By M K George
Rome, Jan 11, 2023: Yearend perusal of journals and newspapers gives a lot of insight about what went by and what people dream for. There are always the optimists and the pessimists, the romantics and the doomsayers.
The world is better than ever
One of the pieces that struck me was from the New York Times (Nicholas Kristoff, 2.1.2024). He claims, 2023 was ‘a good year, amazingly, for humanity’. And he substantiates:
The world over, ‘Child mortality and extreme poverty appear to have reached record lows in the history of civilization’. Only 3.6 percent of the newborns died by the age of five, in contrast to many more millions in 2016. Extreme poverty affects only eight percent of humans worldwide. ‘Every day about 100,000 people seem to emerge from extreme poverty. Two horrifying diseases are close to eradication: polio and Guinea worm disease. Blinding trachoma is also on its way out in several countries.’
India Shines too
As the fifth largest economy in the world, with its stock prices among the best performing in the world and the Gross Domestic Product expected to increase to six percent this year, which is more than that of the United States and of China, India is literally on the moon. The government is on an investment spree, in airports, bridges, roads and clean-energy Infrastructures and the Government is set on the goal of catching up to China and becoming a developed nation by 2047 (Travelli, Alex, 3.1.2023 NYT)
The underbelly shows up
Despite all the talk about growth and the best year, one cannot forget Gaza and Israel. As per official data, the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 22,700 with 9,600 children killed. A WHO representative said recently that on average one child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza.
They called it the ‘humanity’s darkest hour’. Israel is losing lives too, not to forget the horror of the Hamas attack, rape and murder on 7 October, 2023. Ukraine has gone out of the radar of people’s attention. But, the massive suffering, discontentment and helplessness in both Russia and Ukraine continue to rise.
In India, as reported, ‘in a population of 1.4 billion about 20 million Indians are doing well enough to buy Western consumer products, build luxury homes and purchase expensive automobiles. Most of the rest of the population is struggling with inflation in food and fuel prices.’ (Ibid).
The democracy and the law and order situation stand shattered in many locations. Just one example: Manipur. ‘In Manipur where a civil war rages, the police, which is entirely partisan, handed two women over to a mob to be paraded naked through a village and then gang-raped. One of them watched her young brother being murdered before her eyes. Women who belong to the same community as the rapists have stood by the rapists and have even incited their men to rape.’ (Arundhati Roy, 2023)
Which discourse are you part of?
What every human being living in 2024 should be asking is which discourse am I part of: the optimistic or the pessimistic? The truth or the post truth?
The recent example in India of the Christmas party hosted by the Prime Minister of India gives an excellent example of the dilemma and the choices people take. In the above instance, some of the leaders of the Christian Churches opted to praise unconditionally the leadership of the Prime Minister, while ignoring the condition of the Christians and other minorities.
On the other hand, 3,000 plus Christians signed a petition challenging the narrative of their so-called leaders. They clearly said, the leaders did not speak in their name.
The stand of Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalorevstands out for its authenticity and clarity of direction. While he appreciated the fact that the Prime Minister for the first time has appreciated in public the contributions of Christianity in India, he also challenged the Prime Minister on questions of Manipur, Christian persecutions, Anti-Conversion laws and other pending issues.
He said, ‘We all look up to the Prime Minister to give a soothing touch to the burning problem of Manipur, which may be an ethnic issue, but has left deep scars on the people of the Christian community. Further the Prime Minister can surely take Christian leaders into confidence in resolving the Dalit Christian reservations issue in a statesmanship type of leadership by granting equal status to all Dalits, be they Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or Christians.’’
The Hope for 2024
Voices like that of Archbishop Machado, Arundhati Roy and hundreds of others, some of who are unfortunately incarcerated in the name of national security, remains the hope of humanity. Will all of us learn from them, to speak up. Silence or opportunistic discourses in these critical times is indeed criminal.
Great!