Martti Ahtisaari - My interaction or not?

 

Stamp of Martti Ahtisaari to be released 

in December 2023

Martti Ahtisaari was from Oulun Lyceo, where my daughter studied. He was the third Finnish President who went to  the Oulu Lyceo.

Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg

Kyösti Kallio

The others were Presidents Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg and  Kyösti Kallio

I landed in Finland in 1984. My brother-in-law, a senior Finnish  bureaucrat in the Ministry of Labour,  looked at my bio-data and wrote a letter to Martti Ahtisaari, who was also a senior bureaucrat, introducing me to Martti Ahtisaari. He asked me to address a lettter to Martti Ahtisaari, giving details of my background and explaining how I could play a role in the Finnish hierarchy. 

That was in 1984! 

I am still waiting for an acknowledgement of the communications to both these letters.

That was my first experience of how the Finnish system works.

Three reasons are given for this. 

The first is that the person is least interested in extending a hand to the request. It is just ignored as being irrelevant. 99% of the action is this behaviour.

A second reason is that Finns like to do a serious evaluation of the situation before replying aletter. This is the typical answer given when one submits a job application.

When I was explaining this to a group of German journalists who were visiting Oulu Univeristy, about why they did not get reply to their letters to Finns, I gave the benefit of the doubt to this second reason. I was severely admonished by the Dean of our Electrical Engineering Department and Vice Rector of the University for denigrating Finland when holding a senior position in the University. (Not that I cared, as I believe in telling the truth as it is.)

The third is that Finns have very poor social skills. This is best explained by an incident of one of my students who went as an exchange student to Loughborough University. He was being hosted by a Professor. 

After his first night at the Ptofessor's house, when he came down to breakfast, the Professor asked him a rhetorical question as to how he had fared through the night. The student was silent for several minutes as he was thinking how he should answer that question.

This was explained to me later when the Professor of English in Oulu University gave a talk about Social English, as Finns have little knowledge about that aspect of life.

When Ahtisaari was President, he behaved like Prime Minister Narendra Modi does today, flying at the drop of the hat to all corners of the world. 

I used to keep track of the movement of Ahtisaari on a very popular  special web page calling him the "Satellite President". 

My personal assessment at that time was that he was building a base to either become nominated as the President of Europe or to get the Nobel Prize. 

He got the latter!

Credit must be given, as he was a great negotiator. He negotiated quite extraordinary peace  deals between warring factions. 

His contribution today in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict would have been priceless. 

There is no-one who has stepped into this role since.

Although I did not ever meet President Ahtisaari, I did interact with his son when I was a serving member of the Ethnic Minorities Advisory Board (ETNO) representing English speaking members of Finland..

Compulsory army service in Finland for young men was considered absolutely necessary. Those who either chose to go for a stint in social service or those who opted out of it were thought to be traitors or pariahs.

This was until in 2000, when President Ahtisaari's son opted for social service rather than to do the army service! (He served as an assistant in the Labour Ministry in serving in  handling ETNO issues.)

It then became acceptable to not join the army service, although many Finns, even today, hold that it is a non-Finnish character.

My father-in-law had to join the army and served on the frontline as a sharpshooter during the entire 1938-1944 wars between Finland and Russia and then in driving out the Germans from Finland. He had no optioin then as if you did not join you would be considered a traitor.

After the war he became a committed Christian and opted out of further service in the army. His back was riddled with grenade shrapnel which meant he could never sleep on his back.

When our daughter interviewed him as University project, he talked about his service to her, but refused to talk about his actions on the front line. He wanted desperately forget those terrinble moments.

Our elder grandson has completed a year of his compulsory army service. The second grandson is taking  a year off from and is planning to finish his army service as soon as possible.

I advised him to complete it quickly as when one gets older, it becomes increasingly difficult to respond to "stupid" commands being shouted at you by younger people in the process.

I had one of my senior researchers in Ouklu University who went for his army service when he was over 25. He had been completing his Master's degree.

Within a month, he had to quit on psychological grounds as he could not handle the brain-washing process.

Martti Ahtisaari was probably not the best Finnish President that I have served under, although he had the background of being a bureaucrat before becoming President. In my opinion, this a dangerous combination, as the use of the bureaucratic process can result in a  power hungry person misusing the Presidency.

Sauli Niinistö

I think the best Finnish President so far has been our present one, Sauli Niinistö, because he understood humanity after he and his two children escaped the tsumani in Thailand by climbing up a tree! 

Having been the Finnish President, may we say sincerely to late Nobel Laureate Martti Ahtisaari - Rest In Peace.

 

Nelson Mandela on the Palestine/israel issue

 https://www.facebook.com/reel/1554176501987563?fs=e&s=TIeQ9V

We fully endorse late President Nelson Mandela’s views expressed in this link. 

If one changes-principles at will, such people have no right to lead ANYTHING!

The hypocrisy, lack of spine, of those leaders and people standing behind ANYONE in this conflict ONLY shows their own personal agenda. 

No one has said THIS more clearly than Nelson Mandela!

We request you to read this blog entry of ours

  “Through the eyes of an Arab Israeli..” 

which was posted on 3rd October 2007!

(Meeting with Israeli Palestinian Human Right Activist Najib Abu Rokaya)

Finnish Immigration Policy - Where is it going?

My 2001 report to the Finnish Sports Federation on tools for integration.

ThisYouTube video “The Full Story” by Johanna Kauppinen is worth watching. It handles a look at the new immigration policy.

Annikki and I will try, in a later blog, to put it into perspective of my 54 years as a foreigner of interaction with Finland.

There is much you can do in your personal life which will have  a long term impact on your acclimatisation, especially if you have children!

For instance, is putting children in an International School the correct answer?

Racism is rife in Finland. It is hidden and can be a shock if it hits you between the eyes. 

I faced it in England in 1963 and again when I moved to Finland in 1984. How did I cope with it? How have our chldrn faced it and coped wih it?

If you have any questons, do write to us to help you through the problems.

An important question about Indian Cities

 

Ramu Katakam (profile photo from

his Facebook page).

We live in a country, Finland, famed for its modern as well as traditional architecture. It is also in harmony with nature.

Architects, as the late Alvar Aalto, changed the face of architecture not only in Finland. I remember him when he created the all plastic house in the sixties!over the last century.

Yesterday, I read an article about how a Middle East country is planning an undersea tunnel to India with a length of 1500 km. 

But where are they heading?

Then I came across this article by an old friend from my alma mater who is an architect. Ramu Katakam was a close friend of my cousin, Mammen Mathew.

Our history goes back over 50 years,

When I stood for the President of the St. Stephen’s College residents in 1961, it was an audacious move as no 2nd year student had ever gone forward with such an ambition. 

My cousin, who was then in the first year, headed my campaign  rounding up all possible votes. He knew that I had a vision for the future and the tenacity to see it through.

However, he ran into a road block with his good friend, Ramu Katakam, who intended to vote for someone else!

Till today, the bone of contention between these two dear friends has been the vote he did not give me.

Both these characters are fantastic, each in his own way, as after finishing college, the two of them hitch-hiked ftom India to London where I was studying. 

Mammen went into journalism and today heads the Malayala Manorama newspaper and its over 40 major publications, almost all leading in their spheres. (The WEEK, Balarama for children, Vanitha for ladies in Malayalam and Hindi, Manorama Weekly in Malayalam,  Manorama Directory in English, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali and Hindi).

Ramu went to Cambridge and specialised in architecture.

This article by Ramu, featured below, appeared in The Wire.

I, with Abraham Thomas, who was Managing Director of the building group Southern Investments,  and author of a book "The Affluent Machine" authored the concept of rural urbanisation in I976, which is still several steps ahead of the Smart City concept which is heralded as future of India.

I will blog our article "Rural Urbanisation" shortly, but I think it is important to go through the critical views of Ramu.

"Why Is Modern Indian Architecture So Banal and the Cities So Unlivable?

The present period will be seen centuries later as piles of steel and shards of glass.

By

Ramu Katakam 

Representative image. Photo: Sriharsha/Flickr CC BY SA 2.0

A recent article in The Wire titled ‘Why Conserving Modern Architecture Has Become Nearly Impossible’ raised several questions that have been worrying architects, especially after the series of demolitions and planned demolitions of post-independence buildings.

The country is emerging from a long stretch of European colonisation and is finding its feet amongst the arts and architecture of the modern age. But European influence still plays a role in this quest for what is Indian and what is mere copy. It has been difficult for Indian architects to create a style that adequately presents a rising civilisation to the rest of the world – and to its own denizens. 

 

A country that has produced so many beautiful buildings over the centuries is now having to formulate its identity and design of buildings. Take the Hall of Nations, designed by Raj Rewal and built in the 1970s to provide a space for international exhibitions in the heart of Delhi. Before it was demolished by this government, it was arguably one of the finest works of architecture in the post-Independence era. It represented a new approach and borrowed nothing from Bauhaus ideologies or from Le Corbusier’s enormous influence. The architect found a way to build a unique structure that was modern and monumental.

The Hall of Nations. Credit: The Wire

Unfortunately, our administrators felt it occupied a very valuable amount of real estate and they had no understanding of its historic value and proceeded to tear it down. By this logic, one could argue that the Purana Qila (‘Old Fort’) – built by Humayun in the 16th century, which lies next to Pragati Maidan where the exhibition grounds are located and also occupies valuable land in the city centre – should be demolished too. Luckily, the fort is under the protection of the Preservation of Ancient Monuments Act, 1958. Indian architects are now suggesting that a new act be brought in to protect architectural buildings of significance, regardless of age.

When the British decided to shift their Capital to Delhi from Kolkata, they chose a large area adjacent to Shahjanabad, the capital created by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. They designed and built an imperial city that was to last a thousand years (something we have heard before and since). But after just 25 years, they had to abandon the capital. 

 

Their New Delhi was created as a set of imposing buildings that exhibited the might of the British Empire. The present Rashtrapati Bhavan was originally the residence of the Viceroy, who was the representative of the King of England. The North and South Blocks, while architectural masterpieces of colonial design, were intended to rule India, the ‘Jewel in their Crown’.

 

All Union governments of independent India have been hypnotised by these imperial buildings. The president of India lives in the erstwhile Viceregal Lodge and the main ministries of home, defence, finance and external affairs are ensconced in the Secretariat.

Ministers sit in their grand teak-panelled offices and members of the Indian civil services continue to enjoy their pre-Independence pomp and glory. The present regime has tried to bring about change and has built new buildings along the main vista that was once called Rajpath, later Janpath, or ‘people’s way’ and now Kartavyapath. All of these are signifiers of an India that continues to be ruled rather than governed.

 

Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Photo: Rashtrapati Bhavan, GODL-India

A prescient Gandhi saw the impact these imperial buildings would have on those in power and, after Independence, pleaded with the state to create another capital that would leave the British legacy behind. It would have been simple to acquire land at that time but instead, we now have the satellite towns of Noida and Gurugram which are really vast suburbs of concrete, steel and glass. A faceless set of buildings that appears in rings of roads around the capital of Delhi housing millions of residents.

 

Of course, it is not as if Indian governments were the only ones seduced by grand buildings: the new rulers of Russia used the Kremlin palaces (the old residences of the Czars) as their headquarters and the Chinese used the palaces of the Forbidden City (residences of Emperors for several centuries) as the staging post for their May Day parades.

Architecture plays a significant role in the manner cities are planned and the remains of a civilisation are largely seen through the buildings that are left behind. Architects are told not to hark back to history but how is it possible to ignore Nalanda, Sanchi and Ellora – all treasures of design created by previous civilisations? Today we are reduced to banal edifices of square and round skyscrapers that represent what a large number of people term prosperity and development. Tagore’s vision of creating a recognisably distinct Indian civilization is fast disappearing as the subcontinent’s buildings try to replicate the tiny principalities of Dubai and Singapore. However, these replicas do not match the quality or scale of the modern age ‘wonders’ seen in the global cities. Will our present civilisation be seen a few centuries from now as piles of twisted metal and shards of glass? 

 

None of India’s cities offers a solution for the modern city. They are all increasingly becoming unlivable, making the privileged few seek second homes in Goa, in hill stations or abroad. A chance to see real change was available when a capital was envisaged for the residual Andhra Pradesh state. It was to be called Amaravati, after the Buddhist capital that was the centre of the old kingdoms of this area. (Few know that people in the land that is now Andhra Pradesh followed the Buddhist faith for 800 years.) However, after several attempts, the present state government chose to make three capital regions and power was decentralised – a smart decision given the length of the state. But these different capitals just had more rings of suburbs where concrete and glass thrive.

All this sounds very bleak and indeed it is. The future of Indian architecture and its habitat is represented by a few grand villas in Goa and some oversized air-conditioned flats in Mumbai and Delhi. It is therefore important for architects to attempt to bring cityscapes together and create new designs that are community-driven. Colaba, a suburb of Mumbai, is a classic example of a settlement where the rich and poor mingle and live complete lives. It is a microcosm of the mighty ‘maximum city’ and is a place where everything is available and some protection is offered to heritage buildings. Re-use of buildings is being done and an excellent example is the cafe built inside a former godown which was gutted and the exterior kept intact. Another well-known renovation is an ice factory in Ballard Estate that has been converted into a modern gallery and exhibition space for events.

 

Amongst the other major cities of India, Mylapore within the city of Chennai is a good example that has coexisted since the inception of the city. Many British residents made this area into their homes and while it is in good condition can be well restored for the reuse of a cityscape.

 

The old city of Hyderabad with the Charminar as its focus is also an independent settlement within the megapolis of the modern capital and is quite independent of the chaos of modern Hyderabad. Due to its antiquity, the inhabitants live and work on an ‘island’ with their own economy. Many other cities in India have these qualities – with Jodhpur, Lucknow and Kolkata among the largest.

 

Charminar. Photo: Vandana And Vaibhav/ Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 4.0.

This may not be perfectly pleasing for aspiring architects who want to design magnificent edifices but they may have to start making buildings that are more on a human scale. If new cities are to be made (and several are needed to cope with increasing numbers), then the planning will have to be on a gigantic scale. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has embarked on building a 170-km-long linear city called ‘The Line’. It is a revolutionary city that doesn’t look to the past, attempts to cater to the future, and has big names and big money undergirding it. There are several aspects to the project that raise questions but the attempt to think anew is to be recognised. 

 

India’s wealth – and, more importantly, its population and its needs – will rise dramatically in the next decades and hence will have to consider something as spectacular and monumental as The Line City envisaged in the desert. The country has to decide whether it is going to pursue the limits of wealth which will sooner or later implode as the planet does not have the resources for this growth or follow a path that will allow the planet to survive the upheavals and lifestyles of the modern age.

Ramu Katakam is an architect."

One hopes that visionary architects will arrive on the Indian scene to make it possible that India is a liveable country. We are not so confident as was expressed in our last book "The Titanic Called India",

 

Who can be your mentor?

Who can be your mentor?

1989:Vishnu, Veena, Saroopya, Sahitya and Vishnu's mother in 

Chennai with Annikki and me.

I have blogged about two  great people who were my mentors, Dr. Anna Mani and Tan Sri Dr. B. C. Shekhar.

But one of my greatest mentors was a young man who worked for me.

 When I tell him this today, he just cannot believe that he was my mentor as he had great admiration for me. 

He came to work for my consulting company from PSG College in Coimbatore to do a marketing research programme of three months.

Once he walked into my room and I asked him to sit down to give him his first assignment, I knew I had a person who was unique.

I used to do a test when I was interviewing people for a job. I would ask them to write me an essay about some well known human being.

99% of the people I interviewed would ask me a series of question about why it was relevant, or what should they write about, how long the essay should be or something which meant they needed guidance.

Only one in a haundred would leave the room and turn up with an essay about the topic.

I got this advice from a book about Col. Arthur Wagner, who told Col. Andrew Summers [sic] Rowan, that he had to deliver a message from US President McKinley to reach  information regarding the Spanish forces in Cuba and the condition of the insurgent Cuban forces. to General Gracia . He called in Col. Rowan to whom he handed a letter and asked him to reach this message to General Gracia. He gave no information about the   location or any other details relevant to the task.

There are many versions to this story but the best account is found at "How I got the message to General Gracia".

The officer picked up the message and went out and elivered the message to whom it was addressed.

Such people are doers, while others, whatever their good qualities, are followers. A doer is one hundred times more valuable than a follower.

This young man executed his first market research project within the alotted time, only coming to me when he needed some technical advice which he could not possibly know.

I hired this young man and he served me diligently for almost a decade.

When I then started a production company, I asked him to be my Chief Executive Officer. He and his family were my closest associates.

I never had to give him instructions. He knew my diary and he would always have the relevant papers ready for me without me having to ask him.

What I learnt from him was of immense value to me when I moved to Finland and started working for an organisation. I followed what he taught me as I was then 10 steps ahead of everyone else.

Being one of the earliest foreigners to work in the University, I started at the bottom of the ladder in the Microelectronics Laboratory in the University of Oulu. Within three years, because of my performance, I became the Acting Laboratory Manager and within five ýears I became the Chief Engineer. 

My work output was so high, and for a person who had no experience in the field of Microelectronics, I achieved what no one had done before me. My salary was the highest of any non-professorial staff.

When I left the University to start my own small company in the Technology Village behind Oulu University, I was innudated with work from all the laboratories of the Electrical Engineerting Department, from the Physics and Theoretical Physics Departments and also the Biology, Botany and Zoology departments. 

I had earned the trust of the colleaqgues who had worked with me and their friends around the University. 

They knew that when I promised something, I would deliver the results.

This young man, his wife in India and his children in the USA are lifelong friends. After I left India he was the CEO of another organisations in India. He is retired but his employer still has not let him go.

 I have been priviledged to be mentored by this young man. His name is Vishnu Varadhan, his wife, who makes the best rasam that I know, is Veena. And his two children Saroopya and Sahitya are fine examples of good upbringing.

It is my honour to call him my mentor.

My suspicions now fully confirmed

(Also posted on Jacob's Politics Blog.)

Dennis Kucinch and his wife Elizabeth.

When everybody was raving about Obama for President, I kept quiet, as I knew that he would sway with the powerful tide on several major matters. I kept up my support for Dennis Kucinich, as he was the only candidate which did not move from his committed policies.

Obama did not even bother to give this man a chance in his Government to show what could be done in the interest of peace.

I did not have to wait long to see what I believed would happen.

Obama's strategy in Iraq remains the same - keep forces there as long as possible. Give a picture of withdrawal when there is none. An image for the masses.

In Afghanistan, not only has he increased troop numbers, but he continues the policy of Bush. Obama's policy is even worse that that followed by Bush - increase forces and keep on killing innocent women and children as part of collateral damage!

Did you vote for CHANGE?

Now comes the latest - that the photographs of American forces abusing prisoners will not be released as "it would antagonize the enemy".

Any different from Abu Ghraib where it was leaked photographs that exposed the American behaviour!?

Obama, any different from Bush?

Come on, Congressman Dennis - please speak up NOW.

Open letter to the Indian President

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the Delhi Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog and the Mumbai Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog.

This just reached me. It is an is an open letter to the President of India submitted through the Governor of Karnataka. It is from Dr. Sajan George, who is the President of the Global Council of Indian Christians.

There are three major reasons that I am publishing this letter on my blogs.

First and foremost is that my grandfather held the post of First Member of the Privy Council of the Mysore Maharajah, a post given to a Christian by a Hindu who valued the individual and his capabilities rather than which ethnic minority the person hailed from.

My grandfather was a person from what is now known as Kerala and was not a Mysorean. But all through the State of Mysore, this Keralite and Christian was known as Mysore Matthan. Even 30 years after his death respect, when I was living in Maddur in Mandya District, was shown to me just because I was his grandson!

Many Matthan's have served the State, Mysore and Karnataka, selflessly and have yet practiced their faith without fear. After retirement they have considered Karnataka as their home. They are sons of the soil of Karnataka.

The second reason I am publishing this letter is that around the middle it draws attention to the controversial action by the Officiating Principal of my alma mater, St, Stephen's College, Delhi, about the admission policy that was introduced this year.

The third reason is that Prof. Ajeet Mathur, a fellow Cathedralite and Stephanian, was in Oulu a couple of weeks ago and gave an interesting talk. He holds the position of Director of the Institute of Applied Manpower Research of the Planning Commission of India. His Research Group is working on the 9% growth that is presently being seen in India and the rapid expansion of educational facilities to meet this need. 30 new Universities, 7 new Indian Institute of Technologies and many hundreds of thousands of educational institutions of every level requires a huge input of highly skilled and talented people of every level.

What message will such actions, as are described in the letter below, become knowledge of people who intend to come to work in India?

Here I am entertaining requests from many tens of Finns wanting to go and work in India and from Finnish companies wanting to find opportunities to establish their operations all over the Indian sub-continent.

What answer will I give them when they ask me about conditions prevailing in India for them to work safely in their jobs or to run their companies?

I shudder to think of the consequences to our National Policy if those who play for short term political gain are allowed to carry on regardless.

To Her Excellency The President of India,
Rashtrapathi Bhavan,
New Delhi

Through the Governor of Karnataka,
Raj Bhavan,
Bangalore

Your Excellency:

We offer our respectful greetings and humble salutations, on behalf of the Christians of India, especially those who have suffered greatly on account of their religious faith. In this regard, we submit the following for your kind and benevolent attention:

We are gravely concerned about the escalating violence being perpetrated against Christians in the state of Karnataka for the past 20 months, and we have evidence to clearly link the same to the change in the government at the state level. In other words, after the BJP came into the coalition, there has been a climate of impunity for any acts of violence that are committed in the name of Hindutva. To place the facts and relevant documentation on record, we herewith submit a detailed report on attacks against Christians in Karnataka between Jan 28th and July 29th 2007 wherein it is clear from the facts that unprovoked attacks by communal elements have occurred inside homes and the places of worship of Christians, as people are praying and worshipping within the privacy of their homes and churches. Later, the police are pressurized to file cases against the victims. The hardest blow to the victims however is the inaction and neglect of our just grievances by the law-and -order machinery and the State. In fact, the police officials in several cases have said that they have received orders from the Dy. Chief Minister and the local (usually BJP MLA)on how to act. Therefore, the widespread attitude (though not universal) is that of treating Christians as second class citizens. We have failed in numerous peaceful efforts to get justice, namely redressal of the violation of our Constitutional and Fundamental freedom of Religion and Conscience. We now approach your kind self in the hope that you who are well known for your secular outlook, will certainly take steps to ensure that justice and the right to constitutional remedies, hitherto denied to the majority of the Christian victims of persecution, will be made available to them in a speedy and time-bound manner.
.
The Christian Rights Rally in Bangalore held on 22nd June 07' was the largest gathering so far of victims of religious persecution by the communal forces in India, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Gujarat to Orissa. Christians in Karnataka are observing Awareness Day on 22nd September 2007 to raise the awareness of the public against Christians in general and in Karnataka in particular and are converging on Bangalore to make their voice heard against the injustice meted out to them and share their experiences and agony and express solidarity with other victims of the extreme distress faced by the Christian community in India. They are joined by a number of persons from all walks of life, various Christian churches and groups including those from other faiths who came together to express solidarity and share their grief and sorrow.

Your Excellency, the Christian community - which continues to be a tiny 2.04% of this nation's population according to the 2001 Census data - has been at the forefront of service to the massive numbers of poor and needy in our country. Our patriotism and commitment to the nation has been tangibly expressed in the form of committed service to the deprived and disadvantaged sections of society in the fields of education, healthcare, and training in vocational services far in excess to our share in the population. A large section of the Christian community, including the cream of our young men and women have dedicated their lives to socially productive activities full-time. Even though they can easily choose to migrate to any country and enjoy a very good quality of life due to their qualifications, they choose to work in Indian running schools, hospitals, orphanages, leprosy rehabilitation centres, nursing schools, counselling centres, colleges which are known for their excellence, etc. Christians are among the largest groups intervening with people living with HIV/AIDS. They work among the poorest of the poor in remotest regions of the country, facing life-threats from the so-called "patriotic" Indians for their work, starting schools, spreading literacy and offering primary health care where state interventions are totally neglected or absent. Their inspiration is the life of Jesus Christ, known for spending his brief and youthful life on this earth in healing the sick, and reaching out to the disabled, the untouchables and the downtrodden those rejected by mainstream society, in preaching the "good news to the poor". His personal example continues to inspire people all over the world and down the ages to express their faith through service to fellow-human beings through a life dedicated to God's will.

Despite this track record of committed service to the Indian people, Christians are constantly referred to by their detractors as foreigners and as people having allegiance to forces outside the country. How long do we need to keep on proving our credentials as full citizens, peace-loving, law-abiding and committed to the advancement of the nation? When India was a nascent state, Christians showed their confidence in the Constitution and their trust in the mainstream by declining reservation in the seats in Parliament. This shows how well the Christian community consider themselves integrated into society. It is sad that the degeneration of the political climate has caused Christians in India to be isolated from the
mainstream by small, noisy, violent groups of communally divisive elements who attempt to damage the pluralism that has been the most abiding characteristic of Indian society for centuries, by bringing pressure on the police and the judicial system. These communal forces raise their voices and weapons against this tiny, dedicated, service-oriented and peace-loving community. They engineer increasingly violent and murderous attacks against not only the Christians themselves but also those whose hope for a better future is kindled by the compassionate service and love shown by these dedicated citizens of India: there are allegations that Christians "convert" those who they serve.

There are attempts to demonise the Christian community through allegations of force, fraud and inducement to convert - through offering services such as education or jobs. Laws aimed at "preventing conversion through force, fraud and inducement" have been passed in several states. But despite several decades of these laws existence, not a single case has ever been successfully prosecuted under these laws. What then is the reason for their existence except to serve as a threat to those who serve the poor? Some of the Christian service institutions in the country have been functioning for over a hundred years, but has the population in the surrounding areas converted enmasse? To the contrary, every year, 8 million students come out of the portals of Christian institutions. Can anyone prove that even 0.001 % of this group has "converted" as a result of indoctrination? Then what is the motivation for these false claims?

We assert that the real reason is that these vested interests and their children, community and class actually welcome and enjoy the services provided by the well-established and older Christian educational and health institutions located in cities and towns. But they do not want availability of these facilities to the poor and disadvantaged in rural and tribal areas. As long as some welfare and charity work is done there is no problem, but when hitherto voiceless and powerless sections of Indian society begin to get education and a socially empowered self-image there is a huge reaction. Witness the outcry against the management of St. Stephen's College, Delhi, for announcing reservations in seats to some of the disadvantaged sections of society, something well within their constitutional rights. The progress of the subaltern groups is not tolerated by those who have enjoyed the fruits of the economic, social and political marginalization of the subaltern groups in India. There is fear that if these groups, hitherto marginalised, become educated and aware, the access of the elites to power, their social and economic status will be eroded. Therefore, they mislead young and gullible sections from the subaltern groups to attack the defenceless Christians, while keeping themselves free of the taint of violence.

In the wake of the recent exposure of these manipulations a violence in the electronic media, who gave publicity to violence against Christian workers, these groups are attempting a damage control exercise. But the nation has now woken up to the grim reality of the extreme, brutal and widespread violence against the Christian community all over the country which has so far been successfully kept from the public by a mostly (though not entirely) complaisant media. Several Christian groups have attempted to highlight these attacks with very little response. However, we must mention that in some cases the National Human Rights Commission and the National Commission for Minorities have responded positively and taken steps to ensure that the matters were enquired into. Justice delivery, however has been slow if not totally absent in most cases.

Also complicit in the "invisibilisation" of these outrages are some lower-level functionaries in the police and judiciary who have often abused their positions to harass and deny Christians their constitutional rights, and support the anti-social and unconstitutional excesses of the Sangh Parivar activists. Even cases of murder of Christian pastors and workers have not been investigated. Due to their own ideological learning towards the communalists most cases the police refuses to file an FIR or take up the matter with any enthusiasm. It goes without saying that these officials would not get away with these actions if it were not for the patronage of politicians allied with the BJP and Sangh organizations.

In view of the above facts, we therefore humbly request your Excellency

1. to call for an independent investigation into the atrocities against the Christian minorities in India, and especially in Karnataka in the recent past, by a specially empowered group in a speedy and time-bound manner. GCIC pledges its support to such an enquiry.


2. To enquire into the reason for the blatant discrimination by the State law-and-order machinery and the judiciary in the matter of incidents against Christians, and their support to the unconstitutional activities and antisocial behavior of persons against the Christians.


3. In cases where undue delay in investigations are established, to fix responsibility at the appropriate level and take punitive administrative and criminal action against those responsible.


4. Baseless reports against the Christians and Christian institutions in the vernacular media have fuelled hate crimes against the Christians in several states, notably Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat.


5. Specifically, we want to bring to your notice that there has been a rape of an 8-year old girl, a daughter of an impoverished Dalit worker in Bidar for her religious identity. F.I.R 100/07 in Nenyara Police station Bidar District, Karnataka state, has been registered and we have brought the matter to the notice of the National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Women.


6. Finally, Your Excellency, we humbly call upon your kind self to exercise your Constitutional Authority and repeal the 1950 Presidential Ordinance which has denied the Constitutional Rights of Christians of Dalit Descent.
   
   Through this one action, you will create history by righting the historical wrongs against a deprived and oppressed section of Indian Society and earn the immense gratitude of millions.

We remain,

Yours faithfully,

Dr. Sajan George, President, Global Council Of Indian Christians

Let us be clear, it is not the common folk of Karnataka who are following this route, but, as usual, those who are lobbying for power.

I am grateful to John Dayal for drawing my attention to this letter and the issues that it highlights.

Next US President, your action please

Posted on my Jacob's Blog and Jacob's Politics Blog.

Please ask your American friends who have a vote to support this man for the post of the next US President.

Please watch this video till the end to know what is the real character of this amazing individual.



Dennis Kucinich won the Gandhi Peace Prize, has stood firmly against the invasion of Iraq from Day 1. He stands for a Department for Peace (not WAR).

On almost every major Liberal Talk Show, whenever there has been a straw poll amongst the listeners, Dennis Kucinich has topped all others.

But the Main Stream Media continues to discard him as they want their man in the White House who will promote WAR, not PEACE.

Almost every major Liberal Talk Show Host thinks Dennis Kucinch is the outstanding candidate for the post of President.

In a poll yesterday online, when asked who the readers wanted as the next US President, 54% voted for Dennis Kucinich. The next person trailed by over 30 percentage points.

70% of Americans are against the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. Over 90% of Iraqis are against the invasion and occupation of their country. Over 80% of the population of the world are against this form of unilateral action by the US in destroying another country and its people.

You can help shape the world by putting yourself forward to get the President of the US that the world needs.

Kandathils, Stephanians - Hip Hip Hurrah

The President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, has conferred on Mammen Mathew (Kandathil, Stephanian, commonly known to all of us as Rajen, Rajenchayan) the PADMA SHREE Award. This important news was announced on Republic Day at New Delhi. This award has made it a record for any one family in Independent India (see below). 

Rajen gets the Padma Shri award from Abdul Kalam

 

Rajen, former US President Bill Clinton and former Indian President Shri K. R. Narayanan

Besides being my dear and constant companion when we were together in St Stephen's College, Delhi, Rajen was also very dear to both Annikki and me when he came to England. It was Rajen and his friends who campaigned for me and made history in the college by getting a second year student elected to the post of JCR President of the College. Together we made the JCR from a dumb unloving unfriendly place into one of the most liveliest places to hang out in.

Later, I was one who was involved in giving him the courage to choose his life partner, Prema!! I still remember him sweating away in the car when he went to see his to-be for the first time!! He ran through more than a few of my handkerchiefs and hand towels at that time!!

Rajen, with another outstanding Stephanian classmate, architect Ramu Katakam, who is also now a member of the Kandathil family by marriage, hitch-hiked across the globe from India to London to land at my doorstep in the mid 1960's. Both were going places, and Rajen has shown us the way to the top.

I must mention the other two of the four Stephanian musketeers of Rajen’s year, Azhar Siddique, who went into hotel management and made a great name for himself in that field, and Suresh Mehra, who runs one of the finest garment export houses from Hyderabad.

Rajen studied journalism on the job at Bristol in Wales and then in the USA. In 2002 he received the rare honour of being appointed as a Reuters Trustee, the first Indian to be appointed to this position. He has been the Chairman of the Indian Section of the Commonwealth Press Union, President of the Indian Newspaper Society, and the Editors Guild of India, and has also been on the Press Council of India.

Today, he is the guiding spirit of the Malayala Manorama Newspapers Group, India's most outstanding newspaper and magazine publishing centre, founded by our greatgranduncle, Kandathil Varghese Mappillai, given shape by our grandfather K. C. Mammen Mappillai and then guided in turn by the late K. M. Cherian and then K. M. Mathew, till Rajen took the helm.

Rajen is assisted by his two younger brother, both professionals, Philip Mathew (Thambi), also a Stephanian and father of 2 Stephanians, Amit and Riyad, and Jacob Mathew (Chacko), sadly not a Stephanian but the father of one, Harsha.

Rajen's daughter-in-law, Miriam (Anu) Mathew (née Paul) was an outstanding Stephanian and a leading executive in a US bank till she returned to India to take the helm of Manorama Online. Her husband Jayant, is also in the newspaper business and a student of our leading Stephanian friend, Sreenath Sreenivasan, Professor of Journalism at Columbia University and an expert on convergence journalism.

The other Award Winners in our family:

1. The late Mr. K. M. Cherian (Chetpetappachen) - first awarded the Padma Shree and the later he was given the Padma Bhushan. Our dear cousins, Dr. K. C. Mammen (Bapukuttychayan), one of India’s leading paediatricians and Mrs. P. V. Jacob (Sarasukochamma) are Chetpetappachen’s surviving children.
2. Mr. K. M. Philip (Peelukuttychayan, Pappa) was give the Padma Shree three ago back. He was the World President of the Y. M. C. A. after many years of outstanding and honorary service in the Indian Y. M. C. A. At the age of 92, he is still physically and mentally fully active and still takes part in many business functions. His wife, Chinammakochamma is also fully active at the age of 85. She was the leading light of the Mumbai Y. W. C. A. for many many years. A dearer lady so full of fun and laughter one will not find on this earth. His two children are Sen Philip and Dr. Peter Philip (Suresh, a fellow Stephanian of my era, an outstanding economist, the business brain behind the launch of the FIRST Kooler Talk, classmate of such leading Stephanians as Sayeed Rizvi, Sarwar Lateef, Zaffar Hai).
3. Mr. K. M. Mathew (Mathukuttychayan, Rajen's father) was given the Padma Bhushan, nearly a decade ago. His wife, the late Mrs. K. M. Mathew (Annammakochamma), who passed away in 2003, surpassed all what her husband and her children have done in her service to the women and children of India. His daughter, Thangam, Rajen’s sister is the mother of 2 Stephanians, Adit and Rohan. (See above for details of his sons - Rajen, Thambi and Chacko.)
4. The late Mr. K. M. Mammen Mappillai (Kochappachen), half a decade before he died in 2003. His wife, Kunjukochamma is a hostess extraordinaire, a person who has made any person entering over the doorstep feel as one of the family. Kochappachen, aided by his six brothers (Cherian, Oommen, Eapen, Varghese Mappillai, Philip and Mathew) and one sister (Mariam, my late mother ) and the sister-in-law of their deceased brother, (Mrs. K. M. Jacob, Pallammachi), built the MRF tyre company by their sense of unity and devotion to one another as well as the entire Syrian Christian Malayali Community. Kochappachen was physically assisted by his wife’s brother, now retired Technical Director of MRF, Kurian George (Georgie, my dear friend in Chennai who keeps me abreast of all the best news from India these days) and technically, mentally and morally assisted by my late father (Kuriyan Matthan). MRF was stabilised and brought forward as India’s leading tyre company by his son, the late Ravi Mammen, and is now run in the family tradition of professional management by his two surviving sons, Vinoo and Arun. Vinoo is the father of 2 Stephanians, Samir and Rahul. His only daughter, Remani is an outstanding artist running her own creative art design company.

It is important to mention Mr. M. K. Mathulla, founder of H.M.T. and a die hard Kandathil, got a Padma Shree some 20 years ago.

In this tribute of honour to Kandathils, I must also say a fond farewell to a dear friend, also a Kandathil, Mr. K. C. Mathulla, who died in Mumbai on 28th January 2005, my wedding anniversary. Mathullapapachayan, as I knew him, had been one who had been of greatest strength to me. When I arrived in India with a "foreign" wife, it was he who, with his Mauritian wife, the late Gabbykochamma, gave me the most practical advice on how to live in India. Besides that, it was he who took me to a leading homeopath and cured me completely of sinusitis, a terrible scourge that I had suffered for many years. It was he who cured Annikki of her acute tonsillitis, again with homeopathy through a well known homeopath in Bandra, Mumbai.

May his soul rest in peace.

Sadly, he had no issue. His dear wife, Gabbykochamma, who suffered from painful arthritis for many many years, left for her heavenly abode to await resurrection several years ago. I will remember this humble and great man, who was dear cousin and friend to my mother and a wonderful uncle and mentor to me, in my daily prayers forever.