September 2007
Monthly Archive
Thu 27 Sep 2007
Sun 9 Sep 2007
BIHAR, INDIA, September 7, 2007: A senior official in India’s Bihar state faces suspension for wearing the Hindu red mark or tilak on his forehead at work. Lakshman Mishra, deputy director of the agriculture department, is accused of breaching a new government dress code. He says he has worn the mark, or tilak, on his forehead at work for 30 years, and it is his religious right to do so. His colleagues support him - nearly all of them arrived at work on Friday wearing red marks in protest, and unions are threatening mass action.
Mr Mishra’s troubles began in August when new guidelines were issued on what state government officials could wear at the office. Bureaucrats have been advised to stay away from bright colors, T-shirts and denims. They should stick to sober colors, preferably khadi. For women, the government has prescribed sari with a blouse of “adequate” length or salwar-kameez.
His department head, C.K. Anil, warned Mr. Mishra that he considered his tilak to be in breach of the code. When he refused to remove it, Mr. Anil recommended him for suspension. Mr. Anil is a young, no-nonsense civil service high-flier who has already reprimanded staff in another department for spitting out betel leaf they had been chewing at work. He is currently not taking calls from the media.
Many people in northern India wear the red holy mark on their foreheads and it is a common sight in government offices. Mr. Mishra says he has no intention of giving up the practice. “I’ve been sporting the red holy dot on my forehead for the last 30 years of my career,” he told the BBC. “It has religious sentiment for me.”
Barring some senior officials, all the employees of the state agriculture department went to work on Friday with tilaks on their foreheads in protest at his treatment. They laid siege to Mr. Anil’s office and demanded he withdraw his recommendation that Mr. Mishra be suspended. “The officer’s move has hurt our religious sentiments and, as our protest against his order, we’ve come to the office today adorning our foreheads with the red dot. Let him suspend all of us now,” said union leader Baidyanath Yadav. Several other state government unions are also angry and are threatening mass protests if his suspension order is not revoked with immediate effect.
Even state Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh agrees, saying, “No one should be suspended for wearing a holy tilak as it’s a matter of personal choice”.
Mon 3 Sep 2007
KOCHI, INDIA, August 27, 2007: Down a narrow, stone-paved road in a quarter known here as “Jew Town”, a woman with salt-and-pepper hair was sewing glittery beads onto the rim of a Jewish prayer cap. It was just after 3 p.m. and Sarah Cohen, wearing a house dress and flip-flops, sat in the sunny doorway of her shop, waiting for the visitors from around the world to come in for a visit.
Cohen lives right near the Pardesi Synagogue, which was built in 1568 when Jewish spice traders set up businesses in this small outpost of the Jewish world on the South Indian Malabar coast. The synagogue sparkles with colorful Indian chandeliers and green and red glass candleholders that swing from the ceiling beams. The floor is an intricate pattern of blue and white floor tiles imported from a Jewish community in China in the 15th century.
A map of India, showing the main areas of Jewish concentration.
As visitors wandered by on their way to the synagogue, one of the oldest in the world, they looked curiously at th e little Jewish woman speaking in Malayalam, the language of the southern state of Kerala.
Cohen explained that she is a part of a dying tradition here, which will likely no longer exist in 10 years, since most of the Jews who used to live here emigrated to Israel, during its creation in 1948. Now, there are believed to be only 13 elderly Indian-born Jews — from seven families — still living in Kochi, a sun-dappled city thick with coconut trees.
“We couldn’t bring ourselves to leave. We are Indians, too. Why should we leave the only place we have known as home?” Cohen said with a gentle wobble of her head, an Indian gesture sometimes used for emphasis. “Besides, I like this place. And I like the people.”
Jews flourished in India for centuries — since biblical times, some scholars say. The country also gave safe haven to Jews during World War II. For more of this story, click URL above.