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Letters to the editor do not in any way express the views of the Asia Lutheran. As much as is possible, we will attempt to present the letters gas receivedh, however the Asia Lutheran reserves the right to postpone, to refrain from printing, as well as to edit any material sent in. All letters must include the writer's name and address. Please refer to the inside of the front cover for address information.
A glimpse on the impact of political economy on Indian women and the Indian churches...
Economy is the determinant factor in the life of an individual as well as that of a society. Earlier, economy used to be the concern of economists, but now, due to the centralization of national and international economies, people are able to feel the effects directly. After indepen-dence, August 15, 1947, India attempted to have a planned economy, but it concentrated on the urban centers for its economic operation, thus leaving the rural population outside its realm. The acute problem of the rural communities and particularly the rural women are due to their local economic contradictions and local unjust conditions. Moral crisis is the origin of the economic crisis. The plight of Indian women and the reason for their struggle for survival is the immorality interwoven in the socio-political- economic system of India. Economic and poli-tical questions are essentially moral questions.
The word economy comes from the Greek word, oikos meaning house and nomos meaning law. Hence, the original meaning of economy is the wise and lawful government of the household for the common good of the whole family. The meaning is extended to cover the government of the greater family, that is-the State. The purpose of the political process is to regulate the economy in such a way to bring forth well-being for all the members of the society. Now, let us see the nature of the Indian political economy and its impact on the people in general and women and church in particular.
The study of the traditional and modern economic system reveals that it is not interested in the well-being of the people. The ancient Indian political economy was a restricted economy, which preserved wealth to certain classes/castes against others who were not allowed to own wealth. Women suffered in this system, irrespective of their class/caste affiliation; they were treated as secondary humans. The recent attempt of the BJP government in the center, to revise the school curriculum, reinforces this vale system as it wants to teach the girls home-making. These traditional roles have also had an impact on the Indian churches. Women were not recognized for all church activities. They were to be the silent listeners of the church. The low-caste people had to go to different churches; they could not attend churches where people of other castes gathered.
In the modern Indian economy, corruption has destabilized the welfare economy. In the church, the same system prevails. Lack of transparency in economic affairs works against the interests of the poor. Among the poor, it is the women and children who suffer the most.
In the post-modern world, women from weaker sections suffer poverty, unequal wages, etc. as the government reduces social support day by day; women from higher classes suffer due to the changing role that the new society is assigning to them. Women are treated as commodities, sexual objects, agents for promoting commodities, sales, etc. through the media, beauty contests, etc. These are all the pressures of the globalized economy of women.
The church, which is a part of this society has not escaped these evils. Along with others, they also experience the same problems-discrimination of wealth, wages, caste-ism, corruption, poverty, non-recognition, political influence, etc.
Having seen that economic crisis is, in fact, the expression of moral crisis, the ecumenical movements should strive to build character, based on truth and justice and the Indian political bureaucratic commercial establishments and churches should have moral courage first, in order to set right their mandates and parishes.
Can we see a New Millennium where we can see a Kingdom/power structure as mentioned in Isaiah 65:17-25? 
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