*
A SHOCKING NEWS FROM THE CAMPUS
The
C.S.I. moderator has convened a meeting
to “settle” the problems of our college. Some decisions were taken and the
decisions taken on were signed by three: Davamani Christober, the son-in-law of
former bishop, and Anbudurai, supposedly the principal-in-charge of our
college. The third person is Chinnaraj Joseph, the former principal.
The
very first article of their understanding is:
THE AMERICAN COLLEGE IS A
C.S.I. INSTITUTION.
Naturally Davamani Christober would happily sign such a memo. He did.
Anbudurai
says that he was pressurized to sign it and also he signed for the sake of
those hapless management staff. The management staff would be back to the
college soon, the understanding states. (He should have at least
consulted the staff on our side before signing it. He didn’t.) He signed.
But I
wonder why and how Chinnaraj Joseph was an invitee to this meeting and what is his locus standi to sign the memo.
He did wonderful job of leading the
entire fighting faculty during the struggle. Thanks for him. But all these came
to an abrupt and unpleasant end with his retirement. After that his main
focus was only to become the bursar of the college (!) and when that was not
feasible, at least to get into the Governing Council of the college, for good
or bad, I don’t know! There were many painful and fissiparous instances. His 'actions'
or 'no-actions' were never for the welfare of the college. Instead of making
the college coming out of the struggle it was pulled by such things more and
more into deep mire. Inviting him for the meeting and making him sign sounds so
odd to me.
On the
morning of Monday – 18.6.12 – the reopening day for the college, there would be
a service in our college chapel. Moderator would lead, I hope.
I
sadly wonder whether it is a *requiem service for the erstwhile AMERICAN
COLLEGE !!!
*requiem
service = A service celebrated for the dead
*
Prof. RAJENDRA PANDIAN writes ...
ReplyDeleteDr. Anbudurai can convene an urgent meeting of the Governing Council.
What Dr. Anbudurai has done is correct in the interest of the management staff on his side. Please also note that one of the points the committee has agreed is that the present Constitution of the College will be respected. Which implies that The Principal and Secretary is supreme ans not the Bishop. That is a victory. The statement that The American College is a CSI college will ensure that the College may enjoy the minority rights granted by the Central Government. Let all those in the college be vigilent to ensure the constitution is not cahnged. Srinivasan
ReplyDeleteProf. V.S.,
ReplyDeleteyour comments make me feel that still there are hopes for the college. awaiting ...
விடியலை நோக்கி ....
This is nothing but a betrayal of all that we have been fighting for, for the past four years. How can an institution which has been Christian in character and secular in oulook, as willed by its founding fathers, be suddenly changed into a church-controlled- CSI institution by a group of people led by the Moderator through an 'agreement' signed happily by the present illegal principal, 'half-heartedly' by the Constitutionally accepted Principal and 'willingly' by the former Principal who had proclaimed from roof-tops that he would never allow this to happen?
ReplyDeleteIf Dr. Anbudurai had made up his mind to do this for the sake of the Management staff, he should have presented all the facts plainly before all those involved in the struggle and taken a decision transparently.
As it is, not only the character and ethos of the College but also the sanctity and strength of its Constitution is in peril.We cannot afford to run away from this truth.We must do everything possible to save the College. The legally constituted Governing Council, which alone has the right and the power to administer the College and decide its destiny should assert itself without wasting any more time. A motley group of self-seeking,egoistic and utterly unscrupulous people should not be allowed to hijack this glorious institution, the pride of Madurai, in the name of religion.
Prof. V.S.,
ReplyDeleteOne doubt, sir. I was told the "agreement" has been under the wrap as a very 'secretive document' and not shown to anyone interested to see it.
Are you sure that 'the present Constitution of the College will be respected.'
will it be just 'respected' or followed?
Prof. RAJENDRA PANDIAN writes ...
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid Prof.V.S is mistaken or/and misinformed. I'll come to it in a while.
Shocked and shattered.... Is this the end of our struggle?
ReplyDeleteDear Darumi, Rajendra Pandian and Lawrence: I am sure what I have said is correct. Let us not get excited or agitated at present. Let all our staff those who were with Anbudurai all these months get their full salaries first. Things will return to normalcy soon. However one has to be watchful. Keep the Bishop at a distance and don't make the mistakes some of the earlier Principals and associate the Bishop with activities like installation of the new Principal and the like. Let him visit the College just twice a year to preside over the two meetings of the Governing councils. All Faculty members especially those elected to the Governing Council should be alert and be careful to safeguard the constitution. Srinivasan
ReplyDeleteBROOMBOY writes ...
ReplyDeleteI read with sadness the latest developments from the American College campus.... My first reaction .....
----------------------
THE AMERICAN COLLEGE
1881 – 2012
EPITAPH
Here lies the brooding soul of American college. Repeatedly raped and violated by the religious bigots and their greedy off-springs and in-laws for harboring their self-interests … here I lie, betrayed and bemused by my own sons and daughters who pretended to safeguard only to find that they had their own agenda … Here I lie beaten, bruised and buried …
My destiny was choreographed by unscrupulous scoundrels who played with religious, political and caste masks to gain position, power and proximity only to abandon me in the name of safe guarding staff, usurping power and transgressing for positions.
Here I lie, watching people manipulate, getting manipulated, manhandled, pressurized to sign pieces of papers to further manipulate my name and glory … They don’t know that I am a phoenix and I will rise from the ashes to once again become a secular noble institution …
Prof.RAJEDNRA PANDIAN writes ...
ReplyDeleteCALL THE COUNCIL: AN ‘SOS’
Dr. Anbudurai was desperate to get our management staff reinstated without further delay. I admire his concern and sense of responsibility. I also acknowledge the sacrifices he has been making at a personal level just to resist the aggression on the college by the church. But it is a rude shock for us that he signed the agreement under question on the 14th evening without consulting the Governing Council to which he is accountable; the fighting staff who he represents; or, even our Vice Principal who was waiting outside the building to help him.
When he convened the staff meeting on the 16th morning the members felt at least he could have asked for time—even one day—to consult them before signing. They were also categorical that the illegal agreement that Dr,Anbudurai signed arbitrarily and unilaterally was condemnable and not binding on the college or any of them. While condemning this as a blunder the meeting also urged the leadership to do the needful to save the college from being hijacked by the Moderator and Dr. Anbudurai responded by assuring that the sovereignty of the college would be preserved at any cost and the American college which is not a CSI institution will never become one.
After the meeting was over I had an opportunity to run down the agreement in a couple of minutes. When the first article says that this college is “a minority institution belonging to the CSI (Madurai-Ramand Diocese)” the next one says the college will be governed according to its Constitution and bye-laws which will be amended to cope with the changing time. I can’t deceive myself into thinking that they will respect the constitution, as Prof.V.S hopes.
These aggressors simply broke open the offices with hammer and crowbar in gross violation of the constitution. That’s past. If unchallenged, in all probability, they may soon legitimize their council as the bona fide Governing Council of the College and will amend the constitution in a way to realize the first article in the agreement which is nothing but their articulated goal. The whole process may be over in a few months as they will ensure that they have brutal majority in the council. That’s future. As Prof. VS hopes, they may pretend like respecting the constitution for the present as they have their own Principal and Secretary to serve their purpose—leave alone the former one.
I don’t subscribe to the argument that “The statement that The American College is a CSI college will ensure that the College may enjoy the minority rights granted by the Central Government,” as we have been enjoying the minority rights already. The problems that we face time and again from the governments in renewing our minority status and getting tax exemption can be overcome by any other means than making it a CSI institution. The solution is worse than the problem, Prof.V.S! After all these, saying that the Bishop should be kept at a distance and allowed to visit the campus only twice a year is unrealistic. I think the situation is much graver than what some of us may think. It is time for our Governing Council—the Controlling Agency as per the constitution—to intervene at once and do its best to save the college.
Will it convene?
i was away from the net due to travel and today i am shocked to read all the unpleasant things, where i see The American College being sucked into a black hole. so sad to see all the hidden agenda of individuals...
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ReplyDeleteDr. V.SWAMINATHAN writes ...
ReplyDeleteDr.Anbudurai cannot sign an agreement like this without the knowledge of the Council which he represents. It is unacceptable.
I also wonder how Dr. T.Chinnaraj Joseph, after all his hair-raising public speeches on the freedom and sovereignty of the college, could secretly agree to a false claim that this college belongs to the CSI.
The moderator and the CSI may better work on developing the institutions under their control than trying to take control of the American College.
Dr. V.SWAMINATHAN,
MEMBER
GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE
Dick Riesz writes,
ReplyDeleteDear Swaminathan:
PLEASE stick to your view of this circumstance. Our dear College has functioned as a Christian (and hence a minority) institution for 129 years, and does NOT need the CSI to shelter it. Yes, look at other CSI Colleges and compare with the quality and outreach that AC has in its history. WE DO NOT need more institutions to sink!
Prof. RAJENDRA PANDIAN writes ...
ReplyDeleteNo delay in the initiation of corrective measures—such as convening the Governing Council—to control the damage can be in the interest of the college. As this organization is a Christian minority institution belonging to the Governing Council of the American College, Madurai who alone is mandated to “hold such property of the college”, ‘why should’ and ‘how could’ any one put it as “belonging to the CSI”? Can the Moderator tell us ‘When since’ the American College has been belonging to the CSI and where is it mentioned in the list of CSI institutions presented in the CSI constitution?
One might not be mistaken if they felt the contours of ‘encroachment’ and ‘land-grabbing’ in this high drama and it’s time the Governing Council—who we look up to as the conscience and custodian of this college—rescued its sovereignty and property (The American College) first by containing those who lend themselves—knowingly or unknowingly—to serve the adversary’s cause. It can do it by holding an Emergency / Special Meeting or by taking ‘suo motu ‘control over the situation and exercising its “revisionary powers”.
Dr. K. ALAGESAN writes ....
ReplyDeleteIs this what we fought for?
Dr. K. ALAGESAN
MEMBER
GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteProf. A. WINFRED writes.
ReplyDeleteThe Constitution of the American College dates back to 1934 and the Diocese of Madurai-Ramnad under C.S.I. came into existence only after 1942. How could there be a provision for ownership of the college to the Madurai-Ramnad Diocese? The Christian Bishop is just a fourth member of the Governing Council. The graceful arrangement to honour the Bishop of the Madurai – Ramnad Diocese to preside over the college council meetings were the custom, none else. He has no powers of administering the college by any virtue of Constitutional authority.
If the American College is another added property or an organization of the Madurai-Ramnad Diocese under C.S.I., where is the recorded evidence?
The Governing Council of the great American college, Madurai, under the guidance and purview of the Constitution of the American College which was duly registered under the Societies Act of Tamil Nadu, the then Madras Presidency, has today been totally and willfully mutilated on selfish and personal profits.
So in fine, to eradicate the blatant lie that the American College belongs to the Diocese of Madurai – Ramnad, the true and lawful governing council of the American College strongly endorsed and supported by the Registered Constitution must meet with it s legally accepted members, meet very early and decide the fact that the Diocese of Madurai-Ramnad, has no hand in our college.
Prof. A. WINFRED,
Former H.O.D. of Zoology Dept.,
MEMBER, GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE