DONATIO CONSTANTINI

                  

               DONATIO  CONSTANTINI

(Donation of Constantine)

Dr. Rajendra Pandian

Former Governing Council Member

Prof. J.V’s passing away is never easy. He was a great teacher, artist, director, colleague, conversationalist, human, and believer who asked the bishops to “save their souls”. Our homage to him!

The Christian church is regarded by its believers as the ‘body of Christ’. It is also referred to as the ‘bride of Christ’, ‘a house of prayer for all people’ and so on. However, Church fraudulence is a phenomenon that is not entirely new; in fact it has been something that many of us are numbingly used to. The Church, which in Greek means “the called out” or “the people called out of the world” has most often been excessively worldly and egregiously dishonest. One such milestone in the history of church duplicity is recorded as Donatio Constantini or the ‘Donation of Constantine’. It meant a “forged Roman imperial decree by which the Emperor Constantine-I supposedly transferred authority over Rome and the western part of the Roman Empire to the Pope.” Wikipedia reads: “Composed probably in the 8^th century…it was used in support of claims of political authority by the papacy”. But, thanks to Lorenzo Valla, it was proved in the 15^th century to be a mega fraud.

I know, I relate these things and repeat a few others often at the risk of boring the viewers—and perhaps myself too. But then, I think, I can’t help it since they are becoming increasingly relevant and more important than before. I hope any one can understand the claim that ‘The American College belongs to the CSI’ is a local, contemporary, and the CSI-DMR version of the aforesaid fraud. There are many in the CSI-DMR: both clergy and lay, who denounce this in private as outrageous and unchristian but feel helpless at present to do anything beyond praying for the restoration of the college. I think we can understand their situation and also thank them for their sympathies, prayers and the willingness to help the struggle in whatever way possible.             

The slow and sneaky ways of the church—like that of the proverbial camel occupying the tent—have obviously gathered pace in recent times. When the teachers involved in the struggle were taking classes under the trees (Dec 2010 to May 2012), the ‘son-in-law Principal’ printed on the admission prospectus that this college was a CSI institution. Then it somehow stopped when we all entered the class rooms. However, they keep on concocting patently ridiculous and false evidences as follows [and as you may already know] to project the American College like a diocesan institution.

Dr. Christober organized  a state level hockey tournament named after  his father-in-law and paraded  the present Bishop  and the CSI-Synod officials on stage as guests; held the Chemistry department’s centenary celebrations with some diocesan officials on the dais once again besides printing the Bishop’s name as a host in the invitation; placed a flex board at the Tamukkam grounds in the name of the American college [promptly bearing the stately image of the ‘captive’ Main Hall] alongside the ads of some CSI institutions welcoming people to the Madurai Book Fair; held ‘Dawn Praising’ led by the  Deputy Chairman of the CSI-DMR at 5 am in our chapel; reportedly convened a meeting last week with the tenants of the American College shopping complex to discuss a hike in the rent [which is nothing unusual] but in the company of [not only the Bursar but also] the diocesan treasurer and the legal adviser which is the most unusual and unacceptable; and to cap it all they are digging at the basement of the north-western corner of the Main Hall, a century old heritage building which is not very strong lately standing mainly on the strength of the inbuilt tie-rods. After I sent an email to the Principal [with copies to the Faculty Secretary and the Faculty Representative on the Governing Council] cautioning him against the safety-issues it involves, I am shocked furthermore to learn they are actually readying there an office with attached bath for the Bishop.

When are our bishops going to  reconcile themselves to the Ten Commandments and stop coveting what is not theirs but their neighbors’?

From where did these blessed people get this courage of late to aggress on the college so openly?

Donatio Constantini! Other reasons come only next to that! The signatories of the dubious local agreement were: Dr. Davamani Christober [the incumbent Principal whose legality has been as questionable as ever]; Dr. Chinnaraj Joseph [Former Principal]; Dr. Anbudurai [ P.G.Head of Botany]; Dr. Chelladurai [a fine gentleman not related to the American College] and The Most.Rev. Devakadasham [the then CSI Moderator, an ex-officio substitute of the Bishop of CSI-DMR, who in turn is an ex-officio President of the council]. Who of them, you please tell me, has the legal standing to document [even on a mere white sheet as this one] that this college belongs to the CSI? How come none of them knew it was so until the day before? If it was not so, how could they pen such a forgery?

[Why not I suggest these ‘righteous Christians’ arrange to donate their own assets first—movable and immovable—to the CSI before daring to give away the American College?!]

Dr. Anbudurai claimed in open meetings that the paper in question was a “trash” and he had signed it “under duress”. He also added that ours was neither a CSI college nor would it ever become one in future. Dr. Anbudurai and Dr. Chinnaraj Joseph argued—apologetically and unapologetically; remorsefully and remorselessly—that they did that only in order to settle the management staff issue. [When it was condemned in our general body meeting as a betrayal unbinding on the college or any of us, a senior professor likened it to selling one’s eyes to buy a painting.] It was no excuse at all to do something as pernicious to the college as this. Now, what is our response to the physical takeover of the college by the CSI with the Bishop’s office in the Main Hall?  Have we succeeded in our effort to help our management staff even by letting down the college? What help have we done to them who have not received their 18 month salary yet? Not only that. They have got their hard earned seniority criminally manipulated; been served relieving orders while anxiously sitting in the lobby to attend the interview for permanent positions; and openly told by some heads they have no future in this college and hence they can better leave?

Are we aware we cannot save individuals and their jobs without saving the college?

 When Dr. Chinnaraj Joseph is already retired and Dr. Anbudurai is retiring now, who would give what answer to those friends and old students who have extended their fullest and unconditional support to us hoping that we would save the American College? How could we presume we can just log in and log out assuming zero accountability for what we have done, if not for what we inherited? Let’s not pretend that the whole issue is about getting salary for the management staff. Allow me to repeat that the ultimate goal is to restore the college by re-establishing its legitimate Governing Council and not by telling the management staff and also ourselves that the [bogus] council has appointed a sub-committee that will look into things. I’m afraid we are actually helping them “seem” legal by dithering over taking their council head on.

Once we thought Bishop Asir was the problem, and while fighting him we were also waiting for his retirement hoping that the problem would end by then. He is no more but the issue has grown even more. The same we thought about the then Vice-Principal who is no more either. We thought the ‘son-in-law’ was the issue personified and now it’s widely speculated that he will have to step down very soon thanks to issues relating to his academic credentials and also the selection process. Will the crisis be over with his possible exit?

No—not yet!

Because, it has taken new and more complex dimensions in the mean time, as we all know, more due to betrayals and subversions among us; our own miscalculations; half-convictions and indecisiveness than any kind of invincibility attributable to the enemy. While leaving to the diocese the burden of proving that this is a CSI institution [as they propagate on a trial basis], I’m of the opinion that we need to take more concrete measures to retrieve the college from the illegal people. How come their council is convening again and again when it is available in black and white that the governmental inquiry into disputes relating to ‘the American College Society’ is not yet over? Don’t we—with a genuine Governing Council member to fight for the right cause—have more effective means of stopping this trespassing on the college?

The maxim goes: Where there’s a will there’s a way!                             

It’s time we saw the danger right in its eye and countered the false claim that this is a CSI college. No one needs to think they must be a member of the church to resist this robbery in broad day light. Not necessarily! Not at all! Particularly those elected representatives on the Senatus or the Governing Council need not and must not shy away from taking this issue frontally for untenable reasons as mentioned above—especially after getting the mandate of our faculty. We teachers, as a team, met with each faculty member in person; solicited their vote giving them a handbill that bore the slogan “Help us help the college”.  Having promised them that we would defend the college and represent the interests of the faculty, there can be no second opinion that our faculty representatives on the respective bodies are obligated to fight out the diocese. Better we recall the April 11, 2008 resolution on the MUTA floor “authorizing the faculty representatives on the Governing Council to fight against the perceived diocesanization of the college” alongside a similar resolution on the faculty floor, the very next day, that unanimously declared the actions of the Bishop “unhelpful”.

Following is the diary of events for a few days ahead:

The counterfeit governing council has its meeting on this 18^th.

The high court case [filed by Dr. David Amirtharajan] challenging Dr. Christober’s qualifications and selection as Principal comes up on 20^th.

Dr. Anbudurai is retiring this 29^th and we are yet to know whether he will get re-employment till May 31, which is his due.

Thanking the viewers for their patience to read this laborious and rather stultifying note, let me   close it with Niebuhr’s famous appeal called the “Serenity Prayer”:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,                                                    

The courage to change the things I can,

And the wisdom to know the difference.

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