Sanal Edamaruku

The streets of Fort Cochin has a dramatic collision of the illustrious colonial history, with it’s Portuguese Manueline architecture, cathedrals, Dutch homes with hanging gardens on the windows, and the iconic English estates, clubhouses, and monumental feats of infrastructure.  The drama comes about when contrasted with the sprawling, unregulated slums overflowing to occupy every plot of land. This effect was compounded by the gross lack of awareness on behalf of Mohandas Gandhi, the disastrously poverty-stricken effects of Mother Theresa’s programs, and the gross misuse of power by Indira Gandhi. 

While wandering the streets, looking for the Indo-Portuguese museum , I was remarking how Christian this part of India is, finding symbols of the faith in every restaurant, shop, and street corner. The bible thumpers have been here.  Yes, Catholicism is rife here, and it turns out that the Museum I sought was an extension of the Bishopric house.  Waiting for lunch time to finish, I had the opportunity to sit and found myself in the company of many priests. As a group we had a wonderful discussion, and being invited to meet the bishop, I was obliged to say yes.  Oh how little they knew what they were getting into. 

I sat down with Bishop Joseph Kariyil for tea and engaged in a discussion of Aristotle, Indian habits, and education. It was when I brought up the subject of Sanal Edamaruku that things got a bit tense. For those of you who have not heard, Sanal is a skeptic, the founder of Rationalist International, who debunked a miracle Jesus statue which was claimed to drip holy water. Mr. Edamaruku demonstrated is was from a leaky sewage pipe.  Now the Catholic church and their police-for-hire have hunted him, threatening him with prison, until he sought refuge in Europe.  

“Leaders of two Catholic laity organizations have launched charges against me under Section 295A of the Indian penal code. This charges a person with "deliberately hurting religious feelings and attempting malicious acts intended to outrage the religious sentiments of any class or community.” It is absurd to claim that I did anything of the sort.” According to a  www.slate.com interview.

Following this Interview, this report has said: “4 July 2012.This morning, officers of the Delhi Police reached Sanal Edamaruku’s house to arrest him. They came upon directions of a Delhi court to execute an arrest warrant issued by a Mumbai Metropolitan Magistrate Court (second highest Criminal Court). If Sanal had been at home, he would be in jail now….

The officers were informed that Sanal is presently out of Delhi and traveling. They insisted on details of his whereabouts, addresses and contact numbers. Some hours later, they came again to press for information, to no avail.”

According to Wikipedia, “On July 31st 2012, it was reported that Edamaruku had fled to Finland, where he was staying with his friends.” However the link is in Finish, and I will have to rely on my Finish friend's translation.

Back to our friendly Bishop Joseph, he had nothing to say on the subject, and not surprisingly, I found that tea time was soon over. Browsing the museum, I found wonderfully meticulous collection of catholic artifacts, symbolizing the powerful affluence the church had since the 15^th century in India. Such a large private collection, I had to inquire where they received the funds. I found the curator of the museum, Shaji, a delightful conversationalist, to be immensely helpful answering questions. A seminary pupil himself once, he found more pleasure in the family life, and more fulfillment. As someone who is close the catholic hierarchy in India, he was eager to talk with an outsider. It was said there were ‘concerns’ about the sexual abstinence of the leadership, as well as rumors of a ‘misappropriation’ of funds. I love how Indians use the English vocabulary.

I did a bit of scrounging on the Google and found why the current Bishop is trying to remain out of the spotlight. Although I found nothing regarding financial issues, the previous bishop Cochin has been known as an eccentric one. According to indianexpress.com, the bishop adopted a young woman for, get this… “spiritual refreshment.”
And according to this source, said bishop blessed his house and other priests by sprinkling the woman’s blood around.

“Considered a black magic ritual and disapproved by the official church, the ‘bloody ceremony’ was conducted to bless the bishop’s residence itself. The bishop said he had his own interpretation of the Bible and it was purely personal.”

Can you imagine how different history would be if the Catholics had always allowed their own personal interpretations? Well nobody doubts Catholics have blood on their hands, but now they admit it.
Beautiful museum though…

For the sake of Sanal, please everyone go to this change.org petition, and to this Dawkins Foundation page which urges readers to write to the press and to the Vatican. This man is guilty of enlightening people, destroying myths, and debunking illusory claims. I support Sanal Edamaruku.