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Drishtikone means perspective or viewpoint in Hindi. The magazine seeks to provide a space in which Christians can share their perspectives and points of view on wholistic mission in India.
Our Vision is that Drishtikone will motivate change in readers. The experiences of development practitioners, theologians, grassroot workers and others demonstrating God’s love in a practical way, will influence and encourage Christians to join the struggle for peace and justice in this country.
Drishtikone seeks to present a Biblical perspective on social issues and provide readers with information and models of engagement in wholistic concerns. It is a forum for evangelical reflection and dialogue on development issues in India.
Drishtikone is published three times a year by EFICOR to mobilise Christian reflection and action. Financial contributions from readers are welcome to support EFICOR in its efforts to influence the mind towards action.
Drishtikone Editorial Team
C.B. Samuel, Selina Samuel, Kennedy Dhanabalan, Bonnie Miriam Jacob, Joan Lalromawi, Raaj Mondol, Anugrah Abraham, Kuki Rokhum, Green Thomas, Akshay Rajkumar.
Please forward any enquiries to:The Editor,
EFICOR, 308 Mahatta Tower,B-Block Community Centre,
Janakpuri, New Delhi - 110058Tele/fax: +91 (11) 25516383/384/385
E-mail: [email protected]: www.eficor.org
An EFICOR (The Evangelical Fellowship of India Commission on Relief) Publication.For private circulation only.
Drishtikone is a magazine with many perspectives.The views expressed are not necessarily those of EFICOR.
EFICOR is registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act. 1960 (Karnataka Act No. 17 of 1960) on 30th April, 1980. The Registration number is 70/80-81EFICOR is also registered under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. 1976 and the registration number is 231650411
Layout and cover design by Houreilung Thaimei
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the
outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16: 7
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Contents3
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Cover Story
Marching Towards Inclusive SocietyDr. Victor John Cordeiro
Ms. Geeta Mondol
Ms. Jubin Varghese
Christian Perspective on the Cover Story
A Christian Perspective on Disability
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Br. Mani Karott, LBJ
Facts
Disability: Facts
Spirituality and Social Engagement
Spirituality of Engagement as Spirituality of PrayerMr. C.B. Samuel
Letters to the Editor...
Dear Editor,I am a regular reader of Drishtikone. Drishtikone is enlightening the reader. I appreciate deeply the reflective scripture-based and human oriented focus of the magazine especially on Human Trafficking.
Sister Joan Chunkapara MMSDirectorTRADAManganam P.O.Kottayam - 686 018, Kerala
Dear Editor, We have been blessed by the reading of every issue of Drishtikone Magazine. We are regular readers and we really enjoy the Evangelical Perspective on social issues. Especially the issue on Human Trafficking, which is very hot topic in our country.God be with EFICOR ministry and we hope to receive regularly in the days to come.God bless!
Rev. H. Minlien SingsonExecutive SecretaryKuki Baptist Association Nagaland
Dear Editor,DRISHTIKONE is a credible source of evidence in developing interventions on various issues. It helps understand the depth and magnitude of issues beyond the immediacy of one’s area of work, thereby facilitating networking and coming together of individuals and organisations for greater impact on lives and systems. Thankful to EFICOR which has initiated this as a tool and resource.
Mr. Vasu VittalOASIS INDIAMumbai
Disability: Still in the margins
Disability: An Invitation to See
Contd...
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Biography
A Vision beyond RealityMrs. Selina Samuel
Youth Page
Mr. Akshay Rajkumar
Current Issue
Seeds of Transformation
The Gospel according to Facebook
Prosperity Plant
Who really gains from subsidies: Poor or Non-Poor
22 Book Review
Mr. Akshay Rajkumar
Living Gently in a Violent World
Bible Study24
Rev. Kennedy Dhanabalan
Justice and Compassion
Editorial...this did not limit them. There were so many deaf people that the residents developed a sign language, called Martha’s Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL). Sign language was so accepted on the Vineyard that it was freely and easily used by both the deaf and hearing residents. People moving to this place had to learn sign language in order to live in the community! Deafness was never considered a handicap.
We may not find so many similar stories across the world. In India we consider the disabled as a liability to the family or society. The Census reports do not give a complete picture of the disabled. Several disabled people live a very isolated and withdrawn life with very few friends. People with disabilities are routinely edged out of our society. In India, we rarely see them in our schools, churches or any other public gatherings. Of course the reasons could be numerous as they may face various barriers in being a part of our larger community.
To be included in a particular community does not mean that you have to have the perfect healthy or ‘normal’ body. In Martha’s Vineyard, the disabled were considered more ‘normal’ than the non-disabled ones. Disability - either physical or mental - depends a lot on our perspective. In India we still consider disability as a curse and blame the parents for bringing a disabled child into the world. Some parents along with the help of medical professionals even resort to aborting children with disabilities – reflecting our societal belief that the lives of children with disabilities are not of equal value as other children. We need to renew our perspective and have an attitude of empathy, compassion and ability to recognize them as ‘able’ individuals gifted in unique ways. Instead of thinking what is ‘wrong’ with people, or noticing what they can’t do, we should be looking at the potential of the person.
After all, what is ‘normal’? And who defines ‘normal’?
People with disabilities don’t need sympathy but the least they ask for is sensitivity. This edition of Drishtikone covers the issue of disability, its various dimensions and how we could be more accommodative and inclusive to the differently-abled community.
Contents Martha’s Vineyard is an isolated island off the Massachusetts coast. The early settlers
carried a gene for deafness to this island, and over years of marriage, generation after generation was born with hearing loss. At one point, one in four children was born deaf in the island! However
Dr. Bonnie Miriam Jacob
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Marching Towards Inclusive SocietyDr. Victor John Cordeiro
“Respect for difference and acceptance of disability as part of human diversity and humanity”.
This general principle of United Nations Convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities (UNCRPD) reminds us of the law of nature. Uniqueness is the salient feature of creation celebrated by difference and diversity. One cannot find two identical living entities on earth. Each living entity is unique with a wide range of differences. Disability is one such diversity of human society which has been subjected to sheer exclusion and blatant discrimination since ages. Disability is one of the unrecognized forms of social stratification which puts persons with disabilities on the last step of the social ladder.
There are around 650 million people in the world that have disabilities, yet most people are still quite ignorant about it. To understand it more clearly, the term disability refers to the difficulties encountered in any or all three areas of functioning of human body as mentioned below -
• Impairments which are problems in body function or alterations in body structure – for example, deafness, paralysis or blindness;• Activity limitations which are difficulties in executing activities – for example, walking or eating;• Participation restrictions include problems with involvement in any area of life – for example, facing discrimination in employment or transportation.
These five are further divided into mild, moderate and severe, depending on the degree/extent of disability. Most become disabled during the course of their life. So maybe the term Temporarily Able Bodied (TAB) is better for those of us who are not disabled.
According to “World report on disability 2011” there are one billion Persons with disabilities who constitute 15% of the total population of the world.1 70% of them live in developing countries and exhibit lowest economic, health, educational and social outcomes. Attitudinal, institutional, informational and structural barriers have significantly contributed to the dehumanization, degradation, marginalization, exclusion, deprivation and
impoverishment of this most excluded and poorest of the poor section of the society. Persons with disabilities were often remarked as the unheard, unseen, unaccounted and invisible minority of the human society.
United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Adoption of UN Convention2 on the rights of persons with disabilities marks a distinct and definite departure from the soft law regime to hard law regime3 in the history of disabled people’s movement across the globe. This superceding human rights instrument places unlimited power in the hands of persons with disabilities in order to negotiate effectively with multiple stakeholders towards full and effective enjoyment of all their human rights and fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with others. As of today, 155 countries have signed the convention. This shows the reaffirmed commitment of national Government towards their citizens with disabilities. The Convention marks a paradigm shift in attitudes and approaches to persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are not viewed as objects of charity, medical treatment and social protection, but rather as subjects with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives.4 It is a policy instrument which is cross-disability and cross-sectoral. It is both a development and a human rights instrument which is legally binding.5 The United Nations Convention gives authority, a framework and a direction to the struggle. It is not, however, a programme. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) is a great achievement but it does not mean that the situation of disabled people is going to change automatically. As with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), CRPD provides a set of standards to be reached. How we reach those standards is our responsibility as citizens (both disabled and non-disabled). The struggle for individual rights and freedom is a social commitment, a joint project between governments and society.
COVER STORY
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Disability in Indian Context
The above stated facts about persons with disabilities in developing countries are more or less similar to India. Persons with disabilities constitute 2.13% of the total population of the country according to 2001 census which is said to be a gross underestimate. According to various micro studies conducted by civil society agencies for programme development gives an estimate of 5-6% prevalence rate. 70% of them live in rural areas and 82% live below the poverty line and have lowest health, economic, educational and social outcomes.
Disability sector in India is very heterogeneous like the composition of people with disabilities as a distinct community in the society. It is evident that all the approaches and models which were and are practiced in the world are still present in the country in the same form or slightly different, that is why it is most appropriate to remark that India is the museum of approaches and models of disability sector.
The models or approaches to disabilities in India range from typical medical charity to modern rights based approach. All the models of disability such as charity, medical,economic and social models of disability still exist in some form or the other. Homes for people with disabilities are sometimes for unidisability and rarely cross disability in order to provide food, clothing and shelter life long without attempting to empower. Specific school for the blind, deaf, intellectually-disabled and mobility impaired including children with cerebral palsy still function in their old fashion. Integrated schools for disabled and nondisabled are mainly tried by state managed schools with the help of professionals or agencies attempting to provide some kind of education.
Inclusive Education: A Way Forward
Inclusive education is mainly practiced in state managed schools where children with cross disabilities are enrolled with no adequate facilities. Private schools still follow the policy of apartheid with regard to the inclusion of children
with disabilities. Few micro Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) initiatives in the different parts of the country are trying to provide comprehensive rehabilitation services including education, livelihoods and changing the attitudes. These CBR initiatives do promote groups of disabled and majority of them function as credit management groups rather than real self-advocacy groups. Inclusive development still remains as a buzz word in India, few agencies have facilitated inclusion of disabled people in their development programmes but the extent of inclusion is limited to medical rehabilitation and sometimes organizing into groups.
A large number of parent groups, disability/development agencies, unidisability organisations of disabled people, cross disability organisations of disabled people and people’s informal groups and organisations are also working for the development of the disabled. Disabled People’s Organizations in India are nothing but the disability agencies except they are managed by disabled people themselves. Absence of a strong, grass root, people oriented and mass based organisation of disabled people resulted in the wide gap between the policy commitment of the state and its implementation on the ground. Disability agencies are not strong enough to lobby with the state on a sustained manner due to some technical issues. It is good to see the emerging trends of disabled people’s movement in the form of Viklang Manch in few northern and southern states of the country. Though it is in the very initial stage it has still proved that it is relatively more effective than so called disability movement.
Even though the constitution of India does not explicitly state that disability is one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination but in several respects, India has a well-developed policy and institutional framework for persons with disabilities given its income level. There is a well-developed framework of legislation, consisting of four core disability-specific acts: (i) The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 (Persons with Disabilities Act); (ii) The Mental Health Act, 1987; (iii) The Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992; and (iv) The National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental
COVER STORY
“
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Absence of a strong, grass root, people oriented and mass based organisation of disabled people
resulted in the wide gap between the policy commitment of the state and its implementation on the ground.
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Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999 (National Trust Act). These legislations are in the process of amendment or replacement with new legislation following the signing and ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) by India. There are several accepted political goals at the international level such as Millennium Development Goals, Universalization of Elementary Education, Mass Literacy Programmes, Poverty Eradication Programmes, Health For All and other developmental programmes. These are aimed at improving the quality of life of under-privileged groups including persons with disabilities. India has participated in almost all international conventions and conferences and has been a signatory to all the important declarations and conventions adopted by the United Nations. The provisions enshrined in these instruments are yet to be translated on the ground.
Critical glimpses of the grim reality of the situation of persons with disabilities are detailed below. Less than 30% have accessed medical certificate (Disability Identity card) which is the basic legal document to prove the existence of persons with disabilities in order to access various entitlements. Less than 10% children with disabilities have access to education and chances of exclusion of children with disabilities from schools is four times higher than the children from other excluded and marginalised communities. Less than 3% have engaged in gainful and meaningful livelihoods. Majority of persons with disabilities do not possess rights on the ancestral property and productive assets. Inaccessible built and natural environment, institutions and lack of information further aggravates the condition of persons with disabilities. This is the general scenario of persons with disabilities and the condition of women/girls, children, persons with intellectual, psychosocial, hearing and multiple disabilities are further worse who suffer multiple forms of marginalisation on the basis of gender, caste, religion, ethnicity, etc.
What should our role be in this context?
Persons with disabilities are not yet considered as a political-social group which has resulted in the lack of priority in welfare and development programmes with inadequate and meagre resource allocation. Political reservation for persons with disabilities in legislative and decision making bodies to represent and raise the voices of persons with disabilities is still a distant reality. Global forces such as the rapid processes of globalization, privatization and liberalization have significantly contributed in drastic
Dr. Victor John Cordeiro works as Advocacy Coordinator, World Blind Union. He can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]
COVER STORY
reduction of social security measures for excluded sections including persons with disabilities. The development sector in India is largely ignorant about the issues and concerns of persons with disabilities. On the one hand they speak about inclusive development but very little is happening on the ground. Development sector is one of the greatest opportunities which has to be capitalized for promoting and protecting the human rights of persons with disabilities. Inclusion still remains on the papers of the Government. Except the nodal ministry, other ministries and departments of both Union and State Government will have to make inclusion as a reality by addressing the issues and concerns of persons with disabilities in letter and in spirit.
It is important for any National Government to capitalize its human resource for the development of the country. There is a great need to invest on 60 million disabled people in order to empower them to contribute effectively as productive human resource in the developmental process of the country. It requires a strong political will, coordinated and concerted attempt by all the stakeholders of strategic relevance including the Government to enable persons with disabilities to enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedom effectively on an equal basis with others. Each one of us has a critical trole to play in order to make this a reality.
We can play an important role by recognizing them as “normal human beings like us. We can be more sensitive to them by doing away with any negative attitude towards them which portray them as the ‘other’ inferior beings. Our negative attitudes and behaviours marginalize the disabled, further denying them the basic values and rights in all spheres of life.
1 http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/report/en/.2 The UNCRPD was adopted on December 13, 2006 and came in to force on May 3, 2008. 3 Refers to the shift from the UN ‘soft law’ instruments to the Human Rights Perspective on disability. Quinn, Gerard and Theresia Degener, “Human Rights and Disability: The current use and future potential of United Nations Human Rights instruments in the context of disability”, United Nations, New York and Geneva, 2002, Pp.29-46.4 See Me, Hear Me: A Guide to Using the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to promote the Rights of Children, Published by Save the Children (2009), 1 St John’s Lane, London EC1M 4AR.5 Ibid.
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Disability: Still in the Margins
“Disabled, handicapped, differently abled, impairment, special needs, - challenged” there are many words that are used to describe disability. I often find people stumbling over trying to say the current politically correct word, and sometimes being taken to task for not saying it. However, what really matters is not what you call them, but rather how you treat them.
Technically speaking there is a difference between impairment, handicap and disability. “Impairment refers to a problem with a structure or organ of the body; disability is a functional limitation with regard to a particular activity; and handicap refers to a disadvantage in filling a role in life relative to a peer group”1.
People with disabilities are mostly the marginalized of the marginalized. It is not that people ignore them, but rather the case of people not even ‘thinking’ about them. It is as if they do not exist and work among them is very few and far between.
Working with children with special needs in a special school setting has been an eye-opener for me in learning about various aspects of disability and how it affects the family. Parents are often depressed, angry, bewildered or hurt at having such a child. For many it is a burden they could have done without. Coping with the special needs of the child, along with other responsibilities puts an immense burden on the family, financially, physically and emotionally.
However we see a slight difference in the parental attitude when it comes to different types of disability. We see a higher level of acceptance by parents of children with physical disabilities than those who have children with mental/intellectual disabilities. Perhaps it is due to embarrassment felt in the way a child may behave at home or difficulty in managing the child in public. Mental stress is high in families who have children with intellectual challenges. Research shows that mental stress of mothers having children with Autism is similar to that of soldiers in combat. Also, the ‘invisible’ disabilities also invite a lot more judgement from the community than those that are visible.
All children with special needs deserve and have a right to education. However it needs to be specifically tailored to the child’s needs, and started as early as possible. That is why the term “Early Intervention” is used, which includes all the specific therapies and education the child needs, and the earlier it is done, the better it is for the child.
The best place for the education of children with disabilities is the classroom of regular schools. However, there are very few schools who would open the doors for children with special needs, perhaps because they do not have the infrastructure required to assist the children. Therefore sometimes they are in an integrated school (where they are in a separate classroom, but within the same premises), or a special school.
One of the things we also need to remember is that disability does not affect a person, but rather the whole family. The dynamics of the family changes and so does the way everyone interacts with each other, and on how they respond to those in the community. That is why we often see families having special children gravitate towards seeking other families who have special needs children in their homes.
The high stress levels of the parents, the insecurity of the siblings of the child with special needs (due to all the attention of the family being on the child with special needs), the fear of the parents regarding the future, all create a dynamics in the family, which are ‘special’ indeed. We as a community of God need to reach out to such families and children. We need to open our churches, our homes and our hearts to such families, whose daily life is a continuous battle. We are called to be ministers, and ministering to such families, first to those within the church yet kept out due to their disability, and then in the larger community to fulfil the mandate “Love your neighbour as yourself.” We have been placed in this world to demonstrate and extend God’s Kingdom, and what better way than in including those who have been forgotten and ‘invisible’ for so long.
Ms. Geeta Mondol is the Director of Ashish Centre for the Differently Abled in Dwarka, New Delhi. She can be reached at [email protected]
Ms. Geeta Mondol
1 http://www.pediatrics.emory.edu/divisions/neonatology/dpc/Impairment%20MX.html.
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Ms. Jubin Varghese
Nisha1 was 12 years old when I first met her. Nothing in college had prepared me to work with someone like Nisha. All I saw of her in the first visit was that she was wheelchair-bound, had involuntary movements and she had no speech. No training of mine had prepared me to meet someone with a regressive condition every week and work with her. What would I do? How could I possibly help her when I could not even communicate with her? Seven years later I had the privilege to stand beside her family as Nisha “slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.” Seven years have passed and Nisha changed my perspective of disability. Once Jesus was invited to a dinner when a woman with dubious character washed His feet with her tears. And while Simon (the person who had invited Jesus) saw the kind of woman she was, Jesus asked him, “Simon, do you see this woman?” Not what she has done or has not done, but can you see her? Nisha taught me to see her...not her abilities or so called disabilities. She taught me to see the person beyond the disability.
The focus of Drishtikone on disability is just that – we are given an invitation to see.
Do you see the person beyond the disability - The person you drive past at the traffic light? The elderly grandparent of a friend who is house-bound due to a disability? The child with a disability who makes all that noise in church and disturbs others?
Do you see the person beyond the disability?
The understanding of what disability is has evolved over time. It refers to the interaction between a person’s impairment with the barriers in society that keep the person from participating in life. A person with disability has the same needs as any other non-disabled person and yet his/her opportunity to meet those needs is much lesser than a non-disabled person. They have poorer health outcomes.2 The U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation (U.S. Public Health, 2001) states that people with intellectual disabilities of all ages experience poorer health outcomes and have more difficulty accessing health care.3 Gender interacts with
disability to cause double marginalisation. Women with disabilities are around 13 percent less likely than men with disabilities to seek treatment.4 Only 1 in 20 children with disabilities ever get to school.5 Children with disabilities are three or four times more likely to be at risk of being victims of violence.6 One in every 5 poorest people in the world is a person with disability.7
I could quote more numbers to describe the barriers people with disabilities face in every aspect of life – health care access, education, employment, marriage, social participation, political participation etc. The problem with numbers is that they often remain just that – numbers. However, for those of us with personal experiences of disability, these numbers have faces and stories. We invite you to see the people behind the numbers – their lives, their struggles and joys - and challenge you to respond as the body of Christ.
I will leave you with the words of William Wilberforce, “Having heard all of this, you may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”
Ms. Jubin Varghese works in Emmanuel Hospitals Association as the Programme Manager, Dehradun Area, Uttarakhand). She can be reached at [email protected]
Disability: An Invitation to See
1 Name changed.2 U.S. Public Health, S. (2001). Closing the Gap: A National Blueprint for Improving the Health of Individuals with Mental Retardation. Report of the Surgeon General’s Conference on Health Disparities and Mental Retardation. Washington, D.C: U.S. Public Health Service.3 The World Bank (2007), People with Disabilities in India: From Commitments to Outcomes. Human Development Unit, South Asia Region. May, 2007.4 Ibid.5 UNICEF (2013), Children with Disabilities: The State of the World’s Children.6 Ibid.7 Elwan A. (1999), Poverty and Disability: A Survey of the Literature, Social Protection Unit, Human Development Network.
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drishtikoneCHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE COVER STORY
A Christian Perspective on Disability Br. Mani Karott, LBJ
The aim of this article is to reflect on a Christian attitude to the challenge of living with people suffering from various disabilities: physical,
intellectual and social. In our Indian society, we constantly live with this challenge in our families, in our work places, in our gatherings and on our streets; in short, everywhere. We cannot avoid the reality of disabled persons living in our midst even if we close our eyes! At the entrance to our places of worship, in our markets, bus stops, everywhere, we have disabled persons, many of them begging for charity. What does our Christian conscience have to say about it?
A Christian perspective on disabled people cannot escape the basic tenet of Christianity which goes back to the foundational intuitions inherited from the Master, the Lord Jesus himself. The four Gospels abound with narratives of encounters between Jesus and persons suffering from varied disabilities; physical, mental and social. The disciples of Jesus continue this tradition of active engagement with disabled and sick people in the post-resurrection communities prolonging the ‘Way’ trod by the Master (Acts 3. 1-9; 9. 32-35).
Terminologies have changed from ‘retarded’ to ‘challenged’ over time. We also use terms like ‘physically challenged’ instead of ‘physically handicapped’. The term ‘differently abled’ instead of the word ‘disabled’ is another which emphasises a shift in perception about persons who suffer various types of handicaps, visual, auditive and so on.
While appreciating changes in terminology as a sign of positive attitudes towards the disabled, to provide them space in society and a more positive self image, we cannot ignore the poignant fact of suffering underlying such experiences of disability; physical, mental and social. It is this reality of suffering that Jesus faced in his encounters and we need to look at some of these narratives of the
Gospels and enter into the mind of Christ himself.
Jesus and Disability
It is in the context of the proclamation of the Kingdom of God by Jesus and the consequent epic conflict with the powers of evil that we can understand the actions, thoughts and words of Jesus.
After thirty years of ordinary life in Nazareth as a carpenter, (Lk 3.23) Jesus starts his public ministry with the words, “The time has come! The Kingdom of God is close at hand. Change your ways and believe in the Good News” (Mk 1.19). But his ministry of preaching and healing runs into rough weather as his words and actions challenge the established religious norms of the day. We see this in the narrative of the healing of the man with the paralysed hand on the Sabbath that too in a synagogue, the place for the public worship and prayers (Mt 12. 9-13). He has landed himself into a controversy. To the question of the Jews “Is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?” (v 12. 10) Jesus counters with a brilliant argumentation that “It is permitted to do good on the Sabbath?” (v 12). The plot deepens against Jesus. They plan his death and look for openings to condemn him. While the crowds are impressed by his messianic gestures, the religious authorities accuse Jesus of collaborating with Beelzebul, head of the demons for driving out devils (Mt 12. 24). Once again, Jesus brilliantly demonstrates the hollowness of their arguments and concludes ”If it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out devils, then the kingdom of God is among you” (12. 28).
Another aspect of the ministry of Jesus is that in this struggle of Jesus to establish the Kingdom, he is constantly surrounded by sick and disabled people: the paralysed (Mt 12.10), deaf and dumb (Mt 12.22), the blind (Mk 10. 46-52), the mentally ill (Mt 8. 28-34), epileptic (Mk 9. 14-28), lepers (Mt 8. 1-4), sex worker (Jn 8. 1-14), dwarf
A Christian perspective on disabled people cannot escape the
basic tenet of Christianity which goes back to the foundational intuitions inherited from the
Master, the Lord Jesus himself.”
“
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(Lk. 19 1-10). If we make an exhaustive list in the four Gospels we find at least twenty one narratives in which Jesus is healing people with various disabilities: physical, mental and social. It is said that wherever he went, such people would crowd round him (Mt 6. 56) and all who touched him were healed (Mt 6. 57). So it was a way of life for Jesus to be constantly surrounded by people with disabilities.
If we read these narratives carefully, we are confronted by layers of deeper meanings in his relationship to disabled and sick persons. Some of the salient features are the following:
• When solicited by any disabled person who is in need of healing, he spares no effort to empower the person in every manner possible. He does not hesitate to break rules of religion and social convention in his effort to free the person from this condition of dependence. He is criticised and contradicted. But the human being who is in need of liberation takes all his attention and energy.
• He goes beyond physical disability and reaches out towards the inner life of the person and frees the person from spiritual shackles of sin and its consequences. “Your sins are forgiven”. He is treated as a blasphemer who takes himself as equal to God for this healing of the soul of the human being.
• He does not look for publicity or ego worship but enables people to reintegrate themselves in the human community, by sending them back to the family, to the authorities who can attest to their right to be reintegrated in the society. “Go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering necessary”.
• He restores to people a sense of their human dignity and responsibility. “Go do not sin again” or validates their inner dispositions of faith and trust. “Your faith has healed you”.
The Johannine Narratives
John’s Gospel gives us only two instances of the healing of disabled persons in the ministry of Jesus: curing the paralysed man and restoring sight to the man born blind. We could add a third of saving a woman caught in the act of adultery if we consider her as a socially disabled person due to sex work. These narratives give us a deeper, contemplative insight into the mind of Jesus in front of
disabled persons.
Jesus heals a sick man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-18)
The scene is that of a host of people either blind, lame or paralysed waiting to be healed by the miraculous movement of water in the pool. The eyes of Jesus fall on a man whose infirmity prevents him from getting into the pool though he is there for the last thirty eight years. Jesus heals him and asks him to take his mat and go home. But it is a Sabbath day and he should not be carrying his mat
”“His mission is to reveal the healing love of God at work in the world.
as it is a work that is forbidden on the Sabbath. The authorities question Jesus about doing this Sabbath. The
authorities question Jesus about doing this on the Sabbath and in response Jesus says, “My Father goes on working, and so am I”. The religious authorities are shocked not only by his unauthorised act of healing but also by his brazen claim of equality with God!
We encounter here the mystery of the identity of Jesus and his mission on earth. What drives him to do this work of healing is not a demonstration of his power or personal compassion, but rather the love of the Father and a participation in the healing work of God Himself. His mission is to reveal the healing love of God at work in the world.
Healing a man born blind from birth (John 9)
It is Sabbath day again and Jesus heals a man of his blindness. The narrative opens with a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples about the traditional view that sin leads to punishment, and so who is responsible for this man’s blindness, he or his parents? The answer of Jesus after negating the traditional view of sin and punishment shifts the focus of the discussion to another level altogether. “He was born blind so that God’s work might be revealed in him” ( v. 3), that he is doing the work of the Father. The final claim of Jesus is that he is the ‘light of the world’! The climax of this narrative takes place in the temple where Jesus meets the healed man again and opens his inner eye of faith so that he recognises the true identity of Jesus and worships him. From blindness to physical sight, from physical sight to spiritual insight, what a journey! Here is the work of God and consequently of Jesus, leading people from darkness to light.
CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON THE COVER STORY
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Defending the woman caught in adultery (John 8. 1-11)
Here Jesus is shown at his enigmatic best, bending down on the ground and writing in the sand as though he wants to avoid the question about stoning the woman caught in the act of adultery punishable with death in the Law of Moses. Jesus throws the question back and asks everyone to take their responsibility, the accusers as well as the accused. His response throws them off balance and the woman is saved. But Jesus goes further revealing the inner recesses of God’s love welling up within him. “Has no one condemned you?” “No Sir.” “Me too, I do not condemn you. Go and do not sin again”.
This is the true work of God which Jesus does, freeing people from disabilities to restore them to their dignity and responsibility as children of God. “I have not come to condemn the world but to save it”.
We have to push our enquiry further as the roots of the motivations of Jesus are plunged in the tradition of the Old Testament, shaping his own convictions about suffering, sin and redemption.
The suffering of the innocent: the question of Job
Why do the innocent suffer? What has this infant done to merit this disability from birth? This question troubles us all and leads many to question the very existence of God. The wicked thrive while the just man is afflicted with setbacks in life. This is Job’s question to God.
A quick overview of Job’s predicament and the answer he gets from God can help us to grapple with our own bafflement in front of the suffering of disabled persons.
Cursed be the day that I was born!....Why did I come out of the womb of my mother? To see torment and pain and finish my days in shame? (Jb 20. 14-18) Job asks God. “I cry to you and you do not answer…You have become cruel towards me… (30. 20-23). Job does not
understand why he is put to test. He has always tried to help others, to do good and to obey God. Job challenges God to disprove his claims to integrity and give him reasons to justify his cruelty towards him.
The final words of the Book of Job are words of hope and the beginning of an answer to Job’s anguishing query on suffering. “I know that my Defender is alive and will rise and he at last will take his stand on earth. I shall see my advocate by my side and in my flesh shall see God. With my own eyes I will see Him, I and not another… (19. 25-27) But Job also understands that things are more complex than
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This is the true work of God which Jesus does, freeing people from
disabilities to restore them to their dignity and responsibility as
children of God. “I have not come to condemn the world but to save it”.
what he thought “I spoke of things I do not understand, too wonderful for me to know”(42. 3) Job also warns us not to be satisfied with intellectually satisfying answers to this human reality of suffering of the innocent. He tells God, “Teach me your
ways, now that I have seen you with my own eyes”(42. 5).
The Book of Job has no conclusive answer to the agonising question about suffering. It poses the question squarely to God and waits for God’s judgement.
The Suffering Servant of Yahweh (Isaiah 52. 13-53.12)
This is the text that Jesus meditated to understand his destiny and in turn interpret it for his disciples. “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer all this and then enter into his glory?”(Lk 24.26) A brief study of this text can help us elucidate the insights that we need for a Christian perspective of disability.
In the description of the suffering servant, we can identify the life of many disabled people: no beauty, no majesty, nothing to attract our eyes, often cause of revulsion and disgust. How can we see the glory of God revealed in the face of a wounded, disfigured and disabled person? Only faith which makes us see things the way God sees them. “Man looks at appearances, but God looks at the heart” (1, Sam 16.7). The transfiguration of the disabled one, from an object of revulsion into the manifestation of God is a gift of faith: from misery to glory, from curse to blessing. In a school for intellectually challenged children
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in Secunderabad where I worked, was Pavan, a young child who was profoundly handicapped. All the schools meant for such children had rejected him as a liability. Pavan who is above forty now is cared by his ageing parents continues to have the same problems needing to be fed, toileted, dressed etc. He drools, smells and needs to be washed and changed often. On a trip away from home leaving Pavan in the care of the husband, she was in a great hurry to get back home. Talking of Pavan to me she said “Pavan is God’s gift to me. I thank God for having given me Pavan” and burst into tears! This was a Hindu lady, initiated into the wisdom given to the little ones by the Spirit of God.
The challenge of a Christian vision of disabled persons I received from Pavan’s mother is whether the presence of a disabled person among us, a curse, a punishment or is it a gift of God?
By way of Conclusion
“Whatsoever you did to the least of these brothers (and sisters) of mine, you did it to me” and “whatsoever you did not do to the least of these brothers (and sisters) of mine, you did not do it to me” said the Lord Jesus (Mt 25.40, 45). Jesus today is the disabled one in our midst. The presence of a disabled one in our midst disturbs us and awakens us to our own vulnerability. The way we respond to the intellectually challenged, or to the physically challenged, or to a mentally ill person, or to a person affected by leprosy or any other disability, social and otherwise, will be one of the benchmark by which we measure our Christian faith and commitment.
Br. Mani Karott, LBJ is a member of the Roman Catholic religious congregation – the Little Brothers of Jesus. He is based in the LBJ community at Bangalore and is involved in formation for Asha Niketan (L’Arche in India) communities. His reflections for this article come from his association with Asha Niketan (L’ Arche India) where for two years he was part of a community of adults with mental disability in Bangalore. Br Mani has worked with disabled people as Special Educator and also as Therapist. He is particularly interested in Art Therapy and practices it with various groups.
L’Arche/ Asha Niketan
L’Arche is an international federation of communities where people with and without mental handicap live and work together. The communities offer people with mental handicap a home where they will be valued and respected, their gifts welcomed and celebrated. http://www.larche.org L’Arche began in France in 1964 when Jean Vanier, invited two men from an institution, to live with him. Today there are 140 communities in 36 countries. The communities, while sharing the same values are very different according to their context and culture.
In 1970, the first L’Arche community, called Asha Niketan (home of hope) http://www.fmrindiaashaniketan.com, was founded in Bangalore in response to an appeal by Indian friends. Today there are five communities around the country – Bangalore, Chennai, Calicut, Kolkata and Asansol (in WB). Their identity statement says. “We are people with or without intellectual disabilities sharing life in communities belonging to an International Federation. Mutual relationships and trust in God are at the heart of our journey together. We celebrate the unique value of every person and recognize our need of one another”.
L’Arche International and Asha Niketan in India represent in today’s world the realization that the Christian perspective of disability that we were talking of is not a utopia but a realistic possibility.
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
- Mark Twain
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DISABILITY: FACTSFACTS
InDIACensus 2001 has revealed that over 21 million people in India are suffering from one or the other kind of disability. This is equivalent to 2.1% of the population. Among the total disabled in the country, 12.6 million are males and 9.3 million are females. Although the number of disabled is more in rural (75% of the total population) than in urban areas, such proportion of the disabled has been reported between 57-58% for males and 42-43% females. The disability rate (number of disabled per 100,000 populations) for the country as a whole works out to 2130. This is 2,369 in the case of males and 1,874 in the case of females.
WorLD
Source: WHS = World Health Survey; GBD = the Global Burden of Disease, 2004 update; Surveys = WHO & WB Reports on Disability, 2011, p.55.
According to “World report on disability 2011” the one billion Persons with disabilities constitute 15% of the total population of the world or roughly 650 million people. 70% of them live in developing countries and exhibit lowest economic, health, educational and social outcomes. There are 285 million visually impaired people in the world – 246 million with low vision and 39 million are estimated to be blind. About 90% of the world’s visually impaired live in developing countries while 80% of all visual impairment can be avoided or cured. Also, 1.26 million children are blind and 19 million are visually impaired. Eastern Mediterranean region is home to the second largest number of people in the world with visual impairment.
Out of 2 billion children with disabilities, there are an estimated 200 million children with disabilities across the world. In other words, approximately 10% of the total population of children in the world, majority of whom live in developing countries, are born with a disability or become disabled during childhood.
Conflict areas find that for every 1 child that is killed, 3 are injured and permanently disabled. Children with disabilities are 1.7 times at greater risk of being subjected to some form of violence.
Country Prevalence YearBangladesh 5.6% 2001Bhutan 3.5% 2005India 1.8% 2002Indonesia 21.3% 2007Maldives 3.4% 2003Myanmar 2% 2007Nepal 1.6% 2001Sri Lanka 1.6% 2001Thailand 2.9% 2007Timor Leste 1.5% 2002
Source: http://www.searo.who.int/en/Section1174/Section1461_15167.htm#table2.
PrevALenCe oF DISABILITY In The MeMBer CounTrIeS oF The Who SouTh eAST ASIAn regIon
ePIDeMIoLogICAL CLASSIFICATIonS Do noT SeeM To ADequATeLY CAPTure SoMe oF The More reCenTLY reCognIzeD PhenoMenA, SuCh AS MILD MenTAL reTArDATIon ThoughT To Be A reSuLT oF unDer-STIMuLATIon oF ChILDren In DISADvAnTAgeD SoCIeTIeS.
gLoBAL DISABILITY PrevALenCe eSTIMATeS FroM DIFFerenT SourCeS
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Source: http://www.indiability.org/resources/disability-in-india/.
* Tamil Nadu - only state with higher number of disabled females than males.
* Arunachal Pradesh - state with highest proportion of disabled males (66.6%) and lowest proportion of disabled females.
Chart source: Sarvekshana, 36th & 47th rounds, National Sample Survey Organization, Department of Statistics, Ministry of Planning & Program Implementation, Government of India.
Among the five types of disabilities on which data has been collected, disability in seeing at 10.32% and locomotor disability at 23.04% emerges as the top category. Others in sequence are: In movement (23.04%), mental (10.3%), in speech (5.06%), and in hearing (8.36%). The disabled by sex follow a similar pattern except for that the proportion of disabled females is higher in the category in seeing and in hearing.
State Percentage of disabilityKarnataka 6.3%. 80% = multiple disabled.
Mental disability = 2.3%, Females (3.1%), males (1.5%),
Kerala 2.7%. Visually disabled highest followed by movement disability.
Chandigarh 4.8%. Disability rate more in aged, 55 years or more (31%) compared to 25-54 years. Rates were higher in females compared to males.
Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow (U.P.)
Disability rates in children below 6 years of age were 8.8 per 1000 in Delhi, 6.5 per 1000 on Jaipur & 12.6 per 1000 in Lucknow.
Source: Gagandeep Kaur Walia, Disability, South Asia Network for Chronic Disease.
PrevALenCe oF DISABILITY In vArIouS STATeS oF InDIA
The highest number of disabled has been reported from the state of Uttar Pradesh (3.6 million). Significant numbers of disabled have also been reported from the state like Bihar (1.9 million), West Bengal (1.8million), Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra (1.6 million each).
According to the census 2001, Bihar has a population of 8 crores, 30 lakhs. Out of this 18 lakhs and 88 thousand are people suffering from various forms of disabilities which constitute 2.27% of the population. Among the people with disabilities 10 lakh are visually challenged, 1.35 lakh face challenge of speech, 77 thousand are hearing impaired and 5.12 lakh are physically challenged. The State has a significant population of mentally challenged population comprising 1.65 lakh. The census 2001 estimates that a significant number of people with disabilities, about 55% of this population is illiterate.
Sources:
http://www.crin.org/docs/See_me_hear_final.pdf.http://www.eyeway.org/?q=%E2%80%9890-visually-impaired-live-developing-countries%E2%80%99.http://www.disabled-world.com/disability/statistics/.http://www.who.int/topics/disabilities/en/.http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSARREGTOPLABSOCPRO/1211714-
1144074285477/20873614/IndiaReportDFID.pdf.
STATeS In InDIA WITh hIgheST PoPuLATIon oF PerSonS WITh DISABILITIeS (In MILLIonS)
TAMIL NADU
WEST BENGAL
BIHAR
UTTAR PRADESH
Physical Disability 41.32%Visual Impairment 10.32%Hearing Impairment 8.36%Speech Disability 5.06%Locomotors Disability 23.04%Overlapping 11.54%
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drishtikoneSPIRITUALITY AND SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
Spirituality of Engagement as Spirituality of Prayer
Mr. C.B. Samuel
‘How long shall I cry for help and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralysed and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted’
These are words of a prayer of Habakkuk, a man about whom we know nothing other than what is written in the Biblical book which has his name. But he is one of my favourite prophets of the Bible. He was concerned and was helpless – the condition in which most of us often find ourselves. Habakkuk was a man of integrity in his relationship with God. And much more he was a man of patience; patient enough to wait to hear God’s answer without jumping into conclusions.
For many a modern day prophet, prayer and activism are far removed. Prophetic engagements, on the other hand, are soaked in conversations with God. The prayers of the prophets are refreshingly different from the contemporary superficial, shallow performances we call prayer. Prophets often took the intercessory stand between God and his people; they pleaded for God to act against the enemies of His people. Such prayer of courage and honesty marks the spirituality of prophetic engagement.
A prayer worth considering is that of Habakkuk. The whole book is one prayer and that includes God’s answer and the prophet’s response. True prayer is transformational – the transformation of the person who prays.
Prayer is the sincere and honest cry of a heart that is pained and a cry to God to act. In prayer we don’t have to be politically right but truthful. ‘Why do you idly look at wrong?’, that is Habakkuk’s question to God. Prayers are also persistent patient waiting till an answer is received. The answer may not be to our liking but it is an answer nevertheless. Every prayer has an answer and prophets prayed to be heard. Habakkuk was surprised by God’s answer. ‘You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and
cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and are silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?’ God was planning to use a nation more unjust than Judah. Prophetic prayer is a dialogue with God on His answer.
Habakkuk takes his stand at his ‘watch post’ and stations himself on the tower and ‘look out to see what he (God) will say to me and what I will answer concerning my complaint’. Prayer is the Prophet at his Watch Post looking out for God’s response. It is the prophet on duty. It was not a watch in vain. The prophet ‘sees’ (Habakkuk 1:1) God’s answer. Prayer is tuning our eyes to see and not just our ears to hear. The second chapter of the book is a detailed and patient revelation of God’s ways and his perspective. Our impatience robs us of the joy of an answer.
God’s response transforms Habakkuk from ‘complain’ to ‘praise’. Yes, he will not live to see his desire for justice done in his lifetime but definitely had a glimpse of the future of God’s workings.
‘Though the fig tree should not blossom or fruit be on the vines; the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my strength’.
Mr. C.B. Samuel is an itinerant Bible Teacher.He can be reached at [email protected]
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Prayer is tuning our eyes to see and not
just our ears to hear.
“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learnt, whatever state I
maybe in, therein to be content.- Helen Keller
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Phot
o: G
eorg
e Abr
aham
with
fam
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BIOGRAPHY
George Abraham is a successful, enterprising, motivational speaker who at the tender age of ten months suffered with meningitis and has
been living with a deteriorating visual impairment since then. George’s life is marked by some very defining decisions and experiences. Firstly, his parents made the difficult decision of sending him to a regular school. George says ‘Most parents focus on the disability and do not push them to higher levels of achievement’. It was not easy for him but his mother patiently read all his books aloud for him and helped him to keep up with the class in academics. His father built in him the sense of concentration and perseverance. Secondly, they encouraged George to take part in debates and sports. He was the school champion and ran for the State in 100 meters. Though George had been told that Maths is taught with visual frames of reference and hence the blind cannot learn, he gives credit to his school teachers who taught with different parameters of teaching.
The third defining decision was because of two experiences that were pivotal in shaping his thoughts for the future. The first was a visit, for the first time, to a school for the blind. The experience was extremely sad. The overpowering feeling was sadness, inferiority, lack of initiative etc. He says “The blind need opportunity and not sympathy. They need to live with dignity despite the disability”. The second was when he visited Dehradun and saw some of the blind children playing cricket. This was a really unique, innovative and fun way of playing. George took up the idea from these little children and established Cricket for the blind as a National event in 1990. Very soon after this the World Cup for the Blind was established. This decision brought together two of his long term interests - cricket and responding to the needs of the visually impaired.
He believed that the disabled are a resource, worthy of investment and not in need of sympathy. This is why George’s endeavor constantly is to try and make the disabled feel and function as a normal part of society. He set up the SCORE Foundation and started the project Eyeway, www.eyeway.org in 2003. This is a website which gives a lot of useful information on living with blindness. In 2005 they set up the Radio program called
A VISION BEYOND REALITYMrs. Selina Samuel
‘Eyeway Yea Hain Roshni Ka Karwan” which is aired to about 50 cities by AIR and FM. In response to the many calls they received seeking help and wisdom they set up a help desk in 2006. They have a SMS alert to give information on job opportunities, training programs etc. Their next dream is to launch the TV program called ‘Nazar Ya Nazariya’ with the hope of changing peoples’ perception of the disabled.
Rupa, George’s wife is a horticulturist. She sees in him more of his abilities than his disability. Their two daughters, Neha who is pursuing her Masters and Tara who is still at school, are very supportive and enthusiastic partners in all these ‘family ventures’. As a family they are talented, good communicators and acknowledge God in all their ventures.
Disability, limitations, or difficulties have not stopped George from working towards being a useful instrument in making life better for the many disabled and the abled too.
Mrs. Selina Samuel is a freelance editor/writer.
This page is an effort at portraying the lives of people who despite harsh situations have contributed in significant ways specifi-cally to our country and to society in gen-eral. By giving glimpses of these lives we hope to challenge every reader to live mean-
ingful, grateful and useful lives.
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drishtikoneYOUTH PAGE
The Gospel According to
As India’s numberless youth navigate their way through the complex intricacies of social networking, the Church needs to learn the language of a new world and equip its own to live by wisdom in the age of information.
The Fading Success of Facebook
Facebook has more than 1.2 billion active users, making it nearly as populated as China or India. Nearly 700 million people log onto Facebook every day; 819 million people use Facebook on their mobiles. Nearly half of 18-34 year olds go on Facebook as soon as they wake up. Every 60 seconds on Facebook, 5 new profiles are created, 8 comments are posted, 4,882 statuses are updated and 2,266 photos are uploaded. Every 20 Minutes on Facebook, 1 million links are shared, 2 million friend requests and 3 million messages are sent. At the end of June this year, India had 82 million monthly active users on Facebook, of whom 62 million accessed Facebook through their mobile phones.
But while Facebook has been the go-to social network for a while, interest in the social network seems to be fading. In a post on New York Times technology blog, Bits, Nathan Jurgenson, a sociologist who studies the Internet, and was recently hired as a researcher by Snapchat, a mobile messaging app that is rapidly growing in popularity, says, “It has become akin to a yearbook or yellow pages - a static home on the Web that offers proof of someone’s existence, and perhaps little else.”
In the same post, S. Shyam Sundar, a director of the Media Effects Research Lab at Pennsylvania State University, says, “It’s a place where everyone is, that has a purpose and a place, but doesn’t necessarily represent a place where people will want to go on a frequent basis.”
The Growing Influence of Social Networking
While social networks may fade and falter, social networking
Mr. Akshay Rajkumar
looks like its here to stay. Facebook’s waning popularity has made room for other messaging services, like WhatsApp and WeChat, which make communication,
instant, constant and on-the-go.
Such a myriad of social networking services has spawned unparalleled social change, according to ongoing research by University College London (UCL), which says, “Ignore glib claims that we are all becoming more superficial or more virtual. What is
really going on is far more incredible. The way people use social media differs hugely from place to place. These are ‘social’ media, intensely woven into the texture of our relationships. They lead us straight to intimate worlds of Chinese families split by internal migration, the new Brazilian middle class, cancer victims in London sharing the experience of terminal illness, Trinidadians stalking the latest scandal and much more.”
In the project led by Prof. Daniel Miller FBA, a pioneer in Digital Anthropology, eight ethnographic researchers based at UCL, are each spending 15 months during 2013-14, in small towns in Brazil, China, India, Italy, Trinidad, Turkey and the UK. They are researching to provide the level of scholarship that can be trusted to give the best understanding of how social media is changing our world.
At the same time, social networking has troubling
It’s a place where everyone is, that has a purpose and a place,
but doesn’t necessarily represent a place where people will want to
go on a frequent basis.
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consequences, particularly an increase in cyber crime and cyber-bullying. Over half of children (53%) in India have been bullied online, according to a Global Youth Online Behaviour Survey released by Microsoft in 2012. More than 5 in 10 children surveyed said they have experienced what adults might consider online bullying.
“Girls are more vulnerable in cases of virtual bullying as sexual taunts can get very humiliating, especially on an open forum,” according to child psychiatrist Dr. Gowri Devi. In response, a new smartphone app called ‘STOPit’ allows users to document harmful activity, anonymously report bullying of other students and reach out to a 24-hour helpline. “Criminality of cyberbullying is not just misunderstood but taken lightly by parents or school authorities. A lot of education and awareness is required among teachers, students and parents to control cyberbullying,” Sumit Agarwal, cybercrime lawyer, told the Times of India.
The Timeless Wisdom of the Bible
The Bible doesn’t have anything to say about Facebook, but it has a lot to say about relationships. Social networking brings us new ways to relate to people that are both promising and perilous, but the Bible gives us better ways to relate to people that will lead us into the promise and keep us from the perils of a life lived online.
The Bible makes the audacious assumption that relating to people without relating to God is like trying to collect water in a strainer. Not only will you waste a lot of time, but you may still be thirsty at the end of it. Those who seek the face of God in the Bible will have a better way to present themselves on Facebook, because their identity will be drawn from a relationship with Him, instead of the anxiety-ridden effort of trying to draw a sense of value from a screen.
The Untapped Power of Community
It’s common among Christians to be suspicious of
Mr. Akshay Rajkumar is a freelance writer. He can be reached at [email protected]
anything new and impose harsh restrictions on the use of technology, but such knee-jerk reactions may only be a stop-gap solution that keep us in further denial, fear and ignorance. The cure for a better conversation online is not to cut the cord completely, but to create a deeper sense of community, belonging and relationship in the real world.
The church is God’s great relational community that is meant
A step further away from identity is the conversation about social change and social media, which will be explored in the next issue.
The cure for a better conversation online is not to cut
the cord completely, but to create a deeper sense of
community, belonging and relationship in the real world.
to meet the relational needs of its own, and embody the love of God to the world. But in the age of information, the Church is often least informed; in the age of creative expression, the Church is often most rigid and stifling; in the age of constant conversation, the Church is often much too silent. As a result, the
questions and the needs of its young are left unaddressed, leading them to turn to places that give them room to be themselves and that are less than true.
The most important conversation that social networking brings up is the conversation about identity. Social networking gives us a face, but the Bible gives us a name. One is an identity that comes from an adjusted appearance. The other is a relationship with a Person who gives us the privilege of sonship. Unless we learn the difference between a face on social media and a name that comes from the One who saved us, we will be like the ignorant child that C.S. Lewis wrote about, “who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.”
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Who really gains from subsidies: Poor or Non-Poor?
The conversations around the passage of the historic National Food Security Bill revealed a sharp divide over the issue of subsidies. But the focus was
selective when it came to government spending. Increasing subsidies for the poor was a matter of intense concern along with the huge ensuing fiscal deficit that the food bill would cause. Strong advocates for the bill tried hard to clear the prejudice and steer towards a more rational and comprehensive view of subsidies. What was predominantly or even deliberately overlooked in most of the discussions was the reality about the extent to which the non-poor themselves are subsidized.
The Bill itself was an outcome of several years of work to provide food and nutritional security by ensuring access to adequate quantity and quality of food at affordable prices for people to live a life with dignity. The bill is significant in that it sets out to cover 800 million people majority of whose lives are constantly ravaged by the vagaries of the market forces, the limited livelihood options and several other vulnerabilities that define the existence of the poor and the marginalized. Despite 66 years of independence and impressive accomplishments on several fronts, India continues to have unacceptable levels of poverty and malnutrition. So the bill is a much needed corrective to address the failure of the government and society to contain extreme deprivation and inequity. Food subsidy is definitely a lifeline for the poor and not any luxury for indulgence and cannot be grudged or unfairly resented.
The undeniable fact is that every single citizen in the country is a recipient of subsidies in some form or the other. Subsidies are an integral part of the fiscal policy of any
Dr. Bonnie Miriam Jacobgovernment. The government offers subsidies to encourage players in any particular field with a focus on the development of the country. Major achievements in India since independence have been an outcome of the huge subsides that have been offered in various sectors and simultaneously also resulted in the corporate amassing massive profits. But the unfortunate fact is that these subsidies are not talked about and it is a sad case of masking charity for the rich and their private wealth earned through subsidized schemes shrouded as growth for the country. Discussions on subsidies seem to reinforce the attitude and divide that it is not so much about how much or what subsidy but who is the
CURRENT ISSUE
The bill is significant in that it sets out to cover 800 million people majority of whose
lives are constantly ravaged by the vagaries of the market forces, the limited
livelihood options and several other vulnerabilities that define the existence of
the poor and the marginalized.
beneficiary of the subsidy. The subsidies come under intense scanner only when they are for the lowest strata of the population. The reason for the added focus is that
some people are not considered as ‘subsidy worthy.’ They do not add to the GDP or create wealth and so it is a wasteful expenditure. But for wealth creating citizens it is essential part of development.
A cursory look at our budget and expenditure statements is exceptionally enlightening. The Expenditure Budget of the government indicates that the actual amount spent on total subsidies1 for 2011-2012 in the country was Rs. 2,17,941 crore. Out of this, food subsidy amounted only to Rs. 72,823 crore which is less than a third of the total outlay for subsidies. Additionally, another interesting factor we need to consider from our budget each year is the statement of revenue foregone, which the government has been revealing since 2006-07. These are subsidies to preferred taxpayers, which are given in various forms including special tax rates, exemptions, deductions, rebates etc. The revenue that the government may have
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CURRENT ISSUE
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1 Source for all the figures on subsidies is from Expenditure Budget Vol. 1 2012-2013. 2 IMF, Energy Subsidy Reform: Lessons and Implications, 28 January 2013, p.19.3 Asian Development Bank, The Social Protection Index, 2013, p. 13-14.4 Government of India, Union Budget 2013-14: Budget Speech.
generated is foregone as Tax Expenditures. In 2010-11 the net revenue forgone on account of corporate taxpayers, non-corporate sector, individual taxpayers and customs duty regime was a whopping sum of Rs. 3,24,869 crore. These are primarily subsidies lavished on the rich. The Customs duty regime covers a list of 98 items and it is evident from the brief description of goods that most of these are beyond the reach of those on the margins. Compare this against the outlay for food subsidy for 2012-13 which is Rs. 75,000 crore. And even in the event of the additional expenditure on account of the new food bill of another Rs. 50,000 crore is far lesser than all the other write offs just mentioned. An interesting study on fuel subsidies is a case in point of the subsidies benefiting the rich much more than the poor. Fuel subsidies are justified by the fact that they lower the cost for the many things that directly and indirectly require energy. However, “the richest 20 percent of households in low - and middle-income countries capture six times more in total fuel product subsidies (43 percent) than the poorest 20 percent of households (7 percent)”.2 Petroleum Subsidy in 2011-12 amounted to Rs. 68,481 crore. So when we examine hard facts and put things into perspective it is the non-poor that benefits most from subsidies.
Again the crores in the food subsidy look colossal but the entire social spending is less than 2% of the GDP in India. In the Social Protection Index by the Asian Development Bank, a comparative study of 35 countries in the Asia pacific region on social protection spending ranks India at 23. India’s Social Protection expenditure is only 1.7% of the GDP while comparative East Asian countries where human development indicators are much better spend more. Japan spends 19.2%, Korea 9.6% and China 5.4% of their GDP on social protection.3 Intentional and focussed spending is required to improve India’s human development indicators and the food subsidy is a key path in that direction. Our citizens definitely
deserve fair allocation against the subsidies galore for the upper echelons.
The finance minister’s budget speech rightly answers the critics and the opponents of the food subsidy, when he articulated that
Dr. Bonnie Miriam Jacob works in EFICOR.She can be reached at [email protected]
In the ‘compelling moral case for equity’ the food security bill is
an undeniable right and deserves to be appropriately
analysed within the parameters of bestowing human dignity,
worth and respect for the poor and those on the margins.
“
”
“Growth is a necessary condition and we must unhesitatingly embrace growth as the highest goal. It is growth that will lead to inclusive development, without growth there will be neither development nor inclusiveness… Owing to the plurality and diversity of India, and centuries of neglect, discrimination and deprivation, many
sections of the people will be left behind if we do not pay special attention to them. As Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize-winning economist, said, “There is a compelling moral case for equity; but it is also necessary if there is to be sustained growth. A country’s most important resource is its people.”…. Government believes in inclusive development, with emphasis on improving human development indicators.”4
In the ‘compelling moral case for equity’ the food security bill is an undeniable right and deserves to be appropriately analysed within the parameters of bestowing human dignity, worth and respect for the poor and those on the margins. Surely the subsidy scales in India as evident from the crores spent or foregone tilts heavily on the side of the non-poor leaving them no moral case to question subsidies for the poor.
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drishtikoneSEEDS OF TRANSFORMATION
Prosperity PlantA local plant that binds soil has become the new weapon against soil erosion caused by flash floods in Tripura.
Sahena Begam is literarily reclaiming her life from the virulent Khowai river. A resident of Golabari village in Tripura’s West District, she
typifies the village’s journey back to life after almost being vanquished by the river. Golabari, situated on the banks of Khowai River, is deluged by flash floods every year. Atharamura hills, some 20 kms away from the village, are the catchment of Khowai River. Heavy rains in the hills trigger flash floods in Khowai and flood the entire habitation residing along its banks. Flash floods not only destroy crops but also erode large patches of agricultural land. Floods also bring in massive amount of silt that deposits on farms and bury houses forcing villagers to shift to new places and rehabilitate them. Government has been implementing programmes to check soil erosion but that has not been effective.
Sahena landed in Golabari in 1996 in search of a decent livelihood. She managed to buy a piece of land and thought life would move on smoothly. In 2000, a flash flood swept away all her belongings and
Hopes of a new life were sprouting elsewhere. Some 20 years ago, few villagers observed that places covered with Kamlilata (Ipomea Reptans), a local plant, were not affected by soil erosion. The plants not only held the soil tight but also regulated the speed of flowing water. The roots of Kamlilata have a vegetative propagation. Once they touch the ground they grow laterally and perpendicularly and form a fabricated reinforcement. It can survive in adverse conditions. The plant has multiple uses like the branches can be used as firewood and paper processing. On an experimental basis, villagers planted Kamlilata in and around their lands and within 10 years the result was miraculous. It not only protected the embankments from breaching but also prevented the rapid run off from the river channel when the river was in spate. Further, eroded land got back to original state as these plants captured soils from flood water and spread them backward. The once lost land has now become cultivable land. Soon, its plantation spread across villages on the river banks. It is normal now for the villagers to plant Kamlilata. Staff of Jana Unnayan Samiti Tripura (JUST), a local NGO, identified this tested community knowledge for combating floods and soil erosion and adapted it for use in other flood prone villages. It launched the Community
damaged the house severely. She did not have any place to take refuge. The sufferings did not end there. Soil erosion started eating away her land. In a year she was left with just one-tenth of her land, practically not useful for any purpose. After losing land and other possessions, she was forced to take loans from the money lender at high interest rate. She was being laid into a debt trap. For a loan of Rs. 10,000 taken eight years ago, she has been paying an interest amount of Rs. 1000 every month without even touching the outstanding capital. She had to withdraw her daughter from the school. “What would I do if another flood strikes?” she asks.
20 YEARS AGO
Flash floods not only destroy crops but also erode large patches of
agricultural land. Floods also bring in massive amount of silt that deposits
on farms and bury houses forcing villagers to shift to new places and
rehabilitate them.
“
”
SEEDS OF TRANSFORMATION
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Based Disaster Programme (CBDP) supported by Caritas India. JUST team consulted experts in the government Forest and Water Resource Department and held consultation in flood prone villages to find out the traditional way to reduce erosion. This revealed the vital role played by Kamlilata plant in preventing soil erosion. This information and knowledge collected from community was incorporated as an important component of the CBDP.
A NEW DRIVE
Sensitization and plantation drive started in the project villages in April 2007. The field teams of JUST educated the community on the scientific reason behind erosion and the effectiveness of Kamlilata in arresting erosion. They presented success stories and documentary films. Efforts were made to encourage community members to plant Kamlilata. For protection of Kamlilata, each family residing along the river bank was made responsible to take care of the patch of land behind his/her house. Conditions were also set to plant 10 plants in exchange of the five plants that got damaged and people were motivated to plant at least three Kamli every day before bathing. Government bodies like Gram Panchayat, forest departments, block
During the floods of 2008, Kamlilata saved my house and land from
erosion.
office and other government departments accepted its ef-fectiveness in preventing soil erosion caused by flood. At present the forest and water resource department is encouraging people to plant Kamlilata. Jagannathbari Panchayat has submitted an estimate of Rs 5 lakhs to
Teliamura Block Office for plantation of Kamlilata and bamboo bush along the river bank to reduce erosion. It was included in
Jagannathbari Panchayat Action Plan and would be implemented under the National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act. Sahena is getting back to life. Realizing the importance of Kamlilata, she started planting it on the river bank near her house to save her land. “During the floods of 2008, Kamlilata saved my house and land from erosion. Now I am planting more of it on the vertical bank too. Every day I am spending sometime on that as I want to set myself as an example for others,” says a confident Sahena.
(Adapted from the book ‘Turning the Tide: Good Practices in Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction’, published by EFICOR and Sphere India, 2010, p.76-78)
“ ”
‘During this flood, Kamlilata saved my house and land from erosion’
“The only disability in life is a bad attitude.”- Scott Hamilton
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Living Gently in a Violent World
Mr. Akshay Rajkumar
Some books are written to be read; others are meant to be lived. Living Gently in a Violent World is written to be lived by Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier.
When Hauerwas was named “America’s Best Theologian” by TIME magazine in 2001, he responded by saying “‘Best’ is not a theological category.’” Vanier is the founder of L’Arche, a network of homes where people with disabilities experience communal life together, along with those who volunteer to assist them.
The book is the first in a series of IVP publications - “Resources for Reconciliation” - that pairs a leading theologian with an experienced practitioner to combine their knowledge and experience and share it with the church. This particular book focuses on what the church can learn from people with disabilities, with L’Arche as an example of the communities in which they live.
The authors have contributed two essays each, Hauerwas emerging as the more academic of the two, while Vanier’s presence is fatherly, compassionate and generous but no less theological. At just over 100 pages, the book is small and easy to read, but it carries a deep burden and probes the church with tough questions, one of them being, “Can we accept and love people with disabilities as they are?”
Vanier has spent more than forty years with people with disabilities. He speaks with conviction and its hard to overlook his love for people with disabilities and concern for the present state of relationships in the church and the world. Hauerwas is most known for his work in Christian ethics and his academic pedigree is showcased in the fourth and final chapter through a “lengthy consideration of political theory,” which is the only taxing portion of an otherwise easy-to-read difficult-to-digest argument.
Vanier’s essays are reflective, honest and vulnerable. He weaves a number of true stories into his plea to come back to the gospel vision of unity and close “the gap between the so-called “normal” world and the people who have been pushed aside, put into institutions, excluded
from our societies because they are weak and vulnerable or even killed before birth.”
He readily admits the weaknesses of L’Arche, especially its theology, quoting Anglican theologian David Ford, who told him, “In L’Arche, you have a wonderful spirituality, but if you don’t have a good theology, this spirituality will peter out.” Although the book sets out to address that problem, Vanier admits that there are many questions that remain unanswered.
The authors’ reflections on the nature of community are poignant and insightful, especially since they are drawn from the unlikely prophets in L’Arche homes around the world. True to the rich heritage of irony in the Bible, it is people
with disabilities who have more to say about authentic community than “normal people.” The weak are chosen to shame the strong and authors prove this pattern of reality in spades.
The book sets out to urge the church to revisit its understanding of community and reorder its relationships according to Paul’s instructions that the weakest and least presentable people are indispensable to the church (1 Corinthians 12:22). Vanier says, “Through this teaching, we see a vision unfold in which a pyramid of hierarchy is changed into a body, beginning at the bottom.” He also says, “I have never seen this as the first line of a book on ecclesiology! Who believes it?”
Both authors are obviously concerned about people with disabilities and their disenfranchisement from the church
BOOK REVIEW
Jean Vanier & Stanley Hauerwas, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
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and society, into institutions and the peripheries of society. Vanier’s stories from L’Arche keep the argument earthy and genuine, while Hauerwas takes the responsibility to present a reasoned case for how L’Arche “helps the church find the gospel.”
That may seem absurd to some, but that is the concern of the writers who feel that “L’Arche shows, as the church is called to show, that Christianity is true by demonstrating what community would look like if the gospel were true.” At the same time, it rightly recognizes that even though L’Arche has done what many churches have been unable to do, it cannot continue to do it without the church.
The authors present a challenging and heart-warming portrait of people with disabilities who live in community and defy the popular reasoning, even in the church, that they are “better off dead.” The strength of the writers’ argument is rooted in their conviction that we need them more than they need us. Both authors make a convincing case for the fact that people with disabilities have the ability to make us more human, even as technology conspires to turn us into independent, fast-paced, self-reliant machines.
The book’s most significant accomplishment is to reveal the irony that people with disabilities have learnt how to be happy and human by serving each other in love, while “normal people” continue to run themselves into the ground in the “real world,” craving the satisfaction of true, loving relationships. The teacher has become the student. The learned must become the learner.
However, Vanier’s theology has been the subject of much speculation, some arguing that he is presenting a “bland ecumenism that sees everyone as a children of God.” Vanier makes an earnest plea for bringing down the walls that separate us from each other. Although his argument brings to mind Paul’s portrait of unity in his letter to the Ephesians, Vanier’s version is missing a vital emphasis on its foundation, Christ on the Cross, “who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing
wall of hostility” and “might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross.”
Vanier’s case for oneness, although prophetic and timely, hangs on a generic portrait of Jesus as a historical hero who shares the same vision as Nelson Mandela. While it is littered with inspiring true stories, revealing insight and prophetic truth, it understates the thing that separates Jesus from everyone else in history - his death and resurrection.
Tragically, its vital message runs the risk of being lost on the fussy theologian and the sensitive seminarian. But if
discerning church leaders can be gracious enough to recognize the urgency of their call to unity that begins at the bottom, they will not forfeit the change that
could be theirs.
Finally, even though the book has much to say to the church, it does not do enough to close the gap between the church and people with disabilities. There will be many questions left unanswered, perhaps because it only meant to ask the questions and perhaps because L’Arche itself is on a journey towards working its way to their answers. In its effort to get a conversation started, however, it serves its purpose well enough. The authors have spoken. Now it remains for the church to listen.
Mr. Akshay Rajkumar is a freelance writer. He can be reached at [email protected]
L’Arche shows, as the church is called to show, that Christianity is true by
demonstrating what community would look like if the gospel were true.
“”
Disability is an art... It is an ingenious way to live.
- Neil Marcus
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drishtikoneBIBLE STUDY
Justice and Compassion
We constantly encounter situations of emergencies where there is intense need and suffering. Several of us would have responded out of compassion for the situation. When the church responds to the need with compassion it is a reflection of God’s character. Compassion is a central theme in the Scriptures and God is a God of Compassion.
“The Greek word for Compassion ‘Splagchnizomai’ comes from the root word of ‘Splanxa’, which is ‘the inward parts,’ especially the nobler entrails – the heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys. These gradually came to denote the seat of the affections1. The corresponding word in Hebrew is ‘Rachamim’ which comes from the root word ‘rechem’, meaning ‘womb’. To have compassion then means to express pity as we have for the love of an unborn child2. However, if both are comparatively viewed we can derive an understand-ing that the Lord’s response to the need of the people comes from deep within Him.
I. Jesus and Compassion
In NIV translation the word compassion is used six times in the Gospels. (Matthew 9: 36, 14: 14, 15: 32, 20:34; Mark 6: 34, 8:2; and Luke 15: 20).
Read Matthew 9: 36 and 15: 29 – 38.
1. What were the situations of the people that were projected in this passage which prompted Jesus to respond with compassion?
2. From Isaiah 30: 18 is Compassion a response of pity or the response of the God of justice?
3. How was the compassion of Jesus expressed?
Rev. Kennedy Dhanabalan
4. What lessons can you draw from Jesus’ response to your own engagement with the poor and needy?
II. God’s compassion for whole of creation
Read Psalm 145: 9 & 13 – 17 these verses point out that God has compassion toward all His creation.
1. If God expresses such minute care and compassion for His nonhuman creation, how are we to emulate God in our actions of caring for creation?
2. How do you understand the marks of a righteous person as seen in Proverbs 29: 7 & 12: 10.
3. Failure to care for the land (Leviticus 23: 10, 25: 2 - the land should be laid to rest) led to the removal of Israelites from the Promised Land (Leviticus 26: 32-33, 43; II Chronicles 36: 21). Reflect how the characters of God, “God of Compassion” and “God of Justice” are entwined.
4. How does the understanding of God’s character of Justice and Compassion affect your life and response in caring for creation?
“We respond to the need of people because of Compassion. Compassion is not the flow of a heart; but is the act of a heart filled with Justice” – C. B. Samuel.
Rev. Kennedy Dhanabalan is the Executive Director of EFICOR.He can be reached at [email protected]
1 http://biblesuite.com/greek/4697.htm, accessed on 27 November 2013.2 http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Glossary/Hebrew_Glossary_-_R/hebrew_glos-sary_-_r.html, accessed on 27 November 2013.
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