InSearch of Justice

Injustice on Justice Sunday

As all Catholics know, this year has dedicated to ‘Care fro Creation’ by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. It is not for the first time that the Church reminds us that God the creator has left the guardianship of His creation in the capable hands of man, we are the custodians of this planet and its inhabitants. Good Catholics, Bible scholars, Theologians will surely take a new look at their Faith in the light of this new aspect – Care for Creation! Yes, it is time for each of us to ask ourselves- Am I doing enough to preserve God’s creation for posterity or am I helping to worsen the man-made disaster of killing the environment?

Generally we are hobbled by our age-old attitudes- Directions must come from the pulpit for us to follow. Any other directive however relevant or urgent is taken in our stride, or put on the backburner of our minds. Secondly we are the Faithful that leave everything in the hands of God. We have been told to trust in God and we take the trust to a new level with our prayers without actions. Is it not the Bible that tells us through St. James, that we need to act on the Word of God that we receive…..

The greatest Tenet of Christianity that calls for actions is difficult to follow. How can we show our love someone of a different class and creed, alien culture and language, living in a far away place, invisible to the world? Good question. I wonder how our Master would have answered it, back to the Bible……

However, the Church celebrates the Justice Sunday on the third Sunday of August to give us all an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with how the lesser children of God live and what injustices they endure, with none to support them in their hour of need. So, out of this obligation is born this sharing ……

The celebration of Justice Sunday on 22nd August, 2010 by the church in Mumbai failed to evoke much representation from the parishes, compared to other events like the Charismatic rallies, healing sessions, Youth Festivals etc. despite the fact that Justice Sunday reflects the Church’s concern for the weaker and marginalized brethren who have been victimized by the unjust policies and actions of the Governments and society as a whole. Yet, it seems to me that we as one community, clergy and lay people could attach more significance to the celebration of Justice Sunday in Mumbai, since it showcases the basic tenet of Christian Faith against the backdrop of recent events like the unprecedented floods in many countries, uncontrollable forest fires, cloudbursts, flash floods and landslide in a proportion never seen for a long time!

It should be of utmost concern to Catholics that this onerous task of caring for creation is becoming an obstacle race run against the industrialists and various governments that ignore the issue of environmental degradation with their faulty policies and indifference. This was aptly illustrated by the documentary, ‘Diamonds and Dust’ filmed at Kuchidih, a remote hamlet in Jamshedpur Jharkhand showing the plight of the land and its people. As shown in the film, the ‘Kohinoor Steel Pvt. Ltd.’, a sponge iron company has taken away most of the fertile agricultural land of the villagers and is ruining the remainder of it by flooding it with Fly Ash soaked with water! The once fertile land has now turned into slush, poisoned and acrid with drinking water becoming a scarce commodity.

The villagers mostly farmers bitterly narrated their tale of exploitation that has made them landless labourers or menial workers living in appalling conditions in mud-huts without electricity or water. The story of how their agricultural land was taken away in exchange for false promises of jobs, electricity, school and medical clinic, unfolded on the screen in agonizing detail. For us, it stood as a grim symbol of India’s rural story of umpteen such hamlets of tribals taken over by unscrupulous industrialists grabbing the only means of sustenance of the poor and giving nothing in return. Evidently these companies show no interest in the welfare or care of the land or the poor people in these hamlets, complacent that the victims are the illiterate poor with no recourse to justice. The truth that even the police refused to acknowledge their existence showed how the government machinery works!

A short search on the Net revealed that a Topography investigation had been made for twenty such mills in the surrounding areas mostly in Jharkhand and Orissa at one point in time- just the tip of the iceberg. Does it mean that all these villages too face the same fate that takes them to the edge of extinction? How many more are hidden from public gaze and quietly face the havoc in a similar manner? In Mumbai, cushioned that we are from the harsh realities of rural India, we could feel alienated from these poor souls. Unless more people dare to expose the misdeeds of these exploiters of the poor in the name of industrialization the country will remain in the dark about the dark side of this issue. Not surprisingly, the fine print at the end of the documentary was predictable- the filmmakers were forbidden to reveal these details or was it that the crew was threatened?

For some of us in one group the story became all the more poignant when a participant, a retired employee of Tata Company at Jamshedpur shared his own experiences of how the Tata House of industries had tackled the same issue differently in a more humane way years ago. He reminisced fondly that the locals were treated to employment, education, healthcare and to a life of dignity by the Industrialists when they took over the land. Hospitals, schools, playgrounds and all other amenities were built and handed over to the religious sisters, professionals in the field of education and health care. Apparently, compared to the earlier generation of pioneer industrialists, those in business now will soon spell the doom for this country and at this rate, by the time India metamorphoses into a super power, there will be no poor people left to enjoy the benefits!

The Church, through its missions is rendering yeoman’s service to mitigate the miseries of these poor people. But if the number of needy people increases rapidly a hundredfold, the way it is happening now because of the blinkered vision, ‘Industrialization at any cost’, will the humanitarian service of this kind be able to keep up with the times?

So now, the million dollar question- Why have we changed so drastically that neither the government nor the millionnaires have hardened theri hearts into reaching the poor to death's door?