What a joy it was to read the “Sins Against Nature” in the first Issue of the New Year (26 Dec. – 01 January). It was so refreshing. Thanks to the Editor, Dr. Felix and Mudita for the beautiful Issue and the highly qualified articles on the ‘Sins against nature’. The whole world would appreciate the stand taken by the Catholic Church, from the Pope to the laity, to love and respect the nature, and to treat any violence and exploitation of nature as a sin that would need forgiveness of God. If every religion adopts the same stand and teach the faithful accordingly, sure enough this world would become a better place to dwell in. And God will bless the earth more abundantly.

The ‘Power Quote’ of IC is always worth reading and reflecting upon but those of IC, 19 -25 December, especially the first six out of eight,are of striking relevance to our present political and social situation in India today. The first by K.R.Narayanan is prophetic to say the least: “In a vast country, with millions of people and poverty rampant, we cannot liberalise recklessly in such a way that the balance of society is upset and while some sections would flourish, make profits, the rest of the people would be left without employment and be helpless.” Thanks to the editor for the judicious selection of quotes that shed light on current situations in our land. Sincere thanks also to Varghese Alengaden for his article ‘Fast Ends, Peace Eludes’ in the same Issue. He informs the readers about the extraordinary self sacrifice for peace making by Swami Sadanand. It is a sign of openness to the Spirit of God of any religious congregation that allows personal calls of individual Religious.

Allowing hooliganism by a handful of opponents during the presentation of Lokpal Bill in Parliament, deliberately introducing clauses in the bill that will definitely be struck down by courts, and double-speak by political parties on different forums on various aspects of the bill were all on expected lines by the present breed of politicians whose money-minting shops could be shut down by any strong and effective anti-graft bill. Even Team Anna is wasting its energy by watering the leaves instead of roots by not first insisting on electoral reforms which could bring honest and talented ones as law-makers to seriously legislate a strong and effective Lokpal Bill. It is time that Union government may be pressurised to issue notifications (not necessarily legislations) for effective implementation of ‘Right To Reject’ and ‘Women Reservation’ on the lines suggested by Election Commission. Since provision of ‘None To Vote’ already exists, it can be put on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)

The strategy-makers of Anna team made their first mistake by singularly opposing Congress candidate in Hissar Lok Sabha byelection without waiting for winter session of Parliament by when the Prime Minister had promised to legislate a strong Lokpal Bill. Opportunity could be better utilised for a more meaningful demand of putting button for ‘Right To Reject’ on Electronic Voting Machines. Despite even Prime Minister complimenting Anna Hazare for initiating crusade for a strong Lokpal Bill, the veteran social activist claiming himself to be true Gandhian used words like ‘gang of four’ in his blog for some members of Union government. Such harsh words were never expected from a person whom the complete Parliament gave a standing salute. Anna’s statement on alleged misuse of RTI Act was also untimely. Kiran Bedi should have gracefully and instantly acknowledged guilt in respect of inflated travel bills at first instance without waiting too long in deciding to return excess fare charged to

I strongly support Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão of Goa and Daman who said that mere economic growth, flourishing tourism industry, a high per capita income and a Regional Plan do not really mean liberation of Goa; rather true development, just as true liberation, is person-oriented, concerning and promoting the whole person in every single dimension. Today in the name of development, the worst affected are the workers who are made puppets of the system.Workers are losing their jobs. Due to lack of employment many workers have either committed suicide or have taken to crimes to survive. The Government, instead of addressing the needs of the workers, is busy with unimportant issues. There is a need for all political parties and the Government to join hands to help the working class people who are struggling to make their ends meet. There is a need to open more job opportunities for the unskilled workers who are finding it difficult to survive.

Archbishop Vincent M.Concessao of Delhi has hailed the decision taken by the cabinet to pass the long awaited food security bill. “The decision taken by the cabinet to pass the food security bill has come as a big relief personally to me, to the Church and to all those NGOs working to secure the basic necessity of food for the millions of our country men, women and their famished children who go hungry to bed every day! I take this opportunity to congratulate the government for this bold though belated step in the right direction”. Maintaining that since government does spend a lot of money on all kinds of other subsidies, a burden of another twenty five to thirty thousand crores will not be so heavy as the government has devised means to have better collections from taxes from people. “I would not mind even if the government taxes the very rich people of this country to rake up this amount. After all food is one of the most basic needs of human beings”, said the Archbishop.

‘FIRST LOVE': Being passionately in love with the Holy Bible, I enjoyed reading “The Bible of the Heart”(IC, 28 Nov. – 04 Dec.) by A.J. Philip. His account of various translations and his love for the King James Version is understandable. One’s “first love” is the most difficult to dislodge! Though my father read and prayed the Bible everyday (rather rare among Catholics 60 years ago), it was only some years after his death that I picked up his well-used ‘Rheins and Douay’ version, which I think was an English translation from the French text. It was the mainstay for Catholics, for centuries. This was my “first love”, and I regret that I have lost it; as its language was poetically beautiful.

GREAT WITNESS: “The Saga of Struggle for Tribals” (IC, 28 Nov. - 04 Dec.) by David Solomon SJ was, indeed, a tribute to Sr. Valsa John, a great witness to Jesus Christ, shedding her blood and sacrificing her life for the liberation of the downtrodden tribals. She is the last of the thousands of martyrs of the Church. Sr. Valsa will be a strong inspiration for all Christians, especially those who have devoted their entire life for God, rendering service to the voiceless. Sr. Valsa voluntarily gave up her prestigious teaching profession, responding favourably again to the call of God. The writer has very effectively highlighted the courage of conviction which prompted her to withstand all objections and challenges against her vision and mission of life and the circumstances leading to her martyrdom.

ENTER THE MEDIA: Apropos “Kids in Sex Web” (IC, 07 – 13 Nov.). This cover story emphasized and drew the attention to the power of media and its influence on not only the children but on the vast masses. Hence there is the need of educating our children in media, training them and encouraging them to enter into this field. Pope Benedict XVI has recently written a letter appealing to the Catholics to seriously take up this apostolate and provide the electronic media with virtuous, responsible and committed media persons who will improve its quality bringing in values into it. It’s a fact that media power and its influence on the masses have not been sufficiently understood and realized in the Church and hence media apostolate is grossly neglected. We find various types of apostolate (services) groups/organizations in the parishes like Vicent de Paul, Senior Citizens, Charismatic prayer etc. but not a single parish will have media group/organization!

BIHAR MODEL: Kudos to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of Bihar who is the first CM to promote a State Anthem called ‘Bihar Gaan’ and a Bihar Prayer, for the state’s forthcoming centenary year celebrations on March 22, 2012. The strategy he followed in choosing the State Anthem is also noteworthy. He invited entries from the Aam Admi for the purpose. From the over 1500 entries received, 100 were short listed. Nitish Kumar selected two of them - Bihar Gaan and Bihar Prayer, both of which sing paean to Bihar’s new-found shining resurgence and its glorious past. Bihar Gaan is written by city-based septuagenarian poet Satya Narayan, a former History teacher who was awarded the Gopal Singh Nepali Puraskar in 1991 and the Dr Shambhu Nath Singh Navgeet Puraska in 2009, while the Bihar Prayer is written by MR Chisti, an Urdu Middle School teacher from Muzaffarpur’s Marwan block. Famous Bollywood music composers Shivkumar Sharma and Hari Prasad Chaurasia will put the lyrics of the songs to music.

INDIA TODAY: In 1947, when the question of giving independence to India was being debated in the British Parliament, Sir Winston Churchill who was opposed to this move had this to say about India becoming Independent: “Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low caliber and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles. A day would come when even air and water would be taxed in India.” At that time, many in India were annoyed with this statement. Today, however, we have to admit that Churchill has been proved largely right. And even if we are too proud or too blind to admit it, there is enough evidence to vindicate him. India today has been called in the Indian press itself as ‘A Republic of Scams’ and our journalists speak of ‘the plunder of India’.

SAVE FARMERS : It was sad to hear that another poverty-stricken farmer from Vidarbha attempted suicide by consuming pesticides. The living conditions of the cotton farmers in Vidarbha are very poor. Hunger and debt are driving them to commit suicide. Many farmers have already committed suicide but our government and other political parties, instead of helping them and creating alternate employment for them, are fighting among themselves for power. There is an urgent need for the government and other political parties to network with NGOs and other associations in helping the farmers in Vidarbha and elsewhere.

PEOPLE’S PROTEST: It refers to ‘Listen to people’s protest’ by Thomas Kocherry (IC, 07 – 13 Nov.). Why does the Prime Minister call on Cardinal Oswald Gracias on the issue of people’s protest against the Koodamkulam nuclear plant in Taminadu? Just because there are some Catholics involved and he would like them to move out of it! After all, it is not a church-driven struggle. Some people who are Christians may have joined the protest. Why should the protest be communalised? By calling the Cardinal for a discussion, the PM has attempted to communalise a public concern. It is a protest of people who are concerned. The Church is not a party to it. Those who have been participating in it have joined the protest in their individual capacity as concerned citizens for the future of the earth. It is shameful that the Prime Minister had called the Cardinal to discuss the issue.

“FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY” YEAR : It was encouraging and satisfying indeed to read the message ((and his concern) of Pope Benedict XVI to FAO. The Pope emphasized and reminded FAO that in order to ensure the availability of enough food for the hungry it is necessary ‘to promote infrastructures necessary in order to sustain production and distribution on a scale sufficient to guarantee fully the right to food.’ Here is also a message for the CBCI the members of which were in Rome for the Ad Lamina visit recently. The UPA government, under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, is keen on re-framing PDS so that ‘Right To Food’ is effectively implemented and the poor get enough food to sustain themselves. Public discussion in the electronic media and write-ups in the print media appear frequently where concerned and committed citizens offer their suggestions regarding the effective implementation of RTF and PDS. Many NGOs too are making heroic efforts to get RTF & PDS implemented.