Musings on the Maoists

Last week 76 security men were killed in Chhatisgarh by Maoist insurgents.

The slaughter was intense. Aapparently at least 8 Maoists also died - based on phone-intercepts. The security forces were part of 'Operation Green Hunt" - a massive coordinated attempt by the government to hit back at what has now been decades of low-intensity but fierce violence between various Maoist outfits and state security agencies.

Most of Mall-town India has little time or imagination to think about what is going on in the hinterland. Travel any train. Get off at the station and get into a state-transport bus. Take a few hours by road into any area that still has some scrub forests. You will have not only crossed dusty kilometers - but you will have gone back in time.

No more 'Shining India' here. No InfoTech parks. No clusters of Supermarkets and Food Courts. We are back in colonial days. Tiny villages. The local police picket. Empty space and the odd mining concern guarded by various levels of mafia/strong-men/politicians (often a seamless web). This is the forgotten part of our country - vast swathes of semi-arid land that most try to flee from if given the opportunity - the part of our land that sends the endless streams of road labourers and maids and hotel boys.

It is here too where various levels of ultra-left insurgents have been putting down their roots. The stakes are high. Control. Domination. The success of the Maoists in Nepal is clear. Years of efficient military action and local control by the Maoists led them to openly take over large portions of the country before becoming part of the government. The efficiency of the insurgent forces in the North East in sucking the soft parts of the state through efficient 'taxations' is being mirrored at a local level across the 'Red Corridor'. Recent reports suggest that the Maoist enterprise could be likened at least to a mid-level National Industry - complete with growth targets for revenues.

For the next few weeks we will have lots of hand-wringing in the papers about the "Maoist problem" - and then things will quiet down again. For some time.

Having lived in a village in Jharkhand where 'the party' was active, I know one thing. Local people will always lay low - and wait to see which way the wind blows. 'The party' tends to camp out with them. They may be yesterday's local tough men - now wearing 'party colours' - they may be outsiders who are dedicated to the struggle - they may be youngsters forced to pick up the gun similar to how young fighter in West Africa have been running the diamond wars - but the undeniable advantage that the party has is that it remains the most local of the forces.

This is also why one of the more focussed ways that the government has over the last few years of trying to arm local people against the Naxalites - primarily through the Salwa Judum movement in Chhatisgarh.

What has now been added is a massive escalation of the conflict. Why? Is it because as some voices claim - big industry wants to finally get at the mines and natural resources locked in these states - and the Maoists are in the way? Or is it because the years of jungle warfare are paying off - and the Maoists sense a turning of the tide? The sheer spread of the conflict means that we are unlikely to be witnessing a 'last-gasp' struggle where the Maoists are trying to prove they still are alive. The sophistication, the reach and the sheer numbers show that they are anything but defeated.

Who really calls the shots in the great large country of ours? The police officers? Local or national politicians? The voters who queue up every 5 years?

As I saw the images of the coffins of the security-men being sent home for their last rites it struck me again how many of those directly in the conflict are from the very places where the insurgency is the strongest. We are not hearing about coffins being sent to Kerala where the other family members are all working in the Gulf. We see labels on the coffins for common people from interior forested districts - where getting into the security force is one of the only ways to 'earn a decent living' - the monthly paycheck supporting the wife and kids in the village - while the husband is away in other scrub jungles doing things that they never wanted to.

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I don't have any nice and easy way to end this piece. It remains unfinished - like the many unfinished and hidden-from-sight situations that are taking place across more forested parts of our land.

800

Gentle Readers,

I certainly have not kept quiet. My little counter tells me that we have just crossed 800 posts to this blog. It seems a long way from the first one - and even from the 300th one!

As I write this on a hot, sultry Thane night - with a bunch of dishes waiting for my attention - and my darling family already asleep (I hope) in the fan-whirred quietness of this dark home - I have to just say how grateful I am for this strange and beautiful life.

These last few weeks have been pretty lean - ones when I have dipped in and out of what I think is something like depression - but at the same time I am again and again reminded of the faithfulness of my loving Lord Jesus. We are (at least Sheba and I are) physically and mentally tired at this point - but know that we need to carry on.

So off to the dishes and then to sleep for sometime - till the warm day starts up from her cool repose.

Onwards!

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p.s. Suggestions, thoughts, comments all very welcome! Your readership is appreciated, wherever you are on this fair globe of ours...

From?

So where are you from?

Its a question that as an Eicher we have to deal with often. Somehow the conversation veered that way at the dinner table tonight.

We asked Asha and Enoch to tell us what they say when people ask them where they are from.

Here is Asha:

"When someone asks me: 'what is your mother tongue?'

I reply: 'pink!'

They then laugh! I then ask them if they have a few minutes and I will tell them where I am from.

If they say yes, then I tell them that I was born in Jharkhand, that my Mother was born in Orissa, that her Father was born in Tamil Nadu and that my Mother's Mother was born in Andhra Pradesh. I then tell them that my Father was born in Mumbai, and that his father was also born in Mumbai (Editor: not strictly true) but that my Father's Mother was born in Germany!

Thats it!"

Positive Marriage

They came from another city. A pastor and his friend with HIV.

The young man had been quite sick some years ago. He was prayed for. He was healed. The doctors had given him less than 6 months to live. He is alive today.

A few months ago the marriage question came up. His relatives from the Northern State he comes from have been asking why he is not married. He has told them that 'something is wrong' with his blood (Khun kharab hai) - but that he is working on it.

In another church that is linked with theirs a man has been said to have been completely cured of HIV. Previously with HIV postive reports - now according to them - with multiple negative reports.

A marriage proposal has come. The family wanted an HIV test done. This man - who we will call Chandra - also believed that he was healed. He went to the government centre and got tested. HIV positive.

Not only that - his CD4 level is about 290 per cubic mm at this point - well below where most people would be started on ART in the west - and close to the level of 250 where the government gives free ART in our amazing country.

Chandra and his pastor came here hoping that we may have contact with HIV positive women who would be willing to marry him.

We spent the afternoon talking.

There are no easy ways out.

One of the questions I had was why Chandra wanted to get married. His basic reason is the social pressure he faces as a young unmarried man.

Below this issue was another one - he has not really told his family in the village about his HIV status. Its not easy as his family is one of status in that area. They think that the main impediment is the Christian faith Chandra has embraced - and are suggesting that it doesn't matter what caste he marries - as long as he 'settles down.' He is hoping that finding someone
with HIV will ease this pressure on him.

I suggested that marriage is not just an act of convenience - and that Chandra needs to be ready to give himself totally to the service of his spouse - rather than expecting 'his needs' to be cared for. When marrying another person with HIV he is also specifically taking on the healing and restoration of many issues of trauma that his spouse has already gone through - most of the single women with HIV we know have already lost their husbands to AIDS or have come out of prostitution. She also will be working to care for His needs for restoration too. Further - they are likely to be specifically caring for each others health needs even more in the future.

And in all of this our marriages are not islands away from the stream. We must include family - that broad sweep of relationships which can sometimes be so challenging to live with - but into which we are embedded - for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health ...

I shared what my good friend John Forbes has often said - the God 'desires truth in the inner parts' (Ps. 51.6) and that Chandra needs to speak truth to his family first. That sharing this is not easy, but can be done together with others. We offered to try and help identify people living near his parents who could go with him.

At the end of a marathon session we parted ways in what I hope was a realistic but hopeful mood. The on-going silent struggle of people living with HIV continues. No easy answers. No quick fix solutions. Precious, precious people in very hard situations.

A weekend to celebrate

The sign was clear. Adults not permitted. Particularly adults whose birthdays were coming up in the next few hours.

And so the latest round of Eicher revelry got under way. Asha and Enoch - at their inventive best commandeered our bedroom for some serious preparations on the 1st of April

That night - at 12 AM - we had the first of a series of celebrations. Enoch had to be roused - and was relatively catatonic since he had just started the first deep sleep. But there we had it - the procession of loved ones with flowers, cake and gift to celebrate my completing a ripe young 41!


This year Sheba and my birthdays had a special glow to them - since they fell on Good Friday and Easter Sunday respectively.

The April 2nd day was a day of rest and unexpected friends. Since JSK was closed for the day we had a late breakfast with Rekha and kids, then were surprised at our late lunch by Dr. Tom and George from Powai - and finally had the joy of a supper with our dear friends Arvind and Putul Singh and kids!

All 4 in an autorickshaw!

In the meantime - we were able to spend time as a family - and for me to prepare (somewhat feverishly) to share at the Friday night service we had to mark our Lord Jesus' victory over death through his own dying-in-anticipation-of-resurrection on the cross.

Of the many precious insights that I got this year I was particularly touched by Jesus continuing to think about others - even in the agonies of public and naked execution.

As women mourned for Him, following his gory steps towards death - He turns around and thinks about their immanent sufferings in the slaughter that was the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in AD 70.

As He was nailed to the cross, He cries out to Father God - to forgive them. All of them. Not just the executioner soldiers - but all those who bayed for His blood - and all those like me who have rejected His love and followed my own hateful ways.

As He hung naked and gasping for breath - Jesus forgave one of the other men - a convicted murder and probable rapist - who had previously been abusing Him - but who amidst his gasps for breath had asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus came into His kingdom.

I have to think back on one of my favourite songs which we used to sing a lot at Nav Jivan Hospital in Jharkhand: Amazing love, what sacrifice - the Son of God, given for me.

The next day was a blur. Our weekly mini prayer meeting for JSK from 7.30 to 8.30 AM (this time attended only by us senior Eichers and our over-nighting friends Arvind and Putul). A full day of training for church members in HIV care at Jeevan Sahara. Then myself off to what turned out to be a late night meeting with fellow elders and Sheba and the kids having a birthday evening with Jason - a boy from church whose B-day was on the 3rd.

At 11.30 PM on the 3rd I had nothing in hand for Sheba - and the big day was just minutes away! As Rolly drove back I looked gloomily at all the closed shops. No cake. No flowers. Nothing.

Then we dropped off Oliver at Mulund railway station - and I saw an icecream parlour. At least I can get something there I thought. A brief stop in and I discovered something better - an icecream cake! In a jiffy it was snapped up - a styrofoam box and all - and off we sped to Thane.

I managed to get the box into the freezer undetected at my 12.15 AM arrival - a quick wish and prayer and we were all off to dreamland. An early morning wake up to get a card ready - plus a quick run on the scooter to see if any flowers were available - yes they were - roses for the taking at some enterprising flower seller - and we were in business!

At breakfast on Easter morning - we not only reveled in Sheba's delicious dosas and idlis - we had a small procession of cards and flowers and the frozen wonder of a cake!


Much jubilation and hilarity followed. We have been deeply blessed by some of the most remarkable children around (says the proud Papa). Our home is certainly not poor for not having a TV - especially since Asha channel and Enoch channel are on most of the time!


Amidst all of this - we had the beautiful joy of being with people who gather together every Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Easter Sunday has no special significance as a 'holy day' as each day is to be 'set apart' for our loving King. But, having said that - the wonder of being able to all focus together in a special way on glorious resurrection of Jesus makes up for any sloppiness and cant that has been tacked on to Easter (cf. chocolate eggs etc.).

As we gathered at Rolly's home it was a day of great joy to be with the wide variety of people that make up our house fellowships - and to celebrate together.


And then again - our meetings are all the sweeter when followed by eatings - together, a lovely jumble of folks using up every available cubic cc of space in the gracious Jayakars' home.

This being our particular flavour of house-fellowships we had the rousing strains of a big Happy Birthday to Sheba and to Jason (mine having already been taken care of after the Good Friday meeting).

Asha and Urvashi - great friends

And so we moved back home - bellies full, hearts full, ready for the embrace of a nap. Later in the evening we had some more visitors, and some music practice and some preparations for Asha and Enoch's final exams the next day.

Life is full. God is very merciful to us. Beauty surrounds us - and is lived in relationships. Unworthy - but oh-so-blessed.

Thank you.

Κύριε ἐλέησον

On the day that many of us celebrate the resurrection of our Lord - we got some grim news. A phone call telling us that Mr. Tamir has died.

This was quite a shock to me since though we know Mr. Tamir has HIV, we did not know he was very sick. But it wasn't sickness that killed him. Mr. Tamir had it seemed got into a fight. Someone had hit him. He did died from the injury.

This is the second husband whom Mrs. Tamir has lost. The first to HIV. The second (also HIV positive) to violence. She and her little daughter are bereft.

On Easter Sunday our dear friend Daniel Kautikkar and his brother-in-law Pastor Pravin Shinde went to meet Mrs. Tamir in her grief. Mrs. Tamir has been part of their church fellowship for some time now - and they as a church have been living along with the family through many of the tragedies this small family is going through.

On a day when many of us remember the empty tomb - there was a fresh one dug, this one in Airoli. The murdered man was put in, and his grieving wife and child live on. Do pray for these dear ones - and for their church family who are seeking to help and bless them in these days.

Κύριε ἐλέησον, Χριστὲ ἐλέησον, Κύριε ἐλέησον.

Knowing the truth

I was talking to a small group this evening. We have 3 new interns from the Union Biblical Seminary who started their 7 months practical ministry training with us at Jeevan Sahara Kendra today. We were joined by 2 church members from a local congregation. The topic was an overview of HIV - in order to get them up to speed for the next session of our church training which we are holding on Saturday.

One of the many areas we covered was the issue of HIV testing. At its core is the hard kernel of knowing the truth. Knowing what my HIV status is. Knowing whether I have been infected by the virus or not.

In his public confession after committing adultery, king David says: 'surely you desire truth in the inner parts' (Psalm 51.6). For us to change we have to confront the past - in the present. For many of us this will take the concrete form of an HIV antibody test. For others it will be something else - some tangible sign of things we may not want to address.

For a person at risk of HIV - knowing the reality is the first step to moving forward. But it may be a bitter pill to swallow in the here and now. We are natural procrastinators - natural head-hiding-ostriches who want to push the inevitable off a little more, who seek a little more sleep before having to face the dawn.

Sadly, so many are not with us anymore - because they refused to face reality. Their denial - ultimately self-imposed (though many times tangled up in the fear and shame that still surrounds HIV) - kept them from implementing the many things that have helped HIV positive persons around the world live on to fight for another day - for another year - for the rest of their ever-expanding average life-span.

Whether we have HIV or not, we face this issue at so many levels. Do we have the courage to really know the truth? Are we scared of what we might find?

The good news is that we don't have to face our truth alone. The One who lovingly made us is by our side - ready to listen to us if we ask Him for help. He is not afraid of what might be hidden - since all truth comes from Him - who is the Truth. And not only that - His truth is linked with love and acceptance - and a desire to help us move forward.