{"id":8016,"date":"2009-11-15T12:32:25","date_gmt":"2009-11-15T17:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=8016"},"modified":"2009-11-16T13:58:48","modified_gmt":"2009-11-16T18:58:48","slug":"gratitude-is-an-attitude-teachings-from-cedric-prakash-s-j-a-human-rights-defender-from-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2009\/11\/gratitude-is-an-attitude-teachings-from-cedric-prakash-s-j-a-human-rights-defender-from-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Gratitude is an Attitude: Teachings from Cedric Prakash, S.J., a Human Rights Defender from India"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"21-frcedricprakash\"<\/a>Last week, I learned from Cedric Prakash, S.J., who currently holds the Marquette University\u2019s Distinguished Wade Chair, that the people of India do not have words to express the concept of “thank you.” \u00a0 Culturally, their orientation comes from a place of non-possession that makes recognition for giving unnecessary.<\/p>\n

Confounded, I asked:\u00a0 \u201cWhat if you really want to express your gratitude?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr. Prakash patiently reminded me, \u201cLisa, gratitude is an attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite this cross-cultural teaching, I now find myself writing about Fr. Prakash unable to refrain from using the word \u201cthank you\u201d to express how grateful I feel when contemplating his selfless dedication to defending the human rights of minorities in his home state of Gujarat, India.<\/p>\n

Fr. Prakash heads one of Gujarat\u2019s most vibrant human rights organizations, aptly called \u2018Prashant\u2019 which means \u201call pervasive peace.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Its mission includes promoting human rights, justice ,and peace to ensure the mandate of the\u00a0Society of Jesus<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In particular, he crusades for the protection of religious minorities in Gujarat, where among 58 million inhabitants the majority are Hindus, and only 9.1% are Muslim, \u00a0.56% are Christian, and 1% are Jain (an ancient Dharmic religion).<\/p>\n

MU Students and faculty gathered in Eisenberg Hall last Wednesday, November 10, 2009,\u00a0to learn more about Fr. Prakash\u2019s work and the issues he confronts. \u00a0For example, we learned about a state \u201cconversion law\u201d which requires government permission to change religions; a practice of \u201cencounter killings\u201d where police extrajudicially\u00a0kill young Muslim detainees while pretending to re-enact a fabricated crime<\/a>; and state indoctrination in public elementary schools that\u00a0use textbooks with Nazi propaganda<\/a>.<\/span><\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n

Yet, one horrid event symbolizes most potently the grave danger that religious minorities face in India.\u00a0\u00a0 The \u201cGujarat Carnage of 2002\u201d occurred when, according to Human Rights Watch, a mob of Hindus “undertook a three-day retaliatory killing spree leaving hundreds of Muslims dead and tens of thousands homeless and dispossessed, marking the country’s worst religious bloodletting in a decade.” \u00a0The attack came as a reaction to rumors that Muslims had bombed a train of Hindu activists, a claim later refuted by a government investigatory commission.\u00a0 While the state government blamed the event on \u201cspontaneous violence,” human rights groups unearthed evidence that local political leaders played a\u00a0role in planning and facilitating the event<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As history shows, the truth eventually pervades and the Gujarat government\u2019s ongoing efforts to conceal the truth has met with fierce resistance.\u00a0\u00a0 When it tried to ban the prize winning film\u00a0Parzania, <\/em>a fictional depiction of the 2002 massacre, the state\u00a0confronted protests at home and abroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, as a leader in unveiling the truth about religious persecution in Gujarat, Fr. Prakash has become one of the local government\u2019s primary targets. \u00a0The government currently seeks to seize his passport, as well as initiate\u00a0fabricated criminal investigations against him<\/a>. Yet, Fr. Prakash cannot be dissuaded from his dedication to the most vulnerable people of his state, to educate the world about their plights, and to bring the government to account.<\/p>\n

For example, he recently testified before the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which in August 2009 issued its\u00a0report <\/a>on India declaring that \u201cduring the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, India\u2019s National Human Rights Commission found that the Indian government not only failed to prevent the attacks against religious minorities, but that state and local officials aided and participated in the violence.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Significantly, the United States denied Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi a visa to the United States in 2008 based on his\u00a0complicity in the religious persecutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Justice can be slow, but it always arrives eventually.\u00a0 Criminal investigations are now underway to clarify the criminal liability of the Gujarat Carnage.\u00a0 In one ruling regarding bail for a suspected participant in the mob violence,\u00a0the Gujarat high court<\/a> found the massacre to be “almost unparalleled in modern history\u201d of India, and crimes that undermine the very foundation of the rule of law.\u00a0Witnesses also reveal<\/a> that calls to the government for help, including to Chief Minister Modi, went unheeded.<\/p>\n

In light of the horrendous violence against religious minorities in Gujarat, it comes as a sad irony to realize that Mahatma Gandhi spearheaded his non violent movement \u201cSatyagraha\u201d (the force of truth) in Pujarat, which led to the Dandi Salt March and eventually the freedom of India.\u00a0 It reminds us that human rights protections require constant vigilance from all of us.\u00a0 As Ghandi himself remarked, \u201cAn error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does the truth become an error because nobody sees it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, Fr. Prakash ended his presentation calling upon us to be aware of these human rights violations, and to\u00a0confront those who use resources to propagate hate in India<\/a>.\u00a0 And then, he unceremoniously nodded his head in a gesture of deep gratitude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, I learned from Cedric Prakash, S.J., who currently holds the Marquette University\u2019s Distinguished Wade Chair, that the people of India do not have words to express the concept of “thank you.” \u00a0 Culturally, their orientation comes from a place of non-possession that makes recognition for giving unnecessary. Confounded, I asked:\u00a0 \u201cWhat if you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human-rights","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}