Jeppu Residents Seek MLA JR Lobo’s Help in Rescuing them from Bishop’s Clutches

By
Alfie Dsouza, Team Mangalorean.
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Jeppu Residents Seek MLA JR Lobo’s Help in Rescuing them from Bishop’s Clutches

Mangaluru: Let me begin this report with a few religious quotes from the Bible etc- “Christ our only Lord, never intended that his disciples lord-over his followers. But on the other hand, he sent them forth as their servants to serve them and lead them by example – by living a life of sacrifice, penance, poverty, love and charity”; “The Son of God was born homeless, in a manger, never owned any properties, and certainly was never a tyrannical/oppressive landlord, whose greed for lands, accumulation of wealth and properties would blind him to all tenets of Christian charity, love and compassion”; “For what profits a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul”; “You Shall Not Steal”; “You Shall Not Give False Testimony Against Your Neighbor.”; and “You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s House, Wife, or Property.” And even the faithful are used to listening to all these proverbs/quotes during Homily by the priest during mass, but in reality, seems like the Head of the Catholic Diocese and other Clergy don’t practice what they preach?

Couple of weeks ago, the nearly 270 residents of St Joseph Nagar and Maria Nagar, and in the neighbouring vicinity after being felt like “Enough is Enough” had made a Final Appeal to ‘Release Us from the Bondage of Your Landlordship and to Grant Us Our Rights Over Our Lands in the Jeppu Compound- A ‘Open Letter’ to Bishop. Having received no positive response from the Bishop, they decided to seek the intervention of MLA J R Lobo, to help them and rescue them from the clutches of Bishop- and a meeting was arranged with MLA on Monday 12 February evening at the Jeppu Club-Jeppu, Mangaluru-which was attended by a mammoth crowd comprising of the area residents, executive members of various other Christian organizations, friends and supporters.

Wilson Baptist-the President of Jeppu Parishioners Association welcomed the gathering, followed by a prayer led by Ms Cleta Noronha. Eric Ozario briefed about the proceedings of the meeting, where he mentioned about the “Perpetual Lease of Land” set by the Clergy, which is an ongoing tenure over state land in accordance with the Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act, 1976. A landholder of a perpetual lease is responsible for complying with the term of the perpetual lease deed failing which the property/land may be revoked. The lease must only be used for the purpose for which it was originally issued. The issue of a lease does not automatically imply it can be used for the purpose issued (i.e. other authorities’ approval may be required). But Ozario said that the said, “Perpetual Lease of Land” has turned out to be “Perpetual Leash”, where the residents are on a “leash” under their Master, the Bishop, like a dog being on a leash?. Various other residents came forward and expressed their feelings and briefed the crowd, like:

Philomena Sequeira speaking on the existence of Jeppu Nagar and Vicinity said:

“We, the residents of 270 houses of the Jeppu Compound, residing in the areas now known as St. Joseph Nagar and Maria Nagar, around the Seminary, the workshop and the Sisters of Charity, and the occupants of Shalom Apartments, Mangala Commercial Complex and residents of houses in the Seminary View area, managed by the Workshop; comprising of – The natives (converted to Christianity), and their descendants; The residents of the Dalit Ghetto (within the Jeppu Compound Ghetto). Outsiders who subsequently paid huge sums of money to acquire land and property within this compound, and who were duped with forged documents and who today are also struggling with us for their ownership rights.

Way back in 1879 Italian Jesuit missionaries, (with a zeal to serve the poor and the needy) and more, to win souls over to Christianity; set up camp in the Jeppu Compound, first starting an Asylum including an orphanage for Boys; In 1883 an Asylum for Lepers, and in 1885 an orphanage for Girls was set up; In 1886 St. Joseph Asylum Industrial Workshop (SJAIW) was established; In 1886 St. Joseph’s Higher Primary School for Boys and; in 1890 Infant Mary’s Higher Primary School for Girls – established. Right from 1879 to 1960, hundreds of destitute who were lesser caste Hindus and Dalits who were converted, taken into the respective orphanages (Girls/Boys), given basic education in the respective Higher Primary Schools, and boys were rehabilitated in the Jeppu Workshop (SJAIW) and when they reached the marriageable age, were married to girls from the Girls’ Orphanage and provided residence in the Jeppu Compound. I on behalf of all these residents say that this land belongs to us given to us by the British/government, and no one has any right to it, even the Bishop or other Clergy”.

Mighty Gibson speaking about the Jeppu Workshop said, “The Workshop (SJAIW) which at one time employed nearly 500 workers (mostly natives), and provided them with their source of livelihood; the Workshop which also had departments such as – (a).Shoe Making (which supplied shoes to the Indian Army during the 1st and the 2nd World War), (b). a first-in-the-country Statuary, (c). a huge, flourishing Saw Mill, (d). a vast, expert Carpentry Shop, (e). a unique Foundry, (f). a well-equipped Machine Shop, (g). a nothing-is-impossible Fitting Section, and, (h). the first of its kinds Automobile Service Section, (i). a glorious 40-piece Brass Band; – saw a steady decline over the years, with section after section closing down. The decline and fall of this flourishing Workshop is totally attributed to the lack of capability, lack of knowledge of business and industry, lack of purpose, and worse, in many cases, lack of honesty of the priests who were appointed here to manage the Workshop.

Though, a few were earnest and sincere and tried to do the best they could, (despite lack of experience and knowledge of the trade); many among them were outright dishonest, cheats and crooks, who busied themselves in making a fast buck by – selling off machinery as scrap, under-billing products and services, not properly accounting for monies received, sucking the Workshop dry by diverting the funds generated, to other projects such as the Belve Agricultural Colony, buying Estates, erecting Commercial Complexes such as the Mangala Commercial Complex, the Shalom Apartments and even investing in Petrol Bunks – without re-investing any amounts as capital, back into the Workshop. Siphoning the resources of the Workshop away for their personal gains.

The classic example is that of Fr. Ligoury Menezes, who had invested in buses from the loot of the Workshop and who went to the extent of even transporting stones from the workshop in the Workshop’s car to build his house in Bondel. The present manager seems to be vying with him in the art of swindling. The very fact that, though appointed the manager of the Workshop, he is busy collecting money from customers in the Petrol Bunk across the road, proves the point. This also begs the question whether the Petrol Bunk (named St. Joseph Service Station) has been established with the loot of this Workshop. Today the workshop is a mess, with only a handful of workers keeping the chimneys alive. However, the management of the Workshop is busy raking in money by leasing out, renting and selling the Workshop properties to business houses and outsiders.

It may be noted here that the Boys’ Orphanage and the Boys’ Higher Primary School have both been shut and partly demolished and the premises leased out to a business house for a huge consideration. Apart from looting the Workshop, Priests appointed as managers also indulged in selling plots within the Jeppu Compound collecting huge sums of money and duping people with agreements of transfer of property which had no legal standing. The case of the Shalom apartment which was built on the land where natives’ houses were, and Fr. Marcel Saldanha’s involvement in this scam, stands out as a sore thumb.

Vinette Lata briefing about the Dalit Conversion to Christianity by the Priests said:

We were all once Hindu/Dalits and we were all converted into New Christians, and we the natives now suffer the most. We were uprooted from our original religion (Hinduism), our mother language (Tulu), and our traditions and culture (Local Hindu Tulu Culture), enticed into becoming Christians, and in the course of a generation, were left to fend for themselves. All that was offered to us in return for becoming Christians, was taken away – many of them evicted mercilessly, their livelihood (the Workshop) taken away from them, their lands and properties sold to outsiders. We have been duped, cheated, manipulated and exploited by false promises, worthless agreements, legally invalid ‘Perpetual Lease Deed’ documents. We still remain cheated from being the rightful owners of the Jeppu Compound.

We the native converts were merely ‘uprooted’ from our local culture, but we were never ‘rooted’ or ‘planted’ in the Konkani culture. In all these years, not a single attempt has been made to teach us Konkani, though we were compelled to speak Konkani (now that we are Christians). As a result, the Konkani we spoke became the butt of ridicule, isolating them and identifying them as ‘Nove Christanv’, ‘conveddtor’ and ‘Jeppu Compoundacho’. To add to our woes, we were given fancy surnames such as – ‘Spinoza’, ‘Ornello’, ‘Careira’, ‘Rebimbus’, ‘Ozario’ etc.. The shame and the inferiority that we people have had to experience is only next to the humility and indignity that Jews suffered under Nazi Hitler. Our very identity was stolen, leaving us confused and cultureless. Our plight is still worse, being cheated of our livelihood.

We are segregated, isolated, and until recently were even restricted from coming to the main Church that the other converts used. We had to go to the small Chapel at the Destitutes’ Home, to fulfill the religious obligations of our new religion.No amount of compensation or penance can wash away the sins from these perpetrators-the Bishop, the priests, the missionaries and the Mangaluru Diocese.

Gladys Fonseca speaking about the road being snatched away by the priests and nuns said:

There was once a road Nandigudda-Silva compound road which was daily used by the residents, children to go to school and others. The greed of – the Rector of the Seminary, the Manager of the Workshop, the Parish Priest of Jeppu and also the Sisters of Charity was exposed stark naked, when these 4 power centres came together to build 3 walls and put-up 2 gates on the age-old road that people used, which connected the Nandigudda road (to the extreme right of the compound) and Silva road (to the extreme left of the compound), which passed through the compound just in-front of the Sisters’ Convent, the Jeppu Workshop, the Church and the Seminary.

It is on record that people revolted and in broad daylight, around 400 of them gathered and broke the walls down. The leaders were then rounded-up, false cases foisted on them, and under police protection, the walls were rebuilt, segregating the portion of the compound to the left of the Seminary from the portion to the right. The left portion was then named Maria Nagar and the right, St. Joseph Nagar and even a grotto was put-up behind the wall to dissuade people from breaking down the wall again. The lands so apportioned within these walls and gates were then appropriated and usurped by the Seminary Rector the Parish Priest, the workshop manager and the Sisters of Charity.

Years before, the Mangala Hotel Commercial Complex was also built in the place where the houses of the natives were, (Wilfy Rebimbus’ house used to be where Mangala Hotel today stands), from the funds of the Workshop and crores collected from sale/lease/rent of plots, flats, shops – have all been appropriated/misappropriated by the managers and the administrators of the Diocese of Mangalore.

Cleata Noronha asking the question, “Who is the Landlord of our Land?, she said:

I am one among the residents living here from the past 25 years.The residents of the 270 houses in the Jeppu Compound whose forefathers were lower caste Hindus and Dalits converted to Christianity, most of who have been residing there for the past 130 years, have been fighting for their rights of ownership of their lands and properties for many years now. The Diocese of Mangaluru, represented by the Bishop, claims ownership to this government land, occupied by the foreign missionaries to rehabilitate these converts. Though the Diocese has no Title Deeds to substantiate its claim, it has been exercising authority over the Jeppu Compound-evicting natives, selling plots to outsiders, building Commercial Complexes and Apartments, leasing out, renting-out properties, and pocketing crores in the bargain.

Around a hundred years ago, locals, mostly Hindus, belonging to the lesser castes and economically backward, were converted to Christianity by foreign Jesuits, and rehabilitated in the ‘Jeppu Compound’ – an area of around 40 acres, around the Jeppu Seminary. St Joseph’s Industrial Asylum Workshop (popularly known as the ‘Seminary Workshop’, which was also established to provide employment to the destitute converts – hence named ‘Asylum Workshop’.”

In 1968, Jesuits transferred their responsibilities of these people and their properties, to the Diocese of Mangalore. Suddenly, there was a sea-change in the attitudes and motives of the rulers (the church), as against the service-zeal of the Jesuit missionaries, the Diocese of Mangalore began indulging in crass commercialization –Trees were felled, plots cleared and sold to outsiders (illegally); Walls were built across the age-old road used by the people of the ‘compound’ and huge chunks of land usurped by the managements of – (a) the Seminary, (b) the Workshop, and, (c) the Sisters of Charity; Scores of houses of the native settlers removed, rendering them homeless, and huge commercial buildings erected, such as the Mangala Hotel Building, Shalom Apartment Complex, Maria Jayanthi Hall etc; fetching the Diocese, crores – without a paisa going to the converted natives – the real owners,” added Texeira.

And all through the years, though the ‘Diocese’ has no proper records to claim ownership (this has been revealed and proved by a heap of information collected, in reply to our numerous queries filed under RTI) – it has exercised absolute authority by evicting original settlers, binding others with an illegal ‘Perpetual Lease Agreement’, closing down a school and the workshop and leasing out, selling and renting out huge properties for huge sums. In all this, both – (a) the natives (the converts), and (b) the new settlers who were cheated into buying plots, paying big sums of money, without proper records – feel lost and cheated. It will not be wrong to say the head of the Diocese is the biggest and the most oppressive landlord of Mangaluru – exercising authority over thousands of acres of land and owning properties worth hundreds of crores.

Now, the festering issue has reached a boiling point. Aware that a revolt is brewing and that the scams of the Diocese will finally be exposed, the Bishop, through the manager of the workshop, has issued ‘Eviction’ Notice to two natives. (Valerian Texeira and Victor Pais) They have been particularly targeted because they are the leading RTI activists of the compound and have gathered information of the land scams of the diocesan authorities, and have complained to the centre, state and district authorities. Having suffered indignity for years on end, all under the garb of religion and religious authority, the residents of the Jeppu Compound (both natives and new settlers), unanimously say –”Enough is Enough”- this is our property, and no one has rights over it, even the Bishop or the Diocese.

Sathish Fonseca- secretary of the Association read out the demands that the residents are asking for:

WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE JEPPU COMPOUND TODAY SAY – ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! IN THE NAME OF GOD, IN THE NAME OF RELIGION AND IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE, WE DEMAND

– Withdrawal of the ‘Quit Notice’ issued to victimize Valerian Texeira and Victor Pais, for their RTI activism and for being whistle-blowers.

– Stop forthwith exercising your ‘landlordship’ over the Jeppu Compound and co-operate with us in the process of procuring legal documents to assert our rightful ownership.

– And because outsiders were duped into believing that the forged documents that they were given, entitled them to the legal ownership of the lands they had purchased in the Jeppu Compound – they too to be treated at par with the natives and given absolute legal ownership.

– From now on, if you lease-out, rent-out or sell any property within the Jeppu Compound or undertake any property development, the residents of the Jeppu Compound to be compulsorily made stakeholders of the same.

– Compensate the people of the Jeppu Compound, for all the damages, sufferings, ignominy, pains, hardships, tensions and exploitations, they have had to undergo and the indignity they have had to endure.

As the people are extremely agitated seeking a solution to this problem which has vexed them for years now, and also, as all our numerous appeals and entreaties have fallen on deaf ears, kindly settle the above demands within a month of the receipt of this memorandum. In the event that you handover charge to a new Bishop before that time, the issues may be settled before you go, so that you may be able to spend your retired life peacefully in our vicinity. PLEASE NOTE THAT WE HAVE DOCUMENTARY PROOF OF ALL INSTANCES OF FRAUD, FORGERY, ILLEGALITY AND MISUSE OF AUTHORITY. THEY WILL BE PRODUCED AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, IF REQUIRED, IN THE COURTS OF LAW.

Marietta on behalf of Wilson Baptist (President of Association- who due to poor eye-sight couldn’t read the memorandum that was submitted to MLA J R Lobo) read:

the memorandum details and the demands that the residents are asking for, and also seek an end to the constant harassment they have been experiencing at the hands of the Bishop and Diocese. We have historically traced the atrocities committed and have given an ultimatum to grant us our rightful ownership of our lands. We will fight till we get justice no matter what. This is our land, and we should have full rights over it- and no one else.

The lands in the Jeppu Compound were acquired by the occupation of Govt. lands, solely for the rehabilitation of these natives (converts). The point to be noted here is that neither the Missionaries nor any subsequent Bishop or the Diocese, paid any money to anyone to acquire these lands. Please note that neither the Diocese nor the Bishop, paid any money to the Jesuits, in consideration for the transfer of the lands and properties of the Jeppu Compound. Therefore, neither the Diocese nor the Bishop has any moral right to pocket the gains accruing out of these lands and properties. At best, they are administrators, governed by the rules of the Registrar of Societies. They are certainly not owners. Much less, Landlords.

Today the Bishop and the Diocese of Mangaluru is the biggest landlord of Mangaluru. With the help of a cunning Lawyer, they are busy mercilessly evicting poor tenants and raking in crores, selling off these properties. The numerous RTI documents that we now possess, clearly expose the fraud played on us by the Diocese and its Institutions, falsely claiming ownership of our lands based on forged documents, and hoodwinking us into believing that indeed we are at its mercy in the matter of our houses and our lands.

After receiving the memorandum which also mentioned the various demands as mentioned by Satish Fonseca, MLA J R Lobo in his reply the gathering said, “I am very happy to be here among you all. I know your sorrow and feelings, and I also know how hard ist for you all to feel the brunt from this issue which has been going on for a long time. This is a very serious issue which cannot be solved easily and quickly-since it is an issue dealing with land, and many parties are involved. But I will do my best to help you out in settling the issue as quickly as possible, but I am not giving 100% guarantee. I will go to the extent to meet the concerned persons on this issue and will sit with them and chalk out the plans to end this longtime fight for justice.

Don’t think I am here to help you out since the elections are near- I am here not for vote bank. Election and your land issues are two different things- I am only here as your MLA and to help you out as best as I can. I also suggest that you all sit together with the Bishop and other concerned persons, and come to a positive and final end to this fight in a peaceful way rather than extending it further into controversies and hatred. You all belong to the same Christian community, so let us end this war in a peaceful and systematic way by not harming or degrading any person particularly. Let us go in a positive attitude and get justice is a friendly Christian way. Have patience and work things out slowly- and success will surely be yours”.

Disclaimer: The contents incorporated in the above report are solely the statements made by the Jeppu Parishioners Association members and few other Jeppu Compound residents- and are NOT those of the Author/Team Mangalorean and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of Mangalorean.com and Mangalorean.com does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.

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