A reflection on the significance of the Accra Confession for the India of today – Aruna Gnanadason

In India – a brand new government, a brand new Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi….elected a few months back in this the country of some 1.2 billion people; touted as the largest “democracy” in the world.   True, the largest numbers of people have the right to the ballot, in India – more than in any other country in the world.  A mind boggling 620 million people cast their votes in April-May 2014, deciding on the members of the Lok Sabha (the People’s House of Representatives) which will rule the country at the centre in Delhi for the next five years.  One party won the elections with more than two-thirds majority – the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) even if its share of the votes was just 31% of all those cast!  This is the irony, perhaps tragedy, of this form of Parliamentary Democracy!

Now what does this have to do with the Accra Confession could be the question asked?  The BJP has come to power with grandiose promises of change, of good governance and of a corruption free India.  And yes, some initiatives such as the one on the provision of clean drinking water in every home, good sanitation and the rights of the girl child and women have been announced.

But then, as one of its first executive actions, the central government approved the raising the height of the now well known Sardar Sarovar Dam on the river Narmada, in the western state of Gujarat by another 17 metres. This implies that another over 7000 Indigenous Peoples will lose their homes, their ancestral lands and their way of life.  The project was strongly condemned and protested by the Save the Narmada People’s Movement (Narmada Bachao Andolan) which is composed largely of Indigenous Peoples and Dalits, environmentalists, scientists and human rights activists, who have engaged in the struggle to protect the river Narmada from damming projects for over three decades now.  For the past 8 years they had managed to ward off the threat of the raising of the height of this particular dam.  While this was the voice of the people, at the same time the political leadership of the state of Gujarat with its business community have hailed the decision, as it allows for the generation of surplus electricity which will lure in more investments and industrial expansion.  Big farmers too will benefit from this plan – but many small farmers and whole villages of Indigenous Peoples and Dalits will be affected, as their homes and farm lands will be inundated by the waters.

This is just one example of the damage being done to the earth and the peoples of the earth in different parts of India, in the name of development.  Continuous protests by the people, who strongly resist development projects, in an effort to save their lands; and to safeguard their inextricable bond with the earth, have been quelled even with the use of police force, by the government.  India opens itself out to more and more to foreign direct investment not just in industrial expansion and retail marketing but even in the field of higher education by allowing Ivy League institutions to build their institutions on Indigenous Peoples lands. The Finance Minister of the new government when questioned about the first national budget his government has presented has claimed that “By being pro-business and pro-poor, I am not contradicting myself – both have to exist at the same time”.   Yes, the Accra Confession describes this context well:

We have heard that creation continues to groan, in bondage, waiting for its liberation (Romans  8.22). We are challenged by the cries of the people who suffer, and by the woundedness of creation itself.

We see a dramatic convergence between the suffering of the people and the damage done to the rest of creation.  The signs of the times have become more alarming and must be interpreted. The root causes of massive threats to life are above all the product of an unjust economic system defended and protected by political and military might. Economic systems are a matter of life or death.

Added to this dimension of the new government and its doubtful economic policies; what is even more insidious is the rising Hindu right in the country which is not shying from flexing its muscles, as it feels protected by the government in power.  The Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) which claims to be a non-governmental organisation is in fact a collection of lower cadres or functionaries forming the Hindu nationalist front – which has worked closely with its political counterpart the ruling political party, the BJP – campaigning vociferously for the Prime Minister and other candidates.  The chief of the RSS (Mohan Bhagwat) asserted recently that everyone living in India, irrespective of their individual faith was a Hindu first!  He argued disingenuously that “if inhabitants of England are English, Germany are Germans, and the US are Americans, then why are all those inhabiting Hindustan not known as Hindus?”  There have also been overtures by other functionaries that Hindu epics will become part of the educational curriculum of all children so that they can be nurtured in what has been deemed “Indian culture.”  What makes it worrying is that the Prime Minister and his government have not openly condemned or challenged any of these affronts on the secular nature of the Indian constitution or its polity.  “Secular” in India has meant the peaceful and respectful coexistence of all religions.  Is this under threat?

What then is the role for the churches in India?

To revert to the Accra Confession, this situation “calls upon member churches, on the basis of this covenanting relationship, to undertake the difficult and prophetic task of interpreting this confession to their local congregations”.  The General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches meeting in Accra had urged the churches through the WCRC “to work together with other communions, the ecumenical community, the community of other faiths, civil movements and people’s movements for a just economy and for the integrity of creation”.  As the churches met together in Accra they also said, “Now we proclaim with passion that we will commit ourselves, our time and our energy to changing, renewing, and restoring the economy and the earth, choosing life, so that we and our descendants might live (Deuteronomy 30.19).”

The agenda is set….the call to the churches is clear. To confess to our silence when we should speak; for our aligning with even right wing forces to safeguard our own interests; our slowness in joining hands with movements, peoples of other faiths but most importantly with Indigenous Peoples of this land and with Dalits in standing against death dealing forces that are daily being unleashed.  Will we have the courage to stand for the truth, even if it will require the loosing of institutional privileges and protections as a minority, even if it requires the throwing open of our institutions and churches to those who need our presence and solidarity the most?  At Accra we joined the voices of churches globally to proclaim our commitment to choosing life so that we and our descendants may live.   We need to get on with this task – we can waste no time.

Dr. Aruna Gnanadason served the World Council of Churches in various capacities, particularly in directing the programme on Women in Church and Society; and in the Justice, Peace and Creation work.  She now lives in Chennai, India and offers her services to the churches and the ecumenical movement in India and globally in speaking, writing and reflecting on the role, the challenge and the alternative visions offered by the gospel in addressing the impact of patriarchy and global capitalism on the people and the earth.