There’s Something Beyond the Law
The tails are up in church circles that a legal victory has been won. A favourable High Court verdict has been secured. Long-standing injustice is corrected.
Frankly, I am neither convinced nor impressed. Rather, I am disappointed. Of course I believe in equality. I believe in justice. But I also believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ.
All State allocations are political. We fool ourselves, if we assume otherwise. Minority affairs has been my portfolio long enough for me to know this. Nobody cares for Christians or Muslims. Politicians care only for votes.
What Christians (and Muslims) in Kerala do not realize, or care for, is that the plight of their brethren is very different in others parts of India. In many places it is pathetic. These two communities are not, in Kerala, poorer than the majority community. If anything, we are better-off.
Consider a church like the Syro-Malabar. It is richer than Ambani, if its resources are estimated. Ask yourself: what portion of its annual income does it spend on supporting and empowering the education of the poor within its own fold? The church teaches that you should tithe, or set apart 10% of your income so that the church can grow richer day by day. But does it practice tithe?
Most Christian denominations are comparatively rich. Look at the display of wealth in our midst. Consider the amount of money sunk into making concrete and steel structures (churches) to boost parochial vanity. Admittedly, not everyone is rich. But churches are not poor! And they are mandated by Jesus to care, right? Does that happen?
No. Instead, churches want to be smart in palming of the care of poor Christians to the State.
Christians and Muslims in Kerala will make confounded asses of themselves, if they turn this minority scholarship issue into a bone of contention. I suggest as follows.
- Both communities take a joint-stand that these scholarships be suspended for the next five years and the amount corresponding to this allocation, used for COVIVD-relief work.
- They undertake to support the poor students in their communities to the same extent that the State has been supporting them, during this period.
- At the end of this 5-year period, two funds be created, one for Christians and the other for Muslims, proportionate to their numerical strength. Of this fund, annually 50% should be from the State and 50% from the community concerned. That is to say, the State should give only a matching grant.
I would entreat my fellow Christians and Muslims to ensure that this issue is not turned into a bone of contention between them. There are predatory political forces waiting, like vultures, to thrive on the carcass of communal alienation in Kerala.
The issue of Minority scholarship should not be allowed to degenerate into a Minority Sabarimala.
Christians must take the initiative in this; for they are called to be peace-makers. Basic to this calling is the duty to think for others, rather than clamour for oneself.
The credibility we will win in this way will be better than all the money the State can give us.
Additionally, I would also suggest that the time has come to review minority educational rights realistically. As of now, especially in Kerala, they are used mainly to legitimise and facilitate corruption in the sacred domain of education. This is indefensible. As someone who has done pioneering work in this field, it is my witness to all concerned that we are not using minority educational rights for the purpose it is meant. This is a blot on the community. The sooner it ends the better.
There is a need to start a truthful and open debate on this issue.
