Friday, February 26, 2010

Greetings.

Thanks to Director, Principal and Faculty and my student friends….

Ecumenical Dimensions of Gurukul....

26th January 1950 is one of the most important days in Indian history as it was on this day the constitution of India came into force and India became a truly sovereign state. In this day India became a totally republican unit. The country finally realized the dream of Mahatma Gandhi and the numerous freedom fighters who, fought for and sacrificed their lives for the Independence of their country. Although India obtained its independence on August 15, 1947, the Constitution of India came into effect only on January 26, 1950. We should remember the role of Ambedkar, the great architect of our constitution and the champion of the subaltern, which affirm the democratic, secular, social and republic nature of our contribution.

Acts of Apostles 16:11-40 talks about Paul’s a new journey towards Philippi, a colony of Rome. An imperialistic and colonized power relationship was existed in the Philippi. Paul’s journey towards that city is an entry to decolonize the colonized religion and politics. It was a journey of decolonization through confronting the colonized powers. Two things have to be taken care of with this passage. One, there was no synagogue and worship and, two, the spirituality was intertwined with the market.

1. Girl symbolizes the spirituality of the colonized world. A spirituality of profit, which was going on in the market with the permission of the colonial powers. A kind of market driven spirituality was existed and it never challenged the existing structures which nurtures the market driven spirituality. If we read the previous verses we could see another spirituality which was a riverside fellowship and an entirely different spirituality. But she was liberated from the spirituality of the colonized world through the intervention of Paul and Silas.

2. A market controlled Law and Judiciary of Philippi. Paul and Silas were dragged towards the market and the market becomes a court for liberating the girl from the colonized spirituality. A market driven or profit driven judiciary system was there and this judiciary system which act as a weapon in the hands of the dominant and colonized sectors of the society. It becomes the mouthpiece of the colonizers and not speaking against the powerful systems of the society and religious and political laws which dominates and discriminates others in different ways. This law will be active when their profit or economic gain will be in danger and at the same time it may indifferent or passive when justice is denied or life is in danger. Laws of our country should enhance the life of the people in the nation and should reflect the discriminations in the name sexuality, religion, wealth, and many other things. Delhi high court verdict on article 377 and the Right to Information are some of the laws that protect the rights of the people. But at the same time

3. Politics of the beneficiaries of the colonized world. We read, “But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized…..”. They were accused as prisoners on the basis of different charges which are very sensitive and easy to trap and it helped to target them according to their personal agenda. Their liberative engagement disturbed the religion, law and politics of the colonial rulers. Politics of the beneficiaries of the colonized world will always in such way that their interests are safeguarded. One thing we should see is that the custodians or the interpreters of the law misguided the judiciary and law of that time by accusing strong constitutional allegations against Paul and Philip. When Adivasis of Muthangah, in Kerala fought for their right to live and Police attacked them with guns and other weapons and some of them were resisted with bows arrows and later government declared them in the terrorist list and gunned down many.

4. A decolonizing theological engagement by Paul and Silas. Their journey towards Philippi was a theological engagement and which definitely had a political dimension. Mission in a colonized world or in other words decolonizing the spirituality, religion and politics of that time. A mission towards where everything including religion was colonized and imperialistic and everything valued on the basis of the marketability.

This was the Republic Day Sermon(26-1-2010) preached at Gurukul Chapel as the Student General Secretary

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