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UPDATE: The Sixth Open Letter on the Issues Regarding Fr. Pallath's Case

July 9, 2001

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

 

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM

 

Update on Urgent Appeal 9 July 2001

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UP-20-2001 (RE: UA12/01: Jesuit Priest Abused by His Own Order

)

 

UPDATE: The Sixth Open Letter on the Issues Regarding Fr. Pallath’s Case

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Dear Friends,

 

We would like to send you a copy of the sixth open letter sent by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) to the Jesuit superior general in Rome regarding Fr. Pallath’s case.

 

For further information, including this letter, please visit http://jjpallath.ahrchk.net.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Urgent Appeals Desk

Asian Human Rights Commission

 

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(This is the sixth of a series of letters on the issues regarding the treatment of Fr. Pallath J. Joseph of the Kerala Province of Jesuits in India.)

 

July 9, 2001

 

An Open Letter to:

Rev. Fr. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach

Superior General

Curia Generalize

Compagnia di Gesu

C.P. 6139

00195 Roma Prati ITALY

FAX: 39-06-686-8214

 

SIXTH OPEN LETTER RE: Physical Assault, Slander through the Gutter Press, Filing of Fabricated Criminal Cases, Denial of Right to Livelihood and Other Matters Relating to Fr. Pallath J. Joseph Request for an Inquiry

 

The Theme of the Sixth Letter: The Primacy of Common Sense

 

Dear Rev. Fr. General,

 

In the first and second open letters to you, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) raised some concerns from a moral and human rights point of view regarding all of the episodes relating to the case of Fr. Pallath J. Joseph of which you are aware. Our third letter to you outlined in detail why we as a human rights organisation are concerned about Fr. Pallath’s case; and in the fourth letter, we questioned the manner in which the leaders of the Jesuit order have dealt with this issue. In our last letter to youour fifthwe raised the issue of racism in regards to the treatment of Fr. Pallath by the Jesuit order in this case. While it is not our intention to interfere with the affairs of your order, there are matters of public interest about which many people, including our commission, is quite concerned. They are as follows:

 

(1) The physical assault of Fr. Pallath J. Joseph by two members of your order, together with several other hired thugs;

 

(2) The throwing of the body of Fr. Pallath over the wall of the Jesuit’s premises and onto the road while he was in an unconscious or semiconscious state;

 

(3) Slandering Fr. Pallath by some members of your order using a gutter magazine called Crime Star;

 

(4) The filing of fabricated criminal complaints against Fr. Pallath with the view to have him arrested as a way to prevent him from entering a Jesuit house;

 

(5) The failure of the Jesuit superiors to respect an agreement entered into between Fr. Pallath and the Jesuits in Kerala through the mediation of the bishop of Calicut; and

 

(6) The failure to provide for the livelihood of Fr. Pallath after 33 years of service.

 

In this letter, I would like to discuss something general that is still very valid to this casecommon sense. The great Danish Lutheran bishop, democrat, social reformer, poet and the founder of the folk school movement, N. F. S. Grundtvig, emphasised the primacy of common sense over academic knowledge. His beautiful theology was summed up in the theme "Nature First and Grace Builds on It." He went on further to say that, if Nature fails, there is nothing on which grace can build. Thanks to his contribution and that of the folk school movement, Denmark was able to build a humane democracy.

 

The important thing is that in a tradition which gives primacy to common sense a clear distinction can easily be made between what is simply stupid and what is not. In human relationships, this is so important so that disputes can be limited and charity can always prevail. Charity and common sense are twins; abstraction and cruelty can go together as Sartre pointed out. Disputes, when taken out of common-sense levels, try to demonise every opponent. In the Indian context, Brahmins created untouchability, creating a complete severance of human relationships between people. The absolutisation of differences has an element of untouchability. Here anyone who engages in dissent is painted as someone unsuitable of association.

 

The way Fr. Pallath has been treated reflects this element of demonisation and sense of untouchably. One is reminded of the medieval treatment of heretics, for the physical assaults, slander by the gutter press, the denial of food and means of livelihood are all matters of no concern for society and are permitted, and those who refuse to ill-treat such a person and, in fact, treat him humanely are treated like untouchables as well. Looked at from a common-sense point of view, all of this looks simply stupid and petty.

 

We in the human rights movement treat such demonisation and the creation of a sense of untouchability as indecent. That is why we have tried to create a dialogue on this issue. If your sense of the sacred does not favour such a dialogue, then there is something wrong with that sense of the sacred.

 

Kerala once had a very great humanising tradition that was created by a man, not a god, named Gotama Buddha. He too had a huge following of disciples. Naturally, there was a code of discipline for them, which was called the Vinaya Pitaka. This code guaranteed complete due process rights to any person accessed of a breach of society’s mores like the rights that Western civilisation created much later in the 19th century. There is a great deal of literature on this aspect of Buddhist teaching, and the text of the Vinaya Pitaka is also available in many languages. This experience of the Sanghas in Buddha’s time was referred in the Indian Constituent Assembly when the draft of the Indian Constitution was discussed: “The study of the Buddhist Sanghas discloses that, not only were they parliaments, but the Sanghas knew and observed all the rules of parliamentary procedure known to modern times?(proceedings of the Constituent Assembly on Nov. 25, 1949, from a speech by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar). These humanising practices were lost when Brahmins reasserted their position in a bloody way and introduced the draconian Law of Manu and with it reinforced untouchability.

 

We may review the present dispute in Kerala from the point of view of humanising religion. What we have at the moment is one more instance of the practice of dehumanising religion. We still believe that common sense will prevail and that the dehumanising aspects of the religion that has got into the Jesus tradition due to some unfortunate historical reasons should be demolished. After all, recent Jesuit experience includes the inspiring life and work of Fr. Arupe. As admirers of the Council of Vatican II, we still maintain our hope. People like Fr. Pallath who understands the problems of the culture in Kerala will remain a great asset.

 

Since we are part of the human rights movement which wishes to base itself on the best aspects of the humanising experience, we offer our services for decent and principled negotiations. It would be a pity if you treat us as people unworthy of attention. This dispute, which has received the public’s attention and sympathy it deserves, can be turned into a creative religious experience and not an embarrassment as it is treated now. Of course, it will also help the people of Kerala grow out of the pernicious influence of Brahminism in which Christianity remains shackled. A religious order that follows Brahminical practices will receive the same condemnation as Brahminism itself.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

 

Basil Fernando

Executive Director

Asian Human Rights Commission

 

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
UP-20-2001
Countries :
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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.