Arts, Political and Social Inquiry

This essay will consider whether it is possible to construct an understanding of engagement with the poor and the marginalised as a sacrament.It is not intended to be a comprehensive ‘sacramental theology’. Instead, it will explore the concept of sacrament as a key to understanding the interaction between God and humanity in the
midst of mission. It is hoped that the results of this exploration may give Salvationists a useful framework for understanding their own denomination’s engagement in mission from a theological point of view.

The Salvation Army is one of the best-known community organisations in Australia and is highly respected for its service to those in need – at the frontlines of natural disasters, housing the homeless and lending a helping hand to struggling families. What is less well known to those outside the movement is that The Salvation Army is a Christian church. Unlike the general public, the members of this church, who are called Salvationists, see their primary purpose through the lens of evangelical Christianity. All Salvationists are involved in church activities but only a much smaller proportion take part in the Army’s social work.

A series of interviews with Salvation Army officers undertaken for this research revealed that the organisation’s evangelical and social service arms often appear to be engaged in intraorganisational contestation, competition and conflict. Because some of the driving influences of conflict are related to wider social changes, such as increasing secularisation, they can also be seen to impact upon other churches and faith-based organisations. As their congregations diminish in size and number and their social service agencies continue to expand, many Australian churches are raising questions about organisational identity and mission. In addition to the numerous requirements and restrictions placed upon services by government contracting, the professionalisation of social work has seen the large-scale withdrawal of both religious professionals and laypeople from the frontlines of service delivery. The changing face of their social ministries has left churches wondering about what is left of their spiritual mission and what role they are now meant to play in society.

This research explores intraorganisational conflict within The Salvation Army in order to better understand what it is about, how it manifests and what drives it. Many of these conflictual dynamics are rooted in tensions that are as old as The Salvation Army itself, while others seem to have emerged more clearly in recent decades. They are embodied in the lives of Salvationists, staff and other organisational supporters, such as volunteers and donors. It will be seen that these tensions are continually realised through practices, policies and organisational discourse. However, most of those involved in these struggles recognise that, as problematic as this relationship can sometimes be, The Salvation Army’s historic identity requires both evangelical and social work elements to coexist. Can these tensions be resolved or are they a natural part of organisational life?

"Since ‘9/11’ and the global war on terrorism that followed, Muslim clerics and intellectuals in India have been under pressure from various quarters to publically denounce terrorism. This demand has come from media, political parties and fellow non-Muslim citizens. On 31May 2008, the leading Islamic Seminary Darul-Uloom Deoband (based in Uttar Pradesh) issued a public “Fatwa against terrorism” at a public rally of no less than 100,000 Islamic clerics in Delhi. This paper analyses the background to the declaration, the contents of the Fatwa by the Deobandis and the responses from the ruling Congress Party government, the right wing (Hindu fundamentalist) opposition BJP, the Delhi Police and also Muslim intellectuals."

This paper consists of two sections. The first section provides a brief literature review of the new approaches and latest thinking on counter terrorism in Australia and Britain. and the second section deals with three reports by the 2nd Administrative Reforms
Commission (ARC) of the Government of India. These three documents are carefully analysed to see whether Indian authorities appreciate the new approaches to counterterrorism
or whether they are still locked into old ideas of policing.

The Indian census is a decennial exercise started by the British colonial power in 1872.  It has been religiously followed ever since. The 2011 census, the 15th since the first and the 7th after independence, is touted to be the biggest ever in the history of mankind. This mammoth exercise will cover all 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,742 towns and more than six hundred thousand villages of the country. More than 2 million primary teachers have been trained to act as enumerators for this census. It  would count more than 1.2 billion people on their socio-economic characteristics including gender, religion, occupation and education. The debate about whether to include ‘caste’ in the 2011 census or not has divided the political and academic spectrum alike.

Since Tharoor took his oath in May 2009 he has remained in the news most of the time for the wrong reasons and interestingly by default has left strong political messages of reform. He courted controversy in saying that he will travel “cattle class in solidarity with the holy cows” against the backdrop of government’s austerity drive. This offended the civic sensibility of Indian politicians and especially his fellow Congress Party leaders. He was made to clarify to get a reprieve from the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the ruling coalition chief Ms Sonia Gandhi. But this can be seen as a reflection of hollowness in so-called serious Indian politics and in a large number of humourless politicians, both in the ruling and opposition parties, who are always ready to sell sound bytes to increase popular support but have been slow to understand or tolerate humour in politics. His stand on work culture – the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi should be a workday and not a public holiday, and his opinion that ‘strikes are social evils’ have been perhaps the most revolutionary ideas in recent years of political life in India.

The Delhi Police are prepared more than ever before to face any terrorist attack. However, to succeed in their initiative to police terrorism they need a sustained community engagement policy. Counter-terrorism at present is facing a twofold challenge; one is the structural challenge that includes appointments, salary, procurement of weapons and high technology based surveillance systems and the second is the ideological challenge that has trapped the police in a repressive colonial model of policing which, in turn, has not allowed the police to develop belongingness with the people. The new amendment in the Delhi Police Act 2010 must target both these institutional and ideological aspects of reform.

Society for the Study of Peace and Conflict (SSPC), 08 August, 2008

The counter terror strategy of the government has proved to be ineffective so far. The target has been the large and top cities of the country. Be it Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Jaipur, or recently Bangalore and Ahmadabad. There is a missing link in dealing with terror strategy when it comes to protect the Indian cities.

I am in my final year of a PhD and working towards the submission in 2013. The  PhD research is on community engagement in public policy where I specifically focus on the role and engagement of police and Muslim communities in counter-terrorism policy and practice in Delhi and Melbourne.

The study involves understanding the perception of the police and Muslim communities in Delhi and Melbourne through the analysis of primary documents, press releases, court documents and above all through semi-structured in-depth interviews.

Mr. Kamala Kanta Dash, a policy analyst and now a PhD Candidate from Monash University, presented a paper on Public Policy and Advocacy: Understanding Indian Diaspora Advocacy. He argued that public policy and advocacy go together. He defined Policy advocacy as a process that represents specific or broader community interests, identifies existing loopholes to strengthen policy provisions, shapes policy discourses and facilitates its effective implementation and feedback. Mr. Dash focused on the nature of policy advocacy and methods & effectiveness of Diaspora advocacy. He further discussed whether Indian Diaspora Advocacy in United States has impacted Policy Making in United States and India and if they have influenced India’s bilateral trade and security ties with the United States. Taking the case of US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC), Mr. Dash discussed the important role of USINPAC in Indo-US Civilian Nuclear Energy Deal.

Source: GRFDT Newsletter, May 2012, p.5
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Madrassa has been derived from the Arabic word dars , which means “a lesson.” It is also written as madrasa, madrasah , and madarsah , the plural of which is madaris in Arabic and madrassas in English. Hence, madrassa in Arabic means a place where one studies lessons, both religious and secular. Although the word madrassa technically refers to all places of learning from early education to higher education and research, there are specific Arabic terms that refer to pre-university and university education. In common parlance, the madrassa is equivalent to a high school education, dar al uuloom provides pre-university education, and the Jamia has a university status, providing education from undergraduate to higher-degree research such as Ph.D. and postdoctoral work.

Kamala Kanta Dash of the School of Political and Social Inquiry has been selected to the role of Ambassador of the Council for a Parliament of World's Religions(PWR), one of two representatives from Australia of a total of 16 global ambassadors.