Vatican has been appointing bishops for bombay who are not in a position to solve even 5% of the poverty unemployment economic housing alcoholism infighting problems of the local catholics of bombay ( www bombayland.blogspot com ) i.e. EastIndians ( www east-indians com ). Just like the Prime Minister of India who turns a blind eye to the corrupt activities of some of the ministers in his cabinet it appears that all the past/present/future Bishops appointed for Bombay also turn a blind eye to the corrupt activities of some parish priests in bombay who have been misusing church funds, illegally selling vacant church properties, refusing admission in parish schools to children of poor catholics, etc.
To be a True Christian the basic qualification is the person should have a Christian name and deep faith in Lord Jesus Christ & Blessed Mother Mary. All EastIndians in Bombay have Christian names and have deep faith in Lord Jesus Christ & Blessed Mother Mary. But because of the loss of their agricultural lands in bombay and the genetic problem of alcoholism & infighting the eastindians are suffering. Some EastIndian associations are only interested in organizing singing competition food festival dance competition instead of organizing political demonstrations at azad maidan shivaji park mantralaya parliament to demand a 5% quota in govt. jobs & govt. housing in bombay for eastindians. To be sure, the Shiv Sena has always acknowledged the aboriginal status of the East Indians. In a letter to the East Indian Journal (Page 5, issue dt. 15 January 1968) Sena chief Bal Thackeray tried to find Christian recruits for his fledgling chauvinistic organisation. Bal Thackeray wrote “The East Indians, who are essentially Maharashtrians, have also suffered,” he said. “Being sons of the soil, they find themselves strangers in their own land. Their ancestral lands are acquired, their houses are ruined. For want of money their children cannot get higher education, and for want of higher education, they cannot get better jobs.” His letter came only a few years after a community debate about its nomenclature. Many wanted to be called Maharashtrian Christians instead of East Indians to reflect their cultural milieu better and to shed the colonial past. The Sena’s position hasn’t changed since Mr. Thackeray’s letter. The Marathi manoos have monopolized the name Maharashtrians for themselves due to which it is unlikely any eastindian or koli can identify with the name Maharashtrian. There is no ideology in India only castelogy. But the most dangerous type of discrimination is monopoly of the Marathi manoos on BMC, Police, Collectorsoffice, city survey office, mantralaya, rationoffice, urban development dept, town planning dept, mmrda, mhada, politics and other administrative depts. of maharashtra government in bombay. Will the Marathi people share some of the jobs in BMC, Police, Collectorsoffice, etc with EastIndians & Kolis ????? The Indian Government is preparing the 12th Five year plan www 12thplan gov in . What is the point in preparing such plans when the previous 11 plans could not lift people out of poverty even today majority of rural folks survive on less than Rs.20/- a day and most urban folks survive on less than Rs.40/- a day. China govt controlled Chinese population which enabled the Chinese govt. to uplift millions of Chinese out of poverty. China is now a economic power and a great military power. The Godless Americans are really worried of China and are trying to prop-up India to counter China. Nothing is as long and as boring as a Roman Catholic mass. There was absolutely nothing exciting in Sunday mass. Once you had memorized every hymn and prayer, and knew exactly when to stand, kneel and sit, there was really nothing left to hold your interest. But of course you can't fall asleep, or make any noise or touch anything, or you might go to Hell. The length of the mass was especially dependent on two things: 1. If there was a priest that insisted on singing the various gospels and psalms, or if they spoke it. 2. The length of the homily (sermon)….At least when the homily was finished, you know you were almost done. Then you could go home, and enjoy the best part of the week: the point at which the next mass is furthest away. Just thinking of that was enough to get you through the last fifteen minutes or so of the Sunday mass. IF GOD ATTENDED A SUNDAY MASS HE WOULD PROBABLY SAY “OH COME ON! THE PRIEST BETTER KEEP THE HOMILY SHORT AND SNAPPY!". Heart wrenching poverty, potholed roads, traffic jams, overcrowded trains & buses, water shortage, overflowing gutters, garbage, an all pervading stink, increasing slums, broad daylight encroachment of openspaces mangroves saltpanlands, stress & frustration due to poor management. Who is to be blamed? The Corporator who is powerless? The Bombay Muncipal Corporation (BMC), who is accountable to the Maharashtra State? The Maharashtra State, which is burdened with too many issues? The Bombayite, who is suffering everyday? If there are so many problems and no one is at fault, then there is something wrong with the system. The people of Bombay elect 36 of 288 representatives for the Maharashtra state legislature. The MLAs elect the Chief Minister. It is to be remembered that the CM may not be from Bombay. He could be a representative from some other constituency severed from the issues of Bombay. The CM appoints the BMC Commissioner and Additional Municipal Commissioners who have the executive powers. The BMC is divided into 24 administrative wards each with a population of upto 11 lakh people. These wards are answerable to the Commissioner. Bombay citizens elect 227 Corporators who in turn elect a Mayor. ‘Mayor’ is a ceremonial post without any executive authority. The elected Corporation has only deliberative powers for policy making but no say in execution or planning. Thus the elected corporators are powerless and have to go to the lowest rung BMC executive with joined hands to get any work done. The unlimited Floor Space Index (FSI), the creation of extra avenues to dump transfer of development rights (TDR) on the suburbs, the growth of slums and the 1948 Rent Control Act are the major reasons for aggravating Bombay’s infrastructure problems. In town planning terms, these are means to strangulate a healthy city. Multiple parallel agencies like PWD, MSRDC, MMRDA, MHADA, etc. truncate the powers of the Commissioner and BMC. They are directly controlled by the state and are not answerable to the citizens of Bombay. Also central agencies like MBPT & Railways, AAI, Defense, who occupy a large chunk of land, are not accountable to the BMC (for Municipal Governance/Services). In this city structure where is the room for people’s participation? The State controls the City Municipal Governance without being directly answerable or accountable to people of Bombay City. The system lacks leadership and is badly designed - administratively and managerially! The endless cycle of slum demolition and rehabilitation in bombay cannot end till the incestuous network between the land mafia, slumlords, police, rationoffice, collectoroffice, bureaucracy, builders and politicians is not shattered. That incestuous network cannot be dismantled till you make sure that men and women do not migrate from rural to urban areas under distress and because of dispossession. The real urban solution lies in men and women in rural villages finding no reason to shift to cities. In concrete terms, the UPA government should invest time and money in agriculture, adding value to it and making it an 'industry' good enough to provide sustainable employment for 12 whole months and a robust rural development model that does not force men and women to flock to Bombay city. Jorge Monteiro jorgepmtrgmailcom Bombay.