Talanua

This morning started with a Talanua dialogue. I quote from Wikipedia:

The Talanoa Dialogue is based on the Pacific concept of “talanoa” - storytelling that leads to consensus-building and decision-making. The process is designed to allow for participants to share their stories in an open and inclusive environment, devoid of blame, in the hopes that others can learn and benefit from their ideas and experiences.

The theme of the Plenary was

Affirming the wholeness of life

A number of people were invited to the conversation. It was moderated by Tara Tautari from New Zealand. The others were: Iemaima Jennifer Vaai from Samoa, Ruth Mathen from India, Jocabed Solano from Panama, Gideon Byamugisha from Uganda and Rudelmar Bueno de Faria from Barazil. What a rich representation from different parts of the globe. And the sharing also became rich.

It all started with the Bible text of the day, from John 9 about how Jesus heals a blind person. It would have been helpful if one of the blind persons who are at the Assembly had been asked to share their story about how they interpret this text. Maybe the organisers had asked somebody, I do not know. But I missed that perspective.

Ruth Mathen speaking at the preassembly.
Photo: Albin Hillert/WCC

Let me share only a few things from the Talanua. I know one of the persons and that is Ruth Mathen. She is a charismatic and brilliant young feminist from India. Read more about her via this link. We worked together in the preassembly of a just community of women and men. And we are also together in the Ecumenical Conversation on Gender Justice.

Ruth said a few things that stayed with me. She spoke about the uncomfortable compassion of Christ. Not only compassion but the kind of compassion that is costly. And she spoke vividly about greed. How this is a poison that causes so much hurt in the world. So, there is a need for repentance – metanoia – on a personal, a communal, a social and an institutional lever.

When we shared our thoughts in the home group afterwards our smaller group agreed that this was profound. We need to understand that we cannot just show some sort of artificial compassion. If we want to be change makers, we need to be uncomfortable. Both in relation to the vulnerable in our midst but also in relation to the creation. It’s time to put an end to greed.

We weep with You Mothers, Sisters, Brothers of Pakistan

This was written in an e-mail I received yesterday:

Dear Ecumenical Colleagues and Fellow Pilgrims of Justice and Peace,

Warm greetings from All India Council of Christian Women the women's wing of National Council of Churches in India

Please find attached the letter of condolence to mothers, sisters and brothers of Pakistan who mourns the death of their children murdered in Peshawar School attack.

Children and women always become worst victims of any form or violence.  Their bodies become battle field where wars of revenge and hatred are fought.

As we wait to welcome baby Jesus the Prince of Peace in this season let us work together to create a world where every child can have life in its fullness.

Please circulate this letter to your colleagues, friends.

Wishing you all a very blessed and meaningful Christmas and New Year

Shanti! Shalom! Salam

With Regards

Moumita Biswas
Executive Secretary
All India Council of Christian Women
Women's wing of National Council of Churches in India

So, let me share the actual letter with you:

My Dear bereaved Mothers, Sisters and Brothers in Pakistan,

We cannot wipe away your tears but we want to let you know that we weep with you and feel your pain.

We are shocked and pained to know about the murder of 132 innocent students and nine staff members who were killed on 16th December 2014 Tuesday by Taliban terrorists who entered a school in Peshawar. We are horrified to know that teachers were believed to be burnt alive while students were forced to watch as Taliban gunmen stormed the school in Pakistan. We can only imagine what trauma these innocent children might have gone through and what trauma you all and your country is going through now.

Some media source say that the massacre was an act of revenge against the Pakistani army, which has been attempting to suppress the Pakistani Taliban in their North Waziristan tribal homelands over the past few months. We do not know whether this is true of not. We do not know why people resort to violence but we know that violence and hatred give rise to a vicious cycle.

Some others say that the school massacre is in revenge against the young Pakistani girl Malala who received the Nobel Prize. Malala was also shot at by terrorists for her advocacy for girls’/children’s education in Pakistan. This young girl dared to say:

"Let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world." (Reference Book ‘I am Malala’, page 262)

As Malala rightly opines

"Today we all know education is our basic right. Islam too has given us this right. Islam says every girl and every boy should go to school. In Quran it’s written God wants us to have knowledge. In Pakistan 5.1 million children don’t even go to primary school even though in our constitution it says every child has that right…..………..It’s not just the Taliban killing children. Sometimes it’s drone attacks sometimes it’s war, sometimes it’s hunger. And sometimes it’s their own family…. Two girls my age were murdered in Gilgit…for posting the video online showing themselves dancing in the rain wearing traditional dress and head scarves. Apparently their own step brother shot them." (Reference Book ‘I am Malala’ page 262)

Like many mothers in Pakistan, the cry of Irshadah Bibi, who lost her 12-year-old son in the 16th December 2014 massacre - ‘O God, why did you snatch away my son’ - echoes in our wounded soul. It is during this time of pain All India Council of Christian Women cries out in agony to the God of Life:

Where are you God of life when our innocent children become victims of violence?

Where are you God when reason& human conscience get lost in the desert of violence & guns of darkness?

We cry out like Jesus on the cross (Matthew 27:46) "My God! My God why have you forsaken me (them)." Oh God of life, comfort the bereaved mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers in Pakistan who lost their children. Let not violence breed more violence and hatred.

In this advent season as we are waiting to welcome the baby Jesus in our life anew, we are reminded of the culture of violence which existed in Jesus’ time. The cry of the parents of these children murdered in Pakistan might have been similar in agony and trauma to the cries of the mothers & fathers whose innocent babies were slaughtered by Herod in Jesus’ time.

We look up to ‘El Roi’ (God who sees) who saw the pain of Hagar. We look up to the God of Hope who gave perseverance power to Mary, Mother of Jesus, to bear the pain of seeing her son, whom she nurtured in her womb, being crucified. We beg you Merciful God of life to give such power of perseverance to the bereaved parents and family members of the children who were killed in Pakistan and to heal their pain.

With tears of empathy we pray:

El Roi (God who sees) comforts the grieving family members of victims of violence.
God of Life we know you feel our pain.
God of Love we know you weep with us when we suffer.
God of Hope give us hope in midst of hopelessness.
God who gives us resilience, infuse in us strength to persevere and transform the world, and to combat cultures of violence through acts of love, peace and justice, and to promote education that builds conscience & wisdom so that history does not repeat such violence again.

Sisters in Empathy,

Mrs Alpana Kumar
President, AICCW

Ms Moumita Biswas
Executive Secretary, AICCW

 All India Council of Christian Women (AICCW)
Women’s Wing of National Council of Churches in India

My first blog post in India – still in cyberspace

Philip Vinod Peacock, a fellow theologian in Kolkata, invited me to write a contribution to the blog: alterVoice. An honour. On the blog one can read about it:

It seeks to provide a forum which will enable a creative and critical reflection on matters relevant for Christianity and Church life in India.

My post is named: Busan and Ecumenical Space and the link comes here.

Guptagate

Yet another of all those “gates”! As we know it all started with the fall of Nixon after the Watergate affair 1972. Recently we have followed the Nkandlagate story, although it hasn’t led to the fall of Jacob Zuma yet. My gut feeling is that Zuma will survive the Guptagate, as well. This is also what the Mail and Guardian writes:

Meanwhile, analysts seem convinced that President Jacob Zuma will remain unharmed politically, despite his close relationship with the Gupta family.

There are already some scapegoats, which have been sacrificed. Some are police officers; others are staff at the air force base. But it won’t stop with them. The question Mail and Guardian asks is:

Who will take the fall for Guptagate?

For those who don’t know, the Gupta family is a rich, South African family with close links to the ANC and Jacob Zuma. In media the family is described as a major donor to the ANC. Last Saturday one family member got married. A private jet brought 200 guests from India to the wedding. Here started the so called Gupta saga. The family asked South African authorities for permission to land at the Waterkloof air force base outside Pretoria. This would make it much easier for the guests to get to Sun City, where the wedding was going to be held. The family claims they wanted to showcase South Africa as a friendly country and maybe bring many more visitors from India in years to come. Be that as it may! The request was refused!

This did not stop the family. If you are influential, you don’t take no for an answer. So, the Indian high commissioner, Virendra Gupta, was consulted and obviously he had other contacts. So what happened was this:

The plane landed at the air force base, without official permission.The South African Revenue Service was not informed, so no custom control took place.Police vehicles were used to accompany the guest from the air force base to Sun City.Blue lights were illegally fitted to the black BMW’s that had been hired for the occasion.Etc.

I am sure that the list can be made much longer. The bottom line is this: This family has close connections with the president of South Africa and the allegation is that this fact opened all the gates.

The mere fact that five (5) ministers were present at a press conference last week, tells at least me, that the whole government is worried. Yahoonews mentions Justice Minister Jeffrey Radebe, together with the ministers of home affairs, foreign affairs, police and defence. Five persons with a lot of power! What did they do? They announced that five officials and military personnel had been suspended from duty. Cowards!

At the press conference a journalist asked the ministers if the cabinet had known about this affair if it hadn’t been for the media. The question was left unanswered.

The new Secrecy bill may serve as a terrifying backdrop to this saga. What will happen in South Africa, if whistle blowers are not able to blow their whistles (or in the South African context: blow their vuvuzelas)? What will happen, if media don't report?

Mail and Guardian asks a relevant question about the involvement of the High Commissioner of India:

... did he act on the presumption that the plane carried an Indian diplomatic mission, or did he know that the passengers were part of a private party?

Because the family is also influential in India, there were some dignitaries on the plane. If so, one could argue, that those people, based on security reasons, needed to be treated differently. But if this was the case, wouldn’t it have been better to go through the Indian foreign affairs ministry?

Another issue is also reported about the way the wedding guests treated the black staff at Sun City. According to News24 the Gupta family brought in their own chefs and all the security guards were replaced by white persons. This is of course denied by the Gupta family, but the trade union is furious.

Secretary General Zwelinzima Vavi of COSATU says:

We must demand the fullest possible investigation into the whole incident and the real culprits exposed - not scapegoats from among the officials, who surely could not have taken such an obviously politically sensitive decision.

But then Vavi is also facing corruption charges in his own organisation.

People of South Africa: wake up! Revisit the constitution and the core values of Ubuntu! This is not the way forward! You deserve better!