Fwd: [Synod] Tribute to Fr. Thomas Kocherry, the fisherpeople's priest
Allwyn Fernandes
From: Astrid Lobo Gajiwala < Date: 6 May 2014 11:18 Forwarded message From: anto akkara <>
Dear friends,
Here's a tribute to Fr Thomas Kochery - an artcile I wrote for the National Catholic Register of the US in October 1997.
anto akkara
Indian Redemptorist Champions Fisher-people's Cause
by Anto Akkara
NEW DELHI -- Fifty seven-year old Redemptorist Father Thomas Kochery was unanimously chosen Coordinator of the World Forum of Fish-workers and Fish-harvesters (WFF). Undisputed champion of India's 8 million Indian traditional fisher-people, Fr. Kochery's elevation as leader of 100 million fisher-people worldwide came at Nov 16-21 WFF convention in New Delhi attended by delegates from 32 fishing countries.
The priest made news headlines during the meet when he rejected $ 150,000 award of PEW Foundation of Massachusetts saying the award sponsored by Sun Oil Company is "blood money." The Sun Oil Company is one of the worst polluters of the sea. I will be betraying the fisher-people, if I receive this," said Fr. Kochery.
During his two months stay in US (to attend Redemptorist General Chapter) Fr. Kochery realized that Pew Foundation set up by Oil Baron Joseph N. Pew Jr. was guilty of "despising government regulations and choking the people of Philadelphia in the 1940'." Fr. Kochery did attend a get together of Pew Foundation awardees of last five to ten years. While nine other awardees of 1997 signed the Fellowship contract, he postponed it.
"The heirs of yesterday's polluters are the allies of today's environmentalism," says the priest. With money gained from illegal operations, these Foundations turn "environmentalists into compromisers rather than principled battlers." Pew Foundation wants Marine Conservation. Ironically, it also favors aqua culture which has done great damage to environment in Asian countries. "For us, what is important is not the award or money but fighting forces that destroys marine resources and put in peril fisher-people's lives."
After his ordination in 1971, the Redemptorist started as vicar of coastal Punthura parish in southern Thiruvananthapuram diocese in Kerala state. The "curious" priest collectively owned a fishing net with 15 fishermen and ventured to sea almost daily with them. Gradually the priest started organizing illiterate fisher-people at a time when mechanized boats took away more than half of their catch.
Kerala government was forced to set up a committee to look into fisher-people's grievances following the agitation led by the Redemptorist. The Fisher-peoples Forum Fr. Kochery launched in 1978 spread to several fishing pockets along the 6,100 kms long coastal belt of India. In 1983, National Fish-workers Forum (NFF) was formed under Fr. Kochery's stewardship.
Countrywide agitations and court cases for banning mechanized boats from traditional fishermen's areas dragged on in the 80's. Undeterred by the protests, government gave licenses to 200 foreign industrial trawlers in 1991. This aggravated the misery of fisher-people as factory trawlers often encroached 100 miles nautical limit from the coast, wiping away their catch. This led to vigorous protests led by Fr. Kochery as convenor of the National Fisheries Action Committee.
The year 1995 was a hectic year for Father Kochery and his associates. Countrywide strikes led to debate in Parliament on the 1991 Fisheries Policy. Fr. Kochery went on indefinite hunger strike and withdrew it only after government agreed to reconstitute the Review Committee that had been already step up to study the problem. In Feb 1996, 41-member Review Committee in which Fr. Kochery was the lone representative of traditional fisher-people, recommended cancellation of licenses of foreign Trawlers due to their impact on traditional fisher-people and depletion of marine resources.
As the government dithered to enforce the ban, Fr. Kochery went on fast in Aug 1996. Federal Minister for Food Processing flew down to Mumbai and offered him lemon juice to end the fast with an assurance to enforce the ban. The determined struggle finally bore fruit when government decided earlier this year not to renew the licenses of bull trawlers in Indian waters.
It is not patriotism that has enthused Fr. Kochery's campaigns. The priest pointed out that fish catch and marine resources have declined due to 25,000 factory trawlers worldwide. "These are environmentally destructive. It is not sustainable fishing at all. They don't mind destroying marine resources in blind pursuit of profit. It is like burning candle on both ends," asserts Fr. Kochery.
Acknowledgement for Father Kochery's work has come even from UN Secretary General who in his "Ocean Development" report to UN General Assembly acclaimed NFF for its success "in scaling down the number of Joint Venture Fishing Vessels in collaboration with the national government."
Fr. Kochery's pioneering work in organizing the fisher-people made the government concede their several demands. But in the process he became a "rebel" for his close association with leftist trade unions in the eyes of several bishops. Nuns and priests who associated themselves with Fr. Kochery's NFF were blacklisted by some bishops.
However, Fr. Kochery is no more an anathema in church circles. Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) Labor Commission now stands solidly behind the priest who enjoys the support national trade unions in the campaign for fisher-people's rights. This change of heart towards Fr. Kochery was evident Nov 14 when Indian church "belatedly" acknowledged the "rebel" priest's "yeomen service to fisher-people and on winning PEW Fellowship" with a reception at CBCI secretariat.
The priest had to face "both opposition and support" in his work. "The bishop who appointed me was always with me. When the new bishop came, he also urged me to stay on but later, he asked my congregation to take me back (in 1982) from the parish I had worked since 1971. They said my work is highly political and the church had lot of problems with the government," recalls Fr. Kochery.
Undaunted by the cool response from some bishops, the Redemptorist says he has been unfairly branded as a "leftist." "I am not supporting any political party. We stand for marginalized people and in our struggle, take support from one and all. Trade unions of all (political) hues are supporting us," adds the priest who is a regular participant in Indian Theological Association conventions.
"Earlier, church had a close door approach and failed to understand them. We did not listen to them," admitted Bishop Leon A. Tharmaraj of Kotar, CBCI Labor Commission chairman. "But, now the church has realized the good work they (rebels) have done. They were not creating problems but trying to solve some of the problems with which the church is really concerned now," acknowledged CBCI labor commission chairman.
Bishop Tharmaraj, whose Kotar diocese in southern Tamil Nadu state where most of the 400,000 Catholics are fisher-people, said the church "only bothered about the spiritual needs and neglected the human needs of the people. They have their sorrows and joys. Church should concern with these also," added the prelate.
END
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