People's reporter dec. 2018 r 31 24

DECEMBER 25, 2018 – JANUARY 10, 2019PAGE 1
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- Annual Special Issue 2018
Theme: Power to the People
‘Power to the People’ is the Biblical mandate under the leadership of Moses
in the book of Exodus, and the New Moses - Jesus, The Christ/Messiah of the
Gospels and the New Testament writings.
It has been said, God of the Bible is not a ‘noun’
but a ‘verb’, a doing Word. God is always depicted
as seeing the plight of the people under oppression,
knowing the pain and suffering of the exploited and
the marginalized masses, and hearing the cry of the
people stripped of their dignity, and the dehumanized.
God of the Bible is also actively involved in the
powerless people’s emancipation and liberation by
getting involved in the people’s struggles, for
people’s power. God of the Bible is always vigilant
and concerned when people are unjustly treated and
oppressed.
Mary sings in the Magnificat about the reversal of
things: “God has performed mighty deeds with his
arm; ..... He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry
with good things but the rich, he has sent away empty.”
Jesus affirms the same in the sermon on the mount,
according to Luke’s version, “Blessed are you who
are poor, for yours is the kingdom of a God.... ”. Jesus
also declares, “But woe to you who are rich, for you
have already received your comfort....” Luke 6:22-25.
– P. J. Lawrence –
Please see pages 2 & 4
‘Power to the People’
is a Biblical Mandate
Democracy or rule by people is an intrinsic value. Equally importantly,
it is an instrumental value and certainly significant for sustaining freedom,
progress and justice.
From time immemorial, we can discern, people in
their social living have pursued common good and
arrived at decisions through collective discussions
and exchange of ideas. This is a universal instinct
although it has not been a linearly progressive and
evolved system. I have no difficulty, in asserting that
democracy is intrinsically valuable and has
tremendous instrumental significance for human
development and social progress.
Several vital institutions of representative
democracy like the political party systems are not
accountable and answerable to the people. The
elected representatives and the executives owe
allegiance to their party apparatus and to borrow a
phrase common in India ‘High Command’ rather than
to the people.
The real developmental issue in the contemporary
world is to have an inclusive society with the goal of
‘living in freedom together’, to borrow a phrase from
John Dunn. The concept of freedom is related to
development which consists in removing all
unfreedoms by widening choices and expanding
capabilities to choose with reason. The least of the
society must enjoy and participate because growing
inequality undermines democratic practice.
– M. A. Oommen –
Please see page 3
Give Meaning to the Slogan
‘Power to the People’
Transformation of
People’s Lives
The Roots of Democracy
Deepened
The nation is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the new generation of
Panchayats and Municipalities. When on April 24, 1993 Panchayats and on 1
June 1993 the Municipalities were given constitutional status to function as
institution of self-governments. The degree of political empowerment that has
resulted through the historic constitutional amendments in 1992-93 has been
by and large, unprecedented.
Within the institutionalized Panchayati Raj reforms in India, the core foundation
lies in more than 2.5 lakh villages and their governance at the local level. Right from
the Balwantrai Mehta Committee’s recommendations (1957) that gave birth to the
contemporary Panchayati Raj, its progressive evolution has been
characterized by its share of successes carrying its imprints all
through the nation. It has in more ways than one, fostered
democratic participation.
Collectively, it is seen that the roots of democracy have
deepened as a result of Panchayati Raj Institutions making its way
through villages across the country and their holistic impact has
led to the formation of representational dynamics at the local level.
We need a new deal for the panchayats and municipalities in
India. This new deal will ensure ways and means to make
Panchayats and Municipalities (i.e., district and below) the first tier
of government in the country. This new deal will give freedom to
implement the policies and programmes to eradicate poverty in
this country at the earliest; not later than 10 years so that by 2025
poverty line will become totally irrelevant for India.
– George Mathew –
Please see page 5
People’s power to defend themselves against life threatening and ever
increasing economic crisis and social strife, is the need of the hour. ‘Power to
the People’ can correct damages done by inhuman macro-economic policies
that attack basic survival base of the poor and the marginalised sections of the
society namely workers, poor and marginal farmers, Dalits, Tribals, and ethnic/
religious minorities.
Experiences of the past 40 years have shown how the social movements put
pressure on societal systems to accelerate transformation, respond directly to the
experiences of people and ensure social security and social protection. The Right
Based Approach concerned about human development that
includes health, education, employment, representation in
decision making bodies, and the democratic processes in
governance, have resulted in the transformation of people’s
lives for the better.
During the 1960s in the United States, young people began
speaking and writing this phrase as a form of rebellion against
what they perceived as the oppression by the older generation,
especially ‘The Establishment’. The Black Panthers used the
slogan ‘All Power to the People’ to protest against the use of
racist discriminatory practices by the white, and rich, ruling
class domination of society.
At this historical juncture convergence of all progressive,
secular, democratic forces working towards social justice,
gender justice and distributive justice is the need to make
the slogan of “Power to the People” a Dream Come True.
– Vibhuti Patel –
Please see page 6

Thought for the Fortnight
No famine has ever taken place
in the history of the world
in a functioning democracy.
––––– Amartya SenAmartya SenAmartya SenAmartya SenAmartya Sen
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2
Power to the People
– Articles –
Contents
16Life Giving Agricultural Centre
15 NCCI
The Vibrant Democracy
Power to the People
Celebration of the Good News
P. J. Lawrence
The Rt. Rev. Dr. P. J. Lawrence, former
Bishop in the Diocese of Nandyal
of the Church of South India is presently
the Director of the Centre
forTheologicalLeadershipTraining
(CTLT), Cayman Islands
‘Power to the People’ is
the biblical mandate under the
leadership of Moses in the book
of Exodus, and the New Moses
- Jesus, The Christ/Messiah of
the Gospels and the New
Testament writings.
It has been said, God of the
Bible is not a ‘noun’ but a ‘verb’,
a doing Word. God is always
depicted as seeing the plight of
the people under oppression,
knowing the pain and suffering
of the exploited and the
marginalized masses, and
hearing the cry of the people
stripped of their dignity, and the
dehumanized. God of the Bible
is also actively involved in the
powerless people’s
emancipation and liberation by
getting involved in the people’s
struggles, for people’s power.
God of the Bible is always vigilant
and concerned when people are
unjustly treated and oppressed.
This is evident from the following
Bible quotations. These are not
exhaustive as there are more
than 2000 scripture verses on
poverty and justice, to support
God’s preferential option for the
poor and the empowerment of
the oppressed people.
In Psalm 103: 6 we read “God
is working for the justice and
righteousness of all the
oppressed”. Psalm 140: 12: ‘I
know that the Lord will maintain
the cause of the afflicted and
justice for the poor.’
Proverbs 21:3: ‘To do
righteousness and justice is
desired by the Lord than
sacrifice.’ Jeremiah 4:2: “And
you will swear, ‘as the Lord lives’,
in truth, in justice, and in
righteousness; then the nations
will bless themselves in Him, and
in Him they will glory.”
Jeremiah 9:24: “but let him who
boasts, boast of this, that he
understands and knows Me, that
I am the Lord who exercises
loving kindness, justice and
righteousness on earth; for I
delight in these things, declares
the Lord.” Jeremiah 22:3: “Thus
says the Lord, do justice and
righteousness, ..... do not shed
innocent blood in this place.”
About Jesus we read in
Matthew 12:18, “Here is my
Servant whom I have chosen, the
one I love, in whom I delight; I
will put my spirit on him, and he
will proclaim justice to the
nations.... until he leads justice
to victory.”
Yearly observation of the
‘coming of the Lord’, during
‘Advent’, a period of
preparation for the celebration
of Christmas, reminds us of the
prophecies and the fulfillment
of the Messianic message of
the empowering of the
powerless people, declaring
that the Kingdom of God
belongs to such people.
The prophet Isaiah declares
that the people who are suffering
anguish will not face gloom in the
future. And the people who were
formerly in the darkness will now
see a great light and the good
times will finally come. The
powers that oppress the people
will come to an end because a
Holy Child will be born. He will
bring peace with justice and
righteousness.
Isaiah also says that this
messiah will declare the
acceptable year of the lord “the
jubilee year of cancellation of
debts”, which is good news to
the the farmers and peasants in
our country who are looking
eagerly for the cancellation of
their debts. This will be a great
declaration of victory for people’s
power.
Mary, the mother of Jesus,
sings in the Magnificat about the
reversal of things: “God has
performed mighty deeds with his
arm; he has scattered those who
are proud in their inmost
thoughts. He has brought down
rulers from their thrones but has
lifted up the humble. He has filled
the hungry with good things but
the rich, he has sent away
empty.”
Jesus affirms the same in the
sermon on the mount, according
to Luke’s version, “Blessed are
you who are poor, for yours is the
kingdom of a God.... ”. Jesus also
declares, “But woe to you who
are rich, for you have already
received your comfort....”
Luke 6:22-25.
In these passages we see
the fruits of people’s power. We
should also be cautious about
the message of reversal and the
victory of people’s power.
Because experience has shown
that one time oppressed people
when they get power through
people’s struggles, they in turn
become oppressors of their own.
The oppressed victims turn out
to be the killers of the struggling
masses as witnessed in South
Africa, Nicaragua, Myanmar,
Israel etc.
14
The prophet Isaiah
declares that the people
who are suffering anguish
will not face gloom in
the future. And the people
who were formerly in the
darkness will now see a
great light and the good
times will finally come. The
powers that oppress the
people will come to an end
because a Holy Child will
be born. He will bring
peace with justice and
righteousness.
Contd. Page 4 Col. 1 ..>>>
An Inspiring Message
We Seldom Listen To
Vichara
Power to the People
Who should hold power? How much of it? And for what
purpose? All these are crucial questions in any society. As
God created all human beings with equal rights and
powers, the attempts by some people, individually and
collectively, to disempower others are, definitely,
illegitimate. From the very formation of social life, some
people used to grab power avariciously and disempower
others. The concentration of power in the hands of political
leaders, religious establishments and the wealthy, results
not only in the denial of freedom and rights of the people,
but also their means of living and the very life itself.
The centralisation of political, religious and military
power in the hands of the Pope and the clergy created the
Dark Ages when people were turned absolutely powerless.
The Reformation and the subsequent rise of democratic
political system promised freedom for the people from the
bondage of religious superstitions and structures, and
oppression by the despotic kings. But, the post-
Reformation Churches and democratically elected
governments have been grabbing more power from the
people and turning them as mere bonded labourers of the
‘powers and principalities’. This loss of power of the people
and the shrinking of space for their participation in the
Church and politics have reduced the quality, and taken
away the vision, of these human institutions.
In order to transform this situation in politics, the idea
of democratic decentralization has been proposed for a
long time. Responding to this, the Parliament of India
passed two amendments to the Constitution of India in
December 1992, giving the Panchayats (Village
Municipalities) and Town Municipalities the constitutional
status of ‘institutions of self-governance’. This step, hailed
as historic, sought the emergence of a new politics of the
people from below and the effective functioning of local
governments, at the foot steps of the people through their
participation in planning, implementation and auditing of
various projects, for their benefits. In order to translate this
vision into a reality, a few state governments have taken
measures to strengthen local governments by distributing
powers, functions and funds to them.
However, the experience of decentralized governance
during the past 25 years remains much below the
expectations. It was hoped that these measures would
empower people to practise direct democracy at the
grassroots level. However, it did not happen. Instead it
only empowered over 5,00,000 elected representatives of
the village and town municipalities. This situation should
challenge all those who are concerned about empowering
the people, to start a fresh search for new measures to
make the system of governance really democratic,
participatory and just.

Power to the People:
Not a Slogan But an Intrinsic and Instrumental Value
M. A. Oommen
Freedom of the people is the essence
of human progress. This can come only
if people as a social collective have
power. Otherwise tyrants and dictators
or those with muscle and military power
will continue to govern. The rhetoric of
‘power to the people’ repeatedly aired in
recent discourses comes out from the
persistent negation of power to the
people. Indeed, democracy as a form of
sustainable governance of the people
has not taken firm root till date.
Therefore, I wish to raise some concerns
which I thought will help to focus on
sustainable or relevant democracy
meaningful to the quotidian realities of
social living. We have to sit back and look
at the content of democracy, its dominant
institutional structures and above all
the practice of democracy.
The dominant issue in the present
context is to give meaning to
the slogan ‘power to the people’.
I firmly subscribe to the view that
democracy or rule by people is an intrinsic
value. Equally importantly, it is an
instrumental value and certainly
significant for sustaining freedom,
progress and justice. From time
immemorial, we can discern, people in
their social living have pursued common
good and arrived at decisions through
collective discussions and exchange of
ideas. To be sure, this is a universal
instinct although it has not been a linearly
progressive and evolved system. In brief,
I have no difficulty, in asserting that
democracy is intrinsically valuable and
has tremendous instrumental
significance for human development and
social progress. I cannot for a moment
subscribe to the proposition that regime-
type does not matter, a view currently
advocated by many university scholars not
to speak of political leaders. For them,
whatever is governed best, as judged by
defined public service delivery, is always
best and should be welcomed, be it
dictatorship or whatever. There are people
even in Kerala who once upon a time
praised the Emergency and who
romanticized the colonial past and the
regime of Rajas.
The topic ‘Power to the People’ has
oceanic depth and dimensions. I take
two issues for consideration viz., (1) Is
the dominant paradigm of representative
democracy a good example of power to
the people? (2) Can local democracy be
considered as a means towards ‘power
to the people’?
Representative Democracy:
Is it an experience of ‘Power to the
People’?
Representative democracy is the
ruling paradigm of political organization
of social life in the contemporary world .
I wish to advance the hypothesis that
generally speaking in the regime of
representative democratic governance,
people have no real power. It is at best
the protector of personal security,
capital and capitalism. Real power to
the people can logically and morally
come only by empowering the poor. Their
choices and voices must rule.
It is only by strengthening the weakest
link one can strengthen the chain. In the
USA, as Joseph Stiglitz (2012) has
convincingly argued, we see a democracy
where the richest 1% rule the 99%. Only
the values and norms of the former prevail.
In the box given belowthe box given belowthe box given belowthe box given belowthe box given below I present ten
shocking facts about economic
inequality in India widely hailed as the
biggest democracy in the world.
Each one of the facts is revealing. Here
millionaires and billionaires rule and their
power is strong and loud. Their tribe
keeps multiplying. Who holds real power
in the representative democracy of India?
I am honestly surprised to see not only
politicians and ordinary masses but even
scholars like Samuel Huntington believe
that the essence of democracy is
elections. For them, ballot is the be-all and
end-all of democracy. This is absurd as
well exemplified in the given Box.
Long back an American President
defined democracy as the government
of the people, by the people, for the
people. Representative democracy as
exemplified in the countries like the USA
does not reflect the essence of the above
definition. America does not have a
government of the people, by any
reckoning (it is at best plutocracy).
Corporates fund political parties and
they hold considerable sway in policy
making. I join Stiglitz in asserting that
American democracy is the government
of the 10% rich by the rich for the 90%
majority.
Several vital institutions of
representative democracy like the political
party systems are not accountable and
answerable to the people. The elected
representatives and the executives owe
allegiance to their party apparatus and to
borrow a phrase common in India ‘High
Command’ rather than to the people.
People quite often remain remote
spectators. The poor are powerless.
Crenson and Ginsberg (2004) who
elaborately discuss the elite monopoly of
American life meaningfully title their work
Down Size democracy: How America
Sidelined its people and privatized the
public. Joseph Stiglitz speaks of the
evisceration of American democracy. The
will of the people turns out to be a mirage
or at best an option to be exercised at
election times when truth is a causality.
The real developmental issue in
contemporary world is to have an inclusive
society with the goal of “living in freedom
together “ to borrow a phrase from John
Dunn (1993) whose contribution I value
for his critique of representation
democracy. The concept of freedom is
related to development which consists in
removing all unfreedoms by widening
choices and expanding capabilities to
choose with reason. The least of the
society must enjoy and participate
because growing inequality undermines
democratic practice.
Can Local Governments be
instruments of
‘power to the People’?
The issue is whether local
governance facilitates outcomes that
enrich the quality of life of citizens and their
well-beings. This is why democratic
decentralisation becomes the
empowerment of the people through the
empowering of local governments. In a
large federal system participation is
facilitated best only at the local
government level. Participation is a vital
key in building a public sphere which
through deliberation and argumentation
restructure democracy and ensure
accountability to the citizens. Ensuring
efficient public accountability is the index
of power to the people. The purpose of
decentralised governance through
empowering local governments is an
important means for deepening
democratic practice and transferring
power to the people.
In theory India’s 73rd
/74th
Constitutional
Amendments (CAs) with 33%
reservations for women and population
based reservations to the historically
marginalized sections offer a participatory
model that combines direct democracy
(eg. gram sabha) with representative
democracy. In other words, the local
governments can be used as a vehicle to
enhance power to the people and
representative democracy can assume
more legitimacy in this fashion, of course
if both effectively get integrated. In the
federal set up of India, local governments
are treated as important parameters in
realizing the nation’s avowed goals of
economic development and social justice
which is a way of giving power to the people.
Actually democracy is what democracy
does. The success of democracy depends
on the manner in which ordinary citizens
engage with democratic practice.
Democracy assumes relevance and
legitimacy only when it becomes the
practice of public reason. Without
ensuring economic equality and an
inclusive society along with educating the
citizens in decision-making we cannot
realize this.
To conclude, unless and until the
voice and choice of people prevail (as
against that of capital) there is no
government of the people, by the people,
for the people. Honestly speaking power
to the people remains a slogan. Nordic
countries may be exceptions. Indeed,
regime type matters. The first step in
good governance is to accept
democracy as an intrinsic value with
great instrumental significance and
embrace it for human progress.
1) India added 17 new billionaires last year, raising the number to 101
billionaires.
2) Indian billionaires’ wealth increased by Rs. 4891 billion — from Rs. 15,778
billion to over Rs. 20,676 billion. Rs. 4.891 lakh crore is sufficient to finance 85 per
cent of the all states’ budget on Health and Education.
3) 73 percent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent,
while 67 crore Indians who comprise the poorest half of the population saw one
percent increase in their wealth.
4) In the last 12 months the wealth of this elite group increased by Rs 20,913
billion. This amount is equivalent to the total budget of Central Govt. in ’17-18.
5) 37% of India’s billionaires have inherited (family) wealth.
They control 51 per cent of the total wealth of billionaires in the country
6) Number of billionaires has increased from only 9 in 2000 to 101 in 2017.
7) Between 2018 till 2022, India is estimated to produce 70 new millionaires
every day
8) 51 billionaires out of the total 101 are 65 years or above and own Rs 10,544
billion of total wealth.
If we assume that in the next 20 years, at least Rs 10,544 billion will be
passed on to the inheritors and on that if 30% inheritance tax is imposed, the
Government can earn at least Rs 3176 billion. Rs 3176 billion sufficient to finance
6 crucial services—Medical & Public Health, Family Welfare, Water & Sanitation,
Housing, Urban Development and Labour & Labour Welfare in all States.
9) Over the next 20 years, 500 of the world’s richest people will hand over
$2.4 trillion to their heirs – a sum larger than the GDP of India,
a country of 1.3 billion people.
10) India’s top 10% of population holds 73% of the wealth.
Ten Shocking Facts
about Inequality in India
Dr. M. A. Oommen, renowned economist,
is Professor (Emeritus)
at the Institute of Social Sciences,
New Delhi.
Unless and until the voice
and choice of people
prevail (as against that of capital)
there is no government
of the people, by the people,
for the people.
Honestly speaking,
‘power to the people’
remains a slogan.
Nordic countries
may be exceptions.
Indeed, regime type matters.
The first step in good governance
is to accept democracy
as an intrinsic value
with great instrumental
significance
and embrace it
for human progress.

Power to the People
Celebration of the Good News
It is unfortunate that Christianity, as a religion and
church as its institution, has failed the people in their
struggles. It is important to note that Jesus Christ did
not come to establish Christianity as a religion nor
church as its institution, but he started a movement of
the people, for people’s power.
Jesus Christ ensured that his movement would be
unique and different by offering himself as an exemplary
leader. Jesus expected his disciples to follow his life-
style and teaching. He was tempted as any other human
person to acquire worldly possessions, worldly power
and worldly popularity. He rejected all the temptations
and chose to follow a simple and humble life-style. He
had no place to lay his head. He practised Servant
Leadership by washing the feet of his disciples. As
people’s leader he totally identified himself with them.
He went to the full extent by offering himself as a Suffering
Servant even unto death on the cross. It is by the power
of the Cross, and the power of resurrection Jesus
demonstrated the victory of ‘power of love’ over against
the ‘love of power.’ Therefore Jesus was able to
command his disciples “If anyone wants to follow me let
him deny himself, take up the cross daily and follow me.”
Jesus also gave a new commandment to his
followers, “A new commandment I give you; love one
another..... ”. By this new commandment Jesus is
expecting us to love one another in a sacrificial and
self-offering love unto death.
St. Paul in his second letter to Timothy Chapter 3,
>>> Contd. from Page 2 Col. 4
“We must knowingly avoid empty religion and those who
propagate it. Empty religion means having the form without
power. Those with empty religion are lovers of self,
lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than of God....
They propagate empty religion by enticing
with sinful desires and by opposing truth.
gives a very important advice which is relevant to us today.
“We must knowingly avoid empty religion and those who
propagate it. Empty religion means having the form
without power. Those with empty religion are lovers of
self, lovers of money, lovers of pleasure rather than of
God. They are boastful, arrogant, unholy, unloving,
irreconcilable, without self-control, brutal, treacherous,
reckless, conceited. They propagate empty religion by
enticing with sinful desires and by opposing truth. Empty
religion will not finally triumph.”
Paul challenges Timothy and all of us to carefully follow
Paul’s doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long
suffering, love, perseverance, persecution and affliction
to truly practise the spirituality with power and not an empty
religion.
Let me close with the role of culture and art, in the
movement of people’s power. Having lived in the
Caribbean for more than twenty years I can recall many
songs of redemption by the legendary Bob Marley.
I quote one of them which is being used effectively
with tangible results by many of the people’s
movements around the world.
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!
Preacher man, don’t tell me, Heaven is under the earth.
I know you don’t know, What life is really worth.
It’s not all that glitters is gold; All the story has never
been told: So now you see the light, eh!
Stand up for your rights.
Come on! Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!
Most people think, Great god will come from the
skies,Take away everything, And make everybody feel
high. But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,You stand up for your rights.
Jah!Get up, stand up! (jah, jah!) Stand up for your
rights! (oh-hoo!) Get up, stand up! (get up, stand up!)
Don’t give up the fight! (life is your right!)
Get up, stand up! (so we can’t give up the fight!)
Stand up for your rights! (lord, lord!) Get up, stand up!
(keep on struggling on!) Don’t give up the fight! (yeah!)
We sick an’ tired of-a your ism-skism game
-Dyin’ ‘n’ goin’ to heaven in-a Jesus’ name, lord.
We know when we understand: Almighty God is a
living man.You can fool some people sometimes.
But you can’t fool all the people all the time.
So now we see the light (what you gonna do?),
We gonna stand up for our rights! (yeah,..., yeah!)
So you better: Get up, stand up!
Power to the People in a Democracy
Moses Manohar
Dr. Moses Manohar is the Executive
Director of Inter-Church Service
Association (ICSA), Chennai
Democracyperfected
the art of handling power.
In a democracy the law
measures power and allows
everyone to exercise it. Thus
power is the allowance of law.
Political power is the right of
citizens to make laws. Citizens
are the repositories of power.
What is required is
that citizens must exercise
the power. They can exercise
this power through
collaborative and adversarial
methods and through
democratic institutions.
In India, there is a lot of scope
for citizens to fix accountability.
Introduction
A fair distribution of power
among all people is not an
option but a necessity for the
progress of the nation. National
development requires popular
participation. Distribution of
power through formal channels
starting from the local body
management, is essential for
creative participation,
responsible government and
over-all development. This
alone can make a nation strong
and happy.
People as Citizens
The word people would refer
to human beings in groups, as
masses, subjects etc. But in the
modern democracy, they are
known as citizens. But among
the citizens, there are high and
low, as well as rich and poor. But
citizen is a legal construct and a
product of law. Citizens
collectively share sovereign
power, contract governments,
elect their representatives to
make laws and fix accountability
among the various arms of the
government. They make
changes through their vote and
can make every election a
civilized revolution.
It is important to note that our
Constitution does not make any
restrictive pre-condition such as
property, education, gender to
confer voting rights. Thus every
adult citizen is vested with the
power to decide his/her own
destiny and that of the nation.
Therefore, the first step
towards the empowerment of the
people is to educate the citizens.
In India, in the name of caste,
gender and feudalism, the
citizens are not made aware of
their rights. The poor in India
must first know that they are the
citizens of this Country; they have
a Constitution and rights. The
Indian Constitution in its
Preamble promises Justice,
Liberty, Equality and Fraternity for
all citizens. The Constitution
also guarantees Fundamental
Rights including the right to life,
liberty and livelihood, to citizens.
The Courts are proactive to get
these constitutional guarantees
into legal entitlements. For a
citizen, the first wealth is his/her
knowledge. Knowledgeable
citizens can enjoy their rights and
realize their dreams.
Nation as
a College of Citizens
Empowerment of citizens
requires the right definition of a
nation. A nation is defined in
terms of its ethnicity under
feudalism. Caste and
Brahminical culture determined
the pre-Independence India.
Even now, every caste is
behaving like a nation within
India. But democratic nations
have to be defined differently.
Ethnicity, caste or culture cannot
determine a democratic nation.
A democratic nation is a College
of the citizens. The nation must
actively educate the citizens and
its future citizens in self-
governance. Living in a nation
must be a creative experience of
learning new things and
contributing towards public good.
Citizen-building is the primary
task of the nation. You cannot
keep half of the population as
illiterates, poor and caste-victims
and build a proud nation. When
the citizens are enlightened, the
nation is enlightened. When the
citizens are rich, the nation is rich.
If the citizens are capacitated to
govern themselves, the nation
can be a wonderful mosaic of
many self-governing units.
Power as
the Allowance of Law
Power is a theme debated by
philosophers and theologians.
Among all the beings, only
humans have the ability to
accumulate power. Hegelian
theory of quantity transforming
into quality was adopted by
scholars including Marx.
Accordingly adding material
resources helps to accumulate
political power. Indian caste
system prohibited power shift as
power is associated with one’s
birth in a particular caste.
Theories like Marxism advocated
revolution to change power
structure.
But democracy perfected the
art of handling power. In a
democracy the law measures
power and allows everyone to
exercise it. Thus power is the
allowance of law. Political power
is the right of citizens to make
laws. Citizens are the
repositories of power. What is
required is that citizens must
exercise the power. They can
exercise this power through
collaborative and adversarial
methods (Amartya Sen) and
through democratic institutions.
In India, there is a lot of scope for
citizens to fix accountability.
Life, liberty and property
A nation has no business
except to ensure life, liberty and
property for all its citizens.
Democracy is a government of
law. The government is made of
a contract of adult citizens in order
to protect life, liberty and property.
Indian government cannot
continue to justify poverty. We are
capable to produce goods and
services that can give a decent
standard of life to all citizens.
Article 21 of the Indian
Constitution guarantees life and
liberty as fundamental rights to
the citizens. With the creative
interpretation of the Supreme
Court, the scope of life and
liberties was enlarged.
Accordingly, we have specific
laws to ensure livelihood, food,
rural employment, information,
education etc. as rights.
Property is a contentious
issue. The Constitution
substituted it with welfare
schemes. The leftist scholars
confused it with capitalist
accumulation. We must relearn
the meaning of property. Property
is the product of labour. If fair
wages are paid, a worker can
save enough and acquire a
property. If a person is allowed
to do a lawful trade or business
of his/her choice, he/she will be
able to keep a surplus. The caste
system in India denied wage and
market accessibility to the
majority of the population. Thus,
it kept people under perennial
poverty. The right to labour, fair
wage and market participation
are provided to Indian citizens by
law. In addition to the right to
decent wage and market access,
there must be laws to distribute
the national surplus wealth
among those in need. The
surplus wealth is often siphoned
off through collusive corruption.
Citizens must be vigilant so that
the surplus value will not be
misappropriated through
corruption.
‘Kingdom is within you’
We need to take Jesus
seriously. Jesus had to convey
a message to the poor who
were victims of the Roman
empire and their Jewish allies.
He spoke it from the mountains,
plains, beaches, boats, market
places, temple and from the
homes of the sick and the needy.
His message was simple,
‘Kingdom of God is within you’
(Lk.17:21). Similarly in a
democracy, power is within the
citizens. Power is, already,
given to them by the law. It is
now the turn of the people to
take it.

Panchayati Raj:
Achievements, Gaps and Challenges
George Mathew
Dr. George Mathew
is the Chairman of the Institute of Social Sciences,
New Delhi.
The nation is celebrating the 25th
anniversary of the new generation of
Panchayats and Municipalities. When on
April 24, 1993 Panchayats and on 1 June
1993 the Municipalities were given
constitutional status to function as
institutions of self-governance. The
degree of political empowerment that
has resulted through the historic
constitutional amendments in 1992-93
has been by and large, unprecedented.
Within the institutionalized Panchayati
Raj reforms in India, the core foundation
lies in more than 2.5 lakh villages and their
governance at the local level. Right from
the Balwantrai Mehta Committee’s
recommendations (1957) that gave birth
to the contemporary Panchayati Raj, its
progressive evolution has been
characterized by its share of successes
carrying its imprints all through the nation.
It has in more ways than one, fostered
democratic participation.
Collectively, it is seen that the roots of
democracy have deepened as a result of
Panchayati Raj Institutions making its way
through villages across the country and
their holistic impact has led to the
formation of representational dynamics at
the local level.
Given the severe social and political
constraints – social inequality, caste
system, patriarchy, feudal setting, illiteracy,
uneven developments – within which it had
to function, the New Panchayati Raj has
opened a new chapter in local
governance.
Today, the elections to the local self-
government institutions every five years
have become a norm. As the civil society
organizations took the initiative to fight the
anti-constitutional approach of some
states by filing public interest litigations
(PILs), the judiciary at different levels
effectively intervened.
We have also witnessed a steady
progress as far as the inclusion of
excluded sections of our population in the
decision making process from village to
the district level, is concerned. Women
have entered public life in a big way. In
2015, 13,41,773 women got elected to
local governments and more than three
times of this number contested in the
elections. Especially, the women
belonging to Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes have secured their due
share.
This is an important achievement in a
hierarchical and male dominated society.
The common refrain that it is the men folk
in the families who control the women
elected members may be partly true, but
studies show that the situation is rapidly
changing. One-third of all the panchayats
and municipalities at various levels have
women presidents. As years go by, the
number of women getting elected from
general constituencies is also increasing.
This unique experiment in turn has
generated a kind of social mobilization
and silent revolution on an
unprecedented scale. As local self-
governments have come into existence
throughout the country, their functioning
has come under scrutiny. A congenial
climate for taking governance to the
doorsteps of the people is slowly being
created.
There are numerous elaborate
mechanisms at Central and State levels
to ensure accountability and efficient
utilisation of public funds. There are time
tested institutional mechanisms for audit.
So also vigilance committees sponsored
by the government and supported by civil
society organisations. At another level,
India has the unique distinction of creating
a constitutional forum for direct democracy
- the Gram Sabha - with special powers
for overseeing the local development and
expenditure. The concept of ‘social audit’
has emerged from these innovative steps.
There are some States where the
quest for democracy is growing. Take the
case of Jammu & Kashmir. During the last
Panchayat elections in Jammu & Kashmir,
in April 2011, I spent several days in the
distant villages in Kashmir. The average
voters’ turn-out was above 80 per cent. It
was because local democracy was their
hope for the future. This was the case in
Kashmir seven years ago. But today,
Panchayat elections are postponed for
lack of political will. However, for the
ordinary people of India, Panchayat
elections are the best instruments to
deepen democracy.
Today, while State governments and
the ruling party/parties decide to postpone
panchayat elections on one pretext or
other, one is reminded of the judgement
by the five-judge constitution bench
headed by Chief Justice Y. K. Sabharwal
(2006). The judgement stated that the
Municipalities and Panchayats were the
pillars of grassroots democracy and
Election Commissions in the States, “not
yield to situations that may be created by
vested interests to postpone the
elections”.
Two fundamental changes have come
about in Indian democratic polity: (i) The
democratic base of the Indian polity has
widened, and (ii) It has brought significant
changes in India’s federalism making it a
multi-level federation with democratically
Twenty-five years is a good time
to assess the achievements,
lost opportunities as well as
the challenges ahead. The two and
a half decadal journey of the
Panchayati Raj is a mixed bag of
success and setbacks.
The question is: as Prime Minister
Vajpayee said in his letter in 2003,
have Panchayats become the third
tier of the governance in the
federal polity? The local
government system, which was
inaugurated with great
enthusiasm, is facing
enormous problems
and powerful enemies.
elected local governments at the district
and below.
Twenty-five years is a good time to
assess the achievements, lost
opportunities as well as the challenges
ahead. The two and a half decadal journey
of the Panchayati raj is a mixed bag of
success and setbacks. The question is:
as Prime Minister Vajpayee said in his
letter in 2003, has Panchayats become
the third tier of the governance in the
federal polity? The local government
system, which was inaugurated with great
enthusiasm, is facing enormous
problems and powerful enemies.
This is time for all concerned to take
up seriously to study and conduct
research to find out whether we have an
empowered local government in reality
with 29 subjects devolved to Panchayats
and 18 subjects to Municipalities? How
many Panchayats have Panchayat
Bhavans with modern facilities? Is the
capacity building of the elected panchayat
representatives a continuous process?
Are the SIRDs fully equipped to train
thousands of local government
representatives in the States? In fact, every
district must have a taining centre for
elected local government representatives.
This must be seen as an investment. It
will create human capital.
There are two areas the Union
Government and the State Governments
must focus on: First. The District Planning.
District level planning is an important
issue. Most of the District Panchayats have
not taken it seriously with the necessary
data, facilities, technical officials and other
wherewithals. Second, the Gram Sabha.
Are the Gram Sabhas merely
recommending/advisory bodies to the
Panchayat? Isn’t their decision, binding
upon the Panchayats? In a democracy
people are sovereign. Therefore, the best
democratic system is direct democracy.
The Gram Sabha which is a constitutional
body is the direct democracy in India.
I would like to underline here the fact
that if we slacken our efforts to keep the
institutions of local self government at the
center stage, as well as on top of the
agenda of the policy makers and
practitioners, the best chance we got
through the 73rd and 74th Amendments
will be in peril. We need a new deal for the
panchayats and municipalities in India.
This new deal will ensure ways and
means to make Panchayats and
Municipalities (i.e., district and below) the
first tier of government in the country. This
new deal will give freedom to implement
the policies and programmes to eradicate
poverty in this country at the earliest; not
later than 10 years so that by 2025 poverty
line will become totally irrelevant for India.
If we have a new deal, then that will
open a new chapter for the 32 lakhs (3.2
million) men and women who are getting
elected every five years to the
panchayats and municipalities.
THE CHURCH OF NORTH INDIA:
JABALPUR DIOCESE
VIKAS ASHA KENDRA
VIKAS ASHA KENDRA (VAK)
is a self-supporting project of
the CNI Diocese of Jabalpur.
VAK which was started in 1974 with two children
is now taking care of 150 physically and mentally
challenged children.
Children are trained from KG to 12th standard.
Additionally children are encouraged to get themselves
trained in Sewing, Embroidery, Knitting,
Handloom and Typing.
VAK affirms that physically and mentally challenged
children should be respected in the same way as
we respect other children.
They should be equipped to support themselves.
We love our children in the same way
Jesus loved the children.
Mrs. Nora Singh,
Director,
Vikas Asha Kendra
Diocese of Jabalpur,
Madhya Pradesh-482001

Lessons from Social Movements
Vibhuti Patel
Dr. Vibhuti Patel is Professor at Advanced Centre
for Women’s Studies, School of Development
Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
Introduction
People’s power to defend themselves
against life threatening and ever
increasing economic crisis and social
strife, is the need of the hour. ‘Power to
the People’ can correct damages done
by inhuman macro-economic policies
that attack basic survival base of the
poor and the marginalised sections of
the society namely workers, poor and
marginal farmers, Dalits, Tribals, and
ethnic/religious minorities.
Experiences of the past 40 years have
shown how the social movements put
pressure on societal systems to
accelerate transformation, respond
directly to the experiences of people and
ensure social security and social
protection. The Right Based Approach
concerned about human development
that includes health, education,
employment, representation in decision
making bodies, and the
democratic processes in governance,
have resulted in the transformation of
people’s lives for the better.
Historical Legacy:
During the 1960s in the United States,
young people began speaking and writing
this phrase as a form of rebellion against
what they perceived as the oppression by
the older generation, especially ‘The
Establishment’. The Black Panthers used
the slogan ‘All Power to the People’ to
protest against the use of racist
discriminatory practices by the white, and
rich, ruling class domination of society.
Pro-democracy students raised the
slogan of “power to people” to protest
against America’s military invasion in
Vietnam.
In the mid-1980s the ‘People Power’
movement arose in the Philippines to oust
Ferdinand Marcos.
During the Anti-Apartheid struggle in
SouthAfrica, the terms Amandla and Matla
were used frequently during speeches
and rallies; this was followed by the crowd
responding with Awethu or Kee a Rona.
These terms respectively mean “Power”
and “To the people”. These terms are still
frequently used in ANC meetings and
conferences as well as among student
activist groups such as SASCO and the
ANC Youth League.
Democratisation of
Indian People’s Movements
In India the rebellious mood of the
youth, poor peasants, marginal farmers,
educated Dalit and tribal men and women,
industrial working classes found its
expression in the formation of innumerable
special interest groups addressing
themselves to the needs and demands
of the local masses. Macro political
processes were also finding major shifts
in their rhetoric as the protest movements
of the subaltern masses had taken
militant paths guided by different political
ideologies. The official communist parties
faced major political challenge in the form
of the Naxalbari movememt Middle class
mass upheaval in Gujarat (popularly
known as Navnirman movement) against
corruption, price rise, unemployment,
speculation, hoarding and black-
marketing in 1974 was replicated in Bihar
in the name of Sampoorna Kranti
Movement under the leadership of a
Gandhian leader, Jay Prakash Narayan.
Unprecedented strike of the railway
workers gave a proof of the political power
of collective strength of the working class.
Tribal people’s struggles against
destructive development which served the
interests of the kulaks, moneylenders,
contractors, bootleggers and indigenous
industrialists thriving on the barbaric
means of surplus extraction.
In the Himalayan valleys, under the
leadership of Gandhian community
workers the struggle against arbitrary
felling of the trees. Women evolved
creative methods to protect the trees from
the axes of contractors’ henchmen. This
movement was popularly known as
Chipko because women hugged the trees
when their adversaries made ferocious
efforts at felling the trees. In Maharashtra,
women activists and women intellectuals
involved in progressive movements took
initiative in forming a united front called
Anti-price rise Women’s Committee and
organised direct action against the
culprits who created man-made scarcity
of essential goods. Thousands of poor
and lower middle class women joined the
struggle under the leadership of
seasoned and able women from the left
and socialist background. Mrinal Gore,
Ahalya Ranganekar, Manju Gandhi and
Tara Reddy made their special mark in
the eyes of the masses as a result of their
unique ability to reach out to the women of
different class backgrounds.
Their intellectual self-sufficiency,
ability to relate micro issues to macro
political reality, simple lifestyle and non-
bossy nature provided role models to the
younger generation of women’s
liberation activists of all political hues.
Around the same time a conference of
Women’s Liberation Movement
Coordination Committee was organised
in Pune. This had even larger socio-
political and cultural base. Stree Mukti
Sangathana in Bombay and Progressive
Organisation of Women in Hyderabad
were formed in 1974. Individual women
in different political groupings all over India
were feeling discontented about
patriarchal biases in their organisations
but they came out openly against it only
after the emergency rule got over. These
were independent, self-determining and
democratic movements, which
questioned all hierarchical structures.
All these social movements created
new vocabulary in the political sphere:
collective leadership, bottom up approach
in decision making, democratic
decentralization, experiential learning and
strategic intervention based on people’s
collective wisdom and power to the people.
Participatory Techniques
to Arrive at Policy Making and
Implementation
Participatory technique is more used
in training development personnel and
organising awareness programmes.
Direct action being an important
constituent of all social movements, this
technique is used to conduct researches
on the existing movements and
developmental projects.
In the social movements, we have
been saying that people’s voices have to
be heard; how they perceive subjugation
or violent situations are very crucial. While
studying objective reality and micro forces,
the social movements also examine
subjective reactions, psycho related
issues and standpoints of intersectional
interests based on class, caste, race,
religion, ethnicity, gender and
geographical location. To understand
social oppression, personal involvement
provides a deeper understanding of the
problem. Hence those who are committed
to the ethos of “Power to the People”
recognize the role of personal accounts
in highlighting the dynamics of oppression
in situations like drought, communal riots,
caste riots, environmental disaster,
climate change, appropriate technology.
Conclusion
In the recent times, the social media
has had tremendous democratizing
influence in terms of sharing information,
quick sharing of action agenda at a global
level. People’s movements have made
excellent use of social media by
launching yahoo groups and google
groups for quick communication and
coordinated action, sharing of intellectual
work and resources, creating archives.
Social movements are creating digital
libraries. Progressive, multicultural,
democratic minded People of the world
united, will be able to fight barbaric and
sectarian vested interests of neo-
liberalism thriving on capital accumulation
by acquisition of people’s common
resources and colonization of natural
resources for super profit.
At this historical juncture
convergence of all progressive, secular,
democratic forces working towards
social justice, gender justice and
distributive justice is the need to make
the slogan of “Power to the People” a
Dream Come True.
Experiences of the past 40 years
have shown how the social
movements put pressure on
societal systems to accelerate
transformation, respond directly
to the experiences of people and
ensure social security
and social protection.
Rights based approach concerned
about human development that
includes health, education,
employment, representation in
decision making bodies, and the
democratic processes in
governance, have resulted
in the transformation
of people’s lives for the better.
“Democracy is damaged when people are afraid to speak out.”
The condition for the success of democracy is public reasoning.
“Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the changes going on right now is the decline in the quality and reach of
public reasoning. Public reasoning can be both about factual matters, about getting the information right, and
about judgmental matters, clearing one’s mind by comparing the assessments of different people
and putting these assessments through critical scrutiny”
— Amartya Sen –
Best Wishes fromBest Wishes fromBest Wishes fromBest Wishes fromBest Wishes from
A Well Wisher, BangaloreA Well Wisher, BangaloreA Well Wisher, BangaloreA Well Wisher, BangaloreA Well Wisher, Bangalore

Peoples‘ power manifested
through creative resistance
Varughese George
Dr. Varughese George
is the National General Secretary
of Lok Tantrik Janata Dal
The resistance against the forces of
global capital needs to be both global and
local. At the global level we should have
a new international economic order and
at the local level, people should have
control over resources. The most
important aspect of the world economy
today is the unequal and uneven
development between nations and
regions.
The World Bank itself admitted that in
developing countries 2.5 billion to 3 billion
people live on less than $2 a day. The
UNDP reports say that the assets of the
three richest people in the world were
more than the combined GDP of 48 least
developed nations. And the United
Nations agree that one billion people in
developing countries lack access to safe
drinking water, 2.4 billion lack access to
sanitation, 90 million children are out of
school, 34 million infected with HIV, 1.2
million women and children trafficked and
100 million children working in streets.
This unjust international economic order
is being exacerbated by the new
international trade policies. After
evaluating a decade of reforms, the UN
said that, “It is true that trade has increased
by 510 billion dollars, but it has also led to
a loss of 600 million dollars to the least
developed countries and 1.2 billion
dollars to Sub Sahara alone”. The
international multilateral institutions are
unilateral in approach and the policy-
making in today’s world economy is in the
hands of major industrial powers. At the
Uruguay round meeting in 1994 where
GATT treaty was signed, the least
developed countries found it very difficult
to ensure representation in the
discussions and go through the complex
technical process of decision making. In
Geneva only 12 LDCs had missions and
in the Doha round only 23 countries were
consulted in the first stage of discussions.
Thus the negotiating capacity of the
poor countries is on the decline and the
developed countries reach at a
consensus sidelining the objections of the
poor countries. Most of these poor
countries are receiving economic and
military aid from the rich countries and thus
the LDCs submit themselves to the
wishes of the G-8. But when Europe found
the U.S. demands for free access to its
market too exacting they decided to form
a European Union which would ultimately
lead to the United States of Europe. Now
they have a common currency, Euro, a
parliament at Brussels and in the last EU
meeting they decided to form a common
defense. But the poor regions in the world,
Asia, Africa and Latin America which
constitute 2/3 of the world’s population are
in disarray and are involved in border
skirmishes. Samir Amin, the French -
Egyptian Marxist who passed away in
August this year, had been raising this
point earlier in his seminal book ‘Empire
of Chaos‘. So unity of the poor countries
through some kind of empowerment is
the need of the hour.
But can the poor wait till a new
international economic order is achieved?
No, the poor will have no strength to wait
till such a just order is achieved. So
nations should reorient their policies so
that every person could live in dignity. In
the last seventy years after independence,
India was able to make marked progress
in agriculture, industry, engineering, oil
exploration, space-technology etc., but it
could not make structures of justice in
distributing the fruits of this toil. We have
concentrated in production and neglected
distribution. Now the food reserve is 60
million tonnes. Why there is a sudden
surge in food stocks? Is it due to an
increase in food production? No, the
Finance Minister in his budget speech has
said that the agriculture growth was just
two percent compared to the overall
growth of the economy by seven percent.
Then why an increase in food stock, how
could it have happened? The answer is
that the off take is very low; people are not
buying it, not because they do not need it,
but they have no purchasing power. I met
a Mar Thoma clergy serving in Kasipur at
Kalahandi, Orissa and he told me that
every week ten to fifteen people die in that
taluq due to want of food. The People’s
Union for Civil Liberties filed a petition in
the Supreme Court in the background of
Kalahandi hunger deaths seeking and
instruction to the Union Government for
free distribution of surplus reserve, to the
poor. The Supreme Court asked the Union
Government to make a mechanism for free
distribution, but what the Union
Government did was that half of the
reserve was sold to the mill owners for
half price!
Now no one speaks about land
reforms. Prof. Amartya Sen says that if you
have a piece of land, you have a sense of
security, dignity and bargaining power.
Even in Kerala society there is the need
for a second land reform. When the Kerala
Agricultural Relations Bill was passed in
the Kerala Assembly, those who got land
were tenants. It was a genuine reform to
have bestowed land to the tenants, but
then also the real tiller of the soil, the
agricultural labourers did not get the land.
Also the fishermen and adivasis were not
benefitted. John Kurian calls these
groups, the agricultural labourers, the
fishermen and the tribals, the out layer
society in Kerala State. When the Bill was
passed in 1959 it was identified that there
was 7,20,000 hectares as surplus and it
was to be redistributed among the
landless. But till now only an area of less
than one lakh hectares was redistributed.
This was substantiated by Prof. M. A.
Oommen in his Gulati memorial lecture
titled ‘The Growing Inequality in Kerala‘.
Let us take the case of education. In
the UNDP Report this year the status of
India is 119 among 191 nations.
Prof.Mahbul Haq and Prof. Amartya Sen
who conceived the present series of
UNDP Reports considered education and
health as important indices in the Human
Development Index (HDI). We are the
biggest nation moving with the biggest
mass of illiterates, in the new century. Last
year the defense budget was 100,000
crore of rupees, 6% of our budgetary
income while education’s allocation was
2.5%. Which is the best defense of a
nation, education or nuclear bomb?
So our country has to re-order its
priorities. But we cannot wait till the nations
reorder its priorities. If structures of justice
are not visible at the macro level, at the
micro level we can launch many initiatives.
One important burden for our economy is
the fertilizer import and fertilizer subsidy.
When I went to Ecumenical Christian
Centre, the then coordinator of the Centre
Mr. George Cherian took us to the
neighboring farm of Shri. Narayana
Swami, who bagged the best
agriculturalist award of the Government
of Karnataka. He has completely stopped
fertilizer input in his four-acre farm and he
has shifted to organic farming. He said to
us that after the conversion to organic
farming the crop was very bad in the initial
years.After four years the soil was naturally
regenerated and now he is sending
Papaya worth Rs. 40,000 per month to
Bangalore. Can we arrange at least one
plot in our parish is families for organic
farming as a symbol of resistance to
pesticide and fertilizer industry? My friend
and colleague Prof. C. Mammachen
testifies that organic farming brings good
yield and is less expensive than fertilizer
intensity-cultivation as experienced in his
ancestral farmland in Kollam. The
Kerasree award winner Pavithran told that
though he used fertilizers the base
manure was organic manure.
We have to have a search of alternative
health practices. In the age of Super
Specialty Hospitals, can we think about
people’s clinics? There are only about
twenty common diseases and why
shouldn’t we use the services of health
clinics? Recently when I went to Othera
for a youth meeting of the Ebenezer
Church I found that they were running a
small clinic in that village. And there were
many alternative health activists amongst
them. Last month, I went to Mundiappally
for a meeting of the health activists and I
found that they were practising
Acupressure, who charge no fee for it.
They had were got training in Acupressure
and they are former CSI Youth Movement
activists. The parishes can request one
doctor member in our church to spare one
hour every week for a people’s clinic in
the colonies in our villages.
We should seek alternative
technology. When I went to the office of
the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad in
Pathanamthitta, I found that many school
teachers after their school time were
making toilet soaps when the price of
coconut oil fell. In South Travanvore I
found that the Rev. Thomas Koshy
Panachamootil and others were giving
training to the youth for making organic
manure. Such examples galore. The
creative resistance at the micro level,
and the macro level struggles should
be integrated.
Best Wishes for Christ centered Christmas!
From
Dr. J. S. Murthy & Family
Martin Luther Christian University
Shillong
As a Christian University, Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) has
the mandate, mission and commitment to engage proactively
with the Christian community, especially with the youth,
Christian educational institutions and Christian organizations.
The Department of Theology of MLCU offers:
· Certificate and Diploma in Theology for the grassroot workers
· Master of Theology (M.Th.) in Christian Education,
Christian Counselling and Missiology
· Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) · Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)
For further details contact:
Rev. Dr. Samuel W. Meshack, Pro-Chancellor, MLCU
at smeshack@gmail.com / sam.mlcu@outlook.com
Mr David Blah, Co-ordinator, DoT, MLCU at mlcu.departmentoftheology@gmail.com

Power to the People
Vincent Manoharan
Rev Dr. Vincent Manoharan PhD.,
Dalit Christian Rights Defender, is the Chairperson
of the National Dalit Land Rights Movement
‘All power to all people’ is an animated
‘cultural expression and political slogan’
introduced mainly by Black Panthers
Party in the US in the 1960s, to challenge
the domination of the ‘rich and the ruling
class’ in the society, whose interests
were against the very life and livelihood
of the rest of the masses. Gandhiji talked
about ‘Power to the People’ first as a
political slogan against the British,
advancing Satyagraha and Non-violence
as vibrant strategies, then raised as an
important agenda of Indian Governance
to establish ‘Gram Swaraj’, where every
village needs to emerge as a ‘republic
and independent’ to ensure food,
clothing, clean water, basic health and
education for its people.
JP Narayan, later, banged on this
slogan to challenge Indira Gandhi’s
undemocratic actions and strategies
which were detrimental to the very being
of the toiling mass. Above all,
contextualizing ‘Caste’ as a divisive and
discriminative reality, Babasaheb
Ambedkar alerted the Constituent
Assembly of India on 25th
November 1949
that ‘Social Democracy’ is the prerequisite
for safeguarding the ‘Political Democracy-
by the people, of the people and for the
people fabric’- for which ‘caste, and
‘untouchability’ need to be eliminated as
they are anti- national, endangering Liberty,
Equality, and Fraternity of its citizens,
mostly the Dalits. These references need
to be looked at carefully when ‘Power to
the People’ is thought of.
All these quotes corroborate that
‘Power to the People’ largely means the
‘socio, economic and political
empowerment’ of the majority who are
mostly the marginalized and the
disadvantaged in India. However, the
current reality of India is alarming, as a
very tiny minority among Indians who are
both socially dominant and economically
affluent, increasingly emerge as ‘powerful
and millionaires’ by hand-holding Global
Corporates. Indian Legislators and
Bureaucrats offer blind and ruthless
support to the neo-liberalistic policies and
programs and provide all avenues to
Indian and foreign industrialists and
investors to extensively exploit the natural
resources and working class of this
country, especially the Dalits and the
Tribals, who constitute around 25% of the
Indian population. They are the worst
affected, as they are ‘socially excluded,
economically exploited and politically
powerless’ who form the majority among
1/5th
of the world poor (431 Million) in India.
According to the UN Millennium
Development Goal Program, out of 1.2
billion population in India, 269 million or
21.9% live under the poverty line of 1.2 US
$ in 2011-12. RBI and Asian Development
Bank of India corroborates the same.
Dalits, besides their abominable
economic status, suffer caste-based
discrimination and violence despite the
availability of the best practices of the Govt,
such as Constitutional safeguards,
special legislations, human rights
mechanisms, affirmative action and
judiciary. A study in Andhra Pradesh in
2004 revealed that around 140 forms of
visible and invisible forms of untouchability
practices have been existing in rural and
urban areas which situation still largely
exists with ‘restrictions on free access to
public roads, shops, restaurants, temple
entry/worship, public water resources
wells, tanks, pipes, bathing ghats, places
of entertainment, festivals, common
properties and burial grounds and
Schools’. The worst part is that the very
assertion of Dalits and their rejection of
such caste realities are seen as an ‘act of
disobedience or rebellion’ by the
Casteists who unleash all crude forms of
‘physical and mental violence against
Dalits, which ranges from murder,
maiming, intimidation, social/economic
boycott, rape, naked parading of Dalit
women, looting and damaging of
properties, inducing suicides and honor
killing’. The recent NCRB statistics
corroborates that 40801 atrocity cases
were registered in 2016 (in 2015 it was
38670) in which Murder 786, attempt to
murder 733, grievous hurt 1071, sexual
assault on women 6425, rape 2541,
attempt to rape 148, arson 168 and others
29869; violence against the SC/ST
Children were 1,06,958. However, 74.2%
of the accused / perpetrators got acquittal
as the Police did not investigate properly,
since majority of them are from the
dominant castes.
On the political arena, owing to
Affirmative Action Policy, out of 534 total
MPs in the Lok Sabha, 85 are from the
SCs and 48 from the STs; in Rajya Sabha,
out of a 274 MPs, around 55 are from the
SCs and the STs; Similarly, out of a total
4120 MLAs in India, around 900 are from
the SCs and the STs. However, these MPs
and MLAs are constrained to remain loyal
to their Political Parties as they are
dependent on them to get a seat to contest
in desirable constituencies, to meet
election expenses etc., This puts pressure
on them to carry the party interests than
the concerns of the SCs/STs. That was
the main reason for Ambedkar to fight for
the double voting rights for the SCs, but
that was thwarted by Gandhi under the
Poona Pact.
This status of Dalits and Tribals
prevents them from enjoying the
‘democratic and fundamental’ rights and
space ensured by the Indian Constitution
in its ‘Preamble and mainly in Articles 17
and 19 to 34’. These two communities
remain sufferers as they are yet to enjoy
the rights of liberty, freedom, justice,
equality, fraternity, dignity, status and
opportunity. At the moment, they are in no
way better or on a par with the other citizens
of this country. Instead, they live in poverty,
unemployment, lack of civic amenities and
pushed even beyond the periphery.
‘Power to the People’ is a long living
slogan by political parties, academics,
scholars, civil society organisations,
movements etc., in line with the secular
and democratic fabric of our country. But
the ‘ruling class and the ruling parties’
have been voicing this as a rhetoric in a
conventional catch phrase. Those who are
in power are seldom true to their voice, as
they have a clear hidden agenda of
keeping these communities as ‘voiceless
and powerless’ in order to sustain their
power positions and socio-economic
interests. Especially, the rightwing forces
who are in power for the last 4 years hardly
did anything for these communities to
emerge as powerful in their socio-
economic-political life and patterns.
Instead, their fascist regime largely stifled
their voices and shrank their legitimate
space. The struggles of farmers/peasants
and agricultural labourers have been
ignored and sidelined. The assertion and
the demands of the Dalits have been met
with violence of mob lynching on them in
the name of cow slaughtering, beef eating
etc., Minorities are reprimanded and
persecuted with the false accusation that
they involve in conversion or beef trade.
The dissent voices are silenced with
brutal killings and intimidation which
includes arbitrary arrests and house
arrests. In sum, the legitimate, democratic
and constitutional voices are chocked
with, extrajudicial methods. Dalits, Tribals
and Minorities are the worst affected as
they are put in intimidation. The much-
publicized policies, schemes and
programs announced by the Govt such as
Make in India, Stand up India, are in no
way largely helpful to these communities.
Therefore, time is ripe that the slogan
‘power to the people’ needs to be altered
to ‘power to us’‘power to us’‘power to us’‘power to us’‘power to us’ by these communities to
change not only their status quo, but also
to challenge the oppressive, divisive and
authoritative status-quo of this country.
Such a trend should be thought of and
taken forward mainly by these
‘voiceless and powerless’ people who
should also try to win over the support
of other marginalized communities such
as the OBCs for gaining power,
especially the political power for
ensuring socio-economic
empowerment. Unless they themselves
raise and voice, this slogan will remain
as a slogan of others, a fashion, forever.
Let us hope and strive for such a trend
to emerge and strengthen!
‘Power to the People’ is a long
living slogan by political parties,
academics, scholars, civil society
organisations, movements etc., in
line with the secular and
democratic fabric of our country.
But the ‘ruling class and the ruling
parties’ have been voicing this as a
rhetoric in a conventional catch
phrase. Those who are in power are
seldom true to their voice, as they
have a clear hidden agenda of
keeping these communities as
‘voiceless and powerless’ in order
to sustain their power positions
and socio-economic interests.
Recognized by National Council for Teacher Education
and Affiliated to Tamilnadu Teachers Education University
(Run By St. Stephen’s Educational Trust, Madurai)
St. Stephen’s College of Education for Women
Hosanna Mount, New Natham Road, Kadavur, Chatrapatti P.O., Madurai – 14, Tamilnadu.
Principal/Director: The Rev. Dr. Milton Jeganathan, <mjegenathan@yahoo.com>
Tel: 0452 – 3200135, Cell: 99439 80489, 9843050489, www.stephenscollegemdu.com
Vision and Mission
St. Stephen’s College of Education for Women is run by St. Stephen’s Educational
Trust, Madurai – 7 with a great vision and commitment to impart value based teacher
education and promote Professional Ethics among teachers.
The motto of this institution is Devotion, Sacrifice and Excellence so that holistic
development can be provided to the students which can equip the students serve as catalysts
for the Transformation of the society.
In the context of advanced technical and scientific developments etc, equipping women as
well as girl students particularly from rural areas is focused through imparting contextual,
relevant and meaningful teacher education programme with theoretical, practical and community
based training and research that can contribute in the context of Nation building today.
Infrastructural facilities
Very spacious library, the store house of knowledge, entertains and evokes enthusiasm
among the students with its vast collection of books.
A variety of journals are also within reach to assimilate and enhance awareness.
Various community oriented programmes and extra-curricular activities like Spoken English,
Computer Applications, Life skill development, etc. are provided along with the regular course.
Internet facility is made available to students to keep abreast of the latest developments in all
fields of study.
Well-equipped labs ensure 100% practical application of, what is studied in theory are
provided. The vast play ground in the College enables students to have a good physique.
Various athletic events will be conducted for aspiring sportswomen at Stephens. High quality
cafeteria offers highly nutritional food at nominal rates. Hostel accommodation will be provided.
The college is having well organized transportation facilities to cater to the needs of students
from various locations. The college is situated at Hosanna Mount, New Natham Road, Kadavur,
which is 11Km from Madurai city. It is surrounded by natural beauty, aesthetic view and Eco-
friendly atmosphere.
B.Ed. OPTIONAL SUBJECTS: Tamil; English; Maths; Physical Sciences; Biological Sciences;
History; Economics; Commerce; Computer Science; Social Science; Geography.
St. Stephen’s College
of Education for Women

V. Mathew Kurian
Dr. V. Mathew Kurian is
the Joint Director of Dr. K. N. Raj Centre
of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala
Empowering People
to Make Democracy Successful
I. Introduction
Human history reveals
experimentation of various political
institutions for governance. Among them
‘democracy’ stands the most preferred
one. According to Amartya Sen,
“democracy has emerged as the pre-
eminently acceptable form of
governance”. Though the historiography
of democracy takes us to very ancient
times in Greece and India, as a universal
political arrangement it got its
recognition only in the twentieth century.
In this brief note, first we mention the
meaning of ‘democracy’. Then, with
special reference to India, we examine
its merits and constraints. Finally, we
discuss the empowerment of people as
a sine qua non for the effectiveness and
success of democracy.
II. The Meaning of Democracy
Democracy is commonly treated as
‘majoritarian rule’. Therefore, voting and
respect for election results are basic to
democracy. But to Sen, “Democracy
requires the protection of liberties and
freedoms, respect for legal entitlements
and the guaranteeing of free discussion
and uncensored distribution of news and
fair comment.” The most valuable aspect
of democracy is that it is a governance
system by people’s free discussions.
III. Merits of Democracy
i. The expression of the will of the
people: Democracy enables the people
to express their ‘will’. In India, for example,
people defeated Mrs. Indira Gandhi as a
punishment for the declaration of political
emergency in 1975, in the subsequent
election. But she was re-elected by the
same people in the next election. When
the UPA Second Government was
immersed in corruption and inefficiency,
they were driven out and the NDA was
given a chance by the people of India. The
results of the recent assembly elections
in the Hindi heart-land of India again prove
the might of Indian democracy. No other
political institution can enable this sort of
peaceful transfer of ‘power’.
ii. The Assurance of Freedom: In his
book, ‘Development as Freedom’,Amartya
Sen distinguishes five types of freedom.
They are: (1) political freedom (2)
economic freedom (3) social freedom (4)
transparency freedom and (5) protection
freedom. Only democracy can ensure all
these freedoms.
iii. Free Press and Media: Democracy
allows free media which, in turn, guard
democracy in multiple ways. It has
immense power in driving governments
in the proper way. The avoidance of a
famine since the 1943 Great Bengal
Famine in India was largely due to free
press. Media and Press played a key role
in the rescue operations of recent Kerala
flood.
IV. Major Limitations
of Indian Democracy
i. Proneness to Corruption: Though
India is successful in conserving political
democracy, corruption at various levels
has been haunting our political and
administrative systems. Citing the
rampant corruption and inefficiency of the
Indian administrative system, Nobel
Laureate Gunnar Myrdal coined the term
‘soft state’ in his famous book, Asian
Drama.
ii. The Decline of National Political
Parties: Indian National Congress was
the national political party in free India. But
in due course of time, it has lost its vigor.
Though a coalition, the Janata experiment
after the Emergency ignited a hope. But it
also failed. The consequence has been
the emergence of a number of regional
political parties which fail to stand together
for a national cause of the people of India.
iii. Persistence of Social Inequality:
Though our constitution ensures equal
freedom to all, in practice, the masses of
people are subjected to various kinds of
oppression and discrimination. The grip
of caste system is still very firm in our
Indian Society.
iv. Wrong Economic Policies and
Widening Inequality: Jawaharlal Nehru,
the first Prime minister of India, perceived
a ‘Socialistic Pattern’ in the post-
independent India. But over a period of
time, we became a ‘neo- colony’ and since
1991 India has been pursuing neo- liberal
policies which have taken India back to
the level of ‘British Raj’. Our farmers are
now in great distress. As the ordinary
workers in Northern India find it extremely
difficult to live there, they massively migrate
to the southern states for livelihood. The
untimely policies of demonetization and
GST and the closure of planning by the
present government have aggravated the
miseries of common people of India.
V. Empowering People
to Make Indian Democracy Vibrant
As we discussed above, the people of
India are, now, a discontented lot. But there
is no political alternative to democracy. The
challenge is how to make Indian
democracy vibrant. The answer is ‘people’
themselves; enable them to get
‘empowered’. The following are a few
points in this direction:
i. Strengthening of Secularism: It is
already proved that ‘theocracy’ is no longer
a solution to the vexing problems of Indian
people. People need to come together
irrespective of religious, spatial or caste
differences. The recent farmer uprisings
in India really give great hope.
ii. Elimination of Corruption: Election
is to be used as an opportunity to disown
corrupted people, irrespective of the colour
of the political parties which they represent.
iii. Stand for selective de- linking: India
is a continental economy with more than
130 crore of people. If we have fair
distribution of income, there need not be
market failures. We need to restructure
the Indian economy through appropriate
policies. ‘India first’ be the slogan we want
from our politicians. We can have foreign
collaborations according to our
requirements and terms.
VI. Conclusion
In this note, we have taken the
positions that democracy is the most
suitable political institution for India. But
it is now facing a number of grave
challenges. The resolution resides only
in the ‘people’. Only by making people of
India empowered, we can redeem our
‘democracy’.
Lady Doak College
Madurai - 625 002, Tamil Nadu, India
(An Autonomous Institution affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University)
“College with Potential for Excellence”
Re-accredited by NAAC with Grade A (3rd Cycle: 3.44 out of 4)
Lady Doak College, a premier Christian institution and the first women’s college in Madurai, S. India was founded
by Miss Katie Wilcox, an American missionary in the cause of women’s education in and around the city of Madurai on
14th July 1948 .The college has completed 70 years of committed labour of love and learning. As an ecumenical
Christian college whose purpose is to impart liberal education of Christian character to students of all creeds, this
college strives to develop their intellectual powers, locate, identify and cultivate their interests and talents and train
them to be responsible and useful citizens.
In its first year, Lady Doak College had 81 students. In the place of temporary sheds, today, we have a well-built
beautiful chapel, classrooms, lecture halls, comprehensive library, well-equipped laboratories, multimedia theatres,
indoor stadium-cum-auditorium, open-air theatre, hostels, clinic, non-resident students’ centre and canteens. Now
the college has an enrollment of about 4361 women students served by a committed and skilled team of about 253
teaching and 144 non-teaching staff.
Academic autonomy was granted in 1978, making it one of the earliest autonomous institutions in the country. A
challenging curriculum blended with relevant academic programmes, co-curricular activities, exposure programmes
and a well-developed student support system has placed the college at the forefront in the field of higher education.
The college currently offers 24 undergraduate, 15 postgraduate and 9 M.Phil. programmes and Madurai Kamaraj University has recognized 6 Departments as Research
Centres.. The college has initiated an international student exchange programme for credit transfer.Lady Doak College aims to bring about the wholesome transformation
of women with a well-balanced moral, social and spiritual outlook.
International Study Centre
Lady Doak College announces the launch of the American Transfer Program (ATP) with Concordia College in New YorkNewNewNewNewNew
Lady Doak College believes in promoting interdisciplinary exchange among faculty, students, and visitors from around the world. Having this in focus, the International
Studies Centre (ISC) functions to widen the perspectives and experiences of students through crosscultural programs and discussions one effective method towards
building bridges between nations. Housed in Oberlin Hall, the ISC partners with the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association to create and maintain a space for the promotion
of international and intracultural consciousness. ISC welcomes study abroad and service groups, professors, and scholars from around the world. In the past, visitors
have volunteered with local nonprofits, taught miniclasses, held workshops and participated in discussions with LDC students and faculty.
Dr. Christianna Singh, Principal & Secretary
Web: ladydoakcollege.edn.in

Power to the People: Celebrating Gram Panchayati Raj:
A System with Reason and Revelation
S. Chandra Mohan
Rev. S. Chandra Mohan, CSI Pastor & Social
Activist is the President of Maharashtra
Village Ministries, Nagpur, and Trainer of
Trainers, Church and Society Issues, and
PeaceBuilding.
As I begin writing this article, I get
reports from the People’s Vigilance
Committee of Human Rights in Varanasi
in Uttar Pradesh that almost a hundred
Dalit and Muslim children were suffering
prolonged hunger for over a week, with
nothing to eat. The hunger is one of the
clearest manifestations of the violation
of human rights, in that it denies life.
Ideologues and humanists tell that
freedom, the Right to Dissent, the Right
to Self-respect based on the Right to Live
without racial/ caste based discrimination
and segregation, self-reliance, equality,
fraternity and dignity are a few of the core
ingredients for dignified human life.
However, all of these cannot be
considered if the Right to Live itself is not
defended. When the Right to Life is
protected, other dignities can also be
protected.
History records that, with the support
of participating social and economic
elites, most of those who appropriate
monarchical governance as the basis for
their administration dominate over
people, creating structures and symbols,
that enforce slavery, impose hunger upon
the masses, discriminate against
women, and silently approve all kinds of
oppression, knowing monarchical
governance does not encourage true
participation. For example, Ancient Egypt,
which God abhors, inflicted starvation,
slavery and hierarchy upon its subjects.
History also records that to justify their
autocratic, aristocratic, hierarchical acts
of dominances, the top leaders, or the
upper class and the upper caste nexus,
as Antonio Gramsci labels them,
manipulate democracy and devise
mechanisms to obtain public consent,
forcing people to become ‘yes persons’
in their own oppression.Thus the despotic
rulers validate all of their injustices.
Humankind has, therefore, the
responsibility to shuck off the chains, that
tie them to the anchor of Slavery.
To break the chains of slavery,
historically, reason has been used to
devise various systems of true Republican
non-hierarchical governance, proposed by
authors from Plato to Rousseau.
Nevertheless, across the whole globe,
despite experiments with these, what
eventually happened was the rise of
Monarchy and Imperialism.
One such system that breaks
monarchy is that of Federal
Republicanism, which is the revealed or
God-communicated political model,
practised by Ancient Israel, from the time
of the Biblical Jacob to the coronation of
Saul as king, it was called Deuteronomy.
God YHWH trained the 12 Tribal
descendants to reach their allocated
territories, in the new land, to become a
Federation of Republicanism. ‘Federal’
derives from the Latin word ‘ Foedous’
meaning treaty, at times working as
Confederacy.
Thus the books of Judges and Joshua
record the Federal life of Ancient
Israel, following the Deuteronomical
Covenant. This Republican polity of the
elected- Elders is the Village Republic,
posited by Mahatma Gandhi, though
Gandhi does not quote this Biblical
Revelation anywhere in his writings, or
acknowledge it. However he writes it as
the model polity of ancient India, and as a
way for achieving Swaraj, the Self-
Governance.
Having understood the need for
participatory governance, emerging from
bottom to top, with the focus on taking the
bread to the people at the grassroots, the
late Prime Minister of India in 1992, Rajiv
Ghandy (not Gandhi, as his father’s name
is Feroze Ghandy), understood the
recommendations of 7 successive
committees that studied the need for
Village Republic by the name Panchayati
Raj.
He was successful in amending the
73rd Section of the Indian Constitution, to
reflect a 3-Tier model, where the
decisions of the grass-root elected
officers are final, with both Block level and
District level assemblies as policy bodies.
However, the policy bodies at the
Federal levels, having the mind-set of
monarchical polity, still control
administration and finance, delimiting the
power of Gram Panchayati polity to a
mere mockery. Government chiefs talk a
lot of de-centralized governance but at the
grass-root level, village republic is not
respected.
Besides, each village in India is divided
into two; as upper cum middle class living
places, versus the Dalit workers’ living
places. This division is based on practices
of Untouchability which is a crime on
humanity. However the Federal attempt to
promote an inclusive Village Republic or
City Republic is addressed through a
quota of reservation, in the election of
elders to village polity, to Dalits and
Women, but it is still not well respected
by the dominant class- castes combine.
India has a long way to go in the road to
freedom in Federal Republicanism. All
these happen because, both the upper
class and the upper caste, who usually
usurp political power, do not want equality
or fraternity. They have been creating, and
recreating political parties and their
alliances to perpetuate dominance.
The Gospel advises Fraternity and
Dignity. But tricky attitudes and actions
against the values of Gospel still rule
Indian polity, as well the Indian Churches.
May be it appears to be critique,
but the fact is true as bitterness.
Centre for Rural Health and Social EducationCentre for Rural Health and Social EducationCentre for Rural Health and Social EducationCentre for Rural Health and Social EducationCentre for Rural Health and Social Education
(1978)
A collective of community
development practitioners
· HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT CENTRE, 1998
· SIDDHADEVELOPMENT TRUST, 1999
· PEOPLESSUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENTINTIATIVES
TRUST, 2000
· PEOPLES HEALTHAND DEVELOPMENT TRUST, 2001
· GENDERAND DEVELOPMENT TRUST, 2001
· WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT AND ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT TRUST, 2001
· PROMOTERS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
TRUST, 2001
· DIVISIONALLEVEL(SHG) FEDERATION, 2001
· SIDDHAWOMEN’S FEDERATION, 2003
· TSUNAMI CHILD CARE PROJECT, 2005
· COASTAL COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, 2005
CRHSE-APAC - LINK WORKERS SCHEME, 2010
Dr. Bennet Benjamin
Founder – Director
218, Kottaiyur Road, Yelagiri Hills – 635 853
Tamil Nadu, India
The Federal attempt to promote
an inclusive Village Republic or
City Republic is addressed through
a quota of reservation,
in the election of elders to village
polity, to Dalits and Women,
but it is still not well respected
by the dominant class- castes
combine. India has a long way to go
in the road to freedom
in Federal Republicanism.
All these happen because, both
the upper class and the upper caste,
who usually usurp political power,
do not want equality or fraternity.
They have been creating,
and recreating political parties
and their alliances
to perpetuate dominance..
GREETINGS TO THE PEOPLE’S REPORTER

Christopher Rajkumar
Rev. R. Christopher Rajkumar is an ordained
minister of the Church of South India, Diocese of
Madurai - Ramnad. Presently he serves the
National Council of Churches in India as its
Executive Secretary for Mission,
Ecumenism and Diakonia.
Manger Politics
The Manger narration, a soft,
melodious folk piece, gives an
impression of the age-old historical
setting in the palace with the king’s
costumes in the classical literary
scenario. The genre of the manger
narration was silent fusion, the rhythm
was mild to put all asleep, the lyrics were
to soothe the hearts to have hope for the
best in their future, and that is the
theology of manger. Is it a great and
interesting story to the Gen Y (People
born after mid 90s)?
But the reality was different indeed! On
the one hand, a brooding threnody of the
citizens of Judea over the assassinations
of their own children, and on the other, the
rulers had marathon meetings with the
religious leaders and diplomats in order
to subdue the unknown, newly born king
for Judea. This insecure delusion of the
empire had gone to the level of erasing a
generation from their own land in history.
In this story, the mere birth of a
migrant individual created a political
trauma for the rulers. The land of Judea,
the citizens and the empires and rulers
had experienced political commotion.
So, it was not a silent night, rather a night
with cries, disorders, threnodies,
restless political and legal meetings with
a declared and undeclared emergency
over the citizens. As no one could have
maintained silence in that particular
night, we shall presume that, this
‘manger’ created political instability in
Judea. Commonly, any political story
begins from the palace or state houses.
However, this political story begins from
the manger, which is usually found
outside the household(s) or fields.
Therefore, manger has become a
politically powerful space than the
palace in Judea in this event.
This story of the manger is a powerful
political story, which is transformative in
nature that comes, not from the Palace up
above, but from the Manger down below.
Secondly, this manger story in the history
conveys the most significant message
hitherto that the mightiest person who
challenged the empires and the rulers,
was born in the manger to a peasant girl
in an unknown land.
During the time of the birth of the
mightiest, Caesar Augustus was portrayed
as the greatest of the emperors. Using
his power, he levied tax on people and
forced them to go to their native places to
register themselves as citizens. At that
time, Herod was a governor of Judea, a
backward province. Caesar as a federal
emperor did not care enough about Judea
since there was less response to levy
from Judea. So Caesar did not give the
Governor Herod much importance. When
the Governor was struggling for finance.
Because of the people’s financial
crunches, Caesar ordered a census to
raise funds for his treasury. When this
annoying politics was going on, the
governor received the message of the
birth of the king of (for) Judea. This further
aggravated his anger and he ordered the
massacre of infants below two years in
his province. There manger vs palace
politics began.
This manger politics concretes our
understanding to realise the bottom line
political thought, i.e., the economy of the
State. Every empire is seen powerful, not
on the basis of their administrative skills
of managing poverty, employment and
assuring the standards of lives to every
citizen. Rather, the swollen size of their
treasuries enhances the empire’s power.
All the more so, in that context the people,
who were in power failed to assure social
protection to their own citizens. On the
contrary, they taxed citizens heavily,
imposed taxes like the GSTs, Income Tax,
and Professional Tax. The largest part of
the people live in the manger with
swaddling clothes even after paying heavy
taxes. The rulers and the emperors
articulate the economic flourishments of
the country rather than being concerned
about the life of the citizens. The laws and
policies make the citizens economically
vulnerable and they are forced to migrate
from one place to another for their survival
and for the future as we see in the story of
this manger.
We are familiar with the palace politics,
but not manger vs palace politics,
illustrated in this story, is a new paradigm
in political thought. An unassuming and
newly established manger became the
political ground for the empire(s). The
manger became the attraction to the global
conversation starting from the intellectuals
to the common people from all directions.
The manger made everyone to talk about
the new political leadership for Judea. But
neither the parents of the newly born child
nor the child knew about these ripples in
the political thought.
In fact, this could be described as
‘peoples’ politics’ which is the alternative
to the popular top-down politics.
While people of Judea mourn for the
loss of their immediate generation and
for the obscure future of the society without
next generation (children), the rulers are
concerned only about the present not the
future of the society. In this milieu, the
manger politics works towards the hope
for the future by grooming people to
encounter tomorrow instead of worrying
much and concentrating on the present.
This is another paradigm in the political
thought created by this peoples’
(manger) politics.
Manger politics seems to be amateur,
whereas the palace politics is seasoned
and structure oriented. But the former has
got its own vibrancy, vigour and power
which goes with the commons, not with
the powerful. It builds up a momentum to
propose alternatives. Though the manger
politics has a small beginning, it pulls and
attracts the like-minded individuals and
fraternities who have concern for the
society.
Hence manger is a political symbol
and it represents people. It was not a
royal cradle but a common corn crib.
Today’s India needs such Manger Politics
as an alternative to the mass and popular
politics. The bottom line of the Manger
politics is Justice. It has to propose
alternatives to the dominant political
thoughts of injustice. It should act like a
magnet and attract the intellectuals and
the common mass to come together to
advocate alternatives that affirm social
justice, equality and hope. It makes the
powerless to become powerful in
realising the ‘kin-dom’ of God.
The general election of our country
is nearing. What type of politics are we
going to adopt, promote and propagate?
Is manger going to be our political
symbol? The power of the manger is the
Power of the People.
Greetings & Best Compliments to the People’s Reporter
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A Network of 15 NGOs from Tamilnadu,
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Working towards Empowerment of Communities
through People’s Participation.
Registered Office
No. 40, Thambusamy Street
Kilpauk, Chennai – 600 010
Tamilnadu, India
Functional Office
219, Kottaiyur Road,
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Phone: + 91 4179 245339; 245265 Tele fax: + 91 4179 245339
Email: scindea1@rediffmail.com; scindea1@gmail.com
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People's reporter dec. 2018 r 31 24

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People's reporter dec. 2018 r 31 24