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ERAIYUR: RESPONSE OF THE ARCHDIOCESE |
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| The following write up was published in Indian currents. |
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| Having gone through the report titled Eraiyur still under caste shadow, published in IC, 13-19 Oct '08, we have our own observations. |
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| The title suggests as though Eraiyur alone still continues to reel around the caste shadow. The evil of this caste system is not a problem of Eraiyur alone. It is a wide-spread evil in India. As soon as the event took place, the Archbishop constituted a team of priests to go into this matter. Fr. Pon Antonysamy, Vicar General of the Archdiocese, Fr. S. Kulandaisamy, the Procurator, Fr. R.S. Arokiaraj, Secretary of the Archdiocesan Senate of Priests, made an immediate visit to the village to study the situation. The last two mentioned priests had earlier served in Eraiyur parish. Their stay and ministry in this parish adds authenticity to the report that follows. On the other hand, the report prepared by Fr. AJX Bosco, Fr. A. Joseph Xavier and Fr. Cosmon Arockiaraj does not provide real facts. Their report is based on two passing visits they had made to the village. |
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| Eraiyur had been a large parish where the Fathers of the French Foreign Mission and the indigenous clergy had worked for the past 125 years. It was divided into three parishes and in the near future the existing parish of Eraiyur will be further bifurcated. The population of this parish consists of the Vanniars and the Adi Dravidars. |
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| Having realized that only education and religion could be the effective means of bringing together the caste-ridden communities into one, the Bishops of the Foreign Mission Society founded schools and churches, where people could be brought together. In this connection, it is worth stressing the point that the present Archbishop, Rev. Dr. Anandarayar, has personally raised funds for the education of children, with special emphasis on the education of Dalit children. Many school buildings were put up in these parishes, where the Dalits are living in large numbers. This is a clear, tangible proof of the concern of the Archdiocese and the Archbishop for the welfare and empowerment of the Dalits. He had disbursed a sum of Rs. 6,56,000/- for the affected Dalit children of Eraiyur alone by way of tuition fees, uniform and stationery. The people were given cooking utensils, rice and provisions for their immediate relief. |
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| The first indigenous Archbishop and all the successors, including the present Archbishop, have faithfully followed in the footsteps of the Foreign Archbishops in uplifting and empowering the Dalits, the economically poor and the downtrodden. |
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| The people of Eraiyur, consisting of both the Vanniar community and the Adi Dravidar community, have always been living in perfect unity and peace, even up to the time of this unhappy event. There have been marriage arrangements, sharing of meals and get together between these two communities without any inhibition. Therefore, we would like to point out that the incident referred to by the reporters in IC is not factual. The incident took place on 9 March. Actually this incident was due to provocation to the maximum by some outside forces. |
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| On 10 March, the three priests mentioned earlier, visited the spot. They spent the whole forenoon session visiting and interacting. The priests went from house to house of all the people in the part of the village where the Adi Dravidars were living. Not a single house was seen to be put on fire. The report that hundreds of houses of Dalits were set on fire, and that their properties were looted, is totally false and baseless. The tiles on the roofs of a few houses were found broken. There was no major damage to the properties. In some of the houses, electric bulbs, pots and cooking vessels kept on verandahs were found broken or damaged. Nobody justifies this act, and in fact we do condemn it. These are the stark realities witnessed by the priests. The whole incident has been blown out of proportion by the vested interests of certain unwanted forces or groups including political forces. The real shame of the incident lies not in the incident but in the unnecessary provocation caused by these forces. |
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| The celebration of the annual Church Feast is an occasion to exhibit the solidarity and oneness of the Christian Community. This has been insisted upon and efficiently put into practice by every parish priest of this village up to the present time. The erection of a separate parish for the Dalits is not only not feasible but also not advisable. This will only further stigmatize these people. |
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| Unity in diversity is the characteristic of our country, and the quintessence of Christian faith. The fight for human rights, equality of all peoples, gender indiscrimination, empowerment of the poor and the marginalized is a universal phenomenon. And the Church of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry & Cuddalore is no exception. The Archbishops, the clergy and all well-minded Christians have been assiduously working for the upliftment of all, with a special concern for the Dalits. The congregations of the religious Priests, Brothers and Sisters have spread out their service to all these people by opening hospitals, educational institutions and service centers. These are living testimonies to the concern for the poor. |
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| This year alone the Archbishop has personally attended to the study and education of the Dalit children of Eraiyur by way of financial help. A detailed report of this financial help has been published in the Archdiocesan Newsletter. |
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| It is therefore very heart-rending that the report, instead of finding out the facts and truth, has only published a biased note. Towards the end, the authors have made a very provocative and damaging statement. It seems to imply that certain forces are seriously working to further vitiate the situation instead of working for peace and solidarity. The concern of these people seems to be the benefit of their own selfish and vested interests and not the well being of the people. Also, we feel that the article far from assuaging hurt feelings has only led to further provocation. It is high time that we Christians sit together in the name of Lord Jesus and build up a Church that lives together, prays together and works together. |
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| Fr. Pon Antonisamy, Vicar General Fr. S. Kulandaisamy, Procurator |
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| Fr. R. S. Arokiaraj, Secretary Priests' Senate Archdiocese of Pondicherry & Cuddalore. Puducherry |
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