Publications

Jesuits and Justice in Northeast India

The Kohima Jesuits live and minister in a religious and social context that differs significantly from our own. Christians are a distinct minority (2%) in the predominantly Hindu and Muslim state of Assam, where tea garden workers produce one-quarter of the world’s tea, but earn a daily minimum wage of only 52 Indian rupees (US $1.09). In the state’s Eastern hills, ethnic conflicts continue to plague the people’s hope for development and peace. In the mountainous state of Nagaland, whose eastern border is Myanmar, Baptists constitute more than 75% of the population.

In 1970, Pedro Arrupe, SJ sent Jesuits into this context to continue the mission that Francis Xavier received from Ignatius - Ite Inflammate Omnia, "Go, set the world alight," and Jesuits committed themselves to serving the most marginalized rural groups in the region: tribals, women, the elderly, and children. Beginning in Nagaland, Jesuits established parishes and schools. Soon after, spread to other states in the Northeast region. In Assam, the Jesuits founded the North Eastern Social Research Centre (NESRC) and the Legal Cell for Human Rights (LCHR) to provide intellectual support to groups working for social change in the region, and to work with exploited rural groups who lacked legal awareness, respectively.

For one month this summer, I had the privilege of working with LCHR and its executive director, Fr. Ravi Sagar, SJ. During this time, LCHR helped organize religious school administrators to defend and promote the rights of minority schools. In Assam, many minority schools face unjust discrimination related to exorbitant registration fees and a denial of government health benefits. As we discussed the details of a legal memorandum to be sent to the Chief Minister, Fr. Ravi encouraged the school leaders by asking, "As others demand their rights, will Christians continue to remain silent?"

I also attended a "peace meeting" of students from the North Cachar Hills in eastern Assam. In the last six months, more than 100 people have died in an ongoing ethnic conflict between the Dimasa and Zeme Naga tribes. The Jesuits’ NESRC supported the students’ efforts to analyze the roots of the conflict and to engage in constructive peace-building in their community. At the peace meeting, students from rival tribes committed themselves to attending each other’s festivals and social service programs. At the meeting’s conclusion, we formed a circle, joined hands, and sang "We Shall Overcome."

When I studied Indian law, I was impressed with the legal rights afforded to minority groups and laborers. Visiting the rural villages with LCHR, however, I quickly learned that these rights are rarely known by villagers and almost never implemented by the authorities. Widespread corruption, via extortion and bribery, limits public access to clean water, food rations, electricity, and other needs. LCHR helps people fight this corruption through legal awareness and advocacy programs, empowering people to become effective instruments of positive social change. When we visited a rural village in the Nagaon district, one person told us, "Now we have the courage to speak to department officials."

Thanks to this experience of faith doing justice and the witness of the Kohima Jesuits, I have returned home with some important questions. In the Wisconsin Province, what are the greatest needs, who are the most marginalized people, and are we Jesuits available to be sent anywhere - in the Province or elsewhere - to serve faith and promote justice?