പ്രതിസന്ധി തീര്ക്കുന്നത്.

ലോകജനസംഖ്യയില്‍ നൂറ് കോടിയിലധികം ആളുകള്‍ക്ക് ശുദ്ധമായ കുടിവെള്ളം എന്ന ലക്ഷ്യം അപ്രാപ്യമായി തീര്‍ന്നിരിക്കുന്നു ഇന്ന്. ഭൂഗര്‍ഭജലത്തിന്റെ അമിത ഊറ്റിയെടുക്കല്‍ ക്യഷിയ്ക്കാവശ്യമായ ജലത്തിന്റെ ദൗര്‍ലഭ്യം സ്യഷ്ടിക്കുന്നു.

ജലമലിനീകരണം പ്രതിസന്ധിയെ കൂടുതല്‍ രൂക്ഷമാക്കുന്നു. ഉള്ള ജലസ്രോതസ്സുകള്‍ തന്നെ മലിനമാകുന്ന അവസ്ഥ. ലോകത്ത് ഇന്ന് നടക്കുന്ന മരണങ്ങളില്‍ വലിയ പങ്കും ജലജന്യരോഗങ്ങള്‍ മൂലമോ ശുദ്ധജലത്തിന്റെ ദൗര്‍ലഭ്യം മൂലമോ ആണ്. ലോകബാങ്കിന്റെ കണക്കനുസരിച്ച് ലോകജനസംഖ്യയെ ബാധിക്കുന്ന രോഗങ്ങളുടെ 88 ശതമാനവും അശുദ്ധജലത്തിന്റെ ഉപയോഗവും ശുചിയായി ജീവിക്കാനാവശ്യമായ ജലത്തിന്റെ ഇല്ലായ്മയും മൂലമുള്ളതാണ്. വികസ്വര, ദരിദ്രരാഷ്ട്രങ്ങളിലെ സ്ത്രീകളെല്ലാവരും ചേര്‍ന്ന് നിത്യവും ജലശേഖരണത്തിനായി 20 കോടി മണിക്കൂര്‍ ചെലവഴിക്കുന്നു

ദരിദ്രരാഷ്ട്രങ്ങള്‍ മാത്രമല്ല ഈ പ്രതിസന്ധിയുടെ പിടിയില്‍ അമരാന്‍ പോകുന്നത്. യൂറോപ്പിലെയും അമേരിക്കന്‍ ഭൂഖണ്ഡങ്ങളിലെയും വികസിതരാഷ്ട്രങ്ങള്‍ക്കും ഇത് ഒരു വെല്ലുവിളിയായി നിലനില്‍ക്കുന്നു. അമേരിക്കയിലെ ജലവിഭവ വകുപ്പിന്റെ കണക്കനുസരിച്ച് നഗരജനസംഖ്യ ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ നിലയില്‍ വര്‍ദ്ധിച്ചാല്‍ വരും വര്‍ഷങ്ങളില്‍ അവിടുത്തെ വന്‍ നഗരങ്ങള് മിക്കവയും ജലക്ഷാമത്തിന്റെ പിടിയിലാകും.

ചൈന, ഇന്ത്യ തുടങ്ങിയ രാജ്യങ്ങളില്‍ ക്യഷിയാവശ്യത്തിനായി പമ്പുകള്‍ ഉപയോഗിച്ച് നടത്തുന്ന വന്‍തോതിലുള്ള വെള്ളമൂറ്റല്‍ ആ രാജ്യങ്ങളുടെ ജലനിരപ്പില്‍ വലിയ കുറവുണ്ടാക്കുമെന്നും ഭാവിയില്‍ ഇത് രൂക്ഷമായ ജലദൌര്‍ലഭ്യത്തിനു കാരണമാകും എന്ന് കരുതപ്പെടുന്നു. ഇതേ പ്രശ്‌നം പാകിസ്ഥാന്‍, ഇറാന്‍, മെക്‌സിക്കോ തുടങ്ങിയ രാജ്യങ്ങളെയും കാത്തിരിക്കുന്നു. ഈ സ്ഥിതി തുടര്ന്നാല്‍ ഈ നൂറ്റാണ്ടിന്റെ പകുതിയോടെ 300 കോടി ജനങ്ങളെങ്കിലും ഗുരുതരമായ ജലക്ഷാമത്തിനു ഇരയാകും എന്ന് അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര സംഘടനകള്‍ പറയുന്നു.

അപ്രത്യക്ഷമായേക്കാവുന്ന നദികള്‍
യു.എന്‍ കാലാവസ്ഥാ റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ട് അനുസരിച്ച് വലിയൊരു ദുരന്തം 2035 ഓടെ ഇന്ത്യ, പാകിസ്ഥാന്‍, ബംഗ്ലാദേശ്, ചൈന, നേപ്പാള്‍, മ്യാന്മാര്‍ തുടങ്ങിയ രാജ്യങ്ങളെക്കാത്തിരിക്കുന്നു. ആഗോളതാപനം ഈ നിലയില്‍ തുടര്‍ന്നാല്‍ ഈ രാജ്യങ്ങളിലെ ജലലഭ്യതയുടെ വലിയ സ്രോതസ്സുകളായ വന്‍നദികളുടെ ഉറവയായ ഹിമാലയന്‍ ഗ്ലേസിയറുകള്‍ അപ്രത്യക്ഷമാകും എന്നതാണാ ദുരന്തം. അങ്ങിനെ വന്ന്്് ഗംഗ, സിന്ധു, ബ്രഹ്മപുത്ര, യാംഗ്ട്‌സി, മെക്കോംഗ് തുടങ്ങിയ ഭീമന്‍ നദികള്‍ ഇല്ലാതായാല്‍ ഈ രാഷ്ട്രങ്ങളുടെ അവസ്ഥ എന്താകും? ഇന്ത്യയില്‍ മാത്രം ഗംഗാനദിയെ ആശ്രയിച്ച് ജീവിക്കുന്ന ആളുകളുടെ എണ്ണം 50 കോടിയാണ്.

ജലപ്രതിസന്ധി മനുഷ്യനെ മാത്രമല്ല ജൈവമണ്ഡലത്തെ ഒട്ടാകെ ബാധിക്കും. ജലത്തിന്റെ ഇല്ലാതാകല്‍ ഇല്ലാതാക്കിക്കളയുന്നത് വനങ്ങളെയും അവയില്‍ പാര്‍ക്കുന്ന പക്ഷി മ്യഗാദികളെയും കൂടിയാണ്.

ജലത്തിന്റെ രാഷ്ട്രീയം
ജലപ്രതിസന്ധി പലപ്പോഴും പ്രാദേശിക ജനവിഭാഗങ്ങള്‍ തമ്മിലോ രാഷ്ട്രങ്ങള്‍ തമ്മിലോ പരസ്പര പോരാട്ടത്തിലും കലാശിക്കുന്നു. രാഷ്ട്രങ്ങളുടെ അതിര്‍ത്തികളിലൂടെ ഒഴുകുന്നതും നിരന്തരമായ പരസ്പര സ്പര്‍ദ്ധയ്ക്കും പോരാട്ടത്തിനും കാരണമാകുന്നതുമായ 250 ലധികം നദികള്‍ ലോകത്തിലുണ്ടെന്ന് കണക്കാക്കപ്പെടുന്നു. അന്തര്‍ദേശീയ ജലതര്‍ക്കങ്ങളെ പരിഹരിക്കാന്‍ 'ഹെത്സിങ്കി ചട്ടങ്ങള്' എന്ന പേരില്‍ അന്താരാഷ്ട്രനിയമം നിലവിലുണ്ടെങ്കിലും പലപ്പോഴും പ്രശ്‌നം ഈ ചട്ടങ്ങളുടെ വരുതിയില്‍ നില്‍ക്കാതെ പോകുന്നു.

ചില പ്രശ്‌നങ്ങളിലെങ്കിലും രാജ്യങ്ങള്‍ തമ്മില്‍ സ്വതവേയുള്ള അതിര്‍ത്തിത്തര്‍ക്കങ്ങളുടെ ഭാഗമായും ജലത്തര്‍ക്കങ്ങള്‍ ഉടലെടുക്കുന്നു. യൂഫ്രട്ടീസ്, ടൈഗ്രിസ് നദികളിലെ ജലത്തിന്റെ അവകാശത്തിന്മേല്‍ ഇറാന്‍, ഇറാഖ്, സിറിയ തുടങ്ങിയ രാജ്യങ്ങള്‍ തമ്മിലുള്ള തര്‍ക്കത്തിന് വര്‍ഷങ്ങളുടെ വയസ്സുണ്ട്. അവ പലപ്പോഴും പരസ്പരയുദ്ധത്തിന്റെ വക്കില്‍ വരെ കൊണ്ടെത്തിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട് ആ രാജ്യങ്ങളെ. 1974-ല്‍ സിറിയ യൂഫ്രട്ടീസില്‍ നിര്‍മ്മിച്ചു കൊണ്ടിരുന്ന ഡാം തകര്‍ക്കാന്‍ ഇറാഖ് സേന സിറിയന്‍ അതിര്‍ത്തി കടന്ന സംഭവം ഇത്തരത്തിലുള്ള ഒന്നാണ്.

സമാനമായ തര്‍ക്കങ്ങള്‍ എല്ലാ ഭൂഖണ്ഡങ്ങളിലും അരങ്ങേറിയിട്ടുണ്ട്, മിക്കവയും ഇപ്പോഴും തുടരുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നു. ഹംഗറിയും ചെക്കോസ്ലോവാക്യയും തമ്മില്‍ ഉടലെടുത്ത തര്‍ക്കം, തെക്ക്,വടക്കന്‍ കൊറിയകള്‍ തമ്മിലുള്ളത്, ഇസ്രായേലും പാലസ്തീനും തമ്മിലുള്ളത്, ഈജിപ്തും എത്യോപ്യയും തമ്മിലുള്ളത് എന്നിങ്ങനെ തുടരുന്നു അവ. മിക്കവയും മധ്യസ്ഥ ശ്രമങ്ങളിലൂടെയും മറ്റും തീര്ക്കാന്‍ കഴിയാത്തത്ര സങ്കീര്‍ണമാണെന്ന് അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര ഏജന്‍സികള്‍ പറയുന്നു.

പരിഹാരമാര്‍ഗങ്ങള്‍ വിദൂരതയിലോ?
പ്രശ്‌നം ഗുരുതരം എന്ന് എല്ലാവരും തിരിച്ചറിയുന്നു, പക്ഷെ പരിഹാരം ആരുടെ കയ്യിലുമില്ല. ഭൂമി മുഴുവന്‍ പരന്നുകിടക്കുന്ന സമുദ്രജലത്തെ ശുദ്ധീകരിച്ച് ഉപയോഗിക്കാന്‍ ഊര്‍ജ്ജം വേണം, വലിയ പണച്ചെലവ് നേരിടുന്ന മാര്‍ഗം. ദരിദ്ര രാജ്യങ്ങള്ക്ക് തികച്ചും അസാധ്യമായ ഒന്ന്. ഒരിക്കല്‍ ഉപയോഗിച്ച ജലത്തെ വീണ്ടും ശുദ്ധിയാക്കി ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്ന മാര്‍ഗത്തിനും പണച്ചെലവേറെയാണ്. ഇവയൊക്കെ സമ്പന്ന രാജ്യങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് മാത്രമേ സാധ്യമാകൂ. ഇസ്രായേല്‍, സിംഗപ്പൂര്‍, ആസ്‌ട്രേലിയ തുടങ്ങിയ രാജ്യങ്ങള്‍ ഈ മാര്‍ഗം ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നെങ്കിലും അവരുടെ ആവശ്യത്തിന്റെ ചെറിയൊരു ഭാഗം മാത്രമേ ഇത്തരത്തില്‍ ഉത്പാദിപ്പിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയുന്നുള്ളു.
നിര്‍ദ്ദേശിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന മറ്റൊരു പരിഹാരമായ ഭൂഗര്‍ഭജലത്തിന്റെ ഉപയോഗ നിയന്ത്രണം എന്നത് ക്യഷിയെ പ്രതികൂലമായി ബാധിക്കും എന്നതിനാല്‍ പല രാജ്യങ്ങള്‍ക്കും സ്വീകാര്യമല്ലാത്ത ഒന്നാണ്.

എല്ലാ രാജ്യങ്ങളും തങ്ങളുടെ പരിസ്ഥിതിയെ, പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് നീര്‍ത്തടങ്ങള്‍, നദീസ്രോതസ്സുകള്‍ എന്നിവയെ സംരക്ഷിക്കുകയും അതു വഴി ജലത്തിന്റെ സ്വാഭാവികമായ ശേഖരിക്കപ്പെടലും ഒഴുക്കും വര്‍ദ്ധിക്കുകയും ചെയ്താല്‍ പ്രതിസന്ധിയെ തരണം ചെയ്യാന്‍ സാധിക്കും എന്ന് പാരിസ്ഥിതികമായ പരിഹാരങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ച് നടത്തപ്പെട്ട പഠനങ്ങള്‍ പറയുന്നു. കൂടാതെ ജനസംഖ്യാ വര്‍ദ്ധനവ് പിടിച്ചു നിര്‍ത്തുന്നത് പ്രശ്‌നപരിഹാരത്തെ വലിയ തോതില്‍ സഹായിക്കും എന്നതും തീര്‍ച്ചയാണ്.

2013 : ലോക ജലസഹകരണ വര്‍ഷം
ജലപ്രതിസന്ധിയുടെ ഗുരുതരാവസ്ഥ ലോകത്തെ ബോധ്യപ്പെടുത്തുന്നതിനും പ്രശ്‌നപരിഹാരത്തിനാവശ്യമായ നയരൂപീകരണം അടക്കമുള്ള കാര്യങ്ങളില്‍ ചര്‍ച്ച നടത്തുന്നതിനുമായാണ് ഐക്യരാഷ്ട്ര സംഘടന, 2013 ലോക ജലസഹകരണ വര്‍ഷം ആയി ആചരിക്കാന്‍ തീരുമാനിച്ചത്. 2010 ല്‍ ആയിരുന്നു ഈ തീരുമാനം കൈക്കൊണ്ടത്. കൂടാതെ 2013 മാര്‍ച് 22 ലോക ജലദിനമായി ആചരിക്കാനും തീരുമാനിക്കപ്പെട്ടു. ഈ ഒരു വര്‍ഷം ജലസംരക്ഷണത്തിന്റെ പ്രാധാന്യത്തെക്കുറിച്ചും ജലസ്രോതസ്സുകളുടെ വീണ്ടെടുപ്പിനെക്കുറിച്ചും പരിപാടികള്‍ ലോകവ്യാപകമായി നടക്കും. പോഷകസംഘടനയായ 'യുനെസ്‌കോ' യുടെ നേത്യത്വത്തിലാണ് പരിപാടികള്‍ നടക്കുക. ജലപ്രതിസന്ധിയെ തരണം ചെയ്യുന്നതിനായി പരസ്പരസഹകരണത്തിന്റെ പുതിയ പാതകള്‍ തേടേണ്ടതുണ്ട് എന്നതാണ് വര്‍ഷാചരണത്തിന്റെ സന്ദേശം.

ഇക്കഴിഞ്ഞ മാസം ദാവോസില്‍ നടന്ന ലോക സാമ്പത്തിക ഫോറത്തില്‍ ഈ പ്രശ്‌നം സജീവ ചര്‍ച്ചയ്ക്ക് വിധേയമാകുകയും തീരുമാനങ്ങള്‍ കൈക്കൊള്ളുകയും ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട്. ദാവോസും മുന്നോട്ട് വെക്കുന്നത് പുതിയൊരു സഹകരണ പദ്ധതിയാണ്. കൊക്കാ കോള, പെപ്‌സികോ തുടങ്ങി ജലം ഏറെ ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്ന ബഹുരാഷ്ട്രകമ്പനികളും ഗവണ്മെന്റുകളും എന്‍.ജി.ഓ.കളും ചേര്‍ന്നുള്ള പുതിയ സഹകരണ പരീക്ഷണം. എന്നാല്‍ ഇത്തരം 'പാര്‍ട്ണര്‍ഷിപ്പ്' പരിപാടികള്‍ ദരിദ്രരാഷ്ട്രങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് എന്തു നല്‍കും എന്ന കാര്യത്തില്‍ ആശങ്കകള്‍ ഉയരുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നുണ്ട്.

വരും ദശകങ്ങള്‍ ജല സംരക്ഷണ പ്രവര്‍ത്തനങ്ങളുടെ കാര്യത്തില്‍ നിര്‍ണ്ണായകമാണെന്നും ഉണര്‍ന്നു പ്രവര്‍ത്തിച്ചില്ലെങ്കില്‍ മാലോകരില്‍ ഏറ്റവും നിസ്വരായവര്‍' വെള്ളം കിട്ടാതെ മരിക്കുന്ന' സ്ഥിതി വന്നു ചേരുമെന്നും ഉള്ള അറിവിലേക്ക് ഉണരേണ്ടത് ഇന്ന് ഓരോ മനുഷ്യന്റെയും ആവശ്യമായി വന്നിരിക്കുന്നു.

courtesy-The Mathrubhumi