Indian ambassador up close

In an effort to get to know more about the Philippines, the Indian ambassador to the Philippines, Smt. Navrekha Sharma, has been hosting small luncheons for journalists in her residence in Forbes Park. Yesterday’s lunch had two STAR columnists, Chit Pedrosa and myself, Mon Tulfo of Inquirer, and Saeed Daof, director general of the Center for the Promotion of Peace and Development of Mindanao. A fifth person was Rahul Chhabra, embassy economic counsellor. The pleasant conversation turned out with not merely the ambassador asking questions, but the guests asking her questions about her own country.

There was an exchange of information on gender issues, with Madame Sharma commenting that laws governing the women’s status are far ahead of social practices, and that changes to make life better for women are taking place worldwide.

Information was volunteered on the distinct differences between Muslim groups – the Maranaws of Marawi, the Maguindanaos of Cotabato, the Tausugs of Sulu and Zamboanga; that the Maranaws are not wont to encourage intermarriage with other Muslim groups, that the massive poverty among the Muslims has been the result of centuries of Spanish and American colonial discrimination against them, that Muslims have not availed themselves of the public law granting them land titles, believing that they owned the land they and their forefathers had been living in for generations.

* * *

That the ambassador would show interest in the plight of the Muslims is on account of India’s Muslim population being a large one – 140-million or 10 percent of India’s 1 billion people. But as I understood it, religion is not a negative issue in her country majority of whose population are Hindu. Muslims can overcome hardships by making role models of themselves, as what a successful wealthy Muslim clan has done in India.

Over a savory lunch of roast mutton, Indian bread, buttered chicken stuffed with mushrooms and mughlai spinach, and a dessert of pineapple sooji halwa and ras malai (cream cheese balls in milk), the guests learned about a country unified by a policy of allowing the use of English, Hindi and local languages; that medicines are manufactured cheaply and are of high quality on account of a policy of having the process of manufacturing drugs patented, and not the products themselves, and that India’s parliamentary system of governance is at work.

A serious student of how the Philippine political structure works, the ambassador asked whether former President Estrada, who had been popularly elected, would have initiated reforms; everyone laughed, and someone said, "He’s a moron."

Such informal meetings as encouraged by the ambassador, engender understanding of cultures and good will. I imagine that Madama Sharma invites also members of the business community and other sectors to such lunches. She must have done the same thing in her posting in Jakarta (where she served as minister and chief of mission, prior to her arrival in Manila as ambassador last October. She majored in sociology in college, and she has two daughters; one works for an NGO, and the other is taking up law in a university.

* * *

On another front. The Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, a 16-year-old organization, is inviting parties to nominate relatives and friends to a roster of heroes who died in the course of resisting the Marcos dictatorship from Sept. 21, 1972, to Feb. 25, 1986.

The nominations are solicited by the Foundation which keeps alive the memories of those who participated in the struggle against the Marcos dictatorship by holding annual rites to honor them on or around November 30 (Bonifacio Day).

So far, 101 individuals from various provinces and all walks of life have been named "martyrs" and their names are embossed on a granite "Wall of Remembrance" at the Bantayog park in Quezon City along Quezon Avenue corner EDSA.

Bantayog accepts all nominations but will verify all information provided in the nomination papers through independent research. A Bantayog committee evaluates and approves the nominations every year. Deadline for submission of nominations this year is Aug. 31, 2002. For details or more questions and nomination forms, call Thelma Arceo or Cathy Abrazado at the Bantayog office, Kilosbayan House, #7 First St., Acacia Lane, Mandaluyong City, with tel. Nos. 534-5868 and 534-5889 or email [email protected].