Fr Jerome D'Souza the Statesman

My bewitchment in the early politics and founding of constitution of India lead me to write this tribute to Fr Jerome D’Souza. There are multiple kinds of literature on this great personality, but I am embarking on this write up lest we forget the contribution made by Fr. D’Souza during the birth of Independent and Republic India. I will not be able to discuss everything that Fr. D’Souza did for the welfare of India, but I would like to draw your attention towards his contribution as a parliamentarian of the independent India that includes his main input into the Constitution of India.

Fr. Jerome D’Souza is a Jesuit priest who was missioned with many important tasks as an educationist.  He was a professor of English Literature along with heavy responsibilities as the principal and rector successively in two colleges for fifteen years between 1935 to 1950. His involvement in Madras University affairs brought him to the public domain with an excellent talent as a public speaker and orator. This brings him to the attention of the political leaders such as C. Rajagopalachari, who sponsored Fr. Jerome’s election to the Indian Constituent Assembly. He won the regard and respect of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru because of Fr. Jerome’s talent as a speaker, as a master of many languages, as an educationist of repute and person of balanced judgement uncommitted to partisan politics by the very nature of his profession as a religious priest. He was selected four times as a member of the Indian Delegation to the United Nations and once to UNESCO. Nehru sought Fr. Jerome’s advise on delicate and behind-the-scenes negotiations with the French Government on the transfer of Pondicherry and other French territories in India. His expertise helped the Holy See and Indian Government in the diplomatic intervention about to Portugal’s exercise of the Padroado or Patronage in ecclesiastical appointment in India.

Fr. Jerome’s love for education and later his involvement in the constitution of India as a representative of minority group comes from his native birthplace of suburbs of Mangalore. His birth and childhood happen between Kinnigoli and Mulki which lies on the highway from Mangalore to Udupi. He was born on the 6^th August 1897. His childhood was spent at his maternal place called Sagar Bhavan in Mulki. He had four brothers and one sister. A great deal of walking had to be done either for school or church. His mother made sure that her children are educated. One incident that Fr Jerome later recalls that he came home without going to school and explained to his mother that it is a holiday for Hindu festival. When mother enquired this was not true, Fr Jerome was tied to a bar in the kitchen. But he escaped by asking his three-year-old sisters to cut the rope using a knife. He triumphantly appeared before his mother in freedom and compared himself to Christ bound and scourged. He was complemented later in life for the love of many languages. He did this by self-learning and could speak six languages with ease; Konkani, his mother tongue, Marathi, Tulu, Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Tamil and English. His early schooling took place in St Aloysius College. Although he had an opportunity to study in London, he decided to stay in St. Joseph’s Trichy since he has come to like Tamil culture. After his studies, he comes back to teach at Joseph’s as a lecturer in English in 1920-1921. This was the turning point in the life of Fr Jerome when he decides to join the priesthood in the order of Jesuits in 1921.

Member of the Constituent Assembly: pro-minority

Fr Jerome is well remembered as the member of Constituent Assembly apart from all other titles and positions that he held. It is with pride I can say he is the beloved son of an infant India for Fr Jerome’s contribution to the making of India’s Constitution and of the significant and vital role he played in the drafting of those sections of the Constitutions which affected the Minorities. While he was serving as the principal of Loyola College, Madras, he was elected as one of the 39 members from Madras by the Legislative Assembly without any canvassing for votes. The then Chief Minister of Madras State Mr C. Rajagopalachariar asked Fr Jerome to serve on the Constituent Assembly as one of the Christian representatives. He entered the Assembly on the 9^th December 1946. Fr Jerome made friends with many leading men and women of the country and was became a witness to all that he was and had received as an educationist, a priest and a religious. It was a great opportunity such as is given to very few in history.

Fr Jerome worked at the Constitution from 1946 to 1949. He his main concern was with the safeguarding of fundamental rights and minority rights: the right to profess, practice and propagate religion, to all citizens freedom of education, freedom of association etc. Fr Jerome sums up his work as follows,

 “When fundamental rights were made justiciable, that is when any violation of them by individuals or governments could be challenged in a court of Law, the Christians felt that the safeguard of preserving minority rights by reserving special seats for them in the Legislatures on the basis of their population, was no longer necessary and that in the interests of national integration it was best to merge with and become part of the general electorate.”

 Fr Jerome, apart from these fundamental and minority rights, took part in almost all other discussions which led up to the drawing up of the Constitution of India. The above fundamental and minority rights have been discussed in the Constitution in detail. This sums up Fr Jerome’s key contribution to the drawing up of the Constitution.

Fr Jerome at the United Nations

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru nominated Fr Jerome as the member of the Indian Delegation to the UN for the first time in September 1949. His task to serve the country did not end after the drawing up of the Constitution but his expertise was needed by the country to represent at the UN. It was a joy for Fr Jerome to represent the country among other four members and they were from Madras and from South Kanara District which was part of Madras Presidency. He went to Rome to learn first-hand information from the Vatican on certain international problems and to brief Superior of the Jesuits. Hence, he flew to New York on September 19 on a UN Mission.

It was the fourth session of the General Assembly of the UN in 1949 that Fr Jerome attended as one of the Indian Delegation. One of the key aspects that stood out at the UN Assembly was that the presence of a Catholic Priest from India which evoked a good deal of surprise – a pleasant surprise. People in Europe and American were not aware of the numbers and position of the Christian Community in India. It was an opportunity for the whole world to hear about Christian Community in India and particularly happy to learn the attitude of the Christians in the national struggle, of the guarantee given to them and other minorities in the Constitution and o the number and importance of Christian educational and social works in India.

During this UN Assembly President Truman also announced that Russia possessed atomic weapons and must bring into immediate and urgent importance the work of the Atomic Energy Commission. One can grasp the significance of this UN Assembly and its vital discussions surrounding important issues such as atomic weapons. This could also remind us of the struggle between Russia and America even to date. He was also on the Indian Delegation of the UN at Parish session in 1951-52 in which he addressed the French Canadians with fluent French. He was four times selected to be a member of the Indian Delegation at the UN.

In conclusion, as we remember Fr Jerome’s contribution to India as a priest, religious, educationist and statesman in the context of social and political events, let us draw two important lessons from his life. Firstly, India will always remain a cradle of religions, whether majority religion such as Hinduism and minority religion such as Christianity. Fr Jerome’s contribution must help us to be tolerant towards other religions because it is in respect for other religions to make India a true secular yet unique country. India has had its share of division and violence but in our contemporary India, we have the responsibility to respect and uphold each other’s rights that Fr Jerome’s worked in the Constitution.

Secondly, India needs to promote academic excellence irrespective of religion or political affiliations. Fr Jerome was a Catholic priest, principal and religious yet he was a statesman who did not take political sides. His neutral yet people-oriented opinions elevated him to the person he was. India cannot ignore intelligent and genuine opinions because those opinions are not biased and will help to build India. India has a long way to go in this regard since India has been silencing genuine voices from the University benches. Long live Hindustan, Jai Hind. 

Democracy in India

The nations have been driven by a non-existent vehicle called Democracy. There’s an inevitable reality of divide and rule in any given democracy. Democracy has become a mantra for the powerful to achieve the agenda that ensembles one’s whims. I have found difficult to believe in democracy. I beg to differ in my view on democracy. Democracy is actually and truly a dividing factor. It leads us to believe that everyone is equal in a democracy. My argument is no alien to any leading political thinkers and is neither foreign to any politicians. Every politician knows exactly that democracy is just a concept that is used to divide to rule so their dishonest agenda could be met.

In recent times political situations throughout the world have shown us that the powerful and big mouthed political party or politician wins the race under the shade of democracy. It’s really an irony that democracy is divisive and fulfils the agenda of the powerful. It is a domination over powerless. I would not hesitate to say that democracy is but domination. It could be called the largest domination country in the world. The United States of America has been the strongest witness when the current president won the election but not by popular vote. In India, it has been a trend for the longest time that big gab can win the elections and indeed under the banner of democracy.

I would like to focus on Indian political situation after the independence. India has been portrayed as the largest democracy in the world. Why has it been called with such an honourable title when India has failed to witness that in reality? I am not pointing my index-finger at any particular party. But I argue that this is only a pretence under which Indian political parties enjoy the ride. What goes for one must go for all. Don’t deduct that I am anti-BJP or anti-Congress as a Christian. That would be immature of a balanced view. I truly believe that I am an Indian and I pledge by the tricolour and I am proud of my anthem. One thing I cherish from my childhood is the national anthem that we sang two times a day during the school days; mind you I went to a Catholic School. My love for the country was nourished right from my early childhood so is yours.

Democracy has been adulterated by conceit and egotism of a few influential people who invariably use the Democratic process to achieve hidden agenda. The people who jump on the bandwagon have been like people in Plato's cave. They break open the chains to see the reality outside the cave. Formerly, they thought the cave and shadows protruding in the cave was their reality. The ego and pride of the influential are fed with some realities like religion which has nothing or very little to do with politics. It has been baffling to witness how religion has become so crucial to Indian politics. For every politician, religion is the point of departure and a perfect entry into success because religion is divisive. The politicians like to feed on something that helps them to climb the nasty ladder. I was deeply disturbed and deeply concerned at how the sheepfold or followers of different religions have taken advantage of the faith to entertain the political gimmicks. There is an attitude of hatred towards others purely based on religious beliefs.

If Hindus think that they are the majority in India and it’s a Hindu nation, I am certain that the party they support will certainly win for the rest of the existence of India although it might not be Hindu state because I believe that Hinduism is a way of life; a life of prosperity and harmony. Hinduism must help everyone to live a life of integrity. If Muslims and Christians think that they need to come together to oust another party so that India is truly a multi-religious nation, I think we are heading towards hating Hindus. Let us not be fooled by the rhetoric that it is a complicated issue. No, it is not complicated issue rather it is truly a simple gamut. Think of your school days or think of the village that you lived where Hindus, Muslims and Christians lived together almost as a family. Why is that sentiment from school or village is messed with hatred? Isn’t it the politicians and party workers divide us so that they achieve their goals of success. This success that they look for is not for the development of the nation rather it is the success of their own development. Each of us needs to reflect on where we are heading with this kind of political disasters. We must not allow democracy to die in the hands of the powerful dictators.

The democracy that is not popular is a dictatorship. Recent elections in Venezuela where Maduro has shown that democracy is a dictatorship because he has proved that he is indispensable. He has the complete autonomy to choose and elect himself for democracy has failed. It might seem like a democratic election. I wish this doesn’t happen to India. This could be a possibility if people think that the leaders they adore are indispensable and cannot be changed. In which case, the political leaders will go to any extreme to come to power, extremes such as manipulation and rigging of elections. This detrimental to the well being of a Nation. If BJP or Congress thinks that only they can save the country, they are wrong and we have guard against these political tantrums which are for the gain of a select few.

Religion without humanity is legion; a legion of evil people who want to bring discord among different faiths. Humanity should be the culmination of any religion. Honestly speaking, the people who spew hatred towards others religions by saying that their true religion or this nation belongs to that religion, I am certain that they have no knowledge and experience of God in their religion. In other words, they know very little about their own religion. We must be able to challenge them to study to know and experience the beauty and goodness in their own religion. No religion teaches us to hate other religion. But it seems like humanity is kept out of the equation. I am a Christian but I try to draw inspiration from other religions because they offer meaning to my life. Religion is a way to God and not God himself so let’s get it right now before it’s too late. God is in every religion and every religion must indicate a pathway to God.

In conclusion, I want to mention that I grew up as a small boy watching the great epic “Mahabharata” on Door Darshan channel in late 80’s. We didn’t have television at home so our church priest used to show on his television. I never considered it as something only Hindus must watch but it was a great experience to watch one of greatest epics of India. In Mahabharata, there’s reference to Bharatvarsa in which Bharata tribe lived with the same plurality of caste, religion, culture, language and lifestyle like today’s India. This is why India is called Bharath. So, when we utter the chant “Bharath Matha Ki Jai”, let us keep the plurality at the forefront. This is why India is considered to be the greatest nation on the planet with it’s diversity in every regard. I grew up learning Tulu language which is predominantly spoken by Hindus and I am proud of it. This doesn’t mean that I give up on my mother tongue, Konkani. These two languages along with Kannada gives me a specific identity as an Indian. I appeal to everyone, especially our political leaders to work for unity and respect for each other’s beliefs. Let us bring humanity back to our religions. Let the democracy enjoy its sanctity. Let us pay heed to the silent scream of democracy and reach out to keep it sacred.