Home / News / Urgent Appeals / UPDATE (India): More appeals for justice for Sr Vanaselvi

UPDATE (India): More appeals for justice for Sr Vanaselvi

March 4, 2002

UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL UPDATE ON URGENT APPEAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

04 March 2002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UP-10-2002 (RE: UA-08-2002: Expulsion of Sr Vanalselvi while in detention)

INDIA: unfair dismissal, social ostracism, denial of right to livelihood and freedom of expression by Religious Order
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends

For your continued information and attention to this case, we are issuing here three letters that have been sent on behalf of Sister Vanaselvi, who was summarily ejected from her Order and ostracised upon being arrested by the police on what have so far proven to be baseless charges. If you have not already done so, we urge you to also write to the Superior General of the Congregation to call for justice for Sr. Vanaselvi. Full details are available through our website at:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/mainfile.php/2002/201/

Here is the address for the Superior General:

Sr. Corona Mary, O.S.M.,
Servite Generalate,
41, 42, Tank Bund Road, Nungambakkam,
Chennai 600 034,
INDIA
Tel: +91 44-8203840 (Res); +91 44-8203819 (Off)
Fax: +91 44-8203830
E.Mail: serviteg@yahoo.co.uk

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
APPEAL LETTER #1

Dear Sr Corona Mary and Community of OSM.,

I have been following the news regarding the arrest of Sr Vanaseli - her remand, the police version, and now your letter of expulsion, your communication to the congregation suppressing the Srs freedom of speech in the name of your Constitution, your subsequent letters to all religious, clerics, and others claiming your righteousness and upholding your scandalous behaviour.

Granted that Sr Vanaselvi is guilty and the police and State authorities versions are correct could you not have waited for her to come out of jail - appoint a committee and give her a chance to defend herself before expelling her? Now what if she is innocent you have sinned against her and violated all norms of basic justice and decency. Shall we henceforth go by police versions when persons are accused or even when nuns are raped and the police deny such a thing? One is fully aware that police versions in 99.9 percent are untrue and a concoction of lies. You have not even cared to give Sr Vanaselvi the benefit of doubt - In case Vanaselvi has committed a crime why don't you analyse the police version and sift through the whole thing and identify the great crime she is supposed to have committed. Please send out another communication giving all the details of her crime.

You have even gone to the extent of blaming her for removing her religious dress. I have taken nuns for excursion and during their trip they have not been in religious dresses but in all sorts of fancy dresses. You want to fault someone any stick that comes your way is handy to beat her with. Prisoners are always demanded to use the clothes provided by the prison authorities. Don't you know what?

Did you train a person to be a criminal? Where were your insights and discernment during her training period and when she was as late as l999 appointed a headmistress? You mean to say that you found no reason for doubts and that one fine day as she was travelling in the bus she turned into a criminal? Have you ever in the past had any cause to warn her, at least reprimanded her? Did you make any attempt to weed out her criminal tendencies. I am saying this because no one becomes a criminal suddenly -that only the police can create such. If all these were not there then you stand faulted.

You have no right to quote the Yes of the Scriptures because you have misquoted it and misused it. The Yes in scriptures were for liberation and redemption not for condemnation and denial of rights. Apart from that, God did not have a super God to who He/She had to say Yes for the concretisation of redemption. He is and was and always will be. So from where did you get the revealation of God's Yes. Mary did not say Yes without raising a query, How can this happen for I know not man. So it is only after questioning that the Yes followed. Christ too did not immediately say Yes, He pleaded and prayed to His Father Take away this cup from me. I cannot imagine how your Constitution could pick up the yeses out of context and implanted them in your Constitution to become tools for suppression. Now it has come handy for you to quote this to silence your Srs. If you have a clear mind then why not allow them to debate and discuss?

Please remember that Christ was also condemned as a criminal first by His own religious leaders. He was put to death by the joint collaboration of the civil authorities and the religious leaders - the High priests. I find an echo of this in your action. Sr Vanaselvi has a right to be defended though one cannot always expect justice from the courts we know that pretty well. She has to be supported by right thinking persons and those who believe in upholding the truth. Even now it is not too late for you to undo your wrong. She has to be compensated, rehabilitated towards which all support must be extended. What is this image of your congregation you have in mind? You cannot hold a brief for the Church of which persons like Sr Vanaselvi is very much part of. Or are you thinking of that kind of a religion which condemned and crucified Christ. Are shadows more important that real persons? It is to sinners that Christ turned to and He never discarded one. On the other hand he was abandoned by his own and those who were supposed to be his disciples. You have done that - thereby you have betrayed the same Christ whom you think you are following. You have even gone to the extent of justifying your action. I can only feel sorry for you and pray that the Good Lord in His mercy give you some enlightenment. Those who follow Christ will be proud of Vanaselvi no matter whether she is a criminal or not. She depicts Christ abandoned, denied human rights, and persecuted. I hope that Sr Vanaselvi will forgive you for this great injustice you have wrought on her. You have also denigrated that Church based on Christ and all that He stood for.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Hilda Raja, 26Ramanathan St., Mahalingapuram, Chennai-600 034

----------------------------------------------------------------
APPEAL LETTER #2

Sr. Corona Mary, O.S.M.,
Servite Generalate,
41, 42, Tank Bund Road, Nungambakkam,
Chennai 600 034, INDIA
Tel: +91 44-8203840 (Res); +91 44-8203819 (Off)
Fax: +91 44-8203830
E.Mail: serviteg@yahoo.co.uk

RE: THE CASE OF SR VANASELVI osm

We have just heard about the treatment meted out to Sr. Vanaselvi and are truly shocked at this inhuman violation of human rights. Instead of protecting a member of your order engaged in meritorious social service you have victimised her with these orders:

'No one should go and meet her in jail; Don't have letter correspondence with her; No community or institution should allow her to enter after her release from jail; Don't comment on the incident or its background to anyone.'

We urge you to immediately review this entire case, in a spirit of humility and reconciliation, and repudiate all your orders against Sr. Vanaselvi.

Yours sincerely

A. K. Roy
for
Hazards Centre
66A/2, Mohinder Kunj,
Laxmi Market, Munirka,
New Delhi-110067

----------------------------------------------------------------------
APPEAL LETTER #3

14 February 2002

Sr. Corona Mary, O.S.M.,
Servite Generalate,
41, 42, Tank Bund Road, Nungambakkam,
Chennai 600 034, INDIA
Tel: +91 44-8203840 (Res); +91 44-8203819 (Off)
Fax: +91 44-8203830
E.Mail: serviteg@yahoo.co.uk

RE: THE CASE OF SR VANASELVI osm

This case has come to my attention through the good work of People's Watch, a respected human rights organization in Tamil Nadu. I have read the details about this Sister Vanaselvi's case, including the two letters written by you, to the Sister concerned while she was in detention, and another to the members of your congregation.

While I am not there and do not have first hand experience of what took place, it seems to me that there is a great deal of evidence to support the Sister's innocence of the allegations against her. Based on this I would urge you to investigate the matter further before so summarily dismissing her from your congregation. As a Christian working in the name of God your treatment of your colleague's situation seems particularly harsh. You deny her any support without even hearing what she has to say.

Again, I would urge you, Sister, to show some charity and humane leadership in this matter and to raise your voice against a grave miscarriage of justice.

Yours sincerely,

Yasmin Karim

Mailing Address:
50 Monarch Park Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M4J 4P8
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-10-2002
Countries :
Issues :
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.