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"There are no problems we cannot solve together
and very few that we can solve by ourselves".
With the view to overcome the enveloping feeling of let-up in the almost 4-year old struggle to save The American College, to infuse with fresh enthusiasm and vigour, and to address the problems and issues faced now, in the post-Bishop. Asir period-, a positive initiative was taken by three old students of the College , Mr. Arulappan, a member of the RPS Dept, Mr.Gerald, an advocate and Mr.Pradeep Programme Co-ordinator, Rehabilitation, People's Watch,Madurai, to convene a meeting of all those involved in the struggle and its friends and supporters. And, the meeting organised by them took place in the SOCO Trust, Justice Krishna Iyer hall at 6p.m on Wednesday,15-02-2012 .
Prof.Prabhakaran, Head of the Visual Communication Dept.appreciated the efforts taken by the trio to organise this meeting and welcomed the gathering.
Prof. Arulappan of the Religion, Philosophy and Sociology Dept.;gave a brief explanation of the objectives of the meeting: a) to bring about unity among ourselves b) to form a legal cell c) to form an Executive Committee and more importantly d) to think of the ways and means of helping the Management- teaching and non-teaching staff, who have not been paid salary for more than one year now.
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Dr.Anbudurai, the Acting Principal, thanked the organisers for arranging the meeting. He praised the Management staff for their steadfast loyalty to the College, in spite of the problems and difficulties they have been facing because of non-payment of salary for the past one year. The other two problems he mentioned are: ever increasing violence on the campus unleashed by the goondas and the police turning a blind eye to it, in spite of repeated requests and complaints and the selective victimisation of students who had supported the struggle, in various ways like withholding their mark-sheets and making them repeat some courses. He underlined the need for taking immediate and concerted efforts to tackle these problems. He thanked Mr.Sahayam, Madurai District Collector, Ms.Ponnathal, Joint Director of Collegiate Education and Mr. Henry Tiphagne for their invaluable and consistent support and help.
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Mr.Rajkumar of the United Christian Congress, an organisation involved in trying to reform the Church, who spoke next, promised his whole-hearted support to the struggle to save the American College and expressed the hope that this struggle would be extended to the Church also which needed a thorough cleansing.
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Dr. Anbunathan, HOD of Management Studies, in his speech, pointed out the need for keeping the focus on the goal of saving the College from the clutches of the Bishop. He gave a detailed account of how Mr Mohan Lal, a senior advocate, took personal and sincere interest in winning the several cases entrusted to him, without expecting much from us.He also highlighted the problem of the Management staff not getting their salary and the need for concerted efforts to be taken to solve this problem.
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Dr.Chinnaraj Joseph, Former Principal, who spoke next, said that, the reasons for the present let-up could be identified, which, in turn, would enable us to carry the struggle forward adopting new methods. He also said that the thrust could be a three pronged one- 1) fighting cases in courts; 2) building pressure on those in power through agitational methods and 3) tackling students' problems particularly related to examinations, results etc;..
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Prof. Solomon Pappiah, Former Head of the Tamil Department,. reiterated his commitment to the cause of fighting for the College and said that he would never rest until this great institution, founded by noble missionaries, was redeemed and restored to its original glory.
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Prof. Vijayakumar, Former General Secretary, MUTA and an old student, in his speech, underlined the need for unity to achieve the goal before us.He said that minority rights were being misused in several institutions. He also assured that he would take all possible steps to get the teachers' organisation involved in this struggle.
Prof. P.T.Chellappa, former Principal and a tireless crusader for the College even at the age of 88, revealed his pain and anguish at the way it had been battered and bruised for the past four years.He complimented all those valiantly fighting for its survival and restoration.. He rounded off his short and meaningful speech with an expression of his unwavering faith in the final victory of the struggle. He said, "The College should be saved and it will be saved. No force on earth can prevent it.".jpg)
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Dr.Alagesan, Head of the Dept. of Tamil, in his vote of thanks, assured that the interests of the management staff would never be ignored and those who have started getting their salary could be happy only after their brothers and sisters under the mnagement category start getting theirs. He made a particular reference to the invaluable help and support given by Mr.Sahayam, Madurai Collector, Ms.Ponnathal, the JDCE and Mr. Mohanlal,our advocate and thanked them profusely. With that, the meeting came to an end.
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It should be mentioned here that though the organizers of the meeting had specifically requested the speakers not to talk about the past but only to give suggestions and ideas as to how to tackle the problems faced now, unitedly and to carry on the struggle with renewed vigour and commitment, some indulged in uncalled for emotional outbursts and personal references.
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The friends and supporters who attended this meeting included, Dr.Dhyanchand Carr (Former Principal, TTS,Madurai
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The trio - Mr.Arulappan, Mr.Gerald and Mr.Pradeep - deserve to be appreciated for their noble effort to organise this meeting. It was decided to form a committee which would discuss the future course of action.
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| FORMER PRINCIPAL P.T. CHELLAPPA |
THE THREE ORGANIZERS:
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| LAWYER GERALD |
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| Prof. ARULAPPAN |
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| Mr. PRADEEP |
"There are no problems we cannot solve together
and very few that we can solve by ourselves".
-Lyndon B. Johnson
With the view to overcome the enveloping feeling of let-up in the almost 4-year old struggle to save The American College, to infuse with fresh enthusiasm and vigour, and to address the problems and issues faced now, in the post-Bishop. Asir period-, a positive initiative was taken by three old students of the College , Mr. Arulappan, a member of the RPS Dept, Mr.Gerald, an advocate and Mr.Pradeep Programme Co-ordinator, Rehabilitation, People's Watch,Madurai, to convene a meeting of all those involved in the struggle and its friends and supporters. And, the meeting organised by them took place in the SOCO Trust, Justice Krishna Iyer hall at 6p.m on Wednesday,
The meeting started with prayer by Prof.Barnabas, Chaplain of the College, in which he stressed the importance of unity and also the need to wait upon the Lord for His guidance and strength to carry on this struggle.
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Prof.Prabhakaran, Head of the Visual Communication Dept.appreciated the efforts taken by the trio to organise this meeting and welcomed the gathering.
Prof. Arulappan of the Religion, Philosophy and Sociology Dept.;gave a brief explanation of the objectives of the meeting: a) to bring about unity among ourselves b) to form a legal cell c) to form an Executive Committee and more importantly d) to think of the ways and means of helping the Management- teaching and non-teaching staff, who have not been paid salary for more than one year now.
Mr.Rajkumar of the United Christian Congress, an organisation involved in trying to reform the Church, who spoke next, promised his whole-hearted support to the struggle to save the American College and expressed the hope that this struggle would be extended to the Church also which needed a thorough cleansing.
Prof. Solomon Pappiah, Former Head of the Tamil Department,. reiterated his commitment to the cause of fighting for the College and said that he would never rest until this great institution, founded by noble missionaries, was redeemed and restored to its original glory.
Prof. Vijayakumar, Former General Secretary, MUTA and an old student, in his speech, underlined the need for unity to achieve the goal before us.He said that minority rights were being misused in several institutions. He also assured that he would take all possible steps to get the teachers' organisation involved in this struggle.
Prof. P.T.Chellappa, former Principal and a tireless crusader for the College even at the age of 88, revealed his pain and anguish at the way it had been battered and bruised for the past four years.He complimented all those valiantly fighting for its survival and restoration.. He rounded off his short and meaningful speech with an expression of his unwavering faith in the final victory of the struggle. He said, "The College should be saved and it will be saved. No force on earth can prevent it."
.jpg)
It should be mentioned here that though the organizers of the meeting had specifically requested the speakers not to talk about the past but only to give suggestions and ideas as to how to tackle the problems faced now, unitedly and to carry on the struggle with renewed vigour and commitment, some indulged in uncalled for emotional outbursts and personal references.
The friends and supporters who attended this meeting included, Dr.Dhyanchand Carr (Former Principal, TTS,
The trio - Mr.Arulappan, Mr.Gerald and Mr.Pradeep - deserve to be appreciated for their noble effort to organise this meeting. It was decided to form a committee which would discuss the future course of action.
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Prof. D. SAMUEL LAWRENCE
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A miracle has to happen. Let us hope it happpens and the college returns to normalcy.
ReplyDeletewish and pray all the efforts of the well wisher of our dear college, there on the front line, fighting for the cause, are fruitful and the college be delivered from the clutches of evil.
ReplyDeletesorry about the cross posting : Hari Narayan former student of the american college and a faculty of the english department in the 80 passed way in chicago on jan 31 and was the final rites took place on feb 22, 2012 12:00 in chicago. RIP
ReplyDeleteIn the collection of photos posted above I appear in three photos with different persons sitting on my left. It might appear as though I was constantly changing my seat during the meeting. The fact is different person Prof Pappiah, Prof DSL and Rev Carr came to sit in the chair next to me at different times as it was not constanly occupied by any one. However I felt good when they sat next to me in that chair and I had an opportubity to chat with them. VS
ReplyDeleteCan someone please briefly summarize what the current problem is?
ReplyDelete