Constitution of India gives every person the right to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. Freedom of conscience denotes a person’s right to entertain belief and doctrines concerning matters regarded by the person as conducive to spiritual well being. Conscience also refers to the moral compass guiding the …
Let me begin with an acknowledgement that this has been a hard time. Everyone is trying to navigate the pandemic and its uninvited challenges the best we can. Stresses of the pandemic have been felt by everyone alive – including every child, student, teacher and parent. However, this paper will focus on challenges in India’s …
Introduction The 84 year old, Fr. Stanislaus Lourduswami SJ, fondly known as Stan Swamy, was arrested by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) from the Jesuit social center he founded, Bagaicha, Ranchi, on 8 October, 2020, and sent to Taloja jail, near Mumbai. He was charged with sedition, supporting the banned Maoist organization, waging war against …
Read more “Did We Fail Fr. Stan Swamy: Carrying His Legacy Forward”
Dr Timothy Stoneman and Dr Ashok Maharaj Introduction There is a high probability you had agreed to a set of terms and conditions that you never read while downloading an app this month. I recently did, with a clear knowledge, that whatever I signed up is watching me. A virtual panopticon in motion only that …
Read more “Personal Data for Profit: A Christian Response to Digital Capitalism in the 21st Century”
Introduction: This presentation seeks to answer the question, what does it mean to speak of faith and justice from an Asian perspective? What is uniquely Asian about an Asian Faith? And to perhaps reflect on how Asians have imagined faith and contributed to the larger ecumenical discourse. If one were to speak about Asian ecumenism …
Read more “Putting Justice at the Heart of Faith: Reflecting on Ecumenism from an Asian Perspective”
We are sharing links to a set of survey forms, in an attempt to study domestic violence against Christian women in India, especially the response of the Church towards this issue. It is an all-India study, but limited to Christians. If you are a _Christian woman in India who has faced violence at home in …
Read more “Survey: Gender Violence against Women in Indian Christian Families”
“But we will still sing in chorus. A caged bird can still sing.” Fr. Stanislaus Lourduswamy On the Chota Nagpur Plateau of the Indian subcontinent lies a dense and rich forest track, spoken as Jharkhand. The State of Jharakhand is one of the recent States added to the Union of India, carved out of the …
Read more “Father Stanislaus Lourduswamy – A Baton of Hope and Life”
Introduction Peshwa Brahmin rule was the most cruel rule in Pune, India where the Peshwa kings implemented the Law of Manu in full effect with severe implications on the ‘Untouchable person’. In Mughal period, Vedic Brahmins could not only protect their existence but got to deepen its roots and on the other side Buddhism was …
Read more “Mahatma Phule’s Vision of Balirajya and it’s Significance for Church and Society”
Dr. Shantanu Dutta According to a report citing the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, 97 percent of Indians have been left poorer to a greater or lesser degree post Covid[1]. That is most of the Indian population if the estimates are even reasonably accurate. Perhaps some of those reading this are part of this statistic. …
The onslaught of the pandemic that began almost fourteen months back has created havoc hitherto unknown to this generation. The lockdown and the ensuing migration of the poor was heartrending and insensitive. Without a relief in sight, the common people were left to fend for themselves and for their loved ones. Today, situations are even …