Fr. Herman Bacher: Pioneer of rural development

Contribution of Christian Missionaries in India

Author : Camil Parkhe

Chapter 11.

Fr Herman Bacher: Pioneer of rural development

A young man from a small town located at the foot of the Alps in Switzerland decided to follow Jesus Christ and selected Maharashtra in western India as the place for his mission. He devoted his life to social and economic transformation of the drought-prone rural district of Ahmednagar. The name of this veteran social worker and reformer is Fr. Herman Bacher. His work was appreciated by the Maharashtra government, which conferred upon him the title of ‘Krushi Bhushan’ (Pride of agricultural sector). He is also the recipient of an ‘Order of Merit’ bestowed upon him by the government of Germany.

Fr. Bacher was born in Switzerland on October 12, 1924. On completion of his preliminary education, he joined the Society of Jesus to become a priest. He completed his philosophy and theology training at the Pune-based De Nobili College. After his ordination as a priest, he worked as a teacher for sometime at various locations in Ahmednagar district- the Dnyanamata Vidyalaya in Sangamner town, Haregaon and Kendal villages.

At that time, India had just acquired Independence from the British. Fr Bacher, who had come from a developed country like Switzerland, first familiarised himself with the social and economic life of the people in Ahmednagar district. There were no proper roads in villages and use of vehicles was out of question. The bullock cart was the chief mode of transport and the bicycle was a rare sight.

Ahmednagar being a drought-prone district, the financial condition of people there was extremely poor. A majority of the Christians in Ahmednagar district belonged to the erstwhile untouchable communities. Many people from the untouchable Mahar caste had embraced Christianity towards the end of the 19th century in the district. Even after conversion, their social and financial status had not changed. Except for the new religion, their condition in all respects was similar to that of other Dalits.

Although Fr. Bacher was working as a Christian priest, his mission was not restricted to his community alone. He had taken a vow to serve all needy people and hence did not differentiate between Christians and non-Christians. As a part of his work, the young priest daily moved about in neighbouring villages. Many a time, he used to set out on a bicycle to return only after a week or so. It was during the course of these wanderings that he came in close contact with ordinary farmers from rural areas and the backward communities among the Hindus and the Christians. He strongly felt for these neglected people and wanted to do something to improve their conditions.

In 1966, Fr. Bacher visited his motherland for a while. While returning from Switzerland, he had worked in his mind various schemes for the development of the economically backward people of Ahmednagar district. Immediately after his return to India, the Society of Jesus appointed Fr. Bacher as its Ahmednagar District Superior.

The members of the Society of Jesus, called the Jesuits, were running a number of schools and other educational institutions, besides social centres in various villages and towns of Ahmednagar district. As the district head of this congregation, Fr. Bacher was now called upon to give a new direction to the mission of the Society.

Soon after assuming his post in Shrirampur, Fr. Bacher started giving shape to various schemes that he had thought of earlier. He established a Social Centre in Shrirampur to achieve the economic progress of the backward communities in the district. One of the main goals of this Centre was to offer financial help to dig or repair wells to small farmers. It was the beginning of Fr. Bacher’s social work, which was to gain the attention of entire Maharashtra.

Fr. Bacher was of the view that poor farmers with marginal landholdings should be offered financial assistance for agricultural purposes through financial institutions like banks. He was against giving financial grants to the farmers directly. He prepared a scheme wherein his Social Centre stood surety to loans for those farmers whom a bank would deny loans on grounds of inadequate security. The Social Centre signed an agreement with the Ahmednagar District Land Development Bank and invested in the Bank’s shares for this purpose. This enabled Fr. Bacher to help marginal farmers in digging new wells, repairing existing wells, buying electric motor pumps and oil engines. Nearly 2,000 farmers benefited from the scheme. Without the help of the Social Centre, these farmers would not have progressed in their agriculture.

The Social Centre offered incentives in the form of subsidies to the farmers who repaid their loans on time. The Social Centre repaid the principle amount of the loan in case of many defaulters who were in distress due to loss of crop due to natural causes. Later, Fr. Bacher made loan facility available to marginal farmers through the Ahmednagar District Cooperative Bank.

Fr. Bacher had secured funds from the Swiss Development Corporation for this scheme. S. B. Kulkarni , a senior journalist from Ahmednagar district, has commented, “The successful move of making foreign funds available to poor farmers through the means of cooperative bank was an honour to the cooperative movement of the district. Providing funds through the channel of a cooperative bank was definitely a novel experiment.”

There was a severe famine in Maharashtra during 1972-74. People in Ahmednagar district were worst hit by the famine. Farmers could not reap even a single harvest for three successive years. Many farm labourers were rendered jobless. To make employment available in rural areas, the government of Maharashtra started a scheme of famine relief work under its Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS). Projects like making kaccha roads in villages and digging community wells were undertaken through the scheme. The vast rural population got subsistence due to this scheme. But the scheme was suspended when it rained and the construction of many wells remained incomplete.

Fr. Bacher tried hard to complete the construction of incomplete wells belonging to small farmers. In response to his efforts, Ahmednagar District Cooperative Bank agreed to extend loans to the farmers for completing their wells. The Social Centre offered grants on a large scale for repaying the interest on loans. The construction of 150 incomplete wells was thus achieved. Fr. Bacher himself surveyed construction of many wells in the district.

Fr. Bacher tried community schemes like digging a common well between five- six farmers instead of each one of them availing a personal loan for separate wells. The Jesuit priest made farmers realise that common wells lessened the burden of loan and also helped inculcate the spirit of cooperation.

During monsoon, excess water runs down the slopes and in case of a dam it flows into canals. And farmers have to face scarcity of water post-monsoon. To make use of excess water, Fr. Bacher built four percolation lakes in arid agricultural areas around the Pravara River. This ensured availability of water for several months in a year and the farmers turned to horticulture on land that was arid not so long ago.

In rural areas, there were not many employment opportunities other than those in agriculture sector. Although means of education were available everywhere, the rural youth did not seem to benefit from the education they had in absence of sufficient job opportunities. Fr Bacher therefore started an ‘Electro-Technical Centre’ in Shrirampur town to provide vocational training to the youth who had studied up to the middle or secondary school level. During those days, there were no technical institutes like Industrial Technical Institutes (ITIs) or polytechnics in Maharashtra. Fr. Bacher initially started offering training in electrical and other skilled jobs. Many youth got jobs while some became self-employed after getting training at this centre.

The technical institute benefited the most the youth from the local Dalit Christian community. These Christians, despite being Dalits, are denied to this date various benefits like educational scholarships and reservations in government jobs only because they had converted to Christianity. The Dalits who got converted to Sikhism or Buddhism have however continued to get these benefits despite their conversion. Before the technical training centre started in Shrirampur, the Dalit Christian youths had to seek admissions at the St Joseph Technical School in Pune. This institute too is run by the Jesuits. Even today, the Shrirampur-based technical centre, now named as Xavier Technical Training Centre, is much sought after in the area.

Digging of wells cannot be a permanent solution to water scarcity as the water table keeps going down. Depleting underground water reserves lead to failure of wells however deep they are dug. To overcome this problem, Fr. Bacher stressed on developing watershed areas. The Maharashtra government announced its ‘ watershed development programme in 1981. Under this scheme, the government would bear 80 per cent of the cost of preserving water and people were to share the balance 20 per cent. Fr. Bacher tried to motivate people to implement this scheme. He propagated the scheme by printing Marathi booklets that provided information about the government scheme.

In 1983, Fr. Bacher was appointed representative of a German institute, named ‘Indo- German Social Service Society’, in Delhi. The priest had implemented the rural development programme in Ahmednagar district. Now he was called upon to work at the national level. With the financial aid of the German institute, Misserior, Fr. Bacher toured the length and breadth of the country, visiting drought-hit areas and devising schemes that could be best implemented in each area.

To eradicate poverty, various donor agencies work in their own way but the financial status of the weaker sections does not change much. Therefore, in Fr. Bacher’s opinion, instead of so many programmes it was advisable to administer well the natural resources like land, water and manpower under the Watershed Development Programme. He stressed this point in various institutional meetings and. Due to Fr. Bacher’s effort many institutions changed their style of functioning.

Fr. Bacher worked in Delhi till 1991 as the representative of the Indo- German Social Service Society. Financial assistance on a large scale was given to weaker sections of India by an organisation, Catholic Aid. He made people and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) aware that watershed area development was the best solution to overcome scarcity of water and also to conserve environment. There was not much awareness amongst social institutes or social workers in Maharashtra about it. Nearly 30 years ago, Fr. Bacher’s Social Centre started working on this and pioneered the scientific approach for developing watershed areas in Maharashtra. Fr. Bacher must be given credit for his contribution in this regard.

Fr. Bacher tried to transform the rural areas of the drought-prone Ahmednagar district. The economic transformations in places like Kasare in Parner taluka, Mendhvan in Sangamner taluka and Pimpalgaon Wagha in Ahmednagar taluka are proof of Fr. Bacher’s tireless efforts. During those days, no non-governmental organisations or social workers had dedicated to the cause of rural development. Fr. Bacher who implemented various rural development projects in different areas of Ahmednagar district can rightly be called as a pioneer rural development leader. His work inspired many other social workers and social agencies to take up similar work in other areas.

Although a Jesuit priest, Fr. Bacher has never restricted his mission to the spiritual or religious activities. As a true missionary, he has devoted himself to financial and social upliftment of the community in Ahmednagar district. Most important point is that he never restricted his work to the Christian community alone. All the schemes run by him in the district have always been open to all weaker sections irrespective of their religion, caste and creed. For this, he sometimes even had to face the resentment of a section of the Christian community.

Maharashtra Government recognised Fr. Bacher's contribution by conferring on him the title of Krushi Bhushan (Pride of agriculture sector). He was honoured at the hands of Dr. P. C. Alexander, the then Maharashtra State Governor, on October 2, 1994. It is indeed praiseworthy that a person born in Europe spent his lifetime in the service of a drought-hit district in Maharashtra. Fr Bacher is presently based at Sangamner town in Ahmednagar district.

Reference:


Fr. Bacher : ‘Nagar Zillyache Bhushan’, by S B Kulkarni (Fr Bacher: Pride of Ahmednagar district), Marathi monthly ‘Niropya’, May 1994.

Jesuit Robert De Nobili -Missionary

Book on Contribution of Christian Missionaries in India

‘Contribution of Christian Missionaries in India’
Written by Camil Parkhe
Published by Gujarat Sahitya Prakash,
Post Box No 70, Anand, 388 001
Gujarat, India

Email: booksgsp@gmail.com

First Published in 2007

ISBN 978 81 8937 36 2





Chapter 4.  Robert De Nobili – Father of incultaration in India


Christianity came to India within a few years of after Jesus Christ preached his gospel of love and peace in Israel. That was about 2000 years ago. St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of the Christ, is credited with bringing Christianity to Kerala. A section of the Christian community in Kerala believes that they inherited their religion from St Thomas himself. Hence, Christianity in India has a tradition stretching 2000 years.

The European Christians missionaries who arrived on the Indian coast in the medieval period started propagating Christianity afresh. The Portuguese who gained political control over Goa started imposing their own culture on the Christians here. They treated the local customs and traditions with contempt. At that time a European missionary exhibited great courage to oppose this trend.  He invited the rage of his colleagues and religious superiors when he defended the local culture, life style and also adapted the local languages. He propounded that Christianity could be practised even after mingling completely with the culture of the country. This Christian priest convinced others that adapting the local culture without comprising the tenets of Christianity was indeed possible. The name of this great visionary missionary was Fr Robert De Nobili.

Fr Robert De Nobili originally hailed from Italy. He was born in a noble family of Rome in 1577. He arrived in Goa in 1605 as a member of the Society of Jesus, an association of the Catholic priests founded by St Ignatius of Loyola. The members of this religious body are known as the Jesuits. Young Robert had chosen India as the land for his missionary work. He completed his theology training at St. Paul's College in Goa and reached Madurai in Tamil Nadu in 1606. He was to spend a major part of his life in this historic city. 

After settling in Madurai, De Nobili started studying Tamil, the local language. He also started learning more about the local customs, traditions and beliefs. Soon, this priest realised that the local people used to refer all Europeans as firangis. Since Fr Nobili was a European, he too was referred to as a ‘firangi’. After spending some days in Madurai, he further realised that the word ‘firangi’ was not used with respect for a person, it had derogatory connotation. He also found out the reasons behind this. For the local orthodox populace, the lifestyle and dietary habits of all the Europeans was most shocking. The locals knew that all the Europeans were non-vegetarians and did not adhere to the basic rules of casteism and untouchability. It was not surprising that the locals started harbouring a feeling hatred for the Europeans who consumed flesh and had no qualms about maintaining normal relations even with the untouchables!

The untouchables were the members of the lowest social castes and consumed flesh and lived in ghettos far away from the colonies of the higher castes. The high caste and orthodox people, therefore, could not even think of having normal relationship with these Europeans, all of whom were referred to as firangis. Even those persons who maintained contacts with these firangis faced the risk of excommunication from their respective communities.

De Nobili had traveled thousands of miles from Rome in Europe to preach the gospel in India and to his horror, now he realised that in the eyes of the local people, he was a firangi.  It would be impossible for him to have any kind of contact or dialogue with anyone from the high caste community as long as they thought of him, as a firangi, and therefore kept him at a bay. Before De Nobili, other European priests too had reached Madurai and nearby places but their propagation of Christianity had remained confined only to the untouchable communities. Now Fr Robert De Nobili understood the reason for the same. He realised that to get blended with the local community, one had to mingle with the local culture.


Instead of bringing about changes in the customs and traditions of the locals, Robert De Nobili preferred changing his own lifestyle. The first thing he did was to give up consumption of flesh. As per the prevalent tradition among the Christian priests, Robert De Nobili used to wear a black cassock. He started using saffron coloured clothes and wooden sandals like Hindu hermits. He tonsured his head and started applying sandalwood paste on his forehead. He started moving about with a wooden staff in his right hand and a small kamandalu (water bowl) in his left hand. In the Indian society, only hermits used to wear such a costume.  It was for the first time in the 1,500 year-old history of Christianity that a missionary had accepted such type of costume. It was a revolutionary change in the history of the Church.

To bring about this change and make it acceptable to his religious colleagues and superiors, De Nobili had to face a long drawn battle with his fellow Jesuits and the hierarchy in the Catholic Church. De Nobili using the Hindu hermit’s costume and life style was just not acceptable to some of his colleagues and religious superiors. Some of them even argued that De Nobili's behaviour was against the basic tenets of Christianity.

But Fr. De Nobili justified his stand by citing a few references of arguments that had taken place during the early years of Christianity. Christianity has originated from the Jewish religion. Jesus Christ himself was a Jew and all his 12 apostles also were Jews. Thereafter, some non-Jews too started following Christianity and this led to a long debate on whether the gentiles, the non-Jews, should adopt Jewish traditions to embrace Christianity.

Circumcision is an important custom in Jew community. Some of the Christians insisted that every person aspiring to follow Christ, to be a Christian, must follow this Jewish custom.  But St. Paul said that acceptance of all Jewish social and religious customs need not be made mandatory to be a Christian. It was not at all necessary for people to give up their social, cultural moorings in order to be Christians.

We come across many such examples in the 2000-year-old history of Christianity. Having this background of theological and philosophical arguments to defend his stance, Fr. De Nobili maintained that following local traditions of India was not against Christianity.

Soon De Nobili became well versed in Tamil and Sanskrit. He ceased to be a firangi in the eyes of the locals when he adorned the costume of a hermit and gave up non-vegetarian food.  This foreign seer was slowly accepted by the locals as their ‘aiyar’ or ‘guru ’. The doors of this country had remained firmly closed for several years to the European missionaries who had come before De Nobili. One of the main reasons behind this was these Europeans' pride in their own culture and contempt for the local culture. De Nobili understood this very well. Therefore, he preferred to blend with the local traditions before preaching Christianity among the local populace. Due to his laborious work, for the first time in the medieval period the gates of India were opened for Christianity.

While learning the local languages, De Nobili also started studying the Vedas, the holy scriptures of the local people, in order to understand the basic tenets of Hinduism. Although, the Vedas were composed thousands of years ago, no westerner before him had ever studied them!  De Nobili was thus the first person from the western world to study Indian classics after learning Sanskrit.

De Nobili did not stop at changing his attire and life style alone. He was of the opinion that the locals who embraced Christianity need not give up their social and cultural traditions even after conversion. The Portuguese, who were ruling Goa on the west coast, had tried to force western culture on the local neo-Christians. De Nobili strongly opposed the imposition of western culture on the neo-Christians in southern India. He conveyed his opinion even to the Holy See in Rome. Some years later, even the Catholic Church allowed the neo-Christians in Madurai and neighbouring areas to apply sandalwood paste on their forehead and wearing a sacred thread across the neck as per old customs.

Fr. Robert De Nobili preached Christianity mainly among the Brahmins and other high caste people. In those days, any local persons embracing Christianity were immediately identified as firangi and excommunicated by society. The Brahmins enjoyed leadership status in religious, social and other matters and none dare go against them. So Robert De Nobili concluded that conversion of these high caste persons to Christianity would help percolate Christianity in all other castes.

Jesus Christ preached his gospel to the rich and the poor, the ostracised and the influential alike. And so his followers are also expected to preach the Good News to all, irrespective of their caste, religion, race or social ranks. However, some scholars have accused De Nobili of favouring the high caste Brahmins in his religious mission. Why was he inclined towards them more than the poor and untouchable classes?

In those days, the way to untouchables and low caste people was through high caste Brahmins only. De Nobili felt that the low caste and untouchable people too would embrace Christianity if the Brahmins took the lead in this regard as the high caste Brahmins were leaders in almost all fields. The low caste and the ostracised sections of the society would not dare unless and until the high caste people embraced this religion.

Acceptance of this firangi religion clearly meant inviting the wrath of the influential and getting excommunicated from the society. Robert De Nobili successfully launched an incultaration movement within the Church, assimilating Indian culture in Christian living and thus wiped out the stamp of firangi given to Christianity. Christianity became a part of the culture in south India and the local culture was reflected in Christian prayers and the life style of Christians there.
Fr Robert De Nobili is credited with introduction of the inculturation process among the Indian Christians in the seventeenth century. He was centuries ahead of the time in this regard as the Church officially encouraged this process only after the Vatican Council II, which took place in the twentieth century. Unfortunately, this principle of inculturation was ignored by the other Christian priests who succeeded De Nobili.

Fr. De Nobili felt that the spiritual leaders of the Indian Christian community should come from within their own community and the candidates for priesthood should be specially trained as per the Indian spiritual traditions. With this goal in mind, he tried in 1610 A. D. to establish a Sanskrit medium seminary to teach Christian Philosophy. The seminary was to conduct a five-year course in theology. Robert De Nobili had even prepared an appropriate Sanskrit terminology for the seminary. But due to some problems, the seminary was not established. Had De Nobili succeeded in this endeavour, the first Christian seminary in the world having Sanskrit medium would have come into existence.

St. Francis Xavier and other missionaries arrived in India before De Nobili. It must have been difficult for them to preach Christianity among the high caste, wealthy Brahmins who cherished pride in their religion. Nonetheless, De Nobili concentrated on preaching Christianity among the Brahmins. He changed his attire, became pure vegetarian to earn the respect of the local populace as he wanted to remove the stigma associated with being a firangi. Not only that, he also discontinued having meals with his own firangi religious colleague priests.  Once, when he went on a visit to meet his religious superiors in Madurai, he took his own Brahmin cook along so that he could avoid having non-vegetarian food or any other food cooked by the firangis.

In his attempt to open the doors of Christianity to the high caste Brahmins, De Nobili is often accused of meting out injustice to the untouchable community. It is indeed a fact that this missionary who preached Christianity that cared for the neglected, offered the untouchables the back seats in his church. However, considering the social conditions prevalent at that time, even allowing the untouchables to enter the church was a great reform initiated by De Nobili. One should remember that in Maharashtra and in many other parts of the country, the untouchables had to launch long struggles to gain entry into temples. This was as late as the twentieth century. Besides, many Catholic and Protestant churches in southern India with domination of high caste people did not permit entry to untouchable Christians until the last few decades. Under these circumstances, De Nobili should not be condemned for treating his high caste and untouchable Christian followers differently.

De Nobili also insisted that, in India, Sanskrit should be used in Christian liturgy and prayers. As Hindus conducted their religious ceremonies only in Sanskrit, the Christians all over the world for several centuries conducted their prayers and liturgy only in Latin. It was a taboo to use the language of the common people to converse with God! De Nobili tried very hard to introduce the use of Sanskrit in Christian prayers. I remember prayers and liturgy being conducted even in rural parts of Maharashtra only in Latin as late as three decades ago. It was in late 1960s that Catholic churches all over the world started conducting prayers, masses and other religious ceremonies in local languages consequent to the second Vatican Council.

It is said this Vatican Council II, convened by Pope John XVIII and later officiated by his successor Pope Paul VI, introduced liberalism in the Catholic Church. This council attended by bishops and Church theologians from all over the world introduced the mass liturgy and prayers in local languages all over the world. De Nobili should be credited with making the pioneering efforts for encouraging the use of a local language, Sanskrit, in Indian church as early as the 17th century. He was indeed a visionary missionary. Unfortunately, his successor missionaries did not pursue his mission of inculturation within the Indian Church. The face of the Indian Church would have been different had the priests who came after De Nobili continued with his religious liberalism and incultaration process.

Fr. De Nobili faced several difficulties while carrying out his missionary work. Some of his own religious colleagues accused him of restricting his apostolic mission to high class Brahmins and introducing racism and casteism in Christianity. Some of the Catholic priests also argued that allowing the local Christians to use a sacred thread around neck, sandalwood paste on forehead and a tuft of hair on head was against the principles of Christianity. Many a time, his religious superiors had to even conduct probes to find out whether De Nobili was conducting himself against the tenets of Christianity.

As a result of a long tirade launched by some orthodox priests against De Nobili, between 1612 A D and 1623 A D, the Holy See banned De Nobili from propagating Christianity among the Brahmins. Thereafter for many years, a debate  went on whether the converted Brahmin Christians should be allowed to continue their practice of keeping the sacred thread around their necks, sandalwood paste on their foreheads and tuft of hair. At the end of 1623 A. D., Pope Gregory XV issued a verdict that the acts and beliefs of Fr Robert De Nobili were not against the Christian faith. Thus almost after a decade, Fr Nobili’s views were endorsed by the Church and his priestly right to baptise people was restored once again.

De Nobili had come to India with the sole mission of preaching Christianity among the local populace. However his noble efforts to offer an Indian base to the practice of Christianity in this country were not immediately appreciated by his colleagues and superiors. Instead, he was misunderstood and doubts were also raised about his intentions. One cannot imagine the emotional turmoil De Nobili faced when he was banned from preaching Christianity and baptising people for over a decade. One of the three vows taken by him as a Jesuit was to be obedient to his religious superiors and he observed this vow totally.

It is remarkable that even after being banned from carrying out the apostolic work among the Brahmins, De Nobili continued his other activities as a missionary for 13 long years. But he sought justice from the Church hierarchy against the injustice meted out to him. Luckily for him, the Pope later issued another decree, which ruled that De Nobili’s missionary conduct, his views or the process of inculturation launched by him were not against the Christian faith. De Nobili was at last absolved of the crimes he had never committed.

Although the Church had now lifted the ban and allowed him to continue his apostolic work among the Brahmins, De Nobili thereafter shifted his focus to the lower strata of the society. He had adapted the lifestyle of the Brahmins to win over them. But it would be unfair to say that De Nobili had also believed in or practiced casteism and chaturvarna system.  

In 1640, Fr. Robert De Nobili got unexpected support from a 27-year-old priest, Balthazar De Costa, who had come from Portugal. This disciple of De Nobili wore saffron robes and earrings like his guru and preached Christianity among the local masses. De Nobili was content that his style of missionary work now had the sanction of the Holy See. He no longer needed to fight back the opposition of his own colleagues or superiors.  He must have experienced great satisfaction to see that the new missionary paths carved out by him were now well acceptable. 

The credit for composing prose in Tamil language for the first time goes to Fr. Robert De Nobili.  De Nobili wrote a lot in three Indian languages, Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit as well as three European languages, Italian, Portuguese and Latin. In 1656, one priest mentioned in his letter that the Indian scholars used to get astonished by De Nobili’s mastery over so many languages.  Some of his literary works are still available for scholars to study and appreciate De Nobili's intellect. These books are considered as important treasures of Tamil language.

After he turned 68, his Jesuit superiors sent Fr De Nobili to Jaffna in Shri Lanka so that he could rest. He had become frail due to old age. His eyesight had become very weak. But De Nobili did not wish to leave Madurai. He wanted to continue living at the place where he had worked since his youth. But he obeyed his Jesuit superiors and shifted his residence to Jaffna. Two years later, he was allowed to return to India, his  'home' land.  He spent the last eight years of his life in the city of Mylapore, an important pilgrim centre for Christians.

Mylapore is believed to be the place where St. Thomas was martyred. St Thomas who arrived at the south Indian coast in 52 A. D. had baptised many local people. It is indeed a coincidence that 16 centuries after Saint Thomas, Fr Robert De Nobili who propagated Christianity on a large scale in south India, found a final resting place in Mylapore.

Until he breathed his last, Fr De Nobili used to wear saffron cassock. Towards the end of his life, he had also started fasting. Though his eyesight had become weak, he continued improvising his books with the help of his disciples. This great missionary breathed his last on January 16, 1656, at the age of seventy-nine.

References: -

1. ‘A Pearl to India-The Life of Roberto de Nobili’-Vincent Cronin, Published by-Rupert Hart- Davis, Soho Square, London, 1959.

2. ‘The Christian Community and the National Mainstream’-Louis D’Silva, Printed by Dr. M.E. Cherian, Spicer College Press, Ganesh Khind, Pune-411 007.

3. ‘The Unquenchable Quest for scholarship- Interview of De Nobili Scholar Fr. Rajamanickam’ (S.J.) Published in a periodical ‘Jivan’ ‘Jesuits of India: Views and News’ (April 2000), Published by the Jesuits conference of South Asia 225, Jor Bagh, New Delhi, 110 003

4. ‘Dnyanayogi : Robert De Nobilinche Jeevan Charitra’ (Marathi) By- Fr. Bertie Rozario (S.J.) Publisher- Fr. Namdeo Salve ( S. J.) Marg Prakashan, De Nobili College, Pune, 411 014 (1969)


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Contribution of Christian Missionaries in India


Author : Camil Parkhe




Book on Contribution of Christian Missionaries in India

‘Contribution of Christian Missionaries in India’
Written by Camil Parkhe
Published by Gujarat Sahitya Prakash,
Post Box No 70, Anand, 388 001
Gujarat, India

Email: booksgsp@gmail.com

First Published in 2007

ISBN 978 81 8937 36 2

Price Rs 95.00 US$ 10.00




Index

Foreword – Anosh Malekar

Preface – The author

1. RAMABAI SARASWATI – Pioneer of women’s liberation

2. Marathi, Konkani litterateur Fr. Thomas Stephens

3 Robert De Nobili – Father of incultaration in India

4. Fr. Nehemiah Nilakanthashastri Gore – First Marathi missionary
5. Journalist, kirtankar Satyavan Namdeo Suryavanshi

6. Padma Bhushan Fr. Camil Bulcke

7. Poet, missionary Rev. Narayan Vaman Tilak

8. Bharat Ratna Mother Teresa

9. Tamil poet Joseph Beschi alias Virmamunivar
10 Rev. Graham Staines: Burnt alive while in service of lepers

11. Fr. Herman Bacher: Pioneer of rural development

12. Historian Fr. Henry Heras

13. William Carey, social reformer and linguist

14. Padma Vibhushan Cardinal Valerian Gracias

15. Rev. Baba Padmanjee, first Marathi novelist, missionary
16. Social worker Manorama Medhavi
17. Editor-missionary Archbishop Henry Doering

18. Research scholar Rev Justin Abbot
19. Fr. Matthew Lederle, Proponent of inter- religious dialogue

----

PREFACE

I was introduced to the missionary way of life for the first time when I was a primary school student. I was then studying in third standard in St. Teresa Boys School at Haregaon in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. In the 1960s, European priests were working in most of the mission centres in Ahmednagar district, as was the case in other parts of India. Most of these European priests were in their middle ages. Fr. Hubert Sixt, a strict disciplinarian, was the head of this rural primary school and Fr. Richard Wasserer was the local parish priest. Their personalities and nature differed. Children from the school and the hostel were friendly with Fr. Wasserer who was slightly elder among the two.

St. Teresa Boys School in those days was housed in rows of rooms with tiled roofs and small verandah. The local parish also owned a farm where a water tank was just constructed. Every morning, all of us staying at the school hostel would attend the holy mass in the church. The school would open at around 7.30 a m. Fr. Wasserer would take us hostelites to the water tank for a swim before the break of the dawn. Water was of course used to be warm at that time. Most of us hostelites took their first lessons in swimming there. Fr. Wasserer would help us to overcome the fear of water. Once when such swimming session was in progress, one of the walls of the tank got washed away and water gushed out, along with the children and the priest. Fortunately nobody was hurt.

The personality of Fr. Sixt was altogether different. The school students and hostelites were scared of this priest who had a German shepherd as his pet. However when any of the hostelites fell ill or got injured while playing, they would experience the care and affection of this priest. Fr. Sixt, a German who was drafted into the Nazi Medical Corps during the Second World War would personally examine the boys and give them medicines. If required, he also used to administer injections. The children dreaded the burning sensation experienced while applying iodine on fresh bleeding wounds or the injection needle. I think this fear had contributed to a great extent in creating fear about Fr. Sixt in our minds.

My two elder brothers were also in the same school and hostel. Children from nearby Ekwadi, Donwadi, Teenwadi (Wadi means hamlet in Marathi) and Undirgaon studied in the school. The lodging and boarding fee per hostelite was Rs. five per month. Nonetheless, many of the parents found it difficult to pay even this small fee in time. However, Fr. Sixt never admonished or expelled any hostelite for not paying the fees.

Today, Christian priests and nuns are running schools in several towns and villages of Ahmednagar district and also in the neighbouring Pune, Aurangabad, Nashik and Beed districts. But during those days, a large number of local Christian students from Shrirampur, Rahuri and neighbouring talukas in the district completed primary education in St. Teresa schools for Boys and Girls at Haregaon and shifted to Dnyanmata School and St. Mary's School at Sangamner in the same district for the secondary education.

At both places, they were accommodated in the hostels. Poverty was the major reason why people kept their children in these hostels. Besides, most of these students would have not continued their education had they remained with their families in the villages. The atmosphere in their families or villages was not education-friendly. The entire Catholic mission centres in Ahmednagar district then were founded and run by the Jesuits, the priests belonging the Society of Jesus.

Ahmednagar and Aurangabad districts are among the areas in Maharashtra where there is a sizeable number of Christians - Catholics and Protestants. The grandparents or great grandparents of these people had embraced Christianity in the 19th century.
After appearing for the matriculation examination from Dnyanmata or even before that, many students used to join St. Joseph Technical Institute in Pune, which was also run by the Jesuits. Fr. Ivo Meyer who founded the St. Luke's Hospital (also called as German Hospital) in Shrirampur was later director at this institute. The students who hailed from outside Pune stayed in the institute's hostel and acquired diplomas in various courses like turner, fitter, and wireman. The institute during those days provided trained skilled workmen to Pune’s reputed industrial units including the Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Greaves. Most of these students were interviewed at the St Joseph institute's campus itself and recruited by these companies for various posts.

These young Christians whose parents or grandparents were erstwhile Dalits (belonging to the erstwhile untouchable communities) and had no social or financial capabilities to take up graduation or post graduation courses. The Haregaon-Sangamner-Pune route proved very beneficial to these youngsters and their community as it led to their social and economical upward mobility. The number of Christian youths from Ahmednagar district who took this route is enormous. This path was followed by at least two generations. The financial status of the Christian families from Ahmednagar district, which migrated to Pune in search of greener pastures in this manner, is far better than those who lived behind.

This progress was possible only due to financial and psychological support offered by the missionaries to this otherwise neglected community. Although before their conversion, these Christians belonged to the erstwhile untouchable Mahar and other castes, they have been deprived of their right to reservations for education and jobs due to their conversion to Christianity. Ironically, reservations and other benefits are extended to their Dalit family members and other relatives who embrace either Buddhism or Sikhism and others who have continued to be Hindus.

With their limited resources, missionaries have enabled this community to be self-reliant and succeeded in granting them social status. Jesus Christ has said that ‘Man does not live by bread alone’ but these missionaries made efforts to ensure that this poor community secured their bread as well. A majority of Christians in India belong to the erstwhile Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. I have referred to the example of the missionary work in Ahmednagar district only to illustrate the contribution of Christian missionaries to the progress of the underprivileged sections of society. The missionaries have given a similar helping hand to economically and socially backward Christians and also others in different parts of India.

There are thousands of schools, colleges, hospitals, dispensaries, orphanages and other institutions run by Christian missionaries in India. A large number of persons belonging to the so-called cream of the society and working in various fields are the alumni of these Christian institutions. A majority of the beneficiaries of all these institutions are, of course, non-Christians. The reason being, these institutions are open to persons of all religions and castes. The Christians studying in a majority of these institutions may be hardly one or two per cent. The alumni of these institutions include the present President of India, Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam and several veterans from different walks of life.

The contribution made by Christian missionaries especially in the educational and social fields is noteworthy. It is often alleged that Christian missionaries make use of these institutions to lure or compel the students and others to convert to Christianity. The millions of non-Christians who have been educated in the missionary educational institutions and others who have availed of services in other Christian institutions only can vouch whether the allegation holds good. If the allegation were true, the number of Christians in the country would have increased manifold during the past century.
Missionaries offered free education and medical services in remote parts of the country both before and after Independence. They have never taken into consideration the caste or religion of the beneficiaries. The term ‘missionary spirit’ now has become synonymous to selfless and dedicated service even in Indian languages.

While carrying out their routine work, the Christian missionaries in the past five centuries have contributed a great deal simultaneously in the fields of literature, social awakening, education and medical services in various States. This book however refers to the life and work of only a few missionaries. There are also many missionaries who have now gone into oblivion despite rendering great service to society. A majority of these European who toiled in the drought-prone Ahmednagar district for several years have found the final resting place at the cemetery in Sangamner town. A souvenir released by the Nashik diocese to commemorate the 150 years of evangelisation by German Jesuits in western India contained the list of Catholic priests and nuns who worked at these mission centres. Fr. Joe Ubelmesser from Germany who said that he was adding the list to the German Jesuits archives in his message had rightly said that 'sometimes the cemeteries are containing more history than many books.'

While doing research on this project, I have learnt about the commendable service given by several Catholic and Protestant missionaries. My only regret is that it was not possible to write about all of them in this small book.



Camil Parkhe

May, 2007

Murder of anti-corruption crusader Satish Shetty A Threat to activists

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20100115/5156175803926953581.htm


Sakaal Times
Friday, January 15, 2010 AT 06:44 AM (IST)

Threat to activists
Camil Parkhe

Tags: Point of view, Satish Shetty
The gruesome murder of social activist and anti-corruption crusader Satish Shetty on Wednesday was shocking. When the news was flashed on television news channels, it sounded like a warning bell, as if it was heralding a new era of terror in the state. The exact details relating to Shetty's murder are yet to unfold. The events preceding the murder however indicate that Shetty may be a victim of the machinations of the people he had been crusading against for the past few years. And if this is proved to be true, the murder will not augur well for Maharashtra, which for decades has been hailed as one of the most socially and economically progressive and tolerant states in the country.



People living in the State often take pride in the fact that Maharashtra has no visible presence of gun-toting goondas or feudal lords. Social crusaders like Anna Hazare have given much power to the ordinary man to shake the empires of the politicians, bureaucrats or other money lords. Shetty had skillfully used this new weapon of the RTI Act to expose the nexus of government bureaucrats, builders and others. The country has seen examples like Manjunath Shanmugam, who had exposed the network of anti-social elements. He had to pay the price of his life for the mission. In comparison to Shanmugam, Shetty was indeed an ordinary man from a small town, Talegaon Dabhade. But with the power of the Right to Information Act, he had exposed many corrupt practices and posed a threat to many moneyed and powerful individuals.
Maharashtra has no history of poll violence like booth capturing or bogus voting. But recently, some incidents of poll murders have taken place. Business rivalry, especially related to land deals, is leading to more cases of supari killings in Pune and other cities. Terrorism has fortunately not turned its focus on social activism. Shetty's death raises before us an important questions: Is this the beginning of the mafia using its power to suppress social activism in the state and in turn, wipe out its image as a tolerant state. Are we going to allow that to happen? What is the government's role here?
Shetty's killing was almost certainly an attempt to silence him. It signals a warning for the Right to Information movement which has been taking strong roots in the urban as well as rural parts of the state.
The investigation in the case may reach its logical conclusion of punishing the guilty. But how will this incident change the course of the RTI movement. Will it be necessary to provide safety to the activists in the field? Will the movement survive the setback and grow to become a people's movement?

FROM SHYAMCHI AAI TO 3 IDIOTS, VAZE COMES A LONG WAY

Sakaal Times

FROM SHYAMCHI AAI TO 3 IDIOTS, VAZE COMES A LONG WAY

CAMIL PARKHE
Thursday, January 07, 2010 AT 01:43 AM (IST)
Tags: Actor, Bollywood, 3 Idiots, film
City-based actor Madhav Vaze has played a small role in Bollywood’s latest sensation ‘3 Idiots’ and “this experience of working with Aamir Khan was most enriching and satisfying,” says the child hero of the Acharya Atre-directed Marathi film ‘Shyamchi Aai,’ which had won the President’s Award in 1950s.
In ‘3 Idiots,’ Vaze has played the role of father of Joy Lobo, a student companion of Aamir Khan who commits suicide due to his failure to complete a project within the deadline.
Speaking to Sakaal Times, Vaze said, “My role in the film lasts hardly a few minutes but the day-long shooting conducted for the scene offered me an insight into the personality of Aamir Khan as a talented and hard working actor.”
In the film, Vaze acts in two scenes, one receiving the news of Joy’s suicide and the second one at his son’s funeral on a rainy day where Aamir is also present. During the final rites, Aamir Khan sarcastically tells the college principal (Boman Irani) that he is lucky that the police have registered the death as suicide and not as a murder.
“Before giving the shot, Aamir wanted to know from director Rajkumar Hirani as to whether he delivers the dialogue soon after entering the cemetery or whether he says the sentence after being present at the site for some time,” said Vaze.
“The director did not understand why Aamir asked this question but having the theatre background, I immediately knew the reason behind the question. Aamir wanted to be in that mood and appearance depending on the answer to the question. When Hirani said that he is at the cemetery for a long time, Aamir asked for a bucket filled with water and poured four to five mugs of water on his face to make him totally drenched. This was despite the fact that all of us actors present there were already soaked with artificial showers,” said Vaze.
Aamir repeated this act three to four times for each take of the shooting of the dialogue and this only revealed his passion to be perfectionist, said Vaze. “After the shooting, Aamir sat with me along with Boman Irani and director Hirani.
THESPIAN’S STINT IN BOLLYWOODNoted stage artiste Madhav Vaze, the child hero of the Acharya Atre-directed Marathi film ‘Shyamchi Aai,’ which had won the President’s Award in 1950s, has played the role of father of Joy Lobo in ‘3 Idiots.’ During a brief conversation, Aamir Khan expressed his wish to Vaze to work sometime in a stage play

St Patrick’s Cathedral revamp underway

St Patrick’s Cathedral revamp underway

Camil Parkhe
Thursday, December 03rd, 2009 AT 5:12 PM
Tags: Pune, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Thomas Dabre


The 159-year-old St Patrick’s Cathedral, an important city landmark, is undergoing major renovation


PUNE: The 159-year-old St Patrick’s Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in western Maharashtra, is undergoing make over and is expected to don a new look by March, next year.

The renovation work of the cathedral, the headquarters of Pune Catholic Pune diocese, was formally inaugurated by Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre and bishop emeritus Valerian D’Souza on September 8, the feast of Mother Mary. The actual repairs and renovation work, however, began only recently.

The cathedral had undergone major repairs 25 years ago when the entire roof of the church had collapsed.

Speaking to Sakaal Times, Fr Malcolm Sequeira, rector of the cathedral, said that much of the repairs of the historic structure were deferred in the past due to various reasons. Now the repairs were urgently needed to prevent further damages to the structure which is an important city landmark, he said.

A committee of some members of St Patrick’s parish has been formed to assist in the renovation project. These parishioners, who are experts in construction field, include civil engineers Brig Eustace D’Costa, Captain Renaldo Sequeira, architects Richard Pereira and Shweta Sequeira, and interior designer Stanley Fernandes.

Fr Sequeira said that the cathedral’s complete renovation including interiors is expected to cost over Rs 80 lakh. As the cathedral is one and half centuries old, it is difficult to estimate the exact damages to this structure and so the cathedral authorities say that the actual cost may rise further as the repairs go on.

Fr Sequeira has appealed to the parish’s faithful and others to contribute towards meeting the renovation cost. Besides, various fund raising activities have also been planned.

The cathedral incidentally will enter its 160th year celebration next week. The first mass at the religious shrine was celebrated on December 8, 1950. The construction of the church had then cost Rs 22,000. A major portion of this amount was raised through donation from Catholic soldiers posted in this area.

Dalits’ right to quota continues after conversion: Dr Ambedkar

'Dalit Christians: Right to reservations'
Camil Parkhe

Published by:
Indian Society for Promotion of Christian Knowledge (ISPCK)
New Delhi



CONTENTS



Foreword – Rev S M Chandorikar
Preface
1Dalit Status did not end with conversion
2Untouchability, casteism among Christians in South India.
3Untouchability, casteism among Christians in Maharashtra.
4The Church’s stance on untouchability, casteism
5Reservations to dalit Christians during British regime.
6Reservations to Hindu SCs, STs and dalit Sikhs
7Reservations denied to neo Buddhists
8Dalits’ right to reservations continues after conversion- Dr Ambedkar
9Initial moves to organise dalit Christians
10Dalit Christians’ manifesto on right to reservations (1970)
11Justification for dalit Christians’ right to reservations
12 Stir by the Bishops’ Council and Graduates Association
13. Dalit Christians in Maharashtra included among OBCs
14. Reservations extended to neo Buddhists
15. The RSS opposes reservations to dalit Christians
16. Reservations to dalit Christians in south India
17. Attitude of urban Christians towards dalitatva and reservations
18.Solidarity of Jai Bhim and Jai Khrist








8. Dalits’ right to reservations continues after conversion - Dr Ambedkar


Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, had emphasised that even after giving up Hinduism and accepting Buddhism or any other religion, the right to reservations and concessions remained unaltered. Babasaheb, having drafted the Constitution of our country, must have definitely known the legal and social basis for the statements he made. He embraced Buddhism along with thousands of his followers in Nagpur in 1956. After the mass conversion ceremony, he explained his stand on conversion, while assuring his followers that even after the conversion, reservations would continue for the converted dalits. Dr Ambedkar’s this address is an excellent example of his immense brilliance, his self-confidence and his concern for the dalits.

Some people often do ask –‘ if the right to reservation is still demanded after conversion, then why to resort to conversion at all?‘ Dr Ambedkar has explained the need for conversion, besides giving an assurance to his followers that whatever concessions he had helped them gain, he would ensure that the same would be given to them even after giving up Hindu religion.

Dr Ambedkar in his speech said, ”The press and many people have criticised me for the mission I have initiated. Some have criticised me severely. According to them, I am misguiding my poor, innocent untouchable people. They are instigating some of us by saying that untouchables would remain as they were even after conversion while they would be forgoing their existing concessions. They are asking them to go by the path already marked for them. If there is suspicion in the minds of some young and old people, it is our duty to dispel it”

Dr Ambedkar further says,” Yesterday, a Brahmin youth came to me and said, - there are reserved seats for you in Parliament and Assemblies, why do you forgo them?” I answered, “You become Mahar and fill up those vacancies in Parliament and the Assemblies. Whenever there is a vacancy, it is filled. Some Brahmins and many others apply for it. Why don’t you Brahmins become Mahars and fill the reserved seats as well? My question to them is why they have to cry when we suffer a loss? ”

‘As a matter of fact, human beings love dignity and not benefits’, Dr Ambedkar said, adding that the aim of the conversion was to lead a life of dignity and honour.

Dr Ambedkar said, ”Even though, we have become Buddhists, I am absolutely confident that I would retain our political rights. I cannot say what will happen after my death. This movement ( to retain reservations for dalits after conversion) will need tremendous work. I have given a thorough thought to circumvent the problems, to put in efforts and to argue the case to for the same. Whatever concessions I have acquired are for my people only. I am confident that the one who acquired these rights will help secure the same once again. I myself have been instrumental in granting of these rights and concessions and I am sure I will get them again. You should therefore trust me for the time being. I shall prove that there is no substance in the propaganda by the opposition.”

Two months after the mass conversion ceremony, Dr Ambedkar died in New Delhi. And a new question arose; whether the erstwhile untouchables and neo- Buddhists should enjoy the right to reservations and concessions after they had given up Hinduism. Dr Ambedkar who had emphasised that dalits’ right to reservations continued even after their conversion to Buddhism, was no longer there to fight on behalf of the neo Buddhists.

The government of Maharashtra, however, under its own special powers, decided to continue the concessions to the neo Buddhists. At the national level, these reservations and concessions were denied in totality to Dr Ambedkar’s followers on the grounds of their conversion. The neo Buddhists in the country had to struggle for over two and half decades to get their just rights restored. The Janata Dal government at the Centre, under the progressive leadership of Prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh, at last extended the reservations and other concessions to the neo Buddhists at national level. An injustice meted out to dalit Sikhs was done away in 1956, the neo Buddhists too received justice in 1990. The dalit Christians in the country, however, continue to await a messiah who would deliver justice to them. .


Reference:

1.Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Charitra Sadhana Prakashan Samiti, Editors- Hari Narke, Vasant Moon, Prof. Ashok Godghade, Prof M. L. Kasare, N. G. Kamble, ‘Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Lekhan Ani Bhashane, Vol 18 , Part 3, 1946 to1956- (published in Marathi daily Loksatta, 9 October, 2005)