austraLasia #2400
An appeal against an
internationally ignored war
CHENNAI: 25th April 2009 -- It is good to note that one of
India's outstanding bishops, the Salesian Archbishop of Chennai,
Malayappan Chinappa, has spoken out strongly and fearlessly on the Sri
Lankan crisis. What the international community is ignoring in the hope
that this crisis will soon go away (because all the rebels will be
killed!) is far from being that simple: "It has become a mass
graveyard....massacre...and nothing can justify this military option",
he says.
The Archbishop knows what it is like to be a
minority figure in ethnic terms, since he is a Dalit (lower caste)
bishop amidst Brahmins (upper caste) and speaks out fearlessly on the
issue, calling "casteism the worst form of terrorism"! Archbishop
Chinappa is also one of the nicest, simplest human beings you could
meet. He is always happy to sit down with you and have a quiet beer,
put his feet up and chat, when he comes to the Pisana.
And now, in this situation which inevitably involves
the emotions of Tamils living elsewhere than in a hunted pocket of
northern Sri Lanka he says "To the Tamils living all over the world -
we are with you in spirit, prayer and solidarity". He calls for
international pressure on the Colombo government, and reminds anyone
who will listen that "the Church is the Mother of all peoples....and we
the Church pray incessantly for an immediate end to the war for
suffering masses in the so-called 'safe zone' ".
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Title: australasia 2400
Subject and key words: S. Asia, Tamils
Date (year): 2009
ID: 2000-2099|2400
