Freedom of Religion Bill and Christians
By P.N. BENJAMIN
(Deccan Herald, 27 March 1979)
Freedom of Religion Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 22, 1978, seeks "to forbid conversions from one religion to another by the use of force or inducement or deceit or by any fraudulent means."
This Bill is in no way "against genuine conversions done with free consent and will." It Is meant to curb abuses, especially prevalent in the conversions of Adivasis and Harijans.
The Bill has provoked strong protests among some Christian leaders who are accusing it of being against the freedom of conscience guaranteed by the Constitution. Representatives of the Karnataka Christians Combined Action Committee recently called on the Governor and submitted a memorandum protesting against the Bill. They also "urged the Government to extend the privileges given to Scheduled Castes to Christians of Scheduled Caste origin." (D.H. March 21).
The Christian leaders seem to forget that the supreme body of the Catholic Church in Rome, the Ecumenical Council, Vatican II, itself has condemned conversion by force and allurement in the very same terms used by the Bill. Besides, the Freedom of Religion Bill will be equally applicable to all the religious communities, since it forbids forced conversion from one religion to another; so there is no valid reason why Christian leaders alone should agitate against it.
A section of the Christian Church has always wrongly emphasised conversion as the primary aim of the Christian mission, totally misunderstanding Christ's commission. In India some churches were more influenced by this misconceived idea. In the last decade, the issue attracted wide attention within and outside the Church.
At this point, one can ask whether mere conversion will any way help the Church in fulfilling the Christian duty in a society. Many will answer in negative. As long as the economic and social conditions remain unchanged, the Church's mission also will fail.
Christians have sinned more than others .in perpetuating social injustice. Therefore, to speak of the Harijan Christians and ask the Government to uphold fairness and justice is to add insult to injury. It smacks of hypocrisy.
PRESTIGIOUS
Christians run prestigious schools for the children of the affluent and even accept rich donations for admission to these Institutions. In many of these schools the authorities do not admit the children of Harijan Christians on the pretext that they cannot help their wards in their home work as they do not have "English education.' Through such schools, the class structure Is perpetuated and Christians are very much flattered by the fact that children of ' highly placed Hindu officials and businessmen seek admission in their institutions.
The Christian Church has no dearth of money and organisation. As Mr. Joachim Alva the former M.P., once said, "Christ was the son of a carpenter, with fishermen as his apostles but his Church now is ah empire!." In the last 30 years vast sums of money have come from abroad into the coffers of the Church in India. One would like to know how much of this has been spent on the welfare of Harijan Christians. The Church has done nothing substantially to wipe the" tears out of these unfortunate ones.
On the other hand, this money from abroad has been mainly used to build lavish structures in big cities and on administrative personnel who appropriate the lion's share for themselves and their satellites. Huge hospitals have been built in cities and medical aid there is beyond the means- of the poor and needy. Excepting the ones run by Mother Teresa, almost all other Christian hospitals are unapproachable to the poor.
Caste-consciousness is still prevalent in the Christian community. The caste-complex still persisting among Christians only shows that they are not yet sufficiently redeemed as they profess to be. When the higher ideals and aspirations of the Christian path are understood and when, their mentors, both clergy and the laity, inculcate true Christian spirit among its members, the community can get rid of all negative phases of casteism and transform it as an ideal and casteless society.
MINIMUM CHANCE
When a Harijan becomes Christian he should be given a minimum chance of escaping from the 'outcasts' status. He should merge with the rest of the Christian community and the Church must make it possible for him to start afresh. If Christians cannot treat outcaste converts as part of their fellowship it is better to leave them alone. Christ himself said: "You encompass sea sad land to make one convert and then you make him twice the son of hell as you are."
For many of the Harijan Christians their conversion to Christianity means nothing but substitution of social discrimination within the Churches for discrimination within the Hindu system.
As for democratic and constitutional rights, let the Church first establish true democracy within its own institutions. It is well known that power and money in the Christian organisations are held by cliques who perpetuate their positions through constant manipulation of membership of committees. If any one has the courage to raise a dissenting voice he will find himself out by the end of the year.
All this is not to say that Christians should not raise their voice against injustice and intolerance, but a parochial approach is not the way. They should not try to bargain both ways to be Christians and at the same time grab the advantages available to the Scheduled Classes. They can as well choose to go back to the Hindu faith.
Educational and employment! opportunities and concessions should be made available to the poor and economically underprivileged and should not be based on caste or creed. Th» Government should bring in legislation urgently on an all-India basis towards this end. That would be a revolutionary step indeed which would go a long way towards abolition of caste and social inequality.
Christian leaders must stop "being dazzled by their own words and ensure instead that the distance is closed between what they preach and what they practise. They must take the beams out of their own eyes before pointing out the mote in others' eyes. Like charity, fight against social evils must begin at home. Otherwise, they would be told, "Physician, I heal thyself!." The Christian leaders must present themselves as men of real Christian vision, like Martin Luther King Jr., and charisma, like Mahatma Gandhi, and lead the people against injustice and oppression.
Those who describe the Freedom of Religion Bill as a blow to Christianity forget that the minorities in independent India, especially the Christians, have been enjoying more rights both in law and substance than ever before and they are much better off as citizens of a democratic country than those in the so-called citadels of democracy in the West.
It is a fact that the Catholics in India enjoy more privileges and better rights than their Catholic counterparts in the United States of America and Britain, both allegedly Christian. But the Christian leaders in India who cry wolf against the Bill close their eyes to this fact when they shout "threat to minority rights."
While it is wrong for the majority to deny the existence of minorities, it is equally wrong for the minorities to perpetuate themselves through artificial means and vested interests.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Freedom of Religion Bill 1978
From my files
Freedom of Religion Bill and Christians
By P.N. BENJAMIN
(Deccan Herald, 27 March 1979)
Freedom of Religion Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 22, 1978, seeks "to forbid conversions from one religion to another by the use of force or inducement or deceit or by any fraudulent means."
This Bill is in no way "against genuine conversions done with free consent and will." It Is meant to curb abuses, especially prevalent in the conversions of Adivasis and Harijans.
The Bill has provoked strong protests among some Christian leaders who are accusing it of being against the freedom of conscience guaranteed by the Constitution. Representatives of the Karnataka Christians Combined Action Committee recently called on the Governor and submitted a memorandum protesting against the Bill. They also "urged the Government to extend the privileges given to Scheduled Castes to Christians of Scheduled Caste origin." (D.H. March 21).
The Christian leaders seem to forget that the supreme body of the Catholic Church in Rome, the Ecumenical Council, Vatican II, itself has condemned conversion by force and allurement in the very same terms used by the Bill. Besides, the Freedom of Religion Bill will be equally applicable to all the religious communities, since it forbids forced conversion from one religion to another; so there is no valid reason why Christian leaders alone should agitate against it.
A section of the Christian Church has always wrongly emphasised conversion as the primary aim of the Christian mission, totally misunderstanding Christ's commission. In India some churches were more influenced by this misconceived idea. In the last decade, the issue attracted wide attention within and outside the Church.
At this point, one can ask whether mere conversion will any way help the Church in fulfilling the Christian duty in a society. Many will answer in negative. As long as the economic and social conditions remain unchanged, the Church's mission also will fail.
Christians have sinned more than others .in perpetuating social injustice. Therefore, to speak of the Harijan Christians and ask the Government to uphold fairness and justice is to add insult to injury. It smacks of hypocrisy.
PRESTIGIOUS
Christians run prestigious schools for the children of the affluent and even accept rich donations for admission to these Institutions. In many of these schools the authorities do not admit the children of Harijan Christians on the pretext that they cannot help their wards in their home work as they do not have "English education.' Through such schools, the class structure Is perpetuated and Christians are very much flattered by the fact that children of ' highly placed Hindu officials and businessmen seek admission in their institutions.
The Christian Church has no dearth of money and organisation. As Mr. Joachim Alva the former M.P., once said, "Christ was the son of a carpenter, with fishermen as his apostles but his Church now is ah empire!." In the last 30 years vast sums of money have come from abroad into the coffers of the Church in India. One would like to know how much of this has been spent on the welfare of Harijan Christians. The Church has done nothing substantially to wipe the" tears out of these unfortunate ones.
On the other hand, this money from abroad has been mainly used to build lavish structures in big cities and on administrative personnel who appropriate the lion's share for themselves and their satellites. Huge hospitals have been built in cities and medical aid there is beyond the means- of the poor and needy. Excepting the ones run by Mother Teresa, almost all other Christian hospitals are unapproachable to the poor.
Caste-consciousness is still prevalent in the Christian community. The caste-complex still persisting among Christians only shows that they are not yet sufficiently redeemed as they profess to be. When the higher ideals and aspirations of the Christian path are understood and when, their mentors, both clergy and the laity, inculcate true Christian spirit among its members, the community can get rid of all negative phases of casteism and transform it as an ideal and casteless society.
MINIMUM CHANCE
When a Harijan becomes Christian he should be given a minimum chance of escaping from the 'outcasts' status. He should merge with the rest of the Christian community and the Church must make it possible for him to start afresh. If Christians cannot treat outcaste converts as part of their fellowship it is better to leave them alone. Christ himself said: "You encompass sea sad land to make one convert and then you make him twice the son of hell as you are."
For many of the Harijan Christians their conversion to Christianity means nothing but substitution of social discrimination within the Churches for discrimination within the Hindu system.
As for democratic and constitutional rights, let the Church first establish true democracy within its own institutions. It is well known that power and money in the Christian organisations are held by cliques who perpetuate their positions through constant manipulation of membership of committees. If any one has the courage to raise a dissenting voice he will find himself out by the end of the year.
All this is not to say that Christians should not raise their voice against injustice and intolerance, but a parochial approach is not the way. They should not try to bargain both ways to be Christians and at the same time grab the advantages available to the Scheduled Classes. They can as well choose to go back to the Hindu faith.
Educational and employment! opportunities and concessions should be made available to the poor and economically underprivileged and should not be based on caste or creed. Th» Government should bring in legislation urgently on an all-India basis towards this end. That would be a revolutionary step indeed which would go a long way towards abolition of caste and social inequality.
Christian leaders must stop "being dazzled by their own words and ensure instead that the distance is closed between what they preach and what they practise. They must take the beams out of their own eyes before pointing out the mote in others' eyes. Like charity, fight against social evils must begin at home. Otherwise, they would be told, "Physician, I heal thyself!." The Christian leaders must present themselves as men of real Christian vision, like Martin Luther King Jr., and charisma, like Mahatma Gandhi, and lead the people against injustice and oppression.
Those who describe the Freedom of Religion Bill as a blow to Christianity forget that the minorities in independent India, especially the Christians, have been enjoying more rights both in law and substance than ever before and they are much better off as citizens of a democratic country than those in the so-called citadels of democracy in the West.
It is a fact that the Catholics in India enjoy more privileges and better rights than their Catholic counterparts in the United States of America and Britain, both allegedly Christian. But the Christian leaders in India who cry wolf against the Bill close their eyes to this fact when they shout "threat to minority rights."
While it is wrong for the majority to deny the existence of minorities, it is equally wrong for the minorities to perpetuate themselves through artificial means and vested interests.
Freedom of Religion Bill and Christians
By P.N. BENJAMIN
(Deccan Herald, 27 March 1979)
Freedom of Religion Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 22, 1978, seeks "to forbid conversions from one religion to another by the use of force or inducement or deceit or by any fraudulent means."
This Bill is in no way "against genuine conversions done with free consent and will." It Is meant to curb abuses, especially prevalent in the conversions of Adivasis and Harijans.
The Bill has provoked strong protests among some Christian leaders who are accusing it of being against the freedom of conscience guaranteed by the Constitution. Representatives of the Karnataka Christians Combined Action Committee recently called on the Governor and submitted a memorandum protesting against the Bill. They also "urged the Government to extend the privileges given to Scheduled Castes to Christians of Scheduled Caste origin." (D.H. March 21).
The Christian leaders seem to forget that the supreme body of the Catholic Church in Rome, the Ecumenical Council, Vatican II, itself has condemned conversion by force and allurement in the very same terms used by the Bill. Besides, the Freedom of Religion Bill will be equally applicable to all the religious communities, since it forbids forced conversion from one religion to another; so there is no valid reason why Christian leaders alone should agitate against it.
A section of the Christian Church has always wrongly emphasised conversion as the primary aim of the Christian mission, totally misunderstanding Christ's commission. In India some churches were more influenced by this misconceived idea. In the last decade, the issue attracted wide attention within and outside the Church.
At this point, one can ask whether mere conversion will any way help the Church in fulfilling the Christian duty in a society. Many will answer in negative. As long as the economic and social conditions remain unchanged, the Church's mission also will fail.
Christians have sinned more than others .in perpetuating social injustice. Therefore, to speak of the Harijan Christians and ask the Government to uphold fairness and justice is to add insult to injury. It smacks of hypocrisy.
PRESTIGIOUS
Christians run prestigious schools for the children of the affluent and even accept rich donations for admission to these Institutions. In many of these schools the authorities do not admit the children of Harijan Christians on the pretext that they cannot help their wards in their home work as they do not have "English education.' Through such schools, the class structure Is perpetuated and Christians are very much flattered by the fact that children of ' highly placed Hindu officials and businessmen seek admission in their institutions.
The Christian Church has no dearth of money and organisation. As Mr. Joachim Alva the former M.P., once said, "Christ was the son of a carpenter, with fishermen as his apostles but his Church now is ah empire!." In the last 30 years vast sums of money have come from abroad into the coffers of the Church in India. One would like to know how much of this has been spent on the welfare of Harijan Christians. The Church has done nothing substantially to wipe the" tears out of these unfortunate ones.
On the other hand, this money from abroad has been mainly used to build lavish structures in big cities and on administrative personnel who appropriate the lion's share for themselves and their satellites. Huge hospitals have been built in cities and medical aid there is beyond the means- of the poor and needy. Excepting the ones run by Mother Teresa, almost all other Christian hospitals are unapproachable to the poor.
Caste-consciousness is still prevalent in the Christian community. The caste-complex still persisting among Christians only shows that they are not yet sufficiently redeemed as they profess to be. When the higher ideals and aspirations of the Christian path are understood and when, their mentors, both clergy and the laity, inculcate true Christian spirit among its members, the community can get rid of all negative phases of casteism and transform it as an ideal and casteless society.
MINIMUM CHANCE
When a Harijan becomes Christian he should be given a minimum chance of escaping from the 'outcasts' status. He should merge with the rest of the Christian community and the Church must make it possible for him to start afresh. If Christians cannot treat outcaste converts as part of their fellowship it is better to leave them alone. Christ himself said: "You encompass sea sad land to make one convert and then you make him twice the son of hell as you are."
For many of the Harijan Christians their conversion to Christianity means nothing but substitution of social discrimination within the Churches for discrimination within the Hindu system.
As for democratic and constitutional rights, let the Church first establish true democracy within its own institutions. It is well known that power and money in the Christian organisations are held by cliques who perpetuate their positions through constant manipulation of membership of committees. If any one has the courage to raise a dissenting voice he will find himself out by the end of the year.
All this is not to say that Christians should not raise their voice against injustice and intolerance, but a parochial approach is not the way. They should not try to bargain both ways to be Christians and at the same time grab the advantages available to the Scheduled Classes. They can as well choose to go back to the Hindu faith.
Educational and employment! opportunities and concessions should be made available to the poor and economically underprivileged and should not be based on caste or creed. Th» Government should bring in legislation urgently on an all-India basis towards this end. That would be a revolutionary step indeed which would go a long way towards abolition of caste and social inequality.
Christian leaders must stop "being dazzled by their own words and ensure instead that the distance is closed between what they preach and what they practise. They must take the beams out of their own eyes before pointing out the mote in others' eyes. Like charity, fight against social evils must begin at home. Otherwise, they would be told, "Physician, I heal thyself!." The Christian leaders must present themselves as men of real Christian vision, like Martin Luther King Jr., and charisma, like Mahatma Gandhi, and lead the people against injustice and oppression.
Those who describe the Freedom of Religion Bill as a blow to Christianity forget that the minorities in independent India, especially the Christians, have been enjoying more rights both in law and substance than ever before and they are much better off as citizens of a democratic country than those in the so-called citadels of democracy in the West.
It is a fact that the Catholics in India enjoy more privileges and better rights than their Catholic counterparts in the United States of America and Britain, both allegedly Christian. But the Christian leaders in India who cry wolf against the Bill close their eyes to this fact when they shout "threat to minority rights."
While it is wrong for the majority to deny the existence of minorities, it is equally wrong for the minorities to perpetuate themselves through artificial means and vested interests.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Communal Riots
STOP THE "RIOT ENTERPRENURS" IN THEIR TRACKS
P.N.BENJAMIN
On March 7, 2006, twenty persons were killed and 125 injured in twin bomb blasts in the Holy City of Varanasi. But, life returned to normal in the city quickly basically because of the remarkable restraint and control of the people of Varanasi shown in such a provocative situation. Even to this day the city presents a model of communal harmony. How did it happen?
In a show of solidarity, all sections, cutting across religious and social affiliations, observed a bandh and took out peace marches. In a spontaneous move, Benares Hindu University (BHU) students marched to the Sankat Mochan temple, where a deadly blast occurred. They reiterated their resolve to fight terrorism. Hindu and Muslim women joined hands and took out marches for communal harmony through the busy streets. So did many other organisations. They carried placards and raised slogans of Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian unity and brotherhood.
Hundreds of BHU students and volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) participated in blood donation camps. There was no shortage of blood in the hospitals where the people injured in the blasts are being treated.
Abdul Batin Nomani, Mufti-e-Banaras, a respected cleric, issued appeals for maintaining peace and communal harmony. He appealed to all sections of the people and political leaders to "refrain from making our city the boxing arena for settling political scores and deriving political mileage from such tragic incidents. Hindus and Muslims here are dependent on each other. Both communities have lived in perfect harmony and enjoyed cordial relations. If weavers are Muslims, traders are Hindus. Their economic bonds are very strong and they share a remarkable trust. This fabric should not be harmed by anyone."
Similar sentiments were expressed by Sankat Mochan Temple Foundation's chief priest, Veerbhadra Mishra, who lamented the loss of lives in the terror attack. He said such attacks would change the security scenario, and even religious places would be turned into police strongholds, restricting the free movement of devotees.
Indeed, a miracle occurred in Varanasi. It once again proved Ashutosh Varshney’s deceptively simple thesis that "the greater the patterns of inter-communal civic engagement in a city, the lower the likelihood of violent conflicts and communal riots." (Ethnic Conflict & Civic Life). For example, "the Hindus of Varanasi would not attack the Muslim artisans who make the masks and effigies for the annual Ram Lila, even if an irresponsible and bigoted politician egged them on to do so."
In many parts of India, Hindus and Muslims engage with each other in strong associational forms of civic life, from political parties and non-religious movements for social justice or land reform, to trade unions and business groups. In some places, caste is a more important divider than religion. Such networks of civic engagements bring Hindu and Muslim urban communities together. These networks may take the form of associational interaction or they be everyday forms of engagement. Both forms, if inter-communal, promote peace but the capacity of associational forms to withstand events is substantially higher. Vigorous and communally integrated associational life can serve as an agent of peace by restraining those, including politicians, who would polarise Hindus and Muslims along communal lines.
Varshney's central insight is invaluable, and its buttressing with an impressive array of facts and figures from over seven years of research means that it is solidly grounded. Varshney has no illusions about how communal riots are instigated and manipulated: whatever the proximate trigger for violence, there is always a politician with an axe to grind, pulling the strings, inflaming passions, exploiting the victims for purely political ends. But the chances for success of such politicians (the breed of "riot-entrepreneurs") would be remarkably lower if there is vigorous and communally-integrated civic life, not just through everyday casual contact but through formal associations that consolidate the mutual engagement of the two communities.
.
Communal harmony is easier extolled in seminar halls than achieved on the ground. Terrorism and fundamentalism are the twin threats to communal harmony. Spunk and harmony may not foil terrorism, but they do foil the design to divide and disrupt. One hopes that politicians, in their zeal to obtain votes do not revive communal vengeance, which has done so much harm to communal harmony and peace in the country. Hindu-Muslim civic engagement should be an urgent priority for the politicians and policemen who make public policy and in whose hands lie the safety of our fellow citizens the next when a riot is instigated
P.N.BENJAMIN
On March 7, 2006, twenty persons were killed and 125 injured in twin bomb blasts in the Holy City of Varanasi. But, life returned to normal in the city quickly basically because of the remarkable restraint and control of the people of Varanasi shown in such a provocative situation. Even to this day the city presents a model of communal harmony. How did it happen?
In a show of solidarity, all sections, cutting across religious and social affiliations, observed a bandh and took out peace marches. In a spontaneous move, Benares Hindu University (BHU) students marched to the Sankat Mochan temple, where a deadly blast occurred. They reiterated their resolve to fight terrorism. Hindu and Muslim women joined hands and took out marches for communal harmony through the busy streets. So did many other organisations. They carried placards and raised slogans of Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Christian unity and brotherhood.
Hundreds of BHU students and volunteers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) participated in blood donation camps. There was no shortage of blood in the hospitals where the people injured in the blasts are being treated.
Abdul Batin Nomani, Mufti-e-Banaras, a respected cleric, issued appeals for maintaining peace and communal harmony. He appealed to all sections of the people and political leaders to "refrain from making our city the boxing arena for settling political scores and deriving political mileage from such tragic incidents. Hindus and Muslims here are dependent on each other. Both communities have lived in perfect harmony and enjoyed cordial relations. If weavers are Muslims, traders are Hindus. Their economic bonds are very strong and they share a remarkable trust. This fabric should not be harmed by anyone."
Similar sentiments were expressed by Sankat Mochan Temple Foundation's chief priest, Veerbhadra Mishra, who lamented the loss of lives in the terror attack. He said such attacks would change the security scenario, and even religious places would be turned into police strongholds, restricting the free movement of devotees.
Indeed, a miracle occurred in Varanasi. It once again proved Ashutosh Varshney’s deceptively simple thesis that "the greater the patterns of inter-communal civic engagement in a city, the lower the likelihood of violent conflicts and communal riots." (Ethnic Conflict & Civic Life). For example, "the Hindus of Varanasi would not attack the Muslim artisans who make the masks and effigies for the annual Ram Lila, even if an irresponsible and bigoted politician egged them on to do so."
In many parts of India, Hindus and Muslims engage with each other in strong associational forms of civic life, from political parties and non-religious movements for social justice or land reform, to trade unions and business groups. In some places, caste is a more important divider than religion. Such networks of civic engagements bring Hindu and Muslim urban communities together. These networks may take the form of associational interaction or they be everyday forms of engagement. Both forms, if inter-communal, promote peace but the capacity of associational forms to withstand events is substantially higher. Vigorous and communally integrated associational life can serve as an agent of peace by restraining those, including politicians, who would polarise Hindus and Muslims along communal lines.
Varshney's central insight is invaluable, and its buttressing with an impressive array of facts and figures from over seven years of research means that it is solidly grounded. Varshney has no illusions about how communal riots are instigated and manipulated: whatever the proximate trigger for violence, there is always a politician with an axe to grind, pulling the strings, inflaming passions, exploiting the victims for purely political ends. But the chances for success of such politicians (the breed of "riot-entrepreneurs") would be remarkably lower if there is vigorous and communally-integrated civic life, not just through everyday casual contact but through formal associations that consolidate the mutual engagement of the two communities.
.
Communal harmony is easier extolled in seminar halls than achieved on the ground. Terrorism and fundamentalism are the twin threats to communal harmony. Spunk and harmony may not foil terrorism, but they do foil the design to divide and disrupt. One hopes that politicians, in their zeal to obtain votes do not revive communal vengeance, which has done so much harm to communal harmony and peace in the country. Hindu-Muslim civic engagement should be an urgent priority for the politicians and policemen who make public policy and in whose hands lie the safety of our fellow citizens the next when a riot is instigated
THE LAST SUPPER
The Last Supper: An eduring episode
By P.N.Benjamin
An enduring episode in the annals of Christian art and history is the 'Last Supper' of Jesus Christ. Hours before his fateful trial for treason, Jesus Christ had hosted his disciples a Passover meal in an upper room in Jerusalem. This was the final meal he had prior to his crucifixion. He knew that his hour was drawing near.
However, before partaking of the food, Jesus rose from the table, took off his outer garments and tied a towel around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin, and insisted washing the feet of his twelve disciples sitting around him. He was thereby showing them once more that every act of true humility is a sort of grace whereby the soul grows as the will, or ego, diminishes. Intrigued and bashful at the same time, one of them exclaimed: 'You, Lord, washing my feet?' The Great One answered: “At present you do not understand what I am doing, but one day you will.'
After washing their feet, he put on his garment and sat down again. Addressing them he said: 'do you understand what I have done for you? You call me Master and L
ord, and rightly so, because that is what I am. If I then, your lord and master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I have set you an example: you are to do as I have done for you.'
Yes, the Great Christ himself knelt on the hard floor, and with his graceful hands, cleansed the feet of each and every of his disciple. This inspiring parable gives us a significant insight into Christ's humility and the essentiality of his message:
"He who wants to be great must become the smallest of all." (Mark 9.35). Thus, he showed his disciples how to escape from the little dark cells our egos make. Whosoever would be great in this world, he was always telling them, is small; and whoever, through his sense of God’s greatness, realizes his own smallness, becomes spiritually great.
P.N.BENJAMIN
501 Indira Residency
167 Hennur Road
Bangalore 560 043
Mob. 9731182308
By P.N.Benjamin
An enduring episode in the annals of Christian art and history is the 'Last Supper' of Jesus Christ. Hours before his fateful trial for treason, Jesus Christ had hosted his disciples a Passover meal in an upper room in Jerusalem. This was the final meal he had prior to his crucifixion. He knew that his hour was drawing near.
However, before partaking of the food, Jesus rose from the table, took off his outer garments and tied a towel around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin, and insisted washing the feet of his twelve disciples sitting around him. He was thereby showing them once more that every act of true humility is a sort of grace whereby the soul grows as the will, or ego, diminishes. Intrigued and bashful at the same time, one of them exclaimed: 'You, Lord, washing my feet?' The Great One answered: “At present you do not understand what I am doing, but one day you will.'
After washing their feet, he put on his garment and sat down again. Addressing them he said: 'do you understand what I have done for you? You call me Master and L
ord, and rightly so, because that is what I am. If I then, your lord and master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I have set you an example: you are to do as I have done for you.'
Yes, the Great Christ himself knelt on the hard floor, and with his graceful hands, cleansed the feet of each and every of his disciple. This inspiring parable gives us a significant insight into Christ's humility and the essentiality of his message:
"He who wants to be great must become the smallest of all." (Mark 9.35). Thus, he showed his disciples how to escape from the little dark cells our egos make. Whosoever would be great in this world, he was always telling them, is small; and whoever, through his sense of God’s greatness, realizes his own smallness, becomes spiritually great.
P.N.BENJAMIN
501 Indira Residency
167 Hennur Road
Bangalore 560 043
Mob. 9731182308
Serenity Prayer
The Serenity Prayer
by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
by Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.
SPEAK UP...
SPEAK UP
Speak: your lips are free Speak: your tongue is still yours Speak: this lissome body is yours Speak: this life is yours Speak: so that the truth can prevail ….
The secular brigade, which works itself up into just the right kind of outrage after every such carnage, could do with soul-searching on these allied issues.
But can we afford to forget the Delhi riots? Can we afford to forget the way the government in power allowed the killings to continue for days on end? Can we afford to forget the way people were roasted alive or butchered by armed gangs that walked the streets of Delhi openly and defiantly, unafraid of forces of law and order? Or, were they protected, aided and abetted by these same forces? Is there any hope that we can ever solve this problem of communal and caste violence? I don’t think so. Unless we have the will to do so. And not unless we can use every moral weapon in our armoury to make our governments more accountable, our law enforcing agencies more responsible.
Slogans and pretexts have been the secret arms of a callous elite, which has rarely been seriously concerned about the welfare of those over whom it lords. It is this callousness we must fight. Otherwise, many more Delhi will keep occurring. (Haven’t they already occurred during the last 21 years – Gujarat and Marad, for example?) Many, many more people will be killed on the pretext of religion, caste, and community. The violence will grow all around us, while its perpetrators walk the streets as free men, their chests puffed out, and their heads held high.
It is time for us to be ashamed of our silence. It is also time for us to be angry. Angry with the men who commit such heinous crimes. And also with those who stand by and watch them. Watch them maim, murder, loot, burn, destroy. Only our anger may scare them. Only our anger may force the authorities to act. To see that such terrible things are not allowed to happen, again and again.
Time has no discriminatory qualities. It heals even those wounds, which should not be healed. The tears of victims may have dried up with time, even though the residual hurt must have remained. At any rate Sikhs are a phlegmatic enough community that, has taken several hurts and prejudices in its stride. But this particular hurt is too hard to live down.
Even if all the earthly courts or commissions of inquiry were to find these monsters not guilty of any crime and set them free, we can be assured, now and always, that the heavenly court will brand them forever with the curse of God. In case they are still alive, we can be sure, theirs is a life so-called that is a million times worse than death. "There is a higher court than the courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts"( Mahatma Gandhi).
Speak: your lips are free Speak: your tongue is still yours Speak: this lissome body is yours Speak: this life is yours Speak: so that the truth can prevail ….
The secular brigade, which works itself up into just the right kind of outrage after every such carnage, could do with soul-searching on these allied issues.
But can we afford to forget the Delhi riots? Can we afford to forget the way the government in power allowed the killings to continue for days on end? Can we afford to forget the way people were roasted alive or butchered by armed gangs that walked the streets of Delhi openly and defiantly, unafraid of forces of law and order? Or, were they protected, aided and abetted by these same forces? Is there any hope that we can ever solve this problem of communal and caste violence? I don’t think so. Unless we have the will to do so. And not unless we can use every moral weapon in our armoury to make our governments more accountable, our law enforcing agencies more responsible.
Slogans and pretexts have been the secret arms of a callous elite, which has rarely been seriously concerned about the welfare of those over whom it lords. It is this callousness we must fight. Otherwise, many more Delhi will keep occurring. (Haven’t they already occurred during the last 21 years – Gujarat and Marad, for example?) Many, many more people will be killed on the pretext of religion, caste, and community. The violence will grow all around us, while its perpetrators walk the streets as free men, their chests puffed out, and their heads held high.
It is time for us to be ashamed of our silence. It is also time for us to be angry. Angry with the men who commit such heinous crimes. And also with those who stand by and watch them. Watch them maim, murder, loot, burn, destroy. Only our anger may scare them. Only our anger may force the authorities to act. To see that such terrible things are not allowed to happen, again and again.
Time has no discriminatory qualities. It heals even those wounds, which should not be healed. The tears of victims may have dried up with time, even though the residual hurt must have remained. At any rate Sikhs are a phlegmatic enough community that, has taken several hurts and prejudices in its stride. But this particular hurt is too hard to live down.
Even if all the earthly courts or commissions of inquiry were to find these monsters not guilty of any crime and set them free, we can be assured, now and always, that the heavenly court will brand them forever with the curse of God. In case they are still alive, we can be sure, theirs is a life so-called that is a million times worse than death. "There is a higher court than the courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts"( Mahatma Gandhi).
Moral Degradation
MORAL & IDEOLOGICAL RECONSTRUCTION OF POLITICS
By P.N.BENJAMIN
THOUGHTFUL and sensitive Indians have been expressing their deep concern over many disquieting tendencies and developments on the political scene.Today public debate on basic issues of political ideologies and principles, development and transformation, has fast receded into background and non-issues have assumed exaggerated significance. It is time that the healthy elements of Indian polity to raise the moral question of Indian politics today. They must stand outside the murky waters of politics and uphold the principles of morality in political life. They must also heed to the rising dissatisfaction of the large mass of nameless, ordinary men and women who are shocked by the immoral and unprincipled politics, which has emerged in the country.
The substitution of issues with non-issues reflects sharply the loss of ideological moorings of the political elite. This loss has contributed considerably towards political disorientation and the resurgence of factionalism based on petty passions and interests. Conflicts arise not over ideas and policies but over trivial issues.
To be concerned about the moral question is one thing and to be able to understand identify the deeper causes of the moral crisis and to find a way out of it is quite another. If the mere preaching of social and political morality was enough to create such a morality, India, having no dearth of sermonisers and preachers, could have solved the moral problem long ago. It may sound irrelevant but it is nevertheless true that the key to the moral question lies outside the moral sphere.
The cause for the drying up of the springs of moral energy lies in the inability of the present political elite to offer a morally electrifying goal to the country. The struggle for freedom gave a moral shake-up to the moribund Indian society in the pre-independence period. It became a moral force because it was not just a struggle for seizure of power by the nationalist elite from foreign hands, but was also the one for a "New Society". Politics can be revitalised as a moral force only if it becomes once again the instrument of the struggle for a new society.
The moral crisis of today can neither be understood nor resolved if it is only interpreted in the vulgar and narrow sense of moral lapses and aberrations of individuals. The struggle for power arouses the basest instincts if it is pursued in isolation of or in opposition to the struggle for a new society. In other words, as Gandhi so aptly summed up: "Power ennobles when it is a means of serving higher ideals. It degenerates when it becomes an end in itself or only a means of fulfilling smaller interests".
Gandhi contributed most to the uplifting of a demoralised nation from a state of passive submission to foreign rule to becoming heroic fighters against tyranny and injustice. He was a moral force because he created the consciousness of great oppression and injustice within the Indian society against the have-nots and the Dalits. It is therefore not his private ideas of moral life which made him a figure of historical significance but his contribution to the basic causes relating to India’s emergence as a new nation and a new society.
It is necessary to be free from the prison of many backward and obscurantist notions of morality if the moral energy of the people is to be released for the great challenges of building a new society. The concept of the "moral" itself has to be redefined in the light of new challenges facing the nation. In the ultimate analysis morality is not above but subordinate to the basic requirements of man’s social existence on a long-term basis. It has to be related to the dynamics of social existence.
Gandhi linked politics with philosophy in terms of such categories that derived from Indian traditions as were intelligible even to the illiterate masses of the country. After Independence, there occurred a decisive shift from ‘politics as social philosophy’ (i.e. politics as expression of evolving social consciousness of the people), to ‘politics as technique’ ( ie. politics as the art and science of acquiring and manipulating the levers of state power). This shift was a sequel to the transition from the era of national struggle to that of running the nation state.
The emergence of politics as a technique and as image-building of political leaders and manipulation of the people’s mind through the mass media has also led to modernising the coercive apparatus of the state on the model provided by advanced nations. Thus, the triumph of politics as a technique resulted in the erosion of the philosophical basis inherited from Gandhi.
The question of further development of the philosophical basis in the light of new challenges has never been put in the centre stage. It is no wonder that in the absence of a social philosophy, politics has put an exaggerated emphasis on skill rather than on motivation and commitment as the basic qualification of men and women supposed to build the new India of Gandhi’s dreams.
The weak moral consciousness of the Indian polity has its roots in the process of recruitment. In fact recruitment into politics does not involve an initiation into definite social philosophy and a code of conduct. The inner life of most political parties and their members is denuded of any interest in the question of social philosophy.
The process of building the new society must begin urgently. Its ideology and values must be brought into the centre of Indian politics. And, here individuals with unshakeable faith in the possibilities of moral reconstruction of Indian politics have an important role to play.
"One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety nine who have interests". This statement of John Stuart Mill is relevant to the Indian situation today when most men and women dominating the Indian scene have only interests but very few have beliefs. It is the men and women with convictions who hold the key to the future. The struggle for a new society – a new India –calls both for clear definition of the new society and new men and women who can become the agents for the creation of that new society.
P.N.BENJAMIN
Apt. 501, Indira Residency
167 Hennur Road
Kalyan Nagar
Bangalore 560 043
e-mail: benjaminpn@hotmail.com
By P.N.BENJAMIN
THOUGHTFUL and sensitive Indians have been expressing their deep concern over many disquieting tendencies and developments on the political scene.Today public debate on basic issues of political ideologies and principles, development and transformation, has fast receded into background and non-issues have assumed exaggerated significance. It is time that the healthy elements of Indian polity to raise the moral question of Indian politics today. They must stand outside the murky waters of politics and uphold the principles of morality in political life. They must also heed to the rising dissatisfaction of the large mass of nameless, ordinary men and women who are shocked by the immoral and unprincipled politics, which has emerged in the country.
The substitution of issues with non-issues reflects sharply the loss of ideological moorings of the political elite. This loss has contributed considerably towards political disorientation and the resurgence of factionalism based on petty passions and interests. Conflicts arise not over ideas and policies but over trivial issues.
To be concerned about the moral question is one thing and to be able to understand identify the deeper causes of the moral crisis and to find a way out of it is quite another. If the mere preaching of social and political morality was enough to create such a morality, India, having no dearth of sermonisers and preachers, could have solved the moral problem long ago. It may sound irrelevant but it is nevertheless true that the key to the moral question lies outside the moral sphere.
The cause for the drying up of the springs of moral energy lies in the inability of the present political elite to offer a morally electrifying goal to the country. The struggle for freedom gave a moral shake-up to the moribund Indian society in the pre-independence period. It became a moral force because it was not just a struggle for seizure of power by the nationalist elite from foreign hands, but was also the one for a "New Society". Politics can be revitalised as a moral force only if it becomes once again the instrument of the struggle for a new society.
The moral crisis of today can neither be understood nor resolved if it is only interpreted in the vulgar and narrow sense of moral lapses and aberrations of individuals. The struggle for power arouses the basest instincts if it is pursued in isolation of or in opposition to the struggle for a new society. In other words, as Gandhi so aptly summed up: "Power ennobles when it is a means of serving higher ideals. It degenerates when it becomes an end in itself or only a means of fulfilling smaller interests".
Gandhi contributed most to the uplifting of a demoralised nation from a state of passive submission to foreign rule to becoming heroic fighters against tyranny and injustice. He was a moral force because he created the consciousness of great oppression and injustice within the Indian society against the have-nots and the Dalits. It is therefore not his private ideas of moral life which made him a figure of historical significance but his contribution to the basic causes relating to India’s emergence as a new nation and a new society.
It is necessary to be free from the prison of many backward and obscurantist notions of morality if the moral energy of the people is to be released for the great challenges of building a new society. The concept of the "moral" itself has to be redefined in the light of new challenges facing the nation. In the ultimate analysis morality is not above but subordinate to the basic requirements of man’s social existence on a long-term basis. It has to be related to the dynamics of social existence.
Gandhi linked politics with philosophy in terms of such categories that derived from Indian traditions as were intelligible even to the illiterate masses of the country. After Independence, there occurred a decisive shift from ‘politics as social philosophy’ (i.e. politics as expression of evolving social consciousness of the people), to ‘politics as technique’ ( ie. politics as the art and science of acquiring and manipulating the levers of state power). This shift was a sequel to the transition from the era of national struggle to that of running the nation state.
The emergence of politics as a technique and as image-building of political leaders and manipulation of the people’s mind through the mass media has also led to modernising the coercive apparatus of the state on the model provided by advanced nations. Thus, the triumph of politics as a technique resulted in the erosion of the philosophical basis inherited from Gandhi.
The question of further development of the philosophical basis in the light of new challenges has never been put in the centre stage. It is no wonder that in the absence of a social philosophy, politics has put an exaggerated emphasis on skill rather than on motivation and commitment as the basic qualification of men and women supposed to build the new India of Gandhi’s dreams.
The weak moral consciousness of the Indian polity has its roots in the process of recruitment. In fact recruitment into politics does not involve an initiation into definite social philosophy and a code of conduct. The inner life of most political parties and their members is denuded of any interest in the question of social philosophy.
The process of building the new society must begin urgently. Its ideology and values must be brought into the centre of Indian politics. And, here individuals with unshakeable faith in the possibilities of moral reconstruction of Indian politics have an important role to play.
"One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety nine who have interests". This statement of John Stuart Mill is relevant to the Indian situation today when most men and women dominating the Indian scene have only interests but very few have beliefs. It is the men and women with convictions who hold the key to the future. The struggle for a new society – a new India –calls both for clear definition of the new society and new men and women who can become the agents for the creation of that new society.
P.N.BENJAMIN
Apt. 501, Indira Residency
167 Hennur Road
Kalyan Nagar
Bangalore 560 043
e-mail: benjaminpn@hotmail.com
The Challenge of the Child
RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE OF THE CHILD
P.N.BENJAMIN
The character and quality of a nation is determined by how its children are fed and educated for tomorrow. Free India must learn a lesson from that India-hater, Winston Churchill, who, in his country’s gravest hour, still insisted: “There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies”. We as a nation are so busy with adult agenda of personal relevance that milk for the infant and nutrition for the expectant mother, both below the bread line, must wait till it is too late. We have time only to quarrel about corruption – that perennial pragmatism of politician.
The harrowing tale of our neglected children is too tearful for words. They are the most deprived part of humanity, ill-fed and ill-clad, with little literacy and negligible chances of a decent life. They are victims of vices and moral lapses, of broken homes and juvenile crimes. We need militant laws to compel the State to nurture the neglected millions crowding in our towns and cities to pick food from garbage cans, sleep nude in the open and live like stray animals in the streets. Beggary Abolition Act gives Indian children stones, not bread! Asked Jesus: What man is there of you, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” There are many of that species in the present-day India.
Rights begin with viable life in the womb. So we must protect the child in the womb, legitimate or illegitimate. Every baby is innocent. Bernard Shaw was once asked: “Do you believe in Immaculate Conception?” He replied: “I believe every conception is immaculate”. There is now a UN Declaration against branding children illegitimate. But our system of inheritance and maintenance, despite our ancient and hallowed illegitimate greats, is discriminatory, in most personal laws, against the illegitimate child
Every month almost one lakh Indian children die as a direct result of malnutrition. As even greater number die due to infectious diseases which, could have been cured but for the lowered resistance of the malnourished children. A whole spectrum of sorrows remains to be exposed, a whole saga of blood, toils, sweat and tears remains to be lived down. Until then, there is only one criminal – the society.
The first task of social justice is to save the throw-away babies who today grow up in the world of beggars and vagrants and crippled crooks, and are often pushed into crime by a society which is the criminal number one.
Our founding fathers, dreaming of a brave new Bharat and its tryst with destiny, laid down the great testament of the Constitution where the value vision for future generations was projected. Deep concern for the material and moral welfare of the juvenalia of India is underscored and social injustice anathematised. Universal primary education is assured. Freedom from labour during tender age is mandated. Special care for children’s health and growth is a first charge
Let me not be misunderstood as being negative. We have positive gains on the credit side. Our national policy on the mother and child has been spelt out in the Fundamental Law, Articles 15(3), 24, 39(e) and 45, sum up this policy. More importantly, in the backward milieu of our country, the very affirmation of equal access and non-discrimination on account of sexes and castes is a Magna Carta for the child, female and backward but innocent and sinned against. For, most parents
are destitutes and down-and-outs, unlettered and under-nourished, and their babies are the most numerous.
The Children’s Hour is with us. But the law must take militant haste to sensitise itself and speak up. The ‘miles to go’ syndrome must be overcome. The Indian State should secure ‘a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of national life.’ But our environment is such that expectation darkens into anxiety, anxiety into dread and dread into despair.
Mother and Child go together and the economic march to a non-exploitative society is impossible without economic welfare for the mother and investment in the infant. Nobel laureate Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda wrote in 1945: “We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but the worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer “tomorrow”. His name is “Today”.
Let us respond to the challenge of the child to inaugurate justice to the young – Today, not Tomorrow.
The child should become the nation’s central interest and child welfare should no longer be treated as an administrative decoration but love and labour for the lovely gifts of God – our supreme asset.
P.N.BENJAMIN
501 Indira Residency
167 Hennur Road
Adjacent to Reliance Fresh
Bangalore 560 043
Cell: 9731182308
P.N.BENJAMIN
The character and quality of a nation is determined by how its children are fed and educated for tomorrow. Free India must learn a lesson from that India-hater, Winston Churchill, who, in his country’s gravest hour, still insisted: “There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies”. We as a nation are so busy with adult agenda of personal relevance that milk for the infant and nutrition for the expectant mother, both below the bread line, must wait till it is too late. We have time only to quarrel about corruption – that perennial pragmatism of politician.
The harrowing tale of our neglected children is too tearful for words. They are the most deprived part of humanity, ill-fed and ill-clad, with little literacy and negligible chances of a decent life. They are victims of vices and moral lapses, of broken homes and juvenile crimes. We need militant laws to compel the State to nurture the neglected millions crowding in our towns and cities to pick food from garbage cans, sleep nude in the open and live like stray animals in the streets. Beggary Abolition Act gives Indian children stones, not bread! Asked Jesus: What man is there of you, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” There are many of that species in the present-day India.
Rights begin with viable life in the womb. So we must protect the child in the womb, legitimate or illegitimate. Every baby is innocent. Bernard Shaw was once asked: “Do you believe in Immaculate Conception?” He replied: “I believe every conception is immaculate”. There is now a UN Declaration against branding children illegitimate. But our system of inheritance and maintenance, despite our ancient and hallowed illegitimate greats, is discriminatory, in most personal laws, against the illegitimate child
Every month almost one lakh Indian children die as a direct result of malnutrition. As even greater number die due to infectious diseases which, could have been cured but for the lowered resistance of the malnourished children. A whole spectrum of sorrows remains to be exposed, a whole saga of blood, toils, sweat and tears remains to be lived down. Until then, there is only one criminal – the society.
The first task of social justice is to save the throw-away babies who today grow up in the world of beggars and vagrants and crippled crooks, and are often pushed into crime by a society which is the criminal number one.
Our founding fathers, dreaming of a brave new Bharat and its tryst with destiny, laid down the great testament of the Constitution where the value vision for future generations was projected. Deep concern for the material and moral welfare of the juvenalia of India is underscored and social injustice anathematised. Universal primary education is assured. Freedom from labour during tender age is mandated. Special care for children’s health and growth is a first charge
Let me not be misunderstood as being negative. We have positive gains on the credit side. Our national policy on the mother and child has been spelt out in the Fundamental Law, Articles 15(3), 24, 39(e) and 45, sum up this policy. More importantly, in the backward milieu of our country, the very affirmation of equal access and non-discrimination on account of sexes and castes is a Magna Carta for the child, female and backward but innocent and sinned against. For, most parents
are destitutes and down-and-outs, unlettered and under-nourished, and their babies are the most numerous.
The Children’s Hour is with us. But the law must take militant haste to sensitise itself and speak up. The ‘miles to go’ syndrome must be overcome. The Indian State should secure ‘a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of national life.’ But our environment is such that expectation darkens into anxiety, anxiety into dread and dread into despair.
Mother and Child go together and the economic march to a non-exploitative society is impossible without economic welfare for the mother and investment in the infant. Nobel laureate Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda wrote in 1945: “We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but the worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer “tomorrow”. His name is “Today”.
Let us respond to the challenge of the child to inaugurate justice to the young – Today, not Tomorrow.
The child should become the nation’s central interest and child welfare should no longer be treated as an administrative decoration but love and labour for the lovely gifts of God – our supreme asset.
P.N.BENJAMIN
501 Indira Residency
167 Hennur Road
Adjacent to Reliance Fresh
Bangalore 560 043
Cell: 9731182308
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