Our Sacred Duty AHMEDABAD, MAR. 10, 2009, 13.05 Hrs (Cedric Prakash sj): In a few weeks from now, India will once again go to vote in what is universally regarded as the biggest ever democratic elections on the face of the earth; by the third week of May, we will hopefully know, who will be elected to govern us. For us Christians, the mandate is clear: long ago, Jesus very categorically stated “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” thus implying that each one of us, as citizens, need to get involved in the political process and in the area of governance. The Church has never fought shy from good governance and political involvement. It is therefore binding on each one of us to do all we can to ensure that the Augean stables of political life are cleansed and all of us have a Government with representatives who are NOT corrupt, communal, casteist and criminal. There is plenty that each one of us can do in the context of the ensuing elections; among them are : • to study the election manifestos of the various political parties; organize / participate in debates on what they promise (bring to their notice their promises of the last elections, if they have fulfilled or failed to keep them) • to campaign for individuals / parties / ideologies that are transparent, clean, willing to serve the people, preserve the diversity of the country and uphold the sanctity of the Indian Constitution • to report immediately any individual / party that breaches the Election Code of Conduct • to ensure that we vote and get as many people to exercise their franchise on voting day • to monitor the elections at the local level • to report immediately (and in writing) cases of fraud (booth capturing, rigging, etc.) or any other malpractices to the Chief Electoral Officer of your State and to the local police station Finally, we need to organize special prayers in our families, localities, Churches so that we have elections which are free, fair and non-violent and that those elected to govern us will have the courage, sagacity and honesty to be concerned with the welfare of all, very specially the poor, the marginalized and other vulnerable sections of our society. There is no denying that all of us, have a SACRED DUTY to perform. (* Fr. Cedric Prakash sj is the Director of “Prashant”, the Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace
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