There was nothing spiritual about him and he didn’t even have a trace of the Kulendran halo. It was inevitable sooner or later we were going to be at loggerheads with each other and the consequence was the much publicized Church Membership Case. A book on that which I had delayed for good reasons will now be published soon. It is based on the fundamental right of worship.This is the Cradle of our Culture which Rufus Anderson never understood and it seems even a hundred and fifty years later, difficult for some missionary bureaucrats in the US to comprehend.
We are not an island but a part of a lovely cultural mosaic that has sustained us for eons of time. It would be very unfair for strangers like Cally Rogers-Witte and Eric Gass to make decisive decisions that could have negative impacts on our people especially when they hearken to people who have hidden agendas that are very suspect and only for immediate personal gains but they are smart enough to approach them and make impressions at the cost of their dignity and pride.
Recently you have spent some time in Jaffna helping with the teaching of English at Jaffna College and Uduvil Girls College. I understand you were resident at Uduvil and Chelvi Selliah, the principal at that time appreciated your work; likewise Noel Vimalendran at Jaffna College too. Chelvi is a day younger to me, both born at Green Hospital, a classmate and a Student Christian Movement colleague. I am proud that she was a worthy successor to Miss Ariam Hudson Paramasamy, affectionately Ari auntie to many of us. My mum’s last year at Uduvil as a student was Ari auntie’s first year as a teacher and my daughter’s first year at school was her last year as principal; I treasure these sentiments a great deal.
Even though both my daughters were born in England when I was on the staff of the Church Information Office of the National Assembly of the Church of England at Church House, Westminster, I wanted my children to have their early years of education among our people and in the socio-cultural ethos of my community to appreciate and absorb our values and aspirations. This has done a world of good to them and they have stable families of their own and can manage their lives in any part of the world.
It was during this time I served as a leader of the parents of Jaffna College, was on the Alumni Committee and also got elected to the Jaffna College Board of Directors. Unlike Bishop Kulendran a veritable saint, his successor Bishop Ambalavanar had his own way of managing the JDCSI, more like a CEO of an American corporation.
There was nothing spiritual about him and he didn’t even have a trace of the Kulendran halo. It was inevitable sooner or later we were going to be at loggerheads with each other and the consequence was the much publicized Church Membership Case. A book on that which I had delayed for good reasons will now be published soon. It is based on the fundamental right of worship.
My stand on Bishop Ambalavanar and how he conducted his bishopric has been proved right in many instances. The problems we are having today have their roots during the time he headed the JDCSI virtually like an autocrat. He was no respecter of persons, over-sensitive to discussions and intolerant of views in conflict with his own. But he could never tame me and that was hard for him to bear and finally, he acted very foolishly. It was also he who set the pace for an uncivil competition for the bishopric between Daniel Thiagarajah and Selvadurai Jeyanesan; we see the sad consequence of it today.
American Ceylon Mission: While going through several documents on fund campaigns in the US for the work of the JDCSI in East Sri Lanka, I was taken aback to note two disturbing aspects among many others I am investigating now. Firstly, efforts are being directed to an individual working with the JDCSI and not to the JDCSI itself. And secondly, there seems to be a strenuous attempt to revive the pre-1908 American Ceylon Mission. This amounts to seeking a mighty step into the past merely to please certain elements and perhaps even to regain an American hold in the work in Sri Lanka. This is out of step with the progress we have made in Sri Lanka and unacceptable too, particularly in the circumstances of the ethnic nightmare in the country.
Just because Dr Cally Rogers-Witte is the Executive Minister of the WCM of the UCC, the successors to the United Church Board for World Missions (UCBWM), it gives her no right to dictate to us using a link that is only ritually honoured as a relationship that we cherish and one which by custom, convention and instruments legal and otherwise has become part of the JDCSI. Equally, the Rev Eric Gass must understand what a fiduciary trust really means especially the spirit of it, the founding principles and aspirations of the TJCF and his obligation to ensure that the work of this trust is a partnership between the Jaffna College Board of Directors (JCBD) and the TJCF.
Even on the issue of electing members to serve on the trust, the JCBD must have an equal say. The trust was set up at the request of the founders of Jaffna College who were people from the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka.
A question I have raised for some years now and even discussed with Dr Robert Holmes is as to why the trustees have not thought fit to have an alumnus of Jaffna College, or even more, now that we have a large number of our alumni in the States and Canada holding very responsible and leading positions especially in the spheres of education and management. I have written to Dr Telfer Mook about it a number of times but he never had the courtesy to respond even to my letters which itself is a reflection on the attitude of a trustee to such an issue.
Now you have a Rev James Vijeyakumar who probably will not know how to spell Vaddukoddai and where exactly this village is in Sri Lanka. His inclusion in the trustee board was an act of impertinence and an insult to Jaffna College. This Rev Vijeyakumar is also the link man between Dr Cally Rogers-Witte and the Rev Selvadurai Jeyanesan. In the light of recent developments, do I need to say anything more? If these people want the Americans back in Jaffna as a shield and support for whatever agenda they have in mind, let them first understand what has happened to Sri Lanka in recent years and more especially to Jaffna
To Be Continued….
(Victor Karunairajan is a South Asian journalist who lives in Canada. He could be contacted on serendeebam@gmail.com)
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