“Rise and Raise” was the clarion call of Stan D’Souza SJ, the President of South Asia, at the inaugural Eucharist of a 3-day South Asian Social Justice and Ecology Annual Convention with the theme of “Celebrating Faith that does Justice” on April 14, 2023, in Ranchi, Jharkhand. There were around 135 participants, Jesuits and collaborators, from all 19 Provinces and 2 Regions.

The inauguration coincided with the birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution. The interplay of fear and courage among the disciples during the Easter octave fitted well to help participants realize the need for courage in the prevailing atmosphere of fear in today’s Indian and South Asian contexts. The convention began by paying homage to Dr BR Ambedkar and the five Chotanagpur martyrs: Anthony Murmu, Fr. Herman Rasschaert SJ, Fr. Stan Swamy SJ, Fr. A T Thomas, and Sr. Valsa John. They also remembered several unsung heroes and heroines who continue to offer their lives generously to the faith-justice mission, even shedding their blood.These men and women were determined to defend the special constitutional and other legal rights of Adivasi/indigenous people to protect their ethno-territories. The participants, following in their footsteps, are committed to upholding the rights of vulnerable people and using locally beneficial and sustainable resources.

The central zone Jesuit Provinces – Ranchi, Hazaribag, Dumka-Raiganj, Jamshedpur and Madhya Pradesh – led by Bagaicha-team organized the convention at Manresa House Ranchi, Jharkhand, India, with the generous support of Fr Ajit Xess, SJ, Provincial of Ranchi and Fr Stanislaus Tirkey SJ, the Secretary of SJES-South Asia. The convention was an occasion to celebrate, reflect, renew and reenergize ourselves.

Prof. Nandini Sundar from Delhi University, Prof. Jean Drèze, an economist and social activist and Ms Kavita Srivastav, the national president of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), shared their analysis of the socio-economic and political scenarios of the country and the possible alternatives. “We are in critical times of history, and the situation calls for an urgent and courageous response. While there is a palpable sense of fear and helplessness, we can neither be complacent nor work in silos,” said Prof. Nandini in her inaugural address. Jean Drèze reiterated that there was no need to develop Adivasis. Instead, we need to learn from them how to live democratic values while enabling them to protect the resource-rich spaces that national and multinational corporates have colonized, aggravated by divisive ‘nationalist’ forces.

Kavita urged every citizen of the country to be vigilant against Hindutva-motivated nationalism that destroys every democratic space and institution in the country—undermining the constitution, which lists the values of democracy, socialism, fraternity and equality. “It is time to stand up, come together and speak out”, she said.

We had a fruitful province-wise reporting of activities and group sharing of struggles, challenges, opportunities, good practices and ideas. Cedric Prakash, SJ, a veteran Human rights defender and writer and Joe Xavier, SJ, assisted in group work to make action plans and strategies. Xavier Jeyaraj SJ, Secretary of SJES-Rome and Stanislaus Tirkey SJ, secretary for SJES-SA, presented the status and updates of the social apostolate at the global and conference levels and invited participants to go beyond their respective centres, provinces and conferences. On the last day, Sunday, April 16, the participants holding hands together took an oath, approving a statement of the golden jubilee convention. They committed themselves to continue their struggle to safeguard every citizen’s constitutional rights and dignity, especially our priority communities, singing together, “We shall overcome.”

While looking back at the evolution of the conference social apostolate secretariat, we discovered that 2023 is the golden jubilee year of SJES-SA, which started in 1973! In fact, it is typical of SJES-SA to work more and celebrate less. We remembered the veteran Jesuits, who passionately committed themselves to struggle with the people and confront injustices, eventually working to bring systemic changes at local and national levels. This was clear from a flyer shared by Tom Kavala, SJ enumerating the names of a few veteran Jesuits in South Asia who ventured into people’s struggles to make a difference in their lives.

The climax of the conference came on April 15 when all 135 participants made a pilgrimage-like visit to Bagaicha, Namkum, Ranchi, Jharkhand, the social research and action centre established by late father Stan Swamy, SJ. The Bagaicha-team of four Jesuits, a resinous sister and the staff had arranged a grand welcome and cultural evening. The delegates got introduced to the Adivasi/indigenous ways of rendering hospitality: first, shake hands and make them sit, second offer a glass of water to drink and wash their feet with some oil and water and third, when the guests feel comfortable and closer to the hosts, offer them some home-brewed rice-bear and dance together. The third degree of Adivasi hospitality!

The convention ended, pledging to journey together and to make a difference in the lives of the preference communities throughout South Asia.