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Mar 20 2015 : Mirror (Mumbai)The nun who was raped was my school principalFarah
Baria mirrorfeedback TWEETS @_MumbaiMirrorSister was a quiet, soft-spoken,
gentle soul, with nerves of finely tempered steel. She was not like a principal
at all: Slightly built and almost ethereal. She would glide down our school
corridors in her spotless white habit to stand silently outside a noisy
classroom until the chattering died down. No admonitions were necessary. We
were simply given the space to examine our own behaviour, and correct it.
Ours was a secular, democratic school. We elected our head girl and house
captains by secret ballot.Both students and teachers could take their
complaints to the principal's office and be heard with equal fairness. She
would rebuke us for our impertinence, then discreetly call in the teacher and
encourage her to review her approach. Back then, the morning prayer was
followed by the national anthem.On Fridays, while the Catholic girls went for
choir, the rest of us were taught bhajans and regaled with stories of Lord
Krishna. In our class of 40 girls, barely a fifth were Catholic; the rest
mostly Hindu, with some Muslims, and a couple of Parsis. By serving you, we are
serving Him, the nuns used to say.
For Sister, that unswerving faith was put to the test last Sabbath.
Who would rape a 71-year-old nun? And why? The answers are as disturbing as the
questions. Rape in this country has become so frighteningly banal that girls in
short skirts and an elderly nun wearing a cross are equal targets: Both, it
seems, violate our neo-Vedantic sensibilities. Perhaps this also explains the
official catato nia. Following the rape, not a single union minister condemned
the incident, until growing public ire required a response. Worse, this
cowardly crime is the latest in a series of attacks on Christian institutions
in our country. This is ironic because while Catholics constitute barely two
per cent of our population, we have over 14,539 Catholic schools and colleges,
second only to government-run institutions. And in towns and villages across
India, a convent education is still the most coveted. Maybe it's time for our
Sisters to stop being taken for granted. Maybe it's time for every Catholic
school, college and hospital in the country to protest against this senseless
bigotry by closing down indefinitely; or at least until the powers that be wake
up and find they have nowhere better to educate their children. Maybe it's time
to let India acknowledge her debt to the countless nuns and priests who work
selflessly to offer education, healthcare and social services where the
Government has failed for over 70 years.
But Sister, of course, won't hear of it. Forgive them, she pleads for her
assaulters; they know not what they do. Christianity in India is alive and well.
