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Participatory Media in Jharkhand- Cyprian Ekka
Tapkara Massacre - condemnation letter from Rome
Tapkara Massacre - Condemnation Letter
Tapkara massacre - Cyprian Ekka,Posted on Thursday, 22nd 2001
Jharkhand- New Dawn, chronology of struggle
Message from Amar Eron Tigga, posted on Thursday December 21st, 2000
Respected people of Jharkhand,
First of all receive my heartiest greetings for the CHRISTMAS and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!
While sending this greeting, I am feeling slightly different, a sort of uneasiness and a discomfort.
Looking to the changed environment, it seems that even if sun has came out but the darkness remain in our heart and mind. A fear of present and future remains rather.... becoming worse.
Coming to the formation of Jharkhand, a new state, a New Hope, as it is expected that it will change the lives of our brothers and sisters overnight, is just a day dreaming. It is just like thinking of Utopia, which never exists in reality.
50 years before, when we got independence, a new country , a new hope for all , love and peace, a bright future............, better life ............and blah - blah - blah . Where are we today ? The harsh realities are with us. The various developments program for removing poverty, employment , growth , upliftment of Tribals etc. under various Five-Year Plans has brought hardly any change in poors life rather made their life tough. Still we do not
have very basic necessities like drinking water , food , cloth ,electricity etc. , how can we think of other things. The people responsible for developing poor, developed themselves....you know what I mean. How can we expect that this time, these people are different? Moreover ,we hardly see any positive sign.
The question remains as it is. What will bring us growth , development , peace ,love etc.........????
I do not leave you with this question only................. I have certain suggestions too.
For self - development:
Now, the time has changed drastically, we have to develop by ourselves. It's the time to develop our skills in whatever area we get into, wherever we find the opportunity.
Develop competitive - advantage over others , hard work is the one and only answer.
Be self - responsible. At every point you have two choices, make the choice that makes you.
Do not expect too many things from others. Do yourself as much as you can. Since - GOD helps those who help themselves.-
All our dreams will come true if we have the courage to pursue it.
For the development of society
Take at least one boy/girl who does not have access to this changing world scenario and provide him/her guidance and help till he/her become self capable. Provide a complete help package that is guidance and help in every walk of life. Here our association will play the crucial role. Since we as individual do not have knowledge of every field , we can consult the people who are in that field, thus getting a better quality help package .
The question arises where we will get such boys/girls. I feel if you just look to your relatives living in village ,town or city you, you will find not only one but you will be in difficult situation that whom to choose.
I strongly hope that the coming New Year will be a year of action rather than sitting and thinking in a room.
This Help Package can be developed further like each of our member provide the name and address of the boys/girls and all members will provide possible help to them. Thus everybody has the incentive to provide the names of their near and dear ones.
Further providing help will be easier , one can meet also personally with the members. We can keep track of the boys/girls development, creating a database for this. When they become self capable , they will also help others. This can also solve the other problems like searching for suitable marriage partner, getting instant and more reliable help of any kind anywhere in the world.
This idea is my personal, your suggestions and criticism are most welcome.
At the end, once again I wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Thank You.
Amar Eron Tigga, IIM Calcutta.
Message from Rev. Joseph Minz, Bishop of Simdega, SIMDEGA CATHOLIC DIOCESE posted on Tuesday December 19th, 2000
7 December 2000
Bro. Vincent Minj & Chotanagpur Rising Association
Society of St. Paul,
2187 Victory Boulevard,
Staten Island,
New York 10314-6603, USA
Fax: 001.718.761.0057
Dear Esteemed Members of the Chotanagpur Association,
Overflowing and abundant blessings and joy of the Christmas of the Jubilee 2000 to each one of you and to your beloved ones in the family. The angels appeared in the glory of the Lord to the shepherds of Bethlehem and told them - I bring you the news of great joy, a joy to be shared by the whole people.-
It is a great thing to think of and contemplate Chotanagpur Association by all staying in the United States so as to help and support one another. I give my full support and encouragement to this noble cause. You may put my name as a Spiritual Guide in your membership list.
The new state of Jharkhand came into being as the 28th state of India on the night of 14-15 November 2000 with Mr. Prabhat Kumar as the first Governor and Mr. Babulal Marandi as the first Chief Minister. We consider the birth of Jharkhand the particular and special gift of God the Father to his people of this area in the Jubilee year 2000 of the coming of his son.
Once again Merry Christmas and a gracefilled New Year 2001.
Yours sincerely,
Rev. Joseph Minj
Bishop of Simdega
Message from Fr. Anthres Soreng, Fr. Peter Minz, Fr. Zephernius Tirkey posted on Tuesday December 19,2000
Dear Bro. Vincent and all Brothers and Sisters in NY,
Greetings and love to everyone from Fr. Anthres Soreng, Fr. Peter Minz and Fr. Zepherinus Tirkey, India, Jai Jesu, Johar, Jai Jharkhand. In our Priestly Summer ministry in New York; it was a great joy to meet you all, our memory is still fresh about New York.
It was a great memorable day to meet you all especially in Society of St. Paul, Staten Island. It was a honor and joy for us to participate in Thanks giving Holy Mass in Hindi for 2nd son of John and Manju and soon after the mass, social gathering , get together. For us it was a great day in New York to meet many new people in the gathering.
We extend our heartfelt thanks and sincere love to everyone. This great event we will always remember you in our mind and heart. Again thanking you for all your help, support, concern and brotherly love during our visit to New York.
Remembering you at Christmas because you are special and wishing you a joyous Christmas and Happy New Year 2001.
Our blessing is always with you
Sincerely yours,
Fr. Anthres Soreng,
Fr. Peter Minz,
Fr. Zepherinus Tirkey,
Jharkhand,
INDIA
Report from Binay Tirkey, Thursday, December 14th, 2000
10th December 2000, witnessed a remarkable day to be marked in the annals of Catholic Sabha Calcutta (CSC).
For the very first time the CSC had invited together all the tribal Bishops from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, for the thanksgiving celebration of Jesu Khrist Jyanti 2000,Samaroh at Don Bosco School Park Circus, Calcutta. Year 2000 has been christened as the year of Khrist Jyanti for the Christians all over the world. CSC marked the beginning of this year with a candle procession on January 9th, 2000 at Don Bosco School, Park Circus, Calcutta.
Exactly eleven months later on 10th of Dec. 2000, the thanksgiving celebration began with a symbolic candle procession representing all sections of the society- the and the elderly. Behind this was the beautiful sight of around 40 girls of Bhattanagar unit, who were dancing and ushering the Bishops to the stage. On the stage the ladies from Gobra unit washed hands and garlanded Rev. Telesphore Toppo - Archbishop of Ranchi, Rev. James Toppo- Bishop of Jalpaiguri, Rev. Michael Minj- Bishop of Gumla, Rev. Felix Toppo- Bishop of Jamshedpur, Rev. Gabriel Kujur- Bishop of Daltongunj and many other priests.
The Holy mass began at 2 p.m. and approximately 2000 people, inspite of the heat, participated with full faith in this Eucharistic celebration. After the mass, the 30 minutes refreshment break was an ideal time to visit the Adivasi stall which had put Arsa (sweets), Maandar, and other items belonging to the Tribal culture. Many took this chance to meet the bishops personally.
At 5 p.m., everyone came together again for the cultural program. The CSC President Mr. Simon Tirkey gave a brief welcome speech, after which all the Bishops were presented with shawls by the CSC as a token of respect. Also present among the Bishops was the Chief Guest of the day, Mr. L. Kindo I.A.S. (Election Commissioner of Orissa), who rendered a very enlightening speech stressing on the great need of tribal leadership in the society and the church.
Today was also the day chosen by CSC to pay tribute to all its founder members:
Shri Suleman Minj
Shri George Dhanson
Shri Robert Bara
Shri Beatore Lakra
Shri Noas Bara
Shri Elias Toppo
Shri Sylvanus Tirkey
Shri Simon Tirkey and
Shri Britius Minj
They were felicitated by the bishops and were presented with a small gift as a gesture of love.
Archbishop of Ranchi, Rev. Telesphore Toppo was full of praise for CSC and said that it being an active organization of educated people has the full potential to guide the Adivasi population and mould the newly formed Jharkhand State into a model state for tribals, where Catholics will have an important role to play.
The Millennium Cultural segment anchored by Mr. Sambhu Stephen Kujur kept the audience enthralled with the colorful cultural dances presented by the units of Behala, Gobra, Bandel and Bhattanagar.
The vote of thanks by Mr.Belkhas Kujur, Secretary and youth coordinator, formally brought the celebration to an end though the day was not over yet, as a MILLENNIUM DINNER, was hosted by the Sabha in honor of the bishops who also enjoyed meeting some Calcuttan families personally. It was indeed a great day for CSC to remember for years to come.
Even a prisoner is provided with the basic necessities of life- food, clothing and but he always tries to come out of it. Why?
Because no man can live in isolation. Hence,let us move towards a new society.
We are born in an unjust society and we are determined not to leave it as we found it. So, let us create a new and just society.
Binay Tirkey
(Youth Convenor of CSC)
Catholic Sabha Calcutta
Reg. No. S/60216 of 1988-89
20,Beniapukur Road
Calcutta 700014
INDIA
Bishop Rev. James A Toppo
Bishop House
P.O. Mohitnagar
DT. Jalpaiguri
West Bengal INDIA
PIN 735101
Phone : 03561-30359
Fax : 03561-24443
Bishop Rev. Thomas DSouza
Bishop House
Meghnath Saha Sarani
P.O. Pradhan Nagar Siliguri
WEST BENGAL INDIA
Phone : 0353- 421182
Bishop Rev.Gabriel Kujur SJ
Bishop House
Station Road
Daltongunj
DT. Palamou
Jharkhand
Phone : 06562-22643
Fax : 06562- 22213
Report from Brijit Kujur, Friday, November 17th, 2000
Johar to all from Jharkhand Tribal Students Association, JNU. I would like to report to all of you about the small gathering and celebration we had on the occasion of Jharkhand Foundation Day on 15th. We members of JTSA gathered in Mr. J. Bara residence for this occassion. The celebration was different, as we did not had any fun-fare or songs-dance. But we had discussions and debate. The topic for the day as The Problems and Prospects OF Jharkhand having two dimensions- the socio-economic development and the intellectual bankruptcy.
Vijay Baraik a Ph.D. Scholar presented his paper on the Problem and prospects of Jharkhand. He has worked with 50 socio economic indicators to show that though the tribal regions have potentials but only few privileged areas have developed. The mining, industrial and the urban centers like Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Hazaribagh have developed but the interior regions have remained the same. Moreover these developed areas have developed in economic sense but strikingly show low social development in terms of literacy rates, safe drinking water etc. these areas on the other hand show potential of agricultural development. Since these areas like Gumla, Simdega and surrounding regions were once growing cash crops like cashew nuts, Tea, Til, seeds and other indigenous tribal crops. Thus we can develop these areas in the production of these crops. Thus he suggested that to have a proper agricultural research institution to look into this areas which will study the soil type the crop that can be grown out here. Though we do have Birsa Agricultural University but it should focus more on this area which can definitely help in the overall development of the state.
From the literary point of view Mr. Bara pointed out that the existing intellectual bankruptcy have to be checked. Outsiders, non -tribal have been writing about us and in the process have generated misleading fact about us. There have been certain terms which we too unknowingly been using in our daily life like -Saar-, -kole- which means rotten Man. Thus there should be constant effort from our side to review the existing literature and give a correct picture to others by means of many literary works. Thus he encouraged us to be in the academic realm and to focus our studies in this area as well. He suggested to form a pressure group and to meet the new Chief Minster to make him See the reason to have a Central University to preserve our state and culture through literary means.
For any further Information you may contact Mr.Vijay at vijaybaraik@yahoo.com.
Brijit Kujur
On behalf of JTSA, JNU
message from Emanuel Toppo, Sweden, Friday 03, 2000
Hi Everybody,
Welcome all new members.
Ski is very good winter sport for all ages which gives very good exercise for whole body and also gives 100% relaxation. In Sweden we have s?n and ?e ski centre. S?n is about 500KM and ?e is about 700KM from Stockholm. We use to go for ski every year any weekend from February to April or for one week between Palmsunday to Easter (sunday to thursday).We do ski on all green, blue and red tracks except black.All of my children can do this.
There are every type of entertainments available in both s?n and ?. Please se ?.salen.com and www.areresort.se?? ?en and are??lated website for more information.
Please contact me in good time if you are interested. I can help you if you have never done this before.
Please give a try in ?tage mountain??ar Scranton. This is very close to New York.
Maybe we can do this together in Alps mountain and Himalaya also.
--Emanuel |
