Manali Missives 4/2015 On the Pressure on Land

Manali Missives, May, 2015

On the Pressure on Land

Lena and I had a good holiday in Sweden with her family, but came home to Manali with a down-to-earth thud. Even before we arrived we read that the large plot of land belonging to the Church of North India in the village of Katrain, about 20 km south of Manali, has been illegally sold for the third time. Some years ago a CNI employee impersonated the then Bishop, forged documents, sold what was not his and used the proceeds to build a magnificent house that overlooks the highway. The Church took him to court, but for reasons I shall explore the case has dragged on, and has still not been decided. Meanwhile the first buyer, no doubt sensing danger, onsold the property to another innocent party who has just taken leave of his innocence by doing the same. 

This time the response has been immediate. The Church, now well-used to the process, has sprung into action. Lady Willingdon Hospital staged a half-hour strike that received considerable attention in the local media. Dr Christopher, the Hospital administrator, drove to the Diocesan Office in Amritsar and back, a round trip of as good as a day, for a half-hour meeting to get documents in order. Importantly, this time, the Church has considerable support in the local community. Crucially, one hopes, local, district and even state IAS (the elite Indian Administrative Service) officers hold the Hospital in very high regard, and have opposed the land sale. The latest buyer is said to be mortified. One assumes that the vendor panicked, and may now add criminal activity to their loss of property and income. 

Yet if the local situation can be viewed with some hope of restitution to the Church, across northern India it seems that storm clouds are gathering. Less than 2 days after arriving in Manali I set off for Amritsar myself. Having spent the first year of my project largely working in and getting to know schools within the Diocese I feel it is now important to meet ministers and congregations. I reason that if they don’t see me taking an interest in them, neither will they be likely to develop an interest in something as unusual as ecotheology, especially when communicated by an “angrez” (originally from French, meaning “English”, now expanded to mean any westerner.) 

Of the Diocese’s 4 regions congregations and ministers are most concentrated in the Punjab, around Amritsar. I started planning individual meetings there, only to be trumped by the Bishop. In the months since Bishop Samantaroy was installed as CNI’s Moderator (effectively the arch-bishop for a fixed, 3 year period) it has become evident that “land-grab” actions such as the one in Katrain are being undertaken across the country in an increasingly coordinated manner. The ante is being upped from taking land that the Church of North India inherited from the Church of England to destabilising the Church as a whole by seeking to arrest its leaders, and by spreading rumours about their demise.

One of the tactics being used is to request police to issue F.I.R.s (First Information Reports) against the heads of the Church. An F.I.R. is a written document prepared by the police when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable (more serious) offence. It generally reports a complaint lodged with the police by the victim of a cognizable offence, or by someone on his or her behalf, but anyone can make such a report either orally or in writing to the police. An F.I.R. is an important document because it sets the process of criminal justice in motion; it is only after the F.I.R. is registered in the police station that the police take up investigation of the case. Anyone who knows about the commission of a cognizable offence, including police officers, can file an F.I.R. Although in theory those making the complaint or providing the information that provides the basis for an F.I.R. are to be held to account, if they operate under the protection of power people who themselves are opposed to the accused, F.I.R.s that are mischievous in intent can be lodged with impunity. If, for example, the senior leadership of the CNI was arrested because of F.I.R.s lodged against them, that would seriously affect the good running of the Church and facilitate illegal land grabbing.

So Bishop Samantaroy called a meeting of CNI ministers and staff of the Punjab region of the Diocese to explain this serious situation, and to jointly decide upon a course of action. He asked me to give a short paper on “Persecution”. Instead of meeting a few ministers personally I spoke to 130 of them on a subject of great concern. That was no doubt good for my project, but I think it’s best to let Bishop Samantaroy explain that subject himself, from his letter to bishops and main functionaries of the CNI:

“I am terribly grieved to inform you that presently our beloved Church of North India (CNI) is undergoing critical situation.

This is because some self styled bishops and fake powers of attorney holders with the help of land mafia have started to grab illegally the properties of various churches. Their main purpose is to sell these properties and make money. In order to achieve their goals they are using every means, whether money power or man power, and even political power. No doubt, various churches have started fighting court cases against these people to protect the properties, but eventually they have to suffer because a lot of loss of money, time and energy. Moreover, the churches have to undergo tremendous tensions and pressure unnecessarily.

Lately, these anti-church, anti-social, greedy and selfish people have adopted a new strategy which is extremely cunning and dangerous for the life of CNI. One Mr XX [the Bishop named him], who is a self-made and self style Metropolitan of the so called Anglican Church has filed a false, fake and frivolous F.I.R. against the Office bearers and some functionaries of the Church of North India. His main purpose to file this F.I.R. is to destabilise and cripple the functioning of the Church of North India. It will be certainly very humiliating, dehumanising for all these leaders and functionaries of the Church to stand in a Court of Law as criminals without any of their fault. Of course, concrete efforts are being made to thwart such evil designs but ultimately and unnecessarily, it will cost the Church a lot of money. Not only that, but our valuable time will be spend in fighting these case rather than using it for fulfilling the ministry and mission of the Church.

As the people of God, we believe and trust in the power of God which never allows any satanic plan to succeed against His Church. As He set free the people of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, he will certainly do the same for us. His word, which always encourages us tells us that, “And God of all grace, who called you to eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” (1 Peter 5:10) His assuring promise is, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

How should the Church respond to this serious threat? First, by informing and inspiring the people. Hence this feisty, informative letter. It countered a rumour that the Bishop had stood down from his post as Moderator by communicating both facts and outrage! Secondly, by taking the long view, and focussing on God’s saving grace. Both the Bishop in this letter and I in my paper placed this particular situation within its context of biblical history. For good reasons the people of God have suffered throughout history, but God has always been faithful. Thirdly, by calling the people of God to prayer:

“Trusting in such great promises of God,” the Bishop wrote, ‘the time has come to put forth all our requests and petitions before Him in prayer.”

And fourthly, by developing strategy and tactics. The meeting itself spent much time organising how the community of God would respond locally and across the region to land grabs, and in the case that the Church’s leadership are arrested and held in custody. 

Though I’m still trying to understand the historical background to this developing situation, and bearing in mind that in India every statement is an overgeneralisation (including that one!), a few factors stand out: 

• Pressure on land is increasing in India as its already vast population grows. 
• At its inception the Church of North India inherited large areas of land from the Church of England. As was the case at the inception of my Uniting Church in Australia, different denominations claimed to be the legitimate inheritors of properties previously held by various antecedent denominations, causing law suits and bitterness. 
• However, the CNI’s situation differs greatly from the Uniting Church’s in that much of its membership come from a Dalit (formerly called “untouchables” or “harijan”) background. Ironically, those considered the lowest of the low by many caste Hindus have, by virtue of belonging to the CNI, inherited much property from the former colonial masters, the British. I imagine that would be highly irritating to caste Hindus who feel that the right and natural order of things is that Dalits have no rights. 
• On the other hand, belonging to an organisation that owns land is a powerful symbol for formerly Dalit Christians that they do have rights. The response of church members to reports on the progress through the courts of various lawsuits involving land is nothing short of visceral! This isn’t just about land; it’s about who they are! 
• And yet, much of that land, at least where I have been, remains under-utilised. One of the reasons why the current spate of tree-planting across the Diocese is a good idea is that it quickly makes valid, necessary use of land that is otherwise in danger of being encroached upon.

Like much in India this is an complex, urgent matter. The Bishop concluded his letter with a number of “prayer points”, matters for those who believe in the power and efficacy of prayer to pray about. Those of you who receive our monthly prayer bulletin have been able to read them. For those of you who don’t share this perspective, I hope this issue of Manali Missives has alerted you to another very human drama in the great land of India.

Grace and peace from 

Lena and David Reichardt