Mission India
25th Dec 2004-25th Jan 2005
By
Adrian Anthony Pereira
Malaysian Catholic Student Council


When the ‘idea’ for a mission to India emerged during the 16th Pan Asia Pacific Assembly (PAPA), for which I became the director of the local organizing committee, the first thing that struck my mind was to send one of the capable juniors from the Malaysian Catholic Student Council (MCSC). The mission was to attend the 1st National Women’s Convention organized by Aicuf (All Indian Catholic University Federation). I guess I had been to numerous exposures both local and international and it was time the opportunity belonged to someone else. But at that moment, little did I know that God had different plans for me. And so, we short listed candidates for the mission. At first, when informed about it, they accepted the assignment with open hearts. But soon, due to unavoidable circumstances, they had to pull out. We first thought of aborting the mission but then, the women of Malaysia faced many gender issues which are seldom addressed due to the nature of our society which is over-conservative and un-victim friendly and we saw this mission as the perfect opportunity to learn from India on how to address these issues. And so, the campus ministry assigned me to “MISSION INDIA”. Was it Gods will, I was yet to know. I immediately did a preliminary study on violence against women in Malaysia and around the world with the help of the All Women’s Action Society (AWAM).

The convention was from 29th Dec 2004 till 1st Jan 2005 and so I left for India on Christmas day due to the long internal traveling I would have to do in India. Emotionally, it was distressful since I had to spend Christmas away from my family. But when it comes to humanitarian and Gods work, it has always been a priority for me. After all, many of the apostles had to leave their families and personal duties to follow Jesus and this definitely caused their family members to curse Jesus. Of course, my parents were very supportive and gave me their blessings. I do challenge all parents to support and encourage their children to participate actively in the Catholic Students Society (CSS) setup by the Campus Ministry in every campus!

And so, on Christmas night, I arrived in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and was welcomed by the Aicufers. They were indeed walking ‘mini-Jesus’ and the aura of the Holy Spirit radiated brightly through their hospitality and care for me. They were also highly knowledgeable and very intellectual. It was quite challenging not to know the local language, Tamil and the national language, Hindi. But a certain confident voice in me said that I would be able to overcome the language barriers. How? I had no idea. Where did this voice come from? Was it my sub-conscience or was it the spirit of Christ? I had many doubts. But the drive to improve the social standards of this world ,played an important role in energizing me through out many challenging moments in this journey!

On the 26th morning, at around 9 am, we began the 36-hour journey by train to Ahmedabad, Gujerat. We would travel through 4 states:

Tamil Nadu>>Andhra Pradesh>>Maharashtra>>Gujerat.

It was truly the longest journey in my life. Spending 36 hours on a train was very challenging. I did manage to chat with a few friendly locals and also enjoyed the magnificent view along the journey. Yes, India was a very beautiful land. On the train there were many young children who were polishing shoes and selling toys and titbits to the travelers to earn a few rupees. This was a scene, which could be seen in many places in India. It was rather inspiring to see them work very hard at such a young age to make a living. At the same time, it angered me on why these little have children could not live a normal life( by the Human Rights yardstick). On the train, we were greeted by the ‘Unaks’. They, “Unaks” were a group of transvestites who “gently” extorted money from the passengers. At first, a very dark side of me surfaced in my mind. Immediately, I began judging them from every angle. I actually became an evil person and I horrified myself! But I stopped and reflected for a few moments on Christ own life, whom sat and ate with the marginalized and whom had no prejudice at all towards anyone. It was then that I realized, that they too were creations of God and I immediately retracted my negative perceptions about them and repented by offering my friendship. The beautiful people and the scenic view definitely proved to me, beyond reasonable doubt, that God did not create them good….but very good!

A few hours into the journey, we received a phone call informing that a Tsunami had hit Chennai, Tamil Nadu and a few other countries in Asia. I was grateful that I was alive but at the same time furious because many innocent people would have died in it and also due the fact that I was helpless at that moment. I could only pray for the victims. Turning around to aid the relief work would not be practical at that moment. Little did I know that in the not too distant future, I would be involved in the Tsunami relief and rehabilitation with a certain degree of responsibility. The thought of the destruction of lives depressed me for a moment or two. I overcame this by focusing my thoughts on the “Risen Christ”. How true indeed it is that the “Risen Christ” is more powerful than the “suffering and dead Christ”!

India has always been a personal “virtual” attraction to me. The various news I have read about India through the online newspapers truly made me wonder how India would really be. Would it be as romantic as portrayed in the Hindi and Tamil movies? I don’t think so. India was indeed a land of extremes. At one end, I could see extreme poverty and at the other end, I could see the extremely rich. While Malaysia has 13 states, 4 major ethnic groups and 4 major religions, India has over 28 states, over 100 ethic groups and 3 major religions. Thus India’s social context was definitely more complex than Malaysia’s. There were people whom were just not bothered but were instrumental in causing the suffering of the peoples and there were people whom left their comfort zones and own life’s to serve and help liberate the underprivileged, the marginalized and oppressed. And nope, not all of them were religiously motivated. Many were more “humanitarian” motivated. As Christians, we fail to realize that before we are born a Christian, we are born as human beings, but created in Gods image. Thus, every human being should be provided with the basic necessities needed to sustain this image of God. When God created us, we were ‘born free’ but He gave us certain duties and responsibilities. It becomes the duty and responsibility of every human being to ensure that their fellow human being lives within their dignity. Where else failing to do so would directly imply an attack on God himself and sin on our behalf. After all Jesus himself, who was not a Christian, had a preferential love towards the marginalized and oppressed. This was clearly portrayed by the “Indian Jesus”, who walked in the midst of the good Samaritans of Aicuf.

It is this factor that should motivate Christians to come out of their comfort zones and help humanity regardless of race, religion, geography, nationality, and other prejudice causing factors. I was indeed outraged by certain Christian groups in India whom only stretched out assistance to Tsunami victims who were Christians. And back in Malaysia, it was shocking to hear Catholics proclaiming that the Tsunami occurred to destroy evil people. This prejudice and fanatism has to stop! This goes especially for the Catholics whom have to live their faith as members of a Universal/Global church. Upon failing to treat any human being with the same treatment Jesus gave to the marginalized, we would be no different than the hypocrites whom “pick and choose” to be nice with certain people of higher status in society. If we, the 1 billion Catholics can replicate the life of Jesus, radiating unconditional love to all the 4 corners of the map, this universe would be a much better place for everyone. It would only require 1 Catholic to “radiate Christ” to just 5 others! Yes, the Mathematics is as simple as that.

Catholic=Universal=Everyone (=6 Billion?)

1billion:6billion=Catholic:World Population

2billion/6billion:world poverty(Can we link all this statistics?)

Having represented the MCSC as an observer to the 1st National Women’s Convention of AICUF was a liberating experience. It was undoubtedly an enormous gathering of 400 female students from over 100 colleges and universities in India. Some had traveled for 4 days to arrive at the venue. The students seemed to be very serious and highly critical in facing the issues with an opened mind. They had begun a long and tedious road: from

Oppression>>Conscientization>>Liberation >>Emancipation.

They were now at the conscientization stage. After centuries of suppression, it would take a few decades to achieve total liberation and Aicuf has boldly begun this journey. There were many critical issued faced by the women of India which could only be addressed in India’s context .Of course, the MCSC would be in solidarity with them. There were also few issues in which were ‘shared’ by both Malaysia and India. And this was the violence and disrespect towards women which resulted from the idea that women are inferior compared to men. Doctrine wise, having male children would make their parent’s passage to “heaven” much easier. These myths have been demythicized through this convention. The women of Aicuf will settle for nothing less than equal treatment with men. Perhaps, women should be treated with more “equality” since they create life into this world just as God creates life into this universe? Or perhaps God should have sent Jessie (female) instead of Jesus (male)? Or perhaps twins, Jesus and Jessie? That would have definitely solved a lot of gender related problems. It could perhaps even undo the damage caused by the misinterpretation of Genesis, which accuses a women (Eve) of being the “initiator” of sin and human suffering? Personally, I strongly feel that women should make Mother Mary their role model. Not because she was “mother of God” or a “virgin mother” (which I feel are irrelevant arguments) but because she was veritably an advocate for Human Rights. This can be clearly seen in her cry for justice, The Magnificate. She persevered and over came the pains of being a refugee and witnessing her son being extrajudicially killed. She also mobilized other women and empowered them by forming women’s groups and forums. She definitely deserves the title “Queen of Liberation” instead of the spiritually impairing “Lady of Sorrows”.


After the convention, as I was about to leave for Malaysia, I noticed that Aicuf was organizing a Human Rights training program and I immediately grabbed the opportunity to attend it. I requested permission from my chaplain Dr.Fr Jojo Fung S.J and he willingly but cautiously approved. Personally, it was a training that I had requested from the ministry for a long time but never had the opportunity to attend. Was this a coincidence? I strongly doubt it. God gave me the perfect opportunity, which was 3000 km away from home thus enabling me to learn from a foreign commission. I would then be able to make critical and analytical comparisons with the local commission and make my recommendations for improvement. How strange are the ways of God! The Human Rights Investigation and Fact Finding Techniques workshop organized by India’s National Human Rights Commission and the Indian Social Institute,(ISI; a Jesuit social arm), Delhi made me realize that to become a Human Rights activist, one must maintain good communication and exposure with the grass roots of society. Only then will we know what exactly are the issues and problems faced by the common man. This training, though technically informative did not cover the humanistic aspect of Human Rights and only focused on what the bureaucrats considered to be Human Rights violations and solutions. The resource people were oblivious towards the needs of the marginalized and oppressed groups and at many times tried to impose their own narrow ideals. This is clearly one of the reasons why the UN has failed in helping humanity at many levels. I guess my ideals of a Human Rights activist would be for him/her to become the link and maintain a healthy relationship between the bureaucrats and the grass roots. Even more effective would be if the activists were from the grass root or from the marginalize/oppressed community. Then only would the struggle for Human Rights be sincere and genuine. Grass root activist, driven by passion and emotions (due to being a victim them self) would also be able to digest and process the information with greater understanding.

Grass rootsßinformation+actionàActivistßaction+informationàBureaucrats

Or

Grass root activistßinformation + actionàBureaucrats

After the training, my next unplanned encounter would be with a prophet! This prophet, named M.C. Raj, from Tumkur, Bangalore, was the compiler of the “bible of Dalitology”. Dalitology is the re-found religion of the Dalits (a marginalized and oppressed group of humans) with Mother Earth as the Goddess. M.C Raj found an urgent need to resurrect this religion due to the confusion, disharmony and disunity caused by Dalit conversions into other religion. The rejuvenation of Dalitology could undo all of this. It was a religion that preached of land and resource sharing and opposed ownership. It promoted socialism. This religion would be the main liberating factor for the Dalits whom have suffered for millenniums from brutal exploitation and oppression by the Brahmins. Basically, this oppression began as a form of economical dominance where certain people wanted to “eat and sleep” while others labored in the fields doing the hard and manual work for them with out salary! And so, they ingeniously used the “divide and conquer” method to devise a sub-race or caste system, which they later inculturated into religion to enable them to achieve economical dominance. It is indeed sad that the present authorities of Hinduism have refused to correct the doctrines that promote this gross violation of Human Rights. Perhaps the Malaysian Hindus would be willing to voice out against the injustice practiced by their overseas counterparts? But looking at a global scale, economical dominance has taken a more systematic approach with the code name – Globalization. Today, the role of the Brahmins are played by the WTO, IMF and the World Bank while the common man plays the Dalit role. How would we combat the evil forces of capitalism? People power through advocacy and networking, steered by intelligentsia, inspired by humanity must crush every unjust and oppressive policy at global and local legislative platforms. Drastic reforms to the policy making systems must be made to ensure policy making “of the peoples, by the peoples, for the peoples”. Did not Jesus unleash his anger and vengeance at the unjust rogue traders at the temple? I don’t see why Christians should not do the same. Meeting this Dalit prophet and activist also led to discussions about the great Dalit activist, Ambedkar who struggled along with Gandhi for the Independence of India. Unfortunately, in the struggle, Ambedkar, who was championing for a Dalit political party, was betrayed by Gandhi, who refused to grant the Dalits this critical need, and forced them to settle for a quota in all political party’s. And as a result, the 200 million Dalits of India continue to suffer extreme discrimination and violence. This interview with Mr. M.C. Raj certainly changed my perception of Gandhi. Was he as great as many talk about? I personally disagree. He may have been a nationalist, but definitely not a humanitarian.


Last but not least, visiting 7 villages devastated by the Tsunami was a mentally and physically challenging task. Personally, I had to break down my mental and physical barriers of prejudice and comfort to conduct the investigations. The sufferings of the survivors were more of mental anguish and anxiety over an uncertain future. How were they going to overcome the trauma of loosing loved ones? When would they continue life as normal fishermen and farmers? Being caught in the middle of the chaos and confusion caused by the 150 over NGOs conducting their relief and rehabilitation work made me think about 2 issues. Firstly, was the arrogance of the Indian government to reject international aid, claiming they would be able to handle the situation. Definitely, India could manage the crisis financially but unfortunately, they did not have the expertise to manage the relief and rehabilitation coordination and hence the mess. And this proves how sovereignty or rather the pride of the beaurocrats aggravates the sufferings of the common man instead of helping them. This too is the cause to the failures of the UN. We must never forget that the UN, is not a “Super-Ngo” but actually consist of member nations with each nation having its own ‘sovereign’ agenda to accomplish while Human Rights takes a back seat. This flaw is then intensified with the presence of the capitalist dominated Security Council who abuse and misuse their ‘veto’ power. Secondly, from the interviews with the villagers and the NGOs at the effected villages, I concluded that there was ample money, clothing, food and shelter for those affected. But unfortunately, what was lacking was the “intelligence” and “leadership” to manage all those resource for maximum benefit for the victims. Thus, each NGO was busy with its own agenda instead of seeing to the victims needs. It was disturbing to see a particular NGO drill many water wells in one village but failed to drill a single well in a village just 50 meters away. Also observed were heaps of unwanted extra clothes dumped by the paddy fields. Proper disaster management and coordination would have definitely helped make the victims lives much better a lot faster. But alas, intelligentsia has failed to do what it is supposed to do, that is THINKING!

Looking back at Malaysia made me wonder; “Does intelligentsia exist?” Yes, but only for their own individual lives. We have many social scientist and economist, from diploma holder’s right up to professors but still we suffer from unsustainable development. Education to intelligentsia back in Malaysia is to improve MY LIFE AND NOT MY NATION. How would we change that to education for MY LIFE ,MY NATION AND MY WORLD? By “conscientizing” the education system in Malaysia and to introduce Human Rights principles. Of course, this will not be easy as certain contents of the federal constitution conflicts with Human Rights principles. As for the thousands of Tsunami victims, it would take at least a year for life to return to regular routine. One thing was for sure; life for them would never be the same. It would be the task of intelligentsia to facilitate in the distribution of funds promised by the government, in a just and transparent manner.

Despite having a certain degree of poverty, gender and communal problems, there are few ‘needs’ that the citizens of India have but Malaysians are deprived off. They are certain fundamental liberties or rights, which for now, Malaysians can only dream off. And in this context, it is freedom of expression and speech. This enables India’s students to think and analyze issues and problems at different levels and of course, to voice them out. Peaceful protests are permitted and this gives the grass roots an alternative method to voice out their concerns to the authorities. Certain medias are neutral and are critical towards all leaders. But back here in Malaysia, the students don’t see a need to think about issues since they would not be able to voice them out. NO SPEAK THUS NO THINK, even if the issues are directly related to themselves. And to make things worse, they are intellectually suppressed by certain national security laws, specifically the University and Colleges Act. We recently experienced Malaysian authorities flexing their muscles using this draconian act during student Soh’s case recently in USM. If fundamental freedoms are enjoyed by India, I do not see any reason why it should not be enjoyed by Malaysians. We must acknowledge that by suppressing the youth and students of our country, it ultimately leads to “brain kill” and this is economically unproductive which further translates into unsustainable development. Upon observing this imbalance of justice between India and Malaysia, it motivates me to dream of a FREE MALAYSIA. This dream, we, as the human race, shall make into a reality with the guidance of the Liberative Jesus, be it Gods will. Well of course, God defiantly would not “will” to see his people being persecuted, wouldn’t He?

Basically and fundamentally, my service and mission to India (and other places both local and international) has transformed me into a global humanitarian who would serve all. It has installed in me a much deeper and stronger love towards my fellow human beings regardless of race, religion, nationality and any other prejudice causing obstacles. Indeed the MCSC and the students of Malaysia have a lot to learn from Aicuf. While Aicuf looks into issues of “Social Justice”, the MCSC and most Malaysians are still crawling at “Social Service”. Social Service is accidental, occasional, spontaneous, arbitrary, non controversial, good Samaritan generosity where else Social Justice is systemic, persistent, structural, universal, engaged in controversies from faith perspective, builds healing and liberating structures. As for me, I shall continue this pedagogic journey, choosing both.

As I touched down in Malaysia on the 25th of January 2005, I realized the enormous and multitude follow up tasks and duties that lay ahead of me. How will I be able to disseminate the knowledge and experience gained to the grass roots of MCSC in the most effective method? How would I present the facts in my report? How would I convince the MCSC to make certain changes to its structures and policies? Will I be able to coax the Catholic Church of Malaysia to make a paradigm shift in it’s social action agenda? The “burden of intelligentsia” is very heavy but the Spirit of the Risen Christ drives me to march on with my cross. If Christ carried His cross to die for humanity, why not my self? After all, someone has to accomplish His unfinished work on earth. Lastly, I challenge the Catholics of Malaysia to come out of their comfort zones and not take the cheap way to heaven.


“Walking Humbly, Acting Justly, Loving Tenderly, Speaking Truthfully, Theologizing Boldly, Thinking Globally, Responding Locally, Functioning Jesusly”
Adrian Anthony Pereira
Writer can be contacted at banderas_axl@yahoo.com
Brickbats, comments and suggestions most welcomed.
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