Sister Abhaya

Been too busy at work and more than I miss writing, I miss reading all my favourite blogs but then I have to pen something today....



Can Sister Abahya’s parents have some peace of mind now?

Of course they are the first ones who matters but I think this case matters to many of us too.

If one asks why, there are no specific answers. It is not as though this is the only murder case which has been languishing in the court rooms, but it is a case which tugged the conscience of many. A nun who had taken solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience was murdered and denied justice while the institution that was supposed to have come to her rescue remained passive. But not passive to thwart justice at every juncture of this 16 years long case. And now a nun who took the same solemn vows has been arrested along with her fellow priests. All of them, I understand were heading educational institutions. As for the claims from some quarters that they are innocent surprises many. Those arrested did undergo narco analysis and polygraph tests and the ex-CBI officer did have his doubts on Sister Sephy during his short role in this case. As for CBI arresting only on the grounds of Sanju P. Mathew’s disclosure seems silly, or maybe I am being too hopeful.

Anyway, let us wait for some more dramas since as usual the case has been politicized.

Then as told, it is not the CBI who needs to be applauded but the High Court since the CBI succumbed to pressures all along. And this is way the judiciary needs to act. I pray we see this commitment in every case.

I have earlier lamented on my blog on the Iraq War; its futility and horror. The world listened to the death toll and the happenings in Iraq for a while but then it became a routine. Yesterday by chance I came upon a blog said to be written by an Iraqi girl. The last entry on her blog is dated October 22, 2007 when she fled with her family to Syria as a refugee. She has not written again and there are many who wonder what could have happened to that vivacious, freedom loving spirit that was in her.

Movies have made me cry but not blogs. But yesterday her words struck my heart. Why has the world forgotten Iraq? The war was wrong but isn’t there anything the world can do to correct this crime against humanity? I am not hoping for a changed US after the recent elections but I do pray that Obama is given a chance to keep his word and take the US out of Iraq and possibly take the curse that is upon those who sided with this war. Even if another Saddam may rise up, let it be, maybe this is the only way Iraq will have peace and prosperity. Let the Iraqis manage their country in their way.

She ends the last entry on her blog thus:

The first evening we arrived, exhausted, dragging suitcases behind us, morale a little bit bruised, the Kurdish family sent over their representative – a 9 year old boy missing two front teeth, holding a lopsided cake, “We’re Abu Mohammed’s house- across from you- mama says if you need anything, just ask- this is our number. Abu Dalia’s family live upstairs, this is their number. We’re all Iraqi too... Welcome to the building.”

I cried that night because for the first time in a long time, so far away from home, I felt the unity that had been stolen from us in 2003.

This is another entry:

Friday, December 29, 2006

End of Another Year...

You know your country is in trouble when:
1. The UN has to open a special branch just to keep track of the chaos and bloodshed, UNAMI.
2. Abovementioned branch cannot be run from your country.
3. The politicians who worked to put your country in this sorry state can no longer be found inside of, or anywhere near, its borders.
4. The only thing the US and Iran can agree about is the deteriorating state of your nation.
5. An 8-year war and 13-year blockade are looking like the country's 'Golden Years'.
6. Your country is purportedly 'selling' 2 million barrels of oil a day, but you are standing in line for 4 hours for black market gasoline for the generator.
7. For every 5 hours of no electricity, you get one hour of public electricity and then the government announces it's going to cut back on providing that hour.
8. Politicians who supported the war spend tv time debating whether it is 'sectarian bloodshed' or 'civil war'.
9. People consider themselves lucky if they can actually identify the corpse of the relative that's been missing for two weeks.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

The Great Wall of Segregation...


I remember Baghdad before the war- one could live anywhere. We didn't know what our neighbors were- we didn't care. No one asked about religion or sect. No one bothered with what was considered a trivial topic: are you Sunni or Shia? You only asked something like that if you were uncouth and backward. Our lives revolve around it now. Our existence depends on hiding it or highlighting it- depending on the group of masked men who stop you or raid your home in the middle of the night.

It also brings a hard truth; religion can be used in a brutal manner by anyone to achieve their ends. It can be used by those in your own country or by those who are outside. It can shatter peace and change the mindset of even a peace loving individual. It only needs constant feeding of fear and mistrust.


and now....

A former Deputy National Security Adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan has called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to deal quickly with the issues of Kashmir and Afghanistan.

India has resisted U.S. mediation on Kashmir in the past, but the growing U.S.-India strategic relationship may now make American involvement possible, The News quoted Meghan O’Sullivan, as saying in an article for a foreign newspaper.