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DR Congo. Dancing to the Rumba Rhythm.

Saturday, 1 October 2022 8:00

The rumba is a typically Congolese rhythm. This popular music, which crossed the Atlantic Ocean during the slave trade, spread to Latin America. Transformed, it returned home to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Congo, from where it conquered the African continent and the whole world. Since 2021, it has been an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

“The rumba is our most important sound mineral, with which we identify ourselves all over the world”, said Antoine Manda Tchebwe, director general of the International Centre for Bantas Civilizations, at the international symposium on Congolese rumba which was held in March 2020 at the new Kinshasa Museum.

For its part, the Joint Scientific Commission on rumba, constituted by the two Congos, in presenting to UNESCO the candidacy of the rumba within the Intangible Heritage of Humanity, in one of its documents, declared that rumba “is the expression par excellence of our passion for life, of our resilience. A travelling companion on the journey of the struggle in the political history of the two countries, it ended up becoming not only a space for celebration but also a vector for mobilizing popular consciences.” On 14 December last, it was included in the list of the Immortal Heritage of Humanity.

African music par excellence
The rumba has its roots in the nkumba – the native dance in Kikongo – practised in the former Kingdom of Congo, which included part of the two Congos and Angola. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, thousands of slaves from these territories were deported to the Caribbean. Despite the conditions to which they were subjected, they preserved their cultural heritage and in their small associations, according to the ethnic groups, they perpetuated their spirituality and the musical richness of their land. In very different contexts – weddings, funerals, births, etc. – and in events of a recreational nature, the practice of the nkumba continued, which the Spanish colonists later called ‘rumba’. This developed and changed under the Latin influence and became popular, especially in Cuba and the Antilles, and then spread throughout Latin America.

Joseph Kabasele with his irresistible hit Independance Cha Cha, in 1960.

The Congolese rumba begins to emerge overwhelmingly in the early 1950s, particularly in Kinshasa. At the end of the decade, its projection on a pan-African scale begins: Independance Cha Cha, the irresistible hit by Joseph Kabasele in 1960, accompanied the negotiations for the independence of the Belgian Congo to Brussels, but then made much of black Africa dance in the wave of independence.
Subsequent albums spurred the rapid expansion of Congolese music, which quickly attracted the attention of radio stations across the continent. Big names like Tabu Ley Rocherau, Franco Luambo Makiadi, Paul Mwanga and Doctor Nico have emerged.
Across the Congo River, in Brazzaville, Franklin Bukaka, Paul Kamba and Pamelo Mounka were the centre of attention.
In 1966, with Tabu Ley and his group Afrisa International, the Congolese rumba was present at the First World Black Art Festival in Dakar, Senegal, and in 1970 Tabu Ley performed at the Olympia in Paris. In a short time, ‘The former Zaire became the standard-bearer of African music: all music lovers, young and old, celebrated and affirmed the coherence and beauty of modern Zairean music. Their recordings attracted all the markets of the country, but also of East and West Africa. The rumba was even considered the African dance par excellence’, wrote the Congolese Pius Ngandu Nkashama in one of his works.

Bakolo Music International, the oldest traditional congolese rumba music group. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Jeanne Vu Van

The merit of the rumba is that it has remained a blend of tradition and modernity that promotes feelings of self-love or belonging and unites different communities, peoples, ethnic groups, and countries. The great interpreters of African rumba began to disappear in the 1970s. They were replaced by new musicians and groups with a “less structured and more complex” modality, according to Clément Ossinodé, the famous Belgian soloist and expert in this musical style.
The new generation of Congolese musicians is enriching the rumba and attracting new generations from almost all of Africa. Among these: Papa Wemba and the Zaiko Langa Langa group; Koffi Olomide – considered a legend of Congolese and African music, with over three hundred songs; Werrason, who has stood out as an active voice against discrimination and early marriage and in promoting women’s education; and again JB Mpiana, Faly Ipupa, Ferre Gola and Héritier Watanabe. (Photo: 123rf.com)

Lwanga Kakule Silusawa

DR Congo. Oil exploration in protected areas causes outcry from environmentalists.

Saturday, 1 October 2022 8:00

By early 2023, controversial oil exploration will start in protected areas and world strategic ecosystems in the DRC.
This is the last episode of the rush of oil companies inside national parks throughout the continent, pushed by soaring costs of oil exploration in the deep offshore that is taking even more momentum since the beginning of the Ukraine war and the new quest for alternative sources of hydrocarbon.

On the last 28 July, the Congolese government auctioned 27 oil blocks: three in the coast Basin on the Atlantic, nine in the central Cuvette, eleven in and around Lake Tanganyika Graben and four in the Lake Albert region. Three more gas blocks on the Lake Kivu were also auctioned. According to the Ministry of Hydrocarbons, these oil blocks will be awarded within six months whereas the gas blocks will be awarded within three months.
The stakes are considerable. According to the Ministry, the DRC is endowed with a crude oil potential of over 23 billion barrels (3bn in the Coastal Basin, 6.4 bn in the Cuvette, 7.25 bn in the Tanganyika Basin and 6.5 for the Albertine Graben) while gas reserves are estimated to 66 billion cubic meters. The oil bonanza alone represents an estimated value of US $ 450 billion while the gas reserves are worth nearly $ 200 bn at current prices.

Congo River. (Mauro Burzio)

However, the auction has provoked an outcry from environmentalist organizations. According to the Environment Ministry Forest Atlas, nine of these oil blocks overlap protected areas, including a national park, nature reserves, and a mangroves marine park.
Greenpeace Africa and others groups have indeed expressed alarm that three of the blocks overlap with the Cuvette Centrale peatlands, a biodiversity hotspot containing about 30 gigatons of carbon, equivalent to three years of global emissions. Oil drilling could release these immense stocks of carbon, warns Professor Simon Lewis of University College London. Moreover, Block 18, is only 20 kilometres from the Salonga National Park, a World Heritage UNESCO site.
In such conditions, the auction of new oil blocks is “mad”, says Irene Wabiwa Betoko, International Project Leader for the Congo Basin Forest at Greenpeace Africa. “If oil exploitation takes place in these areas, we must expect a global climate catastrophe”, she warns.

Lake Tanganyika 123rf.com

Besides, says Greenpeace, communities whose territory is overlapped by these blocks have not been consulted, about the government’s oil exploration plans. In the Upemba National Park, in the South-East of the country, local chiefs only heard of them from Greenpeace. But the DRC government is adamant to go ahead with the project. In May 2022, it announced its intention to renew memoranda of understanding with the governments of Tanzania and Zambia to allow exploration in Lake Tanganyika, Africa’s largest fresh water lake and in Lake Moero.
The government’s answer to the criticism of the NGOs and local communities has been ambivalent. When he announced the tenders on the 28 July, President Felix Tshisekedi tried to reassure the DRC’s international partners about the government’s determination to carry out exploration while protecting the ecosystems. The Minister of Hydrocarbons, Didier Budimbu, claimed that the drilling techniques that would be applied would be harmless for the environment. In a statement to Greenpeace Africa, the Hydrocarbons Ministry emphasized that no areas inside UNESCO World Heritage sites were up for auction and that overlaps would be restricted to other Protected Areas. Yet, the Congolese law, makes no distinction, in terms of oil exploration, between protected areas in general and World Heritage sites.

“Our priority is not to save the planet”
Clearly, conservation is not the government’s main concern. “Our priority is not to save the planet but to earn more money” declared Budimbu. In this context, the Greenpeace staff received death threats from anonymous callers related to its criticism of the 28-29 July oil and gas auction, told the NGO in a letter to the Inter-Donor Group for the Environment in the DRC.
Such threats are not surprising owing to the climate of hostility against Greenpeace stoked by a statement of the Environment Minister, Eve Bazaiba who described the NGO as an “organization […] full of pathological and unrestrained animosity towards the government” whose staff are “beneficiaries of imperialist backers.”

DR. Congo. Pygmy women.

The Congolese government is particularly irritated because Greenpeace sustains that the 28 July auction was illegal since accordingly, some of the calls for tenders issued by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons contain “a flagrant anomaly”. For instance, the Graben Tanganyika call for tenders which refers to the 8 April 2022 Council of Ministers meeting, includes seven blocks which are not mentioned in the meeting minutes.
Unfortunately, the carbon sinks of the Central African rainforest are also threatened by the promulgation on the 31 December 2019 of a production sharing agreement for the Mokelembembe license by the Congo-Brazzaville government which covers part of the country’s peatlands, between the Société nationale des pétroles du Congo (SNPC) parastatal and TotalEnergies.

Macron supports controversial oil pipeline project
In Eastern Congo and in neighboring countries, other initiatives are threatening wildlife sanctuaries. Despite President Emmanuel Macron’s statements about the need to end the use of fossil fuels, TotalEnergies whose main shareholder is the French state is planning to drill inside the Murchinson national park in Uganda. And this controversial project has even received French ddiplomatic support. In a letter sent in 2021 to Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, Macron described the East African Crude Oil Pipeline which will evacuate the production from the Ugandan field to the Indian Ocean, as a “major opportunity” for both countries.

123rf.com

Total plans to drill more than 400 wells on the Tilenga fields in an area which provides habitat to diverse species of birds, giraffes, elephants, pangolins, lions, chimpanzees, buffaloes, hippos, hartebeests, and warthogs. In addition, activists accuse Total Uganda and the subcontractor it hired, to have forced farmers to sign compensation agreements under pressure or intimidation and deprived them of access to their land before compensation was received.
Six NGOs including Friends of the Earth France and the Kampala-based Civil Response on Environment and Development, warn about the danger of the potential displacement of tens of thousands of Ugandans and massive environmental risk posed by a network of pipelines passing under the Nile river. They also stress that burning the oil that will be produced by the Ugandan fields could release the equivalent of 34 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year into the atmosphere.

Drilling in the Kavango Basin
In Angola, the government has drafted in 2021 a legislation to allow oil, gas and mining activities in 14 national conservation areas, including the Luengue-Luiana National Park. In the neighbouring Namibia, the Canadian company Reconnaissance Energy Africa, is drilling in the onshore Kavango Basin; and in north-eastern Botswana. Greenpeace considers that the Kavango Basin project is completely incompatible with combating climate change and stresses that it is facing growing opposition from local communities as it affects an environmentally sensitive area which is home to Africa’s largest remaining population of savanna elephants and other threatened species. Oil exploration could also be a threat for the 200,000 people who live in the area, including the First Nations San and Kavango peoples.

Botswana. Elephants in the Okavango delta. 123rf.com

Besides, the use of the controversial fracking technology by ReconAfrica, could provoke irreversible damage to the Okavango Delta since drilling for oil requires large quantities of water and poses risks of pollution of the marshlands and seasonally flooded plains of the Delta, which is the main source of water in the region. Namibian NGO calculated that the project could generate up to 51.6 gigatonnes of CO2, and therefore constitutes a “carbon bomb”.
Extensive oil development would pose also a threat to the abundant wildlife since the license is within the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, which covers 520,000 sq km of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Since the Delta is a protected World Heritage Site, in August 2021, UNESCO’ expressed concern about the project. In 2019, the largest protected area of the continent, the Termit and Tin-Toumma national reserve in Niger was also partly declassified to allow oil exploration inside its territory by the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). Despite official claims from all governments to reduce emissions and protect the environment, the assault by oil companies against Africa’s ecosystems is going on. (Open Photo: 123rf.com)

François Misser

Young People make their roots flower again.

Wednesday, 14 September 2022 20:10

The new Latin American generations are following the invitation of Pope Francis to “be proud of the history of their peoples”. Two examples of sustainable development from the Bolivian Amazon.

Listening to the young indigenous descendants opens the heart and renews hope. In fact, they embody in their life the well-known “honour your father and your mother”, as the first commandment says, which contains a promise: “that you may be happy and enjoy a long life on earth” (Ep 6,3).

They honour their fathers and mothers by consciously recognizing their human value, their knowledge, their ability and their work in cultivating the land so that their children become (like it or not) participants in today’s history. Aware of this, young people build the present and the future by remaining tied to their ancestors.

This is, for example, the experience of Bernal, born in the Yunga in the Bolivian Amazon. His ancestors sowed and grew coffee which they sold at competitive prices to support the family. Having grown up surrounded by coffee, Bernal became passionate about it and this prompted him to study agronomy. He tells us: “When I entered university I knew the subject well, having learned from my father and my mother how to sow and cultivate without damaging the ecosystem. The studies helped me to diversify production and to obtain a finished product ready for consumption. Today the work of my grandparents and my father, as well as of my community, is appreciated and recognized, and our coffee is sold at a fair price both in Italy and in other countries such as Japan”.

In a certain sense, the advice that Pope Francis addressed to young people in January 2019 to “be proud of the history of their peoples and tenacious in facing the challenges they face, so as to proceed quickly in the construction of another possible world”, is grafted onto everyday life in these southern countries where the experience and wisdom of the elderly transmit strength and knowledge to the new generations to overcome the hostile environment and be grateful for their lives.

Lucia was born in Chapare and had a difficult childhood due to the poverty of the family. Growing up, she saw that the land of her community was very fertile. She produces a lot of fruit and yet she is rapidly becoming impoverished. She is sure that being able to process the fruit will benefit the entire community.

This is why she has decided to study food production engineering, and in her second year, she says: “Whenever I have time, I go home where my mother and I are already extending our farm. We are also discussing with the people of the area how to avoid using toxic materials and herbicides in production. We want to take care of our land because our roots are in it but also our future, we can’t just think about moving to the cities “.

Lucia, therefore, concretely translates the words of the pope who recommends “returning to one’s own original culture, taking care of one’s roots, because from them the strength to grow, make it flourish and bear fruit” is born.

These two simple experiences of young Bolivians show that in the face of a system of global competitiveness, it is possible to build and live in a synodal context that passes from the ‘I’ to the inclusive ‘we’, thus respecting our Creator and creation as a whole. (Photo:123rf.com)

Tania Ávila Meneses
Bolivia

Peru. The Ayahuasca Ritual: the Gateway to the World of Plants and Natural Medicine.

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

The ancestral Andean Amazonian wisdom is transmitted through songs, mythological stories, and the narratives of the wise men and women, whose message is the importance of generating,
preserving, and caring for life in its entirety.
The Ayahuasca ritual in the Peruvian Amazon and the preparation process of the aspiring Amazonian shaman.

The name ayahuasca is a compound word from the Quechua language where aya, means dead person and huasca rope, so ayahuasca can mean the rope of death or of the dead. Though in the Asheninka culture, this term means to be drunk or hallucinatory. Ayahuasca is a powerful hallucinogenic and healing potion, brewed by indigenous peoples of the Amazon rainforest, which was traditionally consumed by shamans for purposes of magic, divination, and healing.
They used this vine-shaped plant for divinatory purposes, by holding healing ceremonies; they used the medicine as a diagnostic tool to discover the roots of illnesses in their patients.

Photo: 123rf.com

The Ayahuasca ritual
The Ayahuasca ritual is prepared and directed by a spiritual teacher or shaman, that is, by someone who has the knowledge of these things. That is why a shaman is in charge of collecting the ayahuasca plant and other ingredients. He decides where and when the brew will be prepared. By the day of the preparation of the concoction, the shaman is supposed to have all the ingredients ready. The ayahuasca stems are shredded into fine strips and are added to a pot of clean water along with their leaves, other herbs, and tree bark. All these ingredients are left to simmer until the concoction turns red, which takes between14 and 16 hours. Once it is ready, the concoction is left to cool and then it is filtered through a strainer and stored in a container for ritual consumption.

The consumption of the ayahuasca, which has been prepared by a shaman, generally takes place during night sessions. The shaman prepares a cosy environment in an ample space so that the participants in the ceremony can feel comfortable after having ingested the concoction. The shaman who leads the session begins to sing the icaros, which are healing songs that guide the effects of ayahuasca, known as dizziness. These ceremonial songs accompany the participants during their inner journey and are sung by the shamans during an Ayahuasca ceremony. The icaros are used for many purposes by the shamans but generally they are used to work with and direct the healing powers of the plant spirits.
At the same time, the shaman observes the different effects of the brew on the participants in the session. The ingestion of the ayahuasca causes different reactions: some of the participants begin to cry or to vomit, others have visions or experience imaginary journeys, during which they go back to the past or imagine meeting ancestral spirits. It is said that the effects of the ayahuasca brew can last between 6 to 12 hours. During that time the shaman accompanies and observes the participants. When the effects of the Ayahusca are over, the participants listen to the recommendations of the shaman and then go back home to rest. The ayahuasca ritual is considered the gateway to the world of plants and natural medicine; through it, one can learn the medicinal properties of plants and use them as therapeutic tools.

The preparation process of the aspiring Amazonian shaman
The person willing to become a shaman is supposed to undertake a preparation process. He must make a retreat in the depths of the jungle where he will learn the plant properties from his master shaman. He must remain in the jungle ingesting and getting to know medicinal plants. He will have to follow a diet that includes white rice, green bananas, and a type of fish only.
These foods will be cooked without salt or seasonings. Sugar is also forbidden in the diet of the aspiring shaman.

Photo: 123rf.com

Furthermore, he is not supposed to meet anybody but his master shaman, because, for instance, if he came in touch with a woman who is menstruating, or with a sick person, or someone who has had sexual intercourse, his diet could be seriously affected. That is why diets are done in isolation. The ayahuasca ritual can be considered as the time to restore personal balance with the ancestral spirits and with the cosmos. The apprentice ritual therefore is considered an important step in the formation of the shaman who wants to learn to heal the brothers of his community in order to restore harmony with all creation. That is why the ayahuasca ritual has been transmitted orally and through practices from generation to generation for millennia. (Open Photo: 123rf.com)

Jhonny Mancilla Pérez

Why all the cows belong to the Maasai.

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

In the beginning, the Maasai did not have any cattle. One day God called Maasinta, who was the first Maasai and said to him: “I want you to make a large enclosure, and when you have done so, come back and inform me.”

Maasinta went and did as he was instructed, and came back to report what he had done. Next God said to him: “Tomorrow, very early in the morning, I want you to go and stand against the outside wall of the house for I will give you something called cattle. But when you see or hear anything do not be surprised. Keep very silent.”

Very early in the morning, Maasinta went to wait for what was to be given him. He soon heard the sound of thunder and God released a long leather thong from heaven to earth. Cattle descended down this thong into the enclosure. The surface of the earth shook so vigorously that his house almost fell over. Maasinta was gripped with fear, but did not make any move or sound.

While cattle were still descending, the Dorobo, who was a house-mate of Maasinta, woke up from his sleep. He went outside and on seeing the countless cattle coming down the strap, he was so surprised that he said: ‘Ayieyieyie!’ and exclamation of utter shock. On hearing this, God took back the thong and the cattle stopped descending.

God then said to Maasinta, thinking he was the one who had spoken: “Is it that these cattle are enough for you? I will never again do this to you, so you had better love these cattle in the same way I love you.” That is why the Maasai love cattle very much.

How about the Dorobo? Maasinta was very upset with him for having cut God’s thong. He cursed him thus: “Dorobo, are you the one who cut God’s thong? May you remain as poor as you have always been. You and your offspring will forever remain my servants. Let it be that you will live off animals in the wild. May the milk of my cattle be poison if you ever taste it.” This is why up to this day the Dorobo still live in the forest and they are never given milk. (Open Photo: 123rf.com)

Folktale from Maasai People of Tanzania

Towards the 2023 Synod. The Spirit Shows the Paths to Follow.

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

From the diocese of Pando in the Bolivian Amazon region, Monsignor Eugenio Coter explains the horizons that the synodal journey is opening up to the Church.

“The synodal path is not a motorway. It is like one of the great rivers of the Amazon that I sail on when I go to visit the communities. You see the river and you think it has a current that only goes in one direction, but it is not true. There is a large mass of water flowing underneath, moving in various directions, flowing at different levels, and making eddies. In one place the water is warmer, in others colder. It is an underwater world that if you look at only from above, you cannot imagine. You see it as a compact expanse and instead, it is in constant motion and it proceeds in only one direction: towards the sea”.

Monsignor Eugenio Coter, bishop of Pando in the Bolivian Amazon region

“There is a thread of continuity – explains Monsignor Coter – that binds the meeting, held in May 2017, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, in Brazil (at the conclusion of the fifth General Conference of the Episcopates of Latin America and the Caribbean, Celam), to the Synod of the Amazon (2019), despite the post-synodal work being slowed down by the pandemic, to the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (Ceama), and the synodal journey that will end in October 2023.
In Aparecida, 15 years ago the Holy Spirit pointed out the Amazon as an emblematic place for the evangelizing mission of the Church. The Synod of the Amazon was a milestone, and afterwards, Pope Francis launched the proposal of the synodal journey with the participation not only of bishops but of religious and laity. But where will the thread of the Holy Spirit lead us? We will know this from the indications that will come from the ecclesial world, in docility to the Church and to the will of the Spirit”.

The Dream of Querida Amazonia
In Bolivia, vicariates, dioceses, and archdioceses, the synodal commissions are at work carrying out community reflection. “And this is already a way of making Church – emphasizes the bishop of Pando. All the Bishops’ Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean have created a coordination system. At a basic level, we in Pando also have our commission made up of lay people and religious, priests and there is also myself” Elected two years ago as head of Ceama, Monsignor Coter was the protagonist of both the Amazon synodal and post-synodal path, characterized by the birth of the Amazon Bishops’ Conference, in which he was elected as representative of the bishops.
Last March, with the passage of the presidency of Ceama to Cardinal Barreto, the bishop of Manaus Leonardo Ulrich Steiner and a lay representative Maurizio Lopez were elected as vice-presidents, while Monsignor Coter was confirmed as the representative of the Amazonian bishops in the presidency of Ceama.

Through a full program of meetings, including online, Ceama is working on the ecclesial dream of Querida Amazonìa, giving space to a dialogue that opens the door to the laity, reflecting realities already alive in the field. But are the laity ready to be invested with a wider ecclesial involvement? Monsignor Coter has no doubts: “We have prepared lay people; they are not theologians but they have always maintained ecclesial participation with an open heart. They are most willing to build with creativity and patience, to move an institution like the Church which, despite its 2000 years, is full of vitality. Some intervene in a critical way, however, posing themes for reflection. Some stay at the window but don’t want to roll up their sleeves to get to work and build change. They too must help us, be a stimulus to bring words of light and hope to society. There are prodigal sons who leave the house and have to rediscover the hard way how much better it was to eat at their father’s house; others who stay at home and do not understand how important it is to sit at the table all together, to work together, find it difficult to grasp this dimension of openness. We must be grateful to Pope Francis who places us on this path”.

A Synod of the People
Many expectations are being concentrated around the work in progress for the next synod. The bishop comments: “Pope Francis has always shown himself to be very careful in opening paths, in generating openings, in moving rigid situations, always with a lot of attention to unity and communion. We remember how the Amazon Synod did not answer everything but gave us the ABCs to build the answers
along the way”.

A variegated and complex world horizon opens up on how this synodal journey will be lived by the individual local Churches. The working document is a map that is already in the hands of countless realities of the Church in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania and Europe, territories with other histories and cultures that study how to face the new road that is opening up towards the future. What do such different realities have in common in terms of history, dimensions and local problems?
Msgr. Coter points out: “Certainly there is in common the fact of being Christians, the feeling of being a community. Now, these communities led by priests alone are becoming communities led by commissions in which there is a priest who animates and coordinates together with the laity. Together they reflect and generate participation. In some realities, there is still a very clerical vision of the Church that struggles to leave room for the laity who are a wealth not only as an operational contribution but also as a vision, reflection, incarnation of faith and new proposals. If we do not do it out of conviction, out of conscience, because that was the way the early Church was, we must learn to do it soon as we will be short of priests”.

In Latin America where grassroots communities have been a popular and widespread tradition since the years following the Second Vatican Council, how will the ecclesial community grow on the synodal journey? In a context of great changes in which the reform of the Curia desired by Pope Francis with Praedicate Evangelium is fully inserted, what are the most topical issues for the Churches of the continent? “In this phase, new words are emerging as milestones that help the heart to translate dreams into concrete steps – explains Monsignor Coter. We are writing the answers that will come from the synodal journey. For example, in the commission in which we have been examining the Amazonian rite for a full year, we see that elements oriented towards respect for some typically local realities are emerging. These responses will be defined not by a bishop nor by a parish priest but by an ecclesiastical province, by a synodal group at the local and inter-diocesan level. The answers will come through a synodal practice, that of the common journey”.

The bishop continues: “A problem for the communities of the Churches of the Amazon region is the lack of priests available to accompany pastorally the communities scattered throughout the territory. But now, on the other side of the globe, even in Europe with the decline in vocations, there is only one parish priest for four or five communities and on Sundays, he finds himself running from one side to the other to celebrate Masses, becoming predominantly the minister of worship and losing contact with the people. The European Churches with this problem must find their answer. With so much geographical and historical distance between us, there is the same problem here and we must understand how to give the sacraments to our faithful. In the Synod of the Amazon, we reflected on this and other problems of the incarnation of the faith, and now we must build the answers. Thus enter the challenges of a new reality of the Church with fewer priests and the need for greater participation of the laity. These basic problems also exist in Asia and Africa, albeit in different cultural contexts”. And are the pastors ready for this journey with the laity? “It is important that the episcopal conferences know how to delegate people who want to take risks, to walk. It is important that the bishops know how to delegate pastors with the ability to listen and with the courage not to seek certainties but the light of the Spirit that never indicates highways but pieces of a path to walk on. And not alone”.

Miela Fagiolo D’Attilia/PM

Brazil.The Struggle of the Piquià Community Against the Mining Giants.

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

Carajàs is considered the largest open cast iron mine in the world, in the heart of the Brazilian eastern Amazon. After more than twenty years of battles, the first families of Piquiá de Baixo, a suburb of Açailandia, in the state of Maranhã will be able to settle in a new territory, safe from toxic fumes. The commitment of the Comboni Missionaries.

The mining industry, the uncontrolled deforestation that has ravaged the Amazon rainforest for decades, cattle farming, and soybean monoculture, have been Brazil’s major sources of exploitation for decades, often with the connivance of the government – in the vast country. Presidential elections will be held on 2 October – with domestic or foreign multinationals being the main players.
The price that the populations in the areas of mining have paid has been very high, with the loss of health of thousands of people due to the pollution caused by industries that operate indiscriminately, without guaranteeing the necessary protection to the inhabitants.
One of the areas of the country most directly affected by this policy of uncontrolled extraction is in the state of Maranhão, and concerns the community of Piquià de Baixo, a suburb of Açailândia. Now, after more than twenty years of claims for the reparation of the violations suffered, the inhabitants of the slum have obtained the right of resettlement in a new neighbourhood, sufficiently far from the toxic fumes,
called ‘Piquià da Conquista’.

Carajás Iron Mine, NASA satellite photo

Among the first to mobilize in favour of the community of Piquiá were the Comboni missionaries. Father Dario Bossi recalls: “We immediately supported initiatives and proposals coming directly from the inhabitants: a battle of a small community of about 1,100 people, regarding the sustainable future and the fight against pollution”.
The story began in 1987. At that time the iron and steel industry settled around Piquià with five cast-iron factories, a railway and other mining company facilities. Since then, the presence of Vale Industries Ltd (the second-largest mining giant in the world) and the steel industries have been consolidated, and the population living close to them experiences the damage of toxic fumes on their own skin.
Over the years, mining operations have increased and today Carajàs is considered the largest open cast iron mine in the world, in the heart of the Amazon. The immense logistic corridor for exports (900 thousand km²) crosses two Brazilian states and about 100 communities, with an extension that goes from the mines to the port of São Luís, from which large cargo ships are sent to various parts of the world – today, mainly, towards China, but also towards Europe.
The huge iron and steel mining activities, the production of cement, and the steel mills, have contaminated the air and in general the environment of this region, with a strong impact on the health of the community, as has been shown by precise scientific studies.

The Carajás Railroad runs 892 kilometers (554 miles) connecting the world’s largest open-pit iron ore mine, in Pará’s Carajás municipality, to the port of Ponta da Madeira in Maranhão’s São Luís municipality, on Brazil’s Atlantic coast. CC BY-SA 3.0/Nando Cunha

Father Bossi explains: “Companies and public institutions were urged to repair the moral and material damage and to mitigate emissions, but the few replies received were still considered insufficient by the inhabitants who suffered harm”.
The only solution, at one point, was to abandon the area and move people to another place, once the causal link between the health damage observed in the population, i.e., respiratory and other pathologies, and the very high levels of pollution, was confirmed.
In fact, this conclusion was reached by a study conducted by the National Cancer Institute of Milan in Italy, based on the collection of data and the recording of the subjects’ medical history through questionnaires, focusing on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with evaluation through spirometric tests.
From the research it emerged that almost 30% of the population analysed had a significant respiratory deficit, a percentage up to six times higher than that of the rest of the inhabitants of Brazil. It should also be noted that the International Federation of Human Rights (Fédération Internationale pour les Droits Humains – FIDH) has repeatedly sided in favour of Piquià, with three reports published in 2011, 2019 and 2022, which highlighted that three-fifths of the community suffer from breathing problems.
The campaign, An invitation to Piquià de Baixo, which the inhabitants of the suburb conducted together with the FIDH, had the objective of denouncing the pollution produced by the mining companies operating there, such as Vale and Grupo Ferroeste.

Comboni Father Dario Bossi. Photo: Julio Caldeira/REPAM

Right from the beginning, the demands of the Piquià community were supported by local associations, such as the Carmen Bascaràn Centre for the Defence of Life and Human Rights, the human rights organization ‘Justiça nos Trilhos’ (On the Tracks of Justice, winner in 2018 of the Human Rights & Business Award Foundation award) and by the Comboni Missionaries. The tenacity and resistance of the population have borne fruit and the first 312 families will shortly be able to settle in the new territory of Piquià da Conquista, safe from poisonous fumes.
Father Bossi says: “As Combonians we have lived the path of denunciation, the defence of human rights and the affirmation of the dignity of all the inhabitants of Piquiá, who have faced the struggle for a new life away from toxic fumes with courage and determination”.
Failing to move the steel plants and alternatively asking for a substantial reduction of harmful emissions that was never implemented, the best solution for the people was the request, now approved, to find a new neighbourhood 8 km from the polluted area, where they could continue to live. “At the beginning of the whole affair, we could have called into question the steel industries, forcing them to transfer their activities, given that the industrial settlement was inserted in an already inhabited context – continues Father Bossi.

“The alternative would have been to accept to live with the mines, but only in the presence of a guaranteed sizable reduction in emissions, which never happened. For this reason, the community had to opt for resettlement, abandoning its roots to move to a new neighbourhood, on condition, however, that it was built at the expense of the government and those responsible for the pollution”.
It took a lot of effort and organization by the people for the government and the companies responsible for the pollution to bear all the costs of resettlement. In the new areas, houses and room for gardens, recreational and social activities are already under construction, in compliance with the urbanism/health relationship, thanks to the presence of biodigesters, with water purification plants for the treatment and recovery of urban waste. An innovative pilot project for other similar emergency situations.
The new challenge that people are preparing to face concerns compensation for damage to health and the environment. Furthermore, a solution will have to be found for the contaminated area, to prevent other people from occupying the houses in Piquià that will be abandoned by the residents. Among the proposals made, is among others, that of decontaminating and redeveloping the affected area and transforming it into a large public park. (P.S.)

Herbs & Plants. Steganotaenia Araliacea. The Carrot Tree.

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

It is a multipurpose medicinal plant and can be used, in particular, to treat pneumonia, asthma, arthritis, chronic ulcer, sore throat, and fever. An essential oil is obtained from the leaves which is used for various purposes.

Steganotaenia araliacea (Family Apiaceae/Umbelliferae), commonly referred to as the carrot tree, is a small, aromatic, deciduous tree growing at an average of about 5 m in height. The bark is greenish, corky, peeling in papery strips, with all parts having a strong carrot smell. Leaves spiral on long-shoots or clustered at the tip of short-shoots, imparipinnate with 3-4 pairs of lateral leaflets. The leaflets are broadly lanceolate to almost round, margins are strongly dentate, with the teeth ending in a hair-like tip. The petiole is broadened at the base, clasping the stem. The flowers are small, greenish or yellowish, in terminal and lateral compound umbels, appearing before the new leaves. The fruits are in messy clusters, flattened, and heart-shaped.

When crushed, the leaves have a carrot-like aroma hence the common name ‘Carrot tree’. The tree is harvested from the wild for local medicinal use and for other ethno uses. It is used in soil conservation schemes and also grown as a hedge. The plant is relatively widespread in Tropical Africa and is found in Mali, Cameroon and other regions of West Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Eritrea in East Africa and in a variety of locations in Southern Africa. The use of traditional herbal remedies is encountered in both rural and urban areas, and this traditional medicine is one of the surest means to achieve total health care coverage for African’s population. As such, medicinal plants including Steganotaenia araliacea (which is regarded as a multipurpose medicinal plant) has been widely used in folklore.
In fact, Steganotaenia araliacea has been reported in the treatment of various ailments especially in tropical Africa and the savannah regions where it is mostly found, including treatment for pneumonia, asthma, arthritis, chronic ulcer, sore throat, fever, hypotensive, wound healing, as a diuretic agent, and other diseases of microbial origin.

An infusion of the plant is strongly emetic. The scented leaves are used as vermifuge, as ophthalmic lotion, and as an anticonvulsant. The leaves decoction can be administered for the treatment of diarrhoea. The decoction obtained from the combination of the leaves and stem bark is used to treat sickle cell anaemia. The leaves and roots are used together for treatment of epilepsy. The roots and the bark decoction of Steganotaenia araliacea is used to cure sore throat.
The bark is chewed as a treatment for fever and is used in preparing a medication for heart complications. A decoction prepared by boiling the bark is added to milk and administered orally to adults as a remedy for stomachache and dysentery. The bark decoction is topically applied to treat scabies. The bark decoction is also known to be used as medicine for gas removal from the stomach (relief for stomach bloating).
The crushed tree trunk is reportedly used to deter snakes from the homestead surrounding. Twigs are used in dental care as toothbrushes.
The root decoction is used to treat a number of conditions including menstrual problems, abdominal pains, malaria, bilharzia, sore throat, swellings caused by allergies, heart palpitations and gonorrhea. The whole root as well as the root bark is used in the management of opportunistic infections due to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and treatment of theileriosis in some communities. Furthermore, the root bark is used for functional psychosis, treating snake bites, painful chest conditions, as well as a treatment for anasarca.

The leaves are rubbed on wounds as a general disinfectant. A decoction of the leaves is used in the management of diabetes mellitus in a number of communities.
In agroforestry, the Steganotaenia araliacea plant is sometimes grown as a hedge. It is considered to be an important species for use in soil conservation projects. The leaf litter enriches the surrounding soil. The tree casts a light shade and is often intercropped with banana, cacao, and coffee among others.
An essential oil is obtained from the leaves which is used for various purposes. The major components of the oil are limonene, beta-phellandrene, alpha-pinene, sabinene, beta-caryophyllene, and cryptone. The odorous leaves are used for scenting garments. The tree trunk is reported to have snake deterring activity. The twigs are used in dental care as toothbrushes. The white wood is soft and brittle. It is used in making farm tool handles and implements. Tree parts are used as fuel wood. (Open Photo: CC BY-SA .4.0/ © Hans Hillewaert)

Richard Komakech

Africa. The Sound of Drums.

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

Drums play an important role in the life of African people. Traditionally, drums represent the soul of the community. They are used for celebrating ceremonial events and rituals within the community. Here are some popular African drums.

The Karyenda comes from Burundi and used to be the main symbol of the country. It also represented the Mwami (King of Burundi) and had semi-divine status. It is believed that the Mwami could interpret the beatings of the karyenda into rules for the kingdom.
As expected, these drums were sacred and were mostly used in rituals, major events for the king, such as royal coronations. They were also used at funerals, and weddings were announced through the drums. The beating of the drums also signalled certain rites, such as when the Mwami rose in the morning or retired in the evening.

Djembe or Talking Drum
The talking drum dates as far back as 500 a.d. where it served as the secret drums in major societies for the rite of passages, ancestral worship, rituals, and social dances. According to the Bambara people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes from the saying ‘Anke djé, anke bé’ which translates to ‘everyone gathers together in peace’ and this name defines the drum’s purpose. In the Bambara language, ‘djé’ is the verb for ‘gather’ and ‘bé’ translates as ‘peace’.

It is believed that this drum contains three spirits. First, the spirit of the tree from which it was made. Then, the spirit of the animal whose skin is played, and the spirit of the carver, or the one who cut the tree and the people who assemble the drum. Traditionally, only those born into the djembe family would be allowed (or interested) to play the djembe. This caste sings and performs during rituals, baptisms, weddings and sometimes funerals, and are trusted with the music of their ancestors.
Talking drum is a two-sided (with two stretched membranes) hourglass drum (made from a single block of wood), which is played with a curved stick and held under the armpit (sometimes called the armpit drum for this reason). The arm presses on strings that stretch the skins (originally made of animal guts), modulating the sound.

South Africa. Port Elisabeth. Dancers and drummers. 123rf.com

Some peoples, such as the Hausa of Nigeria or the Bulu of Cameroon are able to produce sounds that are very similar to the human voice. From this characteristic comes the name.
Already known during the Ghanaian Empire, it is an instrument of the Hausa and Yoruba tradition and is often used by griots (singers and guardians of the oral tradition of West Africa).
The talking drum is known by different names such as tama or tamma (among the serer, wolof and mandinga), gan gan or dun dun (among the yoruba), dondo (among the akan), lunna (among the dagbani), kalaugu (among the hausa), and doodo (among the songhai).

Entenga
The Entenga drums were part of a set of royal instruments of the Buganda Kingdom in Uganda. According to tradition the Tebandeke Mujambula, (1704 – 1724), the Baganda King loved the drums so much that he asked the drummers to play every morning at 3 am. He felt that the drums were so perfect, that this was the only time of the day when it was quiet enough to appreciate them fully. These drums have also been used to accompany traditional African religious activities like prayers, droughts, and removing evil spirits in the communities.

Mukanda
Among people of Kamba in Central Kenya, the mukanda is a double-membrane drum, covered at both ends, used to accompany the acrobatic dance wathi wa mukanda or mbeni, danced mainly by both boys and girls. The same drum, however, is known as mwase when used in the spirit-dance of the same name, played and danced mainly by women.

Uganda. Drums perform traditional music with a group outside the Kampala national theatre. 123rf.com

Kithembe originally referred to a cylindrical, leather honey-container, used as a drum in the religious dance, kilumi. Later the honey-container was abandoned and the drum, open at one side, which replaced it was given the same name. Nowadays the mukanda drum, is sometimes referred to as the ngoma/mwase/kithembe.
Though the drum has become a very popular musical instrument in Kenya, its historical background is unclear. The then president Kenyatta for example says that the Kikuyu borrowed the drum from the Kamba, the kehembe being known in Kikamba as kithembe.It also seems that the Luo drum ahangla, which resembles the Luhya sikuti drum both in design and playing technique, is an instance of borrowing.
A sikuti-like drum is indeed found in most of the Bantu linguistic communities of Kenya.
Drums in Kenya fall into the following categories: one-membrane; two-membrane; stool; pot; and friction. One might also classify these drums in terms of playing position. The player may sit astride the top of the drum as is the case of the kithembe – or hold the drum tightly between the legs and inclined forward – as in the case of the Giriama mshondo. If the drum is slung in front of the chest – as are those of the Mbeere or Chuka – or hung between the armpit and chest – as the sikuti is – the instrumentalist can dance while playing.
A third classification might be those which are beaten by hand and those beaten by a stick or sticks. Most African drums in Kenya are hand-beaten, allowing for more complex variations in rhythm and tonal colouring resulting from the intricate manipulation and alteration of the fingers, thumbs, and nails of the hands.

In the one-membrane drums, is the kithembe used in the mwase, kilumi and mbeni dances. The two-membrane drums is the Kamba mukanda, Giriama and Digo drums. The third category is the stool drum, though widely distributed in east and central Africa, is not popular in Kenya. It is found mainly along the coast up to Taitaland, and is played in sets of two to six drums by, e.g., the Bajun, Giriama and Digo in the ngoma za pepo to drive away evil spirits. Although these drums range from 7 inches to 2 and one-half feet in diameter, all are covered by a membrane of goatskin or cow hide. The largest are now made from petrol drums. Where traditions are still maintained, the smallest size drum, kumuuri, produces a steady rhythmic pattern which leads and controls the beat of the dance.

Ngoma
Ngoma (also called engoma or ng’oma or ingoma) are instruments used by certain Bantu populations of Africa. Ngoma gets its name from the Kongoword for ‘drum’. These drums are used in ceremonies in Central and South Africa, where the primary aim is to assist in healing during ceremonies. The rituals involve regular music and dance and can result in stress reduction, social support, and support of pro-social behaviours. Ngoma usually serves as a means to unite the tribe and help in health or life transitions. The ngoma drum is also used in Zimbabwe, mainly for traditional dances and celebrations. (Open Photo: Playing djembe drum. 123rf.com)

Franklin Ugobude and John Mutesa

Making a Common Cause with the Poor and with the Common Home.

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

About thirty members of the Comboni Family (Lay, Secular, Religious, men and women, from Africa, America and Europe), met from July 27 to August 3, 2022, in Belém, capital of Pará, Brazil, on the occasion of the X Pan-Amazonian Social Forum (X FOSPA) and the Comboni Meeting on Integral Ecology. Here the Letter they sent
to the Comboni Family.

We opened our ears, hearts and minds to the groans of Mother Earth, of the Amazonian peoples and of the communities we work with, who cry out for the complete regeneration of the daughters and sons of the God of Life (cf. Rom 8, 19-23), present throughout all of Creation. We did this in continuity with the long journey of the Comboni Forums and the mapping of social ministries in our Comboni Family and mission.

We are inspired by the spirituality of native peoples and their strong interconnection with the primary elements of the cosmos: water, rivers, air, forests, land and all beings. Through them, Jesus of Nazareth continues to invite us to “contemplate the birds of the sky and the lilies of the field” (Cf. Mt 6, 26-28) in order to learn and assume together the Bien Vivir (Good Living).

Through attentive, respectful and compassionate Listening to the reality of many peoples:

We see that the climatic, socio-environmental and political crisis – derived from the dominant and unsustainable economic model, which separates, excludes and kills – seriously endangers human survival and the full life of all Creation, in the territories where we live our vocation and mission at the service of the Kingdom. It is the indigenous peoples, traditional communities, women and young people who still nourish hope, in their resistance, in defense of the Amazon!
We understand that the gravity of the situation urgently demands that the Church and our Institutes initiate processes of ecological conversion.

We feel it is necessary:

to review and unlearn many of our concepts and experiences in relation to God and Nature, the relationship among men and women, about inculturation, pastoral practices and liturgy;
to integrate in our missionary activities the defense of the bodies of those who fight for respect for the environment and of the territories where we are present;
to cultivate and share eco-spirituality, biblical re-readings and the link between faith and life;
to adopt a missionary methodology that allows us to have a greater connection and an effective immersion in the values, languages, cultures and sacredness of the peoples and territories with which we interact;
to review and correct, in our projects and structures, styles of life and consumption, often incompatible with ecological and evangelical sobriety;
to invest in basic and continuous training that integrate, in theory and in practice, the principles of Integral Ecology;
to inform and encourage the local Churches and our Comboni Family about events, means and processes that help us to assume and deepen the experience of synodality and social ministeriality in an ecological perspective;
to strengthen solidarity, participation, mutual care and networking with indigenous peoples, lay people, congregations, social movements and inter-ecclesial and extra-ecclesial bodies.

We propose to the coordinators of our Institutes, to the councils of the circumscriptions of all continents, to sectorial leaders and to all the members of our Comboni Family:

– adopting, as a common inspiration, the Comboni Pact for the Common Home and, as a transversal axis of all our missionary activity and presence, Integral Ecology;

– promoting the permanent sharing of reflections, lessons learned and practices among the members of the Comboni Family;

– exchanging personnel among communities and circumscriptions that operate in the same territory;

– qualifying our training processes with research, sharing of methodologies for intervention and social transformation and the definition and the theoretical-practical integration of Integral Ecology in line with Laudato Si’ and Querida Amazonia by Pope Francis;

– participating in the discussion and elaboration of pastoral plans in dioceses and parishes that assume the principles of Integral Ecology;

– promoting our qualification and participation in the field of advocacy and political decision in defense of the Common Home;

– supporting and investing in the mechanisms and practices of inclusive economy;

– welcoming and defending people at risk or threatened because of their struggles.

We assume, as participants in this Comboni Family Encounter and in this rich experience of listening, the commitment to:

▪ publicize and support the Pan-Amazonian Declaration of Belém, which integrates the Knowledge and Feelings shared in the X Pan-Amazonian Social Forum (X FOSPA);

▪ continue the reflection and sharing of insights that emerged during these days of meetings;

▪ translate and live, in the different contexts of our mission, the charismatic inspiration of Comboni (Regenerate Africa with Africa) and the slogan “Amazona-te!”, which had a strong repercussion among us in these days, always respecting and promoting the protagonism of the traditional peoples.

We entrust all this path that we want to travel to the intercession and protection of the Martyrs of the Amazon who encourage us to radical witness and fidelity in our following of Jesus of Nazareth and in living out our charism.

From the flow of life on the banks of the Guamá River, in Belém do Pará, August 3, 2022.

The identity ‘card’.

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

The latest census of India, that of 2011, indicates that 79.9 per cent of Indians identify themselves as Hindu, 14.2 per cent as Muslims and 2.3 per cent as Christians (about 30 million, divided almost equally between Catholics and those belonging to other Churches or denominations).

However, while Muslims and Christians seek in their identity an element of self-protection and egalitarianism barely touched by socio-economic differences, also present within them, for many Hindu leaders and their political references the priority task is to bring back to the Hindu ‘common home’ the ‘exiles’ who by converting to other religions have sought above all greater equality opportunities but who in so doing would threaten the unity and ‘purity’ of India.

The religious element has acquired more and more a political value.

The identity ‘card’ has been increasingly played, but while in the long period of power of the Congress Party, almost uninterrupted from 1947 to 2012 under the leadership of the Gandhi dynasty which still directs it in the figures of Sonia Gandhi (party president) and his sons Rahul (congressman) and Priyanka (member of the All India Congress Committee), its impact has been relative or localized. With the return to power in 2014 of the pro-Hindu nationalists led by Narendra Modi, now in his second consecutive term as head of the government, the religious element has acquired a political value, exacerbating divisions and underlining the desire to bring back the various religious experiences present in a single traditional vein, with reconversion where possible, with a path of convergence on shared points in other cases, and with forced assimilation or expulsion in others.

The Taj Mahal is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra.

In a country known for its tolerance and assimilative capacity that cannot ignore the conflicts that have repeatedly been inspired by religious diversity, the official sponsorship of Hinduism has imposed constant pressure on religious minorities. This is partly the expression of a broad discriminatory movement towards traditionally marginalized groups, partly the manifestation of a ‘governing’ nationalism which, by promoting national unity and identity, indicates the destiny of every religious expression that has historically emerged in reintegration into the Hindu stream or has differentiated from it. A promoter of this line is the largest party at the federal level and at the head of many states, the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bjp, but it is deferred to – providing important banks of votes – by militant Hinduism movements, starting with the Rashtriya Svayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a leading organization of Hindu nationalism that advertises one million adherents and for which the theory of Hindutva (‘Hinduity’, or rather of a natural belonging to Hinduism of anyone born in India) must be the primary objective. ‘At any cost’, because where direct coercion or the threat of violence do not reach, propaganda and lies do. ‘Destructive lies’, such as those that give the title to the latest Open Doors report which aims to shed light on ‘disinformation, incitement to violence and discrimination against religious minorities in India’.

Masjid-e-azam is the main mosque in Mysore, a city in India’s southwestern Karnataka state. 123rf.com

Based on field research conducted between February and March 2021 by a group of scholars from the London School of Economics, the report includes data and testimonies collected in various locations in the country where episodes of anti-Christian or anti-Islamic violence are manifested, highlighting how ‘throughout India, Christians live in a state of constant fear’ as a result of ‘a systematic campaign of harassment, violence, rape and murder’. The proposed ‘cases’ are exemplary, identified in areas particularly affected by Hindu pressure such as the rural regions of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Orissa, which show the inconvenient truth hidden under official policies.
‘Daily life for many Christian and Muslim communities has become an excruciating battle to earn a living and practice their faith’, stresses the report: ‘India: Destructive lies: Disinformation, speech that incites violence and discrimination against religious minorities in India’, which intends to highlight a situation in constant and worrying deterioration which places the largest world democracy face to face with its
obvious contradictions.

Mass at our lady of Lourdes church in Kumrokhali, West Bengal. 123rf.com

‘In India, there is an ongoing work of disinformation and anti-Christian propaganda and against other religious minorities (including Muslims, Open Doors specifies) which makes use of many tools but which now has a leading vehicle in the mass media and in social networking. Underlining that not only do attacks and persecution occur, but ‘they are ignored or even condoned by the authorities – including state and regional governments, police and media’ so as not to antagonize the powerful Hindu organizations that are in fact sponsors of the nationalist government by giving them their votes and receiving immunity from them in their campaign of reconversion to Hinduism and in the often violent action that uses alleged conversions as a pretext that a growing number of states and territories of India are forbidding by law.
The fine for those who convert to Christianity is 25 thousand rupees (about 260 pounds in the tribal areas of the state of Orissa), one of the 9 states of India that already apply anti-conversion legislation with a clear repressive direction towards religious activities, both Islamic and Christian. According to one of the authors of the report, ‘the extent to which state actors are complicit in the violence is shocking. Bureaucrats, policemen and lower court judges are often openly colluding in discrimination and politicians, top religious leaders and powerful media owners are giving very clear signals that this behaviour is appropriate’.
Under this growing pressure, Christians are particularly vulnerable due to their numerical situation but also because they are more exposed to unfounded accusations, given the large number of welfare, educational, social, and cultural initiatives they initiate or manage. They are open to all, without exclusion but are seen by Hindu extremists as also
aimed at conversion.

Catholics during an outdoor mass in the village of Mitrapur, West Bengal. 123rf.com

According to Open Doors, India is in 10th place among the 50 countries where difficulties for the baptized are most acute. Another organization committed to identifying Christians’ difficulties in expressing their faith, Persecution Relief, reported that in the first half of 2020 hostile acts against Christian Indians increased by 40 per cent, mostly reported as ‘hate crimes’, and the subsequent trend showed no significant change. Between lies and fear, the ‘narrative’ of discrimination is almost always one-sided. ‘The main media reporting these attacks literally repeat the reports of the perpetrators, refusing to speak to the victims’ and thus become instrumental in perpetuating violence and discrimination. One example is the accusations made against Christians of deliberately spreading Covid-19 among Hindus.
But other examples of de facto discrimination of those who are not fully integrated into society according to the canons of Hindu extremism are not lacking. While the remuneration for a tribal worker employed in a factory or plantation is 150-200 rupees per day (1.40-2.20 pounds) as against a minimum wage of between 160 and 420 rupees according to the State of residence, 20 thousand rupees (205 sterling) is paid in compensation to the family for the death in a cell of a converted aboriginal.

Stefano Vecchia

Music. Ustad Saami. The Fascination of an Ancient Mystery

Thursday, 1 September 2022 8:00

“The world calls me Ustad, the teacher, but I personally feel I am a Shagird, a disciple of music”. This is how Naseeruddin Ustad Saami, one of the most significant personalities in Pakistan and musical Sufism, defined himself.

His songs and his music are infinitely distant from what is heard in the West; so much so that those unaccustomed to this type of sound would say it is ‘all the same’ or ‘boring’. In reality, his music is closely linked to Sufism and its origins predate Islamic musical culture.
The 77-year-old Pakistani is the last master of an ancient art (dating back to the 13th century) and widespread in much of South Asia: the qawwali devotional chant based on a scale of 49 microtones, from which the modern khayal descends.

Ustad Saami is the last master of an ancient art and widespread in much of South Asia: the qawwali. Photo: Marinella Delli.

Everything revolves around a central note, from which the master moves with great skill, bringing in ancient mystiques and accompanying the song with hand movements as if he were dancing, according to a ritual that fascinates for its almost magical strength.
On the one hand, his style evokes the melismas of Gregorian Chant, and, on the other, is related to that of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, probably the greatest Pakistani musician and the only one able to achieve almost universal fame.
In the West, Saami began to make himself known with a record released in 2019 entitled ‘God is not a Terrorist’ which was followed by the recent ‘Pakistan is for the Peaceful’, two titles that adequately express the essence of his message: the search for peace and serenity implied by values and visions of life very far from those of Islamic fundamentalism which, not surprisingly, has always opposed it.
Fortunately, his fame is recognized everywhere in the country, allowing him greater freedom than that of many of his colleagues. Maestro Saami has sung since he was a child under the guidance of an uncle from whom he learned all about this endangered art, but over the course of his career, he has assembled an increasingly vast and stylistically varied repertoire. And he sings in a variety of languages ranging from Sanskrit to Urdu, from Farsi to Arabic and even the ancient Vedic language.

Photo: 123rf.com

‘Pakistan is for the Peaceful’ was recorded on the roof of his home in Karachi. Accompanying him were his four sons Rauf, Urooj, Ahmed and Azeem playing two drums, the tabla and the harmonium, intoning responsorial voices that occasionally echoed the melodies sung by their father. It was all done in a single all-night session and with the assistance of Ian Brennan, the wise discoverer of unknown sonic treasures of the Glitterbeat House: only three songs that, apart from their emotional strength, are and will remain a precious document of an art that could disappear forever with Ustad. Music from another world, full of charm and ancient mysteries, which nevertheless is a full part of this world. But, perhaps, for just a little while longer. (Open Photo: 123rf.com)

Franz Coriasco

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