Saturday, December 31, 2016
New change to the blog from 2017 onwards
As the new year dawn on us, I am trying to bring in some changes to the blog. Due to my professional commitments, I was not able to regularly update the blog in the last few months. From January onwards, I am bringing about a slight change in the format of this blog. Hope you enjoy the new beginning. Thank you for being part of the journey with us and expect your cooperation and blessing for the journey forward,
-Admin
Top ten destroyers (Credits-Defencyclopedia)
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| Kolkata Class destroyer ( Image credits- Indian Navy) |
Credits- Defencyclopedia
Author- NRP
Top 10 Most Powerful Destroyers In The World ( Click to read the entire article here.....)
Saturday, December 24, 2016
The Chinese Army's Sneaky Ploy to Take Over China's Military ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Micael Peck)
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| Chinese Type-99 Tank ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) |
Author- Michael Peck
After decades as primarily a ground force with the world’s army (go tell China to never fight a land war in Asia), the Chinese military is reorienting itself toward an air-sea conflict in waters such as the South China Sea. For more than a decade, it has been China’s air and naval forces that have growing in budget and stature, while the army has not.
Yet two China scholars ask a perceptive question: Why is the Chinese army going along with these reforms? As we well know from the U.S. military, no service ever voluntarily cedes power to another. It would be like the U.S. Army telling Congress, “cut our budget and give the Air Force more money.”( To read the entire article, click here.....)
Friday, December 16, 2016
Waking the Beast: India’s Defense Reforms Under Modi ( Source- The Diplomat/ Author- Jeff M.Smith)
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| Image credits- Indian Navy |
Source- The Diplomat
Author- Jeff M. Smith
“India has done enough to simplify its defense procurement and other norms,” opined Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar at a speech in Washington last December. “It is time for U.S. Government and Industry to reciprocate. It is easy to blame Indian bureaucracy but in some cases, U.S. bureaucracy is much worse.’’
With all due respect to Parrikar—who has been a breath of fresh air after the paralytic reign of his predecessor, AK “Mr. No” Antony—few in Washington or Delhi would agree. Fortunately, the reforms he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have shepherded are steering India in the right direction ( To read the entire article, click here.......)
Thursday, December 15, 2016
China and India Aren't Afraid to Use Money as a Weapon ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Rishika Chauhan)
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| Chinese Yaun ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) |
Source- The National Interest
Author- Rishika Chauhan
“Major powers have to work with each other even if their interests diverge on some issues,” India’s Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar stressed at the recently concluded India China Think-Tanks Forum in New Delhi. However, within the next few days, two articles in significant Indian and Chinese dailies seemed to have dampened the spirit of cooperation. Talking about a Chinese consignment worth $2.8 million dispatched to Nepal, a widely circulated Indian newspaper said that the shipment “will severely hit Indian businesses.” A reporter at the Chinese state-run Global Times was quick to respond, insisting the move did not mean that “Chinese goods will push Indian products out of the country.” Impassioned media debates ensued.
While reports of competition between the two rising states is common, such discussions have been frequent since September of last year. Accusing India of imposing an unofficial economic blockade shortly after the promulgation of the Nepali constitution, then prime minister of Nepal K. P. Sharma Oli stepped up his country’s engagement with China. While India denied its involvement, its support of the Madhesis—the minority group protesting against the constitution and leading an economic blockade—was widely acknowledged.
(To read the entire article, click here)
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
How America Can Lead in Asia ( Source- The National Interest)
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| Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / United States Department of Defense |
Source- The National Interest
Authors- Joseph W. PrueherJ. Stapleton RoyPaul HeerDavid M. LamptonMichael D. SwaineEzra Vogel
As the Trump administration assumes leadership of American foreign policy, questions prevail about how it perceives the United States’ role in the world and how it will exercise that role. The appearance of a potentially unconventional U.S. president amidst a world in flux highlights the enormous uncertainties and the potential risks to U.S. stability and prosperity that are now confronting us.
The United States is today facing a fundamentally different world from the one it has known for many decades. In fact, the scope and magnitude of global change represents the greatest challenge since America’s emergence as a world power a century ago. Economic, technological, political and military power has dispersed globally in ways that make it impossible for the United States to pursue its interests unilaterally at acceptable costs and untenable for it to sustain indefinitely its economic and military primacy throughout the world.
Domestically, the United States confronts a range of problems and trends that further challenge its ability to adjust to this changing global environment. A highly polarized political and social environment is inhibiting efforts to rejuvenate vital foundations of the economy, and to deal with mounting national debt, growing income inequality, eroding infrastructure and spiraling entitlement costs. If allowed to continue, such U.S. political and economic difficulties will constrain Washington’s ability to compete in a multipolar world, diminish confidence in U.S. staying power among friends and allies and probably intensify downward pressure on U.S. defense spending. ( To read the complete article, click here...)
Monday, December 12, 2016
Wednesday, December 07, 2016
Monday, December 05, 2016
America Needs to Stop Losing to China ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Joseph A. Bosco)
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| USN FA-18 Super Hornet ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / USN) |
Source- The National Interest
Author- Joseph A. Bosco
“America doesn't win anymore” was a constant Donald Trump campaign theme and a situation he pledged to reverse.
But before we start winning again we need to stop losing — especially with China, which candidate Trump named as the prime exploiter of America's diplomatic naiveté. While he focused on trade and currency issues, we have been losing to Beijing even more dangerously on national security issues.
North Korea, the South China Sea and Taiwan are three Asian flashpoints where China's interests are inimical to American interests and values—any one of which could suddenly bring the United States and China into military conflict ( To read the full article, click here......)
Thursday, December 01, 2016
Friday, November 25, 2016
Japan and India: A Special Relationship? ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Vivek Mishra)
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| Image credits- Indian Navy |
Source- The National Interest
Author- Vivek Mishra
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent three-day visit to Japan is a sign that the bilateral relationship between India and Japan is headed for newer heights. More importantly, there seems to be a palpable method to this resurgent Asian connection that does not just attempt to restore the balance of power in Asia. The two sides are astutely restructuring regional formulations in the Asian geopolitical theatre through a mix of economic, political and strategic accomplishments. India was able to draw Japan’s support for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), negotiate small but significant progress in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train timeline, ease Indian student visas and facilitate the training of 30 thousand Indians in Japanese manufacturing practices.
Two other developments that took place during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Japan could turn the India-Japan relationship into an unwavering geostrategic alliance in Asia. One is the decision by both the countries to merge their contiguous maritime corridors to create a single geostrategic maritime expanse running from the Far East up to the western Indian Ocean. Modi’s Japan visit drew assurances for merging India’s “Act East Policy” with Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy.” The second is the significant progress made in negotiations for the sale of Shinmaywa US-2i search and rescue aircraft from Japan to India. Both of these developments could recalibrate the Asian power balance by resetting the maritime heft in Asian waters, which has increasingly tilted in China’s favor since the beginning of this decade. ( To read the entire article, click here....)
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
China and Sri Lanka: Between a Dream and a Nightmare ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Jeff M. Smith)
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| Image credits- VOA |
Source- The Diplomat
Author- Jeff M. Smith
The Sino-Sri Lankan relationship was fundamentally transformed by the 2005 election of President Mahinda Rajapaksa. Unlike many South Asian capitals India had shielded from Chinese influence, Colombo established cordial, if limited, diplomatic ties with Beijing by the late 20th century, even importing arms from China in the 1990s.
Rajapaksa entered office two decades into a brutal conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE), a hyper-violent separatist movement claiming to defend the interests of Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority. Colombo and the LTTE reached a ceasefire in 2002 but the violence continued and Sri Lanka’s foreign minister was assassinated shortly before Rajapaksa’s inauguration. Within weeks of taking office the president privately appealed to Delhi for military aid to underpin a major offensive he was planning to crush the LTTE.
In 2006 Delhi quietly gifted Rajapaksa five Mi-17 helicopters and aided efforts to target LTTE personnel, supplies, and floating arsenals at sea. However, with a politically influential Tamil minority of its own, Delhi balked at requests for more robust military support. Nor could Rajapaksa turn to the United States. Concerned about human rights violations in the LTTE conflict, Washington had “drastically reduced its foreign assistance package for Sri Lanka.”
China gladly filled the void in the defense realm. In 2007, Rajapaksa secured a $37 million deal for Chinese ammunition and ordinance. In 2008, China “gifted” Colombo six F7 jet fighters, and provided anti-aircraft guns and JY-11 radar. The ceasefire with the Tigers collapsed that year and in 2009 Rajapaksa launched a scorched-earth offensive that eliminated the LTTE, though not before claiming up to 20,000 civilians in the process. ( To read the entire article, click here)
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Friday, November 11, 2016
The Trump era- What it means for India and neighbours
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| Credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Gage Skidmore |
(After a month's time, I am back again with active blogging. Lot of things have happened. For my new article, I have decided to concentrate on the new American President, Donald Trump and what it means for India)
The Trump era has dawned on the United States and the world. As President elect Donald Trump prepares to assume office as the 45'th President of the United States, the world is left in deep confusion and uncertainty as to how the Trump administration will affect them and their country.
The Trump era has dawned on the United States and the world. As President elect Donald Trump prepares to assume office as the 45'th President of the United States, the world is left in deep confusion and uncertainty as to how the Trump administration will affect them and their country.
Donald Trump is not new to the world. The hard headed businessmen who defies all logic and who fights and makes a come back is well known. He is tenacious, outspoken and gets his way. From the time his business was in the verge of collapse in the mid 90's to making a coming back and getting to greater heights are all part of the enigma called Donald Trump. His Presidential aspirations are also well known choosing to backout at the last movement in the past , thus creating an impression in the minds of many that he is just trying to hog the lime light. Even during the 2016 Presidency campaign, people believed that he was not serious about the race and had just thrown in his name to get some publicity. But later on it became evident, that he was in for the fight. But his outspoken comments about immigration and women left many with bad taste and many believed that he will not make it beyond the primary. Yet he persevered to the final race. In the last round, everybody predicted Hillary Clinton a resounding victory. But typical of Trump, he defied all the prediction ended up as the winner thus becoming the 45'th President of the United States of America. But his comments about immigration to defence has lest the world perplexed as to how his administration will be like.
For one, Trump has campaigned for creating jobs. What is sure is the fact that the new administration will look inward. Outsourcing will be a thing of the past as he seeks to curb American jobs being taken on to other countries. His administration will be conservative in many respects with a strong military and a boldness to take decision and to see the decision being executed. Now let us analyze what this means for India, China and Pakistan.......
India:
For India , the administration may be a mixed bag. Mr. Trump as time and again talked about deepening ties with India and making India a strategic ally. So we can naturally expect a deepening of strategic and defence ties with India. He has also reached out to the Indian community whose stature and influence are growing in American society. At the same time, as Trump seeks to create jobs inside United States, countries like India and others wherein a huge number of outsourced jobs end up can expect to have them curtailed. This may have some impact on our economy. But all told, the picture is not that gloomy.
China:
Things doesn't look that good for China. For one, China has been aggressively expanding it's illegal claims in South China Sea. Further it has been following aggressive measure with all it's neighbours. China lays claim to almost all of South China Sea and also East China Sea. In South China Sea, China is in direct conflict with many of her neighbours for claim top South China Sea. But
China's claim is not in adherence to UNCLOS. United States with the intention not to escalate the situation has been reacting mildly with Freedom of Navigation (FON) which does not seem to have any impact on China. But under Trump, America may not be so forgiving. There is every chance that a Chinese move will invite an American response which will be aggressive and powerful. It is estimated that China will try to invade Taiwan in the near future that will see America intervening as it is obliged to do so under treaty. There is every chance that such a situation will arise during the Trump administration. Nobody exactly knows how Trump will react and how he will act. On trade, Trump has been rather open about bringing barriers on cheap Chinese imports to revive American industry. There is every chance that Trump will follow on his world which will have an adverse impact on the Chinese economy which is already ailing.
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| Credits- Wikimedia Commons /Author- Michael Vadon |
Pakistan:
Pakistan will be the worst affected With it's double standards well exposed, Pakistan will face renewed pressure from America to reign in the Islamic militants and also curtail it's ever expanding nuclear arsenal. Trump will not as forgiving as the former Presidents and will take on Pakistan by the horn. Pakistan who has already lost much of American patriotism will be the most affected and find itself in the receiving end of an aggressive America. The double standards that is so common with the Pakistani establishment will need to come to an end.
Japan/ Korea
Trump always speaks of rearming Japan and Korea, much as a checkmate to North Korea and also China. This emerging alliance will greatly benefit India as India is the linchpin of this emerging alliance.
Conclusion:
Donald Trump rode on the "anti establishment" feeling within the American masses. Trump has unique opportunity of making things right and establishing himself as one of the greatest President in recent American history. Whether he will cease that opportunity and make a difference is to be seen in the coming days. In the meanwhile like the rest of the world, we can only keep our fingers crossed.
Japan/ Korea
Trump always speaks of rearming Japan and Korea, much as a checkmate to North Korea and also China. This emerging alliance will greatly benefit India as India is the linchpin of this emerging alliance.
Conclusion:
Donald Trump rode on the "anti establishment" feeling within the American masses. Trump has unique opportunity of making things right and establishing himself as one of the greatest President in recent American history. Whether he will cease that opportunity and make a difference is to be seen in the coming days. In the meanwhile like the rest of the world, we can only keep our fingers crossed.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Sunday, November 06, 2016
Saturday, November 05, 2016
Thursday, November 03, 2016
Wednesday, November 02, 2016
Monday, October 31, 2016
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Let's Talk About the Chinese Navy's Type 055 Destroyer ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Robert Farley)
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| PLAN Type-55 Destroyer ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / 果壳军事) |
Source- The Diplomat
Author- Robert Farley
What does China have planned for the Type 055 cruiser (or cruiser-size destroyer)?
Over the past month, numerous reports have emerged about the progress of the class of large ships. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has reportedly ordered four ships, in two groups. The first ship, building at Dalian, will likely hit the water next year, and potentially commission in 2018 or 2019.
Guesses regarding size have ranged from 12,000 to 20,000 tons, with most estimates concentrating on the lower end. Expectations about employment of the ships vary quite a bit, but there is general agreement that the PLAN has determined that it needs a large ship able to operate at great distance from home bases, and that will presumably include anti-air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface capabilities. Like many modern surface combatants, the Type 055 will apparently have features designed to reduce its radar cross section and thus enhance survivability. ( To read the entire article, click here......)
China No Longer Has a Taiwan Strategy ( Source- The National Interest / Author- J. Michael Cole)
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| Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / VOA China |
Source- The National Interest
Author- J. Michael Cole
For all the talk about the inevitability of the eventual “reunification” of Taiwan and China and bluster about China’s determination to accomplish the “China dream,” ongoing trends in the Taiwan Strait have made it clear that Beijing’s approach to Taiwan is failing. Short of military conquest, there is very little in the current set of options available to Beijing suggesting that “peaceful unification” is even remotely possible.
For a while, Beijing seemed to have a strategy, and if one did not look too closely it even seemed to be succeeding. Occurring at a time of shifting balance of economic and military power in the Taiwan Strait, the election of Ma Ying-jeou of the “Beijing-friendly” Kuomintang (KMT) in the 2008 elections, followed by the signing of a series of agreements and indications of political rapprochement, led many analysts to conclude that the Taiwan “question” was, at long last, on its way to peaceful resolution. Moreover, the seeming passivity of the Taiwanese public in the early years of the Ma administration seemed to indicate general support for his efforts.( To the read the complete article, click here...)
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Monday, October 24, 2016
‘Stood by India in its 'darkest hours’: top Russian defence official ( Source- Russia & India Report)
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( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Сергей Березов) |
Source- Russia & India Report
Russia, which has signed deals worth over $12 billion after the annual Russia-India summit held earlier this month, hopes to finalise a few more major projects shortly. The defence deals signed include India’s lease of a second nuclear submarine, purchase of five S-400 ‘Triumf’ missile defence systems, four frigates and joint manufacture of the Ka-226 helicopters.
As it pitches for more projects, Russia is calling itself not just a business partner but an "ally" who has always stood by India, including during its "darkest hours".
Among the new deals Russia is pushing is a multi-billion dollar deal for the P75-I project, in which six conventional submarines are to be built with Air Independent Propulsion systems. It is also looking at India’s next aircraft carrier project, along with a deal to jointly develop a fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA).
India could get delivery of the S-400 in 2020
A top Russian defence official claimed the US and Europeans could never provide India what Russia can and has given and offered.....( To read the complete article, click here)
The Kilo-Class Submarine: Why Russia's Enemies Fear "The Black Hole" ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Kyle Mizokami)
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| Kilo class submarine ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Russian Ministry of Defense) |
Source- The National Interest
Author- Kyle Mizokami
Unlike the United States Navy, which went all-in on nuclear power, Russia maintains fleets of both diesel and nuclear-powered submarines. A land power encompassing much of Eurasia, Russian submarines are based much closer to “the action” than American submarines are. While Russia maintains nuclear submarines for distant ocean patrols, its fleet of diesel submarines is more than adequate for conflicts in Europe, the Middle East and the Russian near abroad.
The mainstay of the Russian Navy’s conventionally powered fleet are Project 877–class submarines, known as the Kilo class to NATO and the West. Nicknamed the “Black Hole” submarine by the U.S. Navy, the Improved Kilos are extremely quiet. The class has been built more or less continuously for thirty years, a testament to their effectiveness at sea............. ( Now click here to read the complete article)
Friday, October 21, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
Friday, September 30, 2016
India strikes back
In the intervening hours on the night of 28'th and 29'th, something dramatic had happened. In revenge of the recent Poonch attack on an Indian army camp, Indian Special Forces took out surgical strikes inside POK in terrorist camps and launch pads killing many terrorists in the process. This is a marked departure from the established norm of self restraint. India has awaken to the fact that the path of appeasement will not work with Pakistan and sometimes you will need to wield the big stick to beat the hell out of Pakistan.
Now India is sending out the message to Pakistan that India will not lie low if India is again targeted by Pakistan or their cronies. In a strategic level, Pakistan's bluff of nuclear retaliation is exposed. India now is showing that it will not be cowed down by nuclear blackmail.
Pakistan had breached the threshold in recent days when they stepped up terrorist activities inside India. It was in a way a desperate move by Pakistan to give a fresh lease of life to a dying policy.But times have changed. The terrorists emanating from Pakistan has become an international nuisance. From America to Europe, all countries are affected. The international patience is running out. Pakistan has institutionalised terrorism with deep relationship between the establishment and the terrorist organisations. The threshold has been breached.
The Message of the Indian Attack
For Pakistan the message is clear. India will no longer tolerate any more attacks from these terrorists. There will be retaliation. Pakistan will pay.
International Isolation
For Pakistan, the times could not be worse. There are nobody to support them at this time of crisis. Even their closest allies China and Saudi Arabia has turned their backs. Pakistan is isolated. Nobody will bail them out. Pakistan just cannot rely on anybody anymore. That is in a way their own undoing. Let Pakistan understand that they will pay big time if they continue in this oath. Hope good sence prevail on them.
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
Thursday, September 15, 2016
Iran, India Open New Chapter In Relations – Analysis ( Source- Eurasia Review / Author- Mehraveh Kharazmi)
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| Indo-Iranian Chabahar Port ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Amirhossein Nikroo) |
Source- Eurasia Review
Author- Mehraveh Kharazmi
Iran and India are going through a new stage in their bilateral relations. The two countries, which have maintained cordial relations characterized by low tension in the past centuries, are now opening a new chapter, whose impact can even transcend the limits of their bilateral ties.
Iran’s relations with India, which had become restricted to import of non-essential goods from India in return for selling Iran’s crude to Indian oil companies due to anti-Iran sanctions and because Tehran did not have much of an option, have now entered a totally different phase. This is true because following the endorsement and implementation of Iran’s nuclear deal with the P5+1 group of countries, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran has now more options for the establishment of political and economic relations with various countries of the world. As a result, Tehran has entered a new era in its relations with such countries as India and China on an equal standing and on the basis of the realization of its medium- and long-term economic interests.... (Now read on)
Why Maritime Logistics Pacts are Vital for Asia’s Strategic Balance ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Abhijit Singh)
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| Image credits- Indian Navy |
Source- The Diplomat
Author- Abhijit Singh
Ever since it was signed late last month, India’s logistics agreement with the United States has been a contested issue in India’s strategic circles. The pact has attracted some criticism from a section of India’s political and strategic elite who feel it restricts India’s freedom of military action. The critics appear convinced the pact does not benefit India strategically in the same way as it advantages the U.S. military. As a leading Indian defense analyst put it, “the government seems to have been guided more by the fear of being accused of succumbing to pressure from Washington and less by an evaluation of whether this might benefit India’s military.” As a result, Indian defense ministry officials find themselves under pressure to explain why they believe an agreement with the United States on military logistics is in India’s best interests.
Meanwhile, supporters of the pact claim that it only codifies existing arrangements for defense logistics and must not be seen as a military agreement at all. India-U.S. defense arrangements, they rightly point out, have long been characterized by an inherent informality – particularly in their logistics transactions. LEMOA, the proponents aver, is likely to bring a structured efficiency in bilateral defense interactions and exercises. And yet, no amount of logical rationalization has been able to convince the skeptics who see the agreement as a unacceptable breach of India’s established policy of military neutrality, and a clear move toward a de facto “military alliance” with the United States...... ( Now read on)
About the author- Abhijit Singh is a Senior Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation where he heads the Maritime Security Initiative.
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
China Is Not Ready to Become a 'Great Power' ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Liang Xiaojun)
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| PLA Ground Forces ( Image credits- VOA) |
Source- The National Interest
Author- Liang Xiaojun
For a great power to lead the world there are a few qualities that it should bring to the table. These include, but are not limited to, material strength, an aspiration for recognition, and sufficient international support. Does China currently possess these qualities?
Material strength is the idea that a great power can survive a natural disaster or a man-made catastrophe by virtue of its geographical advantage or large population. Russia, for instance, was able to hold back Napoleon’s ambitions and, later on, undermine Hitler’s aggression. The United States also had enough material strength to play a dominant role in rebuilding the world after the devastation of World War II. And, more recently, China’s material strength led it to dominate the regional response to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis..... (Now read on)
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Monday, September 05, 2016
Escalations In The East China Sea: Is Conciliation Possible? – Analysis ( Source- Eurasia Review / Authors- Tan Ming Hui and Lee YingHui)
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| Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Jacob Jose |
Source- Eurasia Review
Authors- Tan Ming Hui and Lee YingHui
Responding to both domestic and external pressures, China sends a strong signal by raising tensions in the East China Sea. Japan is likely to continue engagement of Southeast Asia to balance the perceived Chinese provocation. Can China and Japan explore conciliatory options to avoid a worsening security situation in the region? ..........( Now read on)
Is China's New Cruise Missile All Hype? ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Abhijit Singh)
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| Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / USN |
Source- The National Interest
Author- Abhijit Singh
China is waging a relentless propaganda campaign against its opponents in the South China Sea. Following the Hague arbitral tribunal’s verdict rejecting Beijing’s historical rights within the nine-dash line, China’s publicity managers have raised their game with devastating effect. With well-timed reports suggesting a plan for a Chinese ADIZ in the South China Sea, the fresh reclamation of reefs and shoals in the Spratly group of islands and even reports of military aircraft patrols over the disputed islands, they’ve managed to convince many regional watchers that China has emerged as a dominant maritime power in the Asia–Pacific.( Now read on.........)
Sunday, September 04, 2016
The path to Sainthood- A journey through the lives and times of Saint Teresa of Kolkata
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| Mother Teresa ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Manfredo Ferrari) |
As Mother Teresa is canonized by the Vatican today, giving her sainthood, it is time for us to travel through the lives and time of this enigma we call, Mother Teresa. She has a special place in the hears and minds of us Indians, because it is here that she spent the better part of her life helping the poor and destitutes of Kolkata. A tribute to this angel of mercy:
Mother Teresa or Saint Teresa also known as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, MC, was an Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary. She was born in Skopje (modern Republic of Macedonia), then part of the Kosovo Vilayet in the Ottoman Empire. After having lived in Macedonia for eighteen years, she moved to Ireland and then to India, where she lived for most of her life.
Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation, which in 2012 consisted of over 4,500 sisters and was active in 133 countries. They run homes for people dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics; children's and family counselling programmes; orphanages; and schools. Members must adhere to the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, as well as a fourth vow, to give "wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor".
Mother Teresa was the recipient of numerous honours, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. On 19 October 2003, she was beatified as "Blessed Teresa of Calcutta". A second miracle was credited to her intercession by Pope Francis, in December 2015, paving the way for her to be recognised as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Her canonisation is scheduled for 4 September 2016, a day before the 19th anniversary of her death.
A controversial figure both during her life and after her death, Mother Teresa was widely admired by many for her charitable works. She was both praised and criticised for her anti-abortion views. She also received criticism for conditions in the houses for the dying she ran. Her authorised biography was written by Indian civil servant Navin Chawla and published in 1992.
Early Life
Mother Teresa was born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu ; gonxhe meaning "rosebud" or "little flower" in Albanian) on 26 August 1910 into a Kosovar Albanian family. She considered 27 August, the day she was baptised, to be her "true birthday".. Her birthplace of Skopje, now capital of the Republic of Macedonia, was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time of her birth in 1910.
She was the youngest of the children of Nikollë and Dranafile Bojaxhiu (Bernai). Her father, who was involved in the politics of the Albanian community in Macedonia, died in 1919 when she was eight years old. Her father may have been from Prizren, Kosovo, while her mother may have been from a village near Gjakova.
According to a biography written by Joan Graff Clucas, in her early years Agnes was fascinated by stories of the lives of missionaries and their service in Bengal, and by age 12 had become convinced that she should commit herself to a religious life. Her final resolution was taken on 15 August 1928, while praying at the shrine of the Black Madonna of Vitina-Letnice, where she often went on pilgrimage.
Agnes left home in 1928 at the age of 18 to join the Sisters of Loreto at Loreto Abbey in Rathfarnham, Ireland to learn English, with a view to becoming a missionary. English was the language the Sisters of Loreto used to teach schoolchildren in India. She never again saw her mother or her sister. Her family continued to live in Skopje until 1934, when they moved to Tirana in Albania.
She arrived in India in 1929, and began her novitiate in Darjeeling, near the Himalayan mountains, where she learnt Bengali and taught at St. Teresa's School, a schoolhouse close to her convent. She took her first religious vows as a nun on 24 May 1931. At that time she chose to be named after Thérèse de Lisieux, the patron saint of missionaries, but because one nun in the convent had already chosen that name, Agnes opted for the Spanish spelling of Teresa.
She took her solemn vows on 14 May 1937, while serving as a teacher at the Loreto convent school in Entally, eastern Calcutta. Teresa served there for almost twenty years and in 1944 was appointed headmistress.
Although Teresa enjoyed teaching at the school, she was increasingly disturbed by the poverty surrounding her in Calcutta. The Bengal famine of 1943 brought misery and death to the city; and the outbreak of Hindu/Muslim violence in August 1946 plunged the city into despair and horror.
Missionaries of Charity
On 10 September 1946, Teresa experienced what she later described as "the call within the call" while travelling by train to the Loreto convent in Darjeeling from Calcutta for her annual retreat. "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith." One author later observed, "Though no one knew it at the time, Sister Teresa had just become Mother Teresa".
She began her missionary work with the poor in 1948, replacing her traditional Loreto habit with a simple white cotton sari decorated with a blue border. Mother Teresa adopted Indian citizenship, spent a few months in Patna to receive a basic medical training in the Holy Family Hospital and then ventured out into the slums. Initially, she started a school in Motijhil (Calcutta); soon she started tending to the needs of the destitute and starving. In the beginning of 1949, she was joined in her effort by a group of young women and laid the foundations of a new religious community helping the "poorest among the poor".
Her efforts quickly caught the attention of Indian officials, including the prime minister, who expressed his appreciation.
Teresa wrote in her diary that her first year was fraught with difficulties. She had no income and had to resort to begging for food and supplies. Teresa experienced doubt, loneliness and the temptation to return to the comfort of convent life during these early months. She wrote in her diary:
"Our Lord wants me to be a free nun covered with the poverty of the cross. Today, I learned a good lesson. The poverty of the poor must be so hard for them. While looking for a home I walked and walked till my arms and legs ached. I thought how much they must ache in body and soul, looking for a home, food and health. Then, the comfort of Loreto [her former congregation] came to tempt me. 'You have only to say the word and all that will be yours again,' the Tempter kept on saying ... Of free choice, my God, and out of love for you, I desire to remain and do whatever be your Holy will in my regard. I did not let a single tear come."
Teresa received Vatican permission on 7 October 1950 to start the diocesan congregation that would become the Missionaries of Charity. Its mission was to care for, in her own words, "the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society, people that have become a burden to the society and are shunned by everyone."
It began as a small congregation with 13 members in Calcutta; by 1997 it had grown to more than 4,000 sisters running orphanages, AIDS hospices and charity centres worldwide, and caring for refugees, the blind, disabled, aged, alcoholics, the poor and homeless, and victims of floods, epidemics, and famine.
In 1952, Mother Teresa opened the first Home for the Dying in space made available by the city of Calcutta. With the help of Indian officials she converted an abandoned Hindu temple into the Kalighat Home for the Dying, a free hospice for the poor. She renamed it Kalighat, the Home of the Pure Heart (Nirmal Hriday). Those brought to the home received medical attention and were afforded the opportunity to die with dignity, according to the rituals of their faith; Muslims were read the Quran, Hindus received water from the Ganges, and Catholics received the Last Rites. "A beautiful death", she said, "is for people who lived like animals to die like angels—loved and wanted."
Mother Teresa soon opened a home for those suffering from Hansen's disease, commonly known as leprosy, and called the hospice Shanti Nagar (City of Peace). The Missionaries of Charity also established several leprosy outreach clinics throughout Calcutta, providing medication, bandages and food.
As the Missionaries of Charity took in increasing numbers of lost children, Mother Teresa felt the need to create a home for them. In 1955 she opened the Nirmala Shishu Bhavan, the Children's Home of the Immaculate Heart, as a haven for orphans and homeless youth.
The congregation soon began to attract both recruits and charitable donations, and by the 1960s had opened hospices, orphanages and leper houses all over India. Mother Teresa then expanded the congregation throughout the globe. Its first house outside India opened in Venezuela in 1965 with five sisters. Others followed in Rome, Tanzania, and Austria in 1968; during the 1970s the congregation opened houses and foundations in dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the United States.
The Missionaries of Charity Brothers was founded in 1963, and a contemplative branch of the Sisters followed in 1976. Lay Catholics and non-Catholics were enrolled in the Co-Workers of Mother Teresa, the Sick and Suffering Co-Workers, and the Lay Missionaries of Charity. In answer to the requests of many priests, in 1981 Mother Teresa also began the Corpus Christi Movement for Priests,and in 1984 founded with Fr. Joseph Langford the Missionaries of Charity Fathers to combine the vocational aims of the Missionaries of Charity with the resources of the ministerial priesthood. By 2007 the Missionaries of Charity numbered approximately 450 brothers and 5,000 sisters worldwide, operating 600 missions, schools and shelters in 120 countries.
International charity
In 1982, at the height of the Siege of Beirut, Saint Teresa rescued 37 children trapped in a front line hospital by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas.[62] Accompanied by Red Cross workers, she travelled through the war zone to the devastated hospital to evacuate the young patients.
When Eastern Europe experienced increased openness in the late 1980s, she expanded her efforts to Communist countries that had previously rejected the Missionaries of Charity, embarking on dozens of projects. She was undeterred by criticism about her firm stand against abortion and divorce stating, "No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work." She visited the Soviet republic of Armenia following the 1988 earthquake,and met with Nikolai Ryzhkov, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Saint Teresa travelled to assist and minister to the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl, and earthquake victims in Armenia. In 1991, Mother Teresa returned for the first time to her homeland and opened a Missionaries of Charity Brothers home in Tirana, Albania.
By 1996, Saint Teresa was operating 517 missions in more than 100 countries.[69] Over the years, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity grew from twelve to thousands serving the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centres around the world. The first Missionaries of Charity home in the United States was established in the South Bronx, New York; by 1984 the congregation operated 19 establishments throughout the country. Mother Teresa was fluent in five languages: Bengali, Albanian, Serbian, English, and Hindi.
Declining health and death
Saint Teresa suffered a heart attack in Rome in 1983 while visiting Pope John Paul II. After a second attack in 1989, she received an artificial pacemaker. In 1991, after having pneumonia while in Mexico, she suffered further heart problems. She offered to resign her position as head of the Missionaries of Charity, but the sisters of the congregation, in a secret ballot, voted for her to stay. Mother Teresa agreed to continue her work as head of the congregation.
In April 1996, Saint Teresa fell and broke her collar bone. In August she suffered from malaria and failure of the left heart ventricle. She had heart surgery but it was clear that her health was declining. The Archbishop of Calcutta, Henry Sebastian D'Souza, said he ordered a priest to perform an exorcism on Mother Teresa with her permission when she was first hospitalised with cardiac problems because he thought she may be under attack by the devil.
Christopher Hitchens accused her of hypocrisy for opting to receive advanced treatment for her heart condition.
On 13 March 1997, she stepped down from the head of Missionaries of Charity. She died on 5 September 1997.
At the time of her death, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 sisters, and an associated brotherhood of 300 members, operating 610 missions in 123 countries. These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counselling programmes, personal helpers, orphanages and schools. The Missionaries of Charity were also aided by co-workers, who numbered over 1 million by the 1990s.
Saint Teresa lay in repose in St Thomas, Calcutta, for one week prior to her funeral in September 1997. She was granted a state funeral by the Indian government in gratitude for her services to the poor of all religions in India.[80] Her death was mourned in both secular and religious communities. In tribute, Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, said that she was "a rare and unique individual who lived long for higher purposes. Her life-long devotion to the care of the poor, the sick, and the disadvantaged was one of the highest examples of service to our humanity." A former U.N. Secretary-General, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, said that "She is the United Nations. She is peace in the world.
Recognition and reception
In India
Saint Teresa had first been recognised by the Indian government more than a third of a century earlier when she was awarded the Padma Shri in 1962 and the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1969. She continued to receive major Indian awards in subsequent years, including India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980.[83] Her official biography was written by an Indian civil servant, Navin Chawla, and published in 1992.
On 28 August 2010, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth, the government of India issued a special 5 Rupee coin, being the sum she first arrived in India with. President Pratibha Patil said of Saint Teresa, "Clad in a white sari with a blue border, she and the sisters of Missionaries of Charity became a symbol of hope to many – the aged, the destitute, the unemployed, the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families."
Indian views on Saint Teresa were not uniformly favourable. Aroup Chatterjee, who was born and raised in Calcutta but lived in London, reports that "she was not a significant entity in Calcutta in her lifetime". Chatterjee blames Saint Teresa for promoting a negative image of Calcutta, exaggerating the work done by her Mission, and misusing the funds and privileges at her disposal.
Her presence and profile grated in parts of the Indian political world, as she often opposed the Hindu Right. The Bharatiya Janata Party clashed with her over the Christian Dalits ("untouchables"), but praised her in death, sending a representative to her funeral. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, on the other hand, opposed the government's decision to grant her a state funeral. Its secretary Giriraj Kishore said that "her first duty was to the Church and social service was incidental" and accused her of favouring Christians and conducting "secret baptisms" of the dying.[87][88] In its front page tribute, the Indian fortnightly Frontline dismissed these charges as "patently false" and said that they had "made no impact on the public perception of her work, especially in Calcutta". Although praising her "selfless caring", energy and bravery, the author of the tribute was critical of Mother Teresa's public campaigning against abortion and that she claimed to be non-political when doing so.
Saint
Mother Teresa became the 'Saint Teresa'on 4th September 2016 in Vatican city
In the rest of the world
President Ronald Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony as Nancy Reagan looks on (1985).
In 1962, Mother Teresa received the Philippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding, given for work in South or East Asia. The citation said that "the Board of Trustees recognises her merciful cognisance of the abject poor of a foreign land, in whose service she has led a new congregation". By the early 1970s, Mother Teresa had become an international celebrity. Her fame can be in large part attributed to the 1969 documentary Something Beautiful for God, which was filmed by Malcolm Muggeridge and his 1971 book of the same title. Muggeridge was undergoing a spiritual journey of his own at the time. During the filming of the documentary, footage taken in poor lighting conditions, particularly the Home for the Dying, was thought unlikely to be of usable quality by the crew. After returning from India, however, the footage was found to be extremely well lit. Muggeridge claimed this was a miracle of "divine light" from Mother Teresa herself. Others in the crew said it was due to a new type of ultra-sensitive Kodak film. Muggeridge later converted to Catholicism.
Around this time, the Catholic world began to honour Saint Teresa publicly. In 1971, Paul VI awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, commending her for her work with the poor, display of Christian charity and efforts for peace. She later received the Pacem in Terris Award (1976). Since her death, Mother Teresa has progressed rapidly along the steps towards sainthood, currently having reached the stage of having been beatified.
Saint Teresa was honoured by both governments and civilian organisations. She was appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 1982, "for service to the community of Australia and humanity at large." The United Kingdom and the United States each repeatedly granted awards, culminating in the Order of Merit in 1983, and honorary citizenship of the United States received on 16 November 1996. Mother Teresa's Albanian homeland granted her the Golden Honour of the Nation in 1994. Her acceptance of this and the Haitian Legion of Honour proved controversial. Mother Teresa attracted criticism from a number of people for implicitly giving support to the Duvaliers and to corrupt businessmen such as Charles Keating and Robert Maxwell. In Keating's case she wrote to the judge of his trial asking for clemency to be shown.
Universities in both the West and in India granted her honorary degrees. Other civilian awards include the Balzan Prize for promoting humanity, peace and brotherhood among peoples (1978), and the Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975). In April 1976, Mother Teresa visited the University of Scranton in northeastern Pennsylvania where she was awarded the La Storta Medal for Human Service by the university’s president, William Byron, S.J. While there, she also addressed a crowd of 4,500 people. In her speech, she called the audience to "know poor people in your own home and local neighborhood", whether it meant feeding others or simply spreading joy and love. She continued, stating that "the poor will help us grow in sanctity, for they are Christ in the guise of distress", calling the students and residents of the city of Scranton to give to suffering members in their community. Again, in August 1987, Mother Teresa visited the University of Scranton and was awarded an honorary doctor of social science degree in recognition of her selfless service and her ministry to help the destitute and sick. She also spoke to the students as well as members of the Diocese of Scranton, numbering over 4000 individuals,[106] telling them about her service to the "poorest of the poor" and instructing them to "do small things with great love."
The Nobel Peace Prize 1979 - Acceptance Speech by Mother Teresa:
In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace." She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet given to laureates, and asked that the $192,000 funds be given to the poor in India,world's needy. When Mother Teresa received the prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered "Go home and love your family." Building on this theme in her Nobel Lecture, she said: "Around the world, not only in the poor countries, but I found the poverty of the West so much more difficult to remove. When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person that is shut out, that feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person that has been thrown out from society—that poverty is so hurtable [sic] and so much, and I find that very difficult." She also singled out abortion as "the greatest destroyer of peace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child – what is left for me to kill you and you kill me – there is nothing between."
After the award of the Nobel Peace Prize Teresa was criticised for promoting the Catholic Church's moral teachings on abortion and contraception, which some felt diverted funds from more effective methods of solving India's problems.At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Teresa stated "Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion, but also by thinking that other things like jobs or positions are more important than loving."
During her life, Saint Teresa was named 18 times in the yearly Gallup's most admired man and woman poll as one of the 10 women around the world who Americans admired most, finishing first several times in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999, a poll of Americans ranked her first in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century.[113] In that survey, she out-polled all other volunteered answers by a wide margin, and was in first place in all major demographic categories except the very young.
Commemoration
Saint Teresa inspired a variety of commemorations. She has been memorialised through museums, been named patroness of various churches, and had various structures and roads named after her, including Albania's international airport. Mother Teresa Day (Dita e Nënë Terezës) on 19 October is a public holiday in Albania. In 2009 the Memorial House of Mother Teresa was opened in her hometown Skopje, in Macedonia. The Roman Catholic cathedral in Pristina is also dedicated in her honour. Its construction sparked controversy in Muslim circles in 2011; local Muslim leaders claimed that the cathedral was too large for Pristina's small Catholic community and complained that most Muslim places of worship in the city were far smaller. An initiative to erect a monument to Mother Teresa in the town of Peć that same year was also protested by some Albanian Muslims. A youth group calling itself the Muslim Youth Forum started a petition demanding that a monument to Albanian veterans of the Kosovo War be erected instead, and collected some 2,000 signatures by May 2011. The Muslim Youth Forum claimed that the building of a Mother Teresa monument would represent an insult to the town's Muslim community, which makes up about 98 percent of the population. Noli Zhita, the group's spokesperson, claimed that Mother Teresa was not an Albanian but a Vlach from Macedonia. He described the monument's planned construction as part of a plot to "Christianise" Kosovo. The Mayor of Peć, Ali Berisha, voiced support for the monument's construction and indicated that the head of the Islamic community in the town had not raised any objections.
Mother Teresa Women's University,[150] Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, was established in 1984 as a public university by government of Tamil Nadu, India.
Mother Theresa Post Graduate and Research Institute of Health Sciences,Pondicherry was established in 1999 by the government of Puducherry, India.
The charitable organisation Sevalaya runs the Mother Teresa Girls Home, named in her honour and designed to provide poor and orphan girls children in the vicinity of the underserved Kasuva village in Tamil Nadu with free food, clothing, shelter, and education.
Various tributes have been published in Indian newspapers and magazines written by her biographer, Navin Chawla.
Indian Railways introduced a new train, "Mother Express", named after Mother Teresa, on 26 August 2010 to mark her the centenary of her birth.
The Tamil Nadu State government organised centenary celebrations of Mother Teresa on 4 December 2010 in Chennai, headed by Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi.
Beginning 5 September 2013, the anniversary of her death has been designated as the International Day of Charity by the United Nations General Assembly.
International charity
In 1982, at the height of the Siege of Beirut, Saint Teresa rescued 37 children trapped in a front line hospital by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas.[62] Accompanied by Red Cross workers, she travelled through the war zone to the devastated hospital to evacuate the young patients.
When Eastern Europe experienced increased openness in the late 1980s, she expanded her efforts to Communist countries that had previously rejected the Missionaries of Charity, embarking on dozens of projects. She was undeterred by criticism about her firm stand against abortion and divorce stating, "No matter who says what, you should accept it with a smile and do your own work." She visited the Soviet republic of Armenia following the 1988 earthquake,and met with Nikolai Ryzhkov, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
Saint Teresa travelled to assist and minister to the hungry in Ethiopia, radiation victims at Chernobyl, and earthquake victims in Armenia. In 1991, Mother Teresa returned for the first time to her homeland and opened a Missionaries of Charity Brothers home in Tirana, Albania.
By 1996, Saint Teresa was operating 517 missions in more than 100 countries.[69] Over the years, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity grew from twelve to thousands serving the "poorest of the poor" in 450 centres around the world. The first Missionaries of Charity home in the United States was established in the South Bronx, New York; by 1984 the congregation operated 19 establishments throughout the country. Mother Teresa was fluent in five languages: Bengali, Albanian, Serbian, English, and Hindi.
Declining health and death
Saint Teresa suffered a heart attack in Rome in 1983 while visiting Pope John Paul II. After a second attack in 1989, she received an artificial pacemaker. In 1991, after having pneumonia while in Mexico, she suffered further heart problems. She offered to resign her position as head of the Missionaries of Charity, but the sisters of the congregation, in a secret ballot, voted for her to stay. Mother Teresa agreed to continue her work as head of the congregation.
In April 1996, Saint Teresa fell and broke her collar bone. In August she suffered from malaria and failure of the left heart ventricle. She had heart surgery but it was clear that her health was declining. The Archbishop of Calcutta, Henry Sebastian D'Souza, said he ordered a priest to perform an exorcism on Mother Teresa with her permission when she was first hospitalised with cardiac problems because he thought she may be under attack by the devil.
Christopher Hitchens accused her of hypocrisy for opting to receive advanced treatment for her heart condition.
On 13 March 1997, she stepped down from the head of Missionaries of Charity. She died on 5 September 1997.
At the time of her death, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity had over 4,000 sisters, and an associated brotherhood of 300 members, operating 610 missions in 123 countries. These included hospices and homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis, soup kitchens, children's and family counselling programmes, personal helpers, orphanages and schools. The Missionaries of Charity were also aided by co-workers, who numbered over 1 million by the 1990s.
Saint Teresa lay in repose in St Thomas, Calcutta, for one week prior to her funeral in September 1997. She was granted a state funeral by the Indian government in gratitude for her services to the poor of all religions in India.[80] Her death was mourned in both secular and religious communities. In tribute, Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, said that she was "a rare and unique individual who lived long for higher purposes. Her life-long devotion to the care of the poor, the sick, and the disadvantaged was one of the highest examples of service to our humanity." A former U.N. Secretary-General, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, said that "She is the United Nations. She is peace in the world.
Recognition and reception
In India
Saint Teresa had first been recognised by the Indian government more than a third of a century earlier when she was awarded the Padma Shri in 1962 and the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1969. She continued to receive major Indian awards in subsequent years, including India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, in 1980.[83] Her official biography was written by an Indian civil servant, Navin Chawla, and published in 1992.
On 28 August 2010, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth, the government of India issued a special 5 Rupee coin, being the sum she first arrived in India with. President Pratibha Patil said of Saint Teresa, "Clad in a white sari with a blue border, she and the sisters of Missionaries of Charity became a symbol of hope to many – the aged, the destitute, the unemployed, the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families."
Indian views on Saint Teresa were not uniformly favourable. Aroup Chatterjee, who was born and raised in Calcutta but lived in London, reports that "she was not a significant entity in Calcutta in her lifetime". Chatterjee blames Saint Teresa for promoting a negative image of Calcutta, exaggerating the work done by her Mission, and misusing the funds and privileges at her disposal.
Her presence and profile grated in parts of the Indian political world, as she often opposed the Hindu Right. The Bharatiya Janata Party clashed with her over the Christian Dalits ("untouchables"), but praised her in death, sending a representative to her funeral. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, on the other hand, opposed the government's decision to grant her a state funeral. Its secretary Giriraj Kishore said that "her first duty was to the Church and social service was incidental" and accused her of favouring Christians and conducting "secret baptisms" of the dying.[87][88] In its front page tribute, the Indian fortnightly Frontline dismissed these charges as "patently false" and said that they had "made no impact on the public perception of her work, especially in Calcutta". Although praising her "selfless caring", energy and bravery, the author of the tribute was critical of Mother Teresa's public campaigning against abortion and that she claimed to be non-political when doing so.
Saint
Mother Teresa became the 'Saint Teresa'on 4th September 2016 in Vatican city
In the rest of the world
President Ronald Reagan presents Mother Teresa with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony as Nancy Reagan looks on (1985).
In 1962, Mother Teresa received the Philippines-based Ramon Magsaysay Award for Peace and International Understanding, given for work in South or East Asia. The citation said that "the Board of Trustees recognises her merciful cognisance of the abject poor of a foreign land, in whose service she has led a new congregation". By the early 1970s, Mother Teresa had become an international celebrity. Her fame can be in large part attributed to the 1969 documentary Something Beautiful for God, which was filmed by Malcolm Muggeridge and his 1971 book of the same title. Muggeridge was undergoing a spiritual journey of his own at the time. During the filming of the documentary, footage taken in poor lighting conditions, particularly the Home for the Dying, was thought unlikely to be of usable quality by the crew. After returning from India, however, the footage was found to be extremely well lit. Muggeridge claimed this was a miracle of "divine light" from Mother Teresa herself. Others in the crew said it was due to a new type of ultra-sensitive Kodak film. Muggeridge later converted to Catholicism.
Around this time, the Catholic world began to honour Saint Teresa publicly. In 1971, Paul VI awarded her the first Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, commending her for her work with the poor, display of Christian charity and efforts for peace. She later received the Pacem in Terris Award (1976). Since her death, Mother Teresa has progressed rapidly along the steps towards sainthood, currently having reached the stage of having been beatified.
Saint Teresa was honoured by both governments and civilian organisations. She was appointed an honorary Companion of the Order of Australia in 1982, "for service to the community of Australia and humanity at large." The United Kingdom and the United States each repeatedly granted awards, culminating in the Order of Merit in 1983, and honorary citizenship of the United States received on 16 November 1996. Mother Teresa's Albanian homeland granted her the Golden Honour of the Nation in 1994. Her acceptance of this and the Haitian Legion of Honour proved controversial. Mother Teresa attracted criticism from a number of people for implicitly giving support to the Duvaliers and to corrupt businessmen such as Charles Keating and Robert Maxwell. In Keating's case she wrote to the judge of his trial asking for clemency to be shown.
Universities in both the West and in India granted her honorary degrees. Other civilian awards include the Balzan Prize for promoting humanity, peace and brotherhood among peoples (1978), and the Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1975). In April 1976, Mother Teresa visited the University of Scranton in northeastern Pennsylvania where she was awarded the La Storta Medal for Human Service by the university’s president, William Byron, S.J. While there, she also addressed a crowd of 4,500 people. In her speech, she called the audience to "know poor people in your own home and local neighborhood", whether it meant feeding others or simply spreading joy and love. She continued, stating that "the poor will help us grow in sanctity, for they are Christ in the guise of distress", calling the students and residents of the city of Scranton to give to suffering members in their community. Again, in August 1987, Mother Teresa visited the University of Scranton and was awarded an honorary doctor of social science degree in recognition of her selfless service and her ministry to help the destitute and sick. She also spoke to the students as well as members of the Diocese of Scranton, numbering over 4000 individuals,[106] telling them about her service to the "poorest of the poor" and instructing them to "do small things with great love."
The Nobel Peace Prize 1979 - Acceptance Speech by Mother Teresa:
In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitutes a threat to peace." She refused the conventional ceremonial banquet given to laureates, and asked that the $192,000 funds be given to the poor in India,world's needy. When Mother Teresa received the prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered "Go home and love your family." Building on this theme in her Nobel Lecture, she said: "Around the world, not only in the poor countries, but I found the poverty of the West so much more difficult to remove. When I pick up a person from the street, hungry, I give him a plate of rice, a piece of bread, I have satisfied. I have removed that hunger. But a person that is shut out, that feels unwanted, unloved, terrified, the person that has been thrown out from society—that poverty is so hurtable [sic] and so much, and I find that very difficult." She also singled out abortion as "the greatest destroyer of peace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child – what is left for me to kill you and you kill me – there is nothing between."
After the award of the Nobel Peace Prize Teresa was criticised for promoting the Catholic Church's moral teachings on abortion and contraception, which some felt diverted funds from more effective methods of solving India's problems.At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, Teresa stated "Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion, but also by thinking that other things like jobs or positions are more important than loving."
During her life, Saint Teresa was named 18 times in the yearly Gallup's most admired man and woman poll as one of the 10 women around the world who Americans admired most, finishing first several times in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999, a poll of Americans ranked her first in Gallup's List of Most Widely Admired People of the 20th Century.[113] In that survey, she out-polled all other volunteered answers by a wide margin, and was in first place in all major demographic categories except the very young.
Commemoration
Saint Teresa inspired a variety of commemorations. She has been memorialised through museums, been named patroness of various churches, and had various structures and roads named after her, including Albania's international airport. Mother Teresa Day (Dita e Nënë Terezës) on 19 October is a public holiday in Albania. In 2009 the Memorial House of Mother Teresa was opened in her hometown Skopje, in Macedonia. The Roman Catholic cathedral in Pristina is also dedicated in her honour. Its construction sparked controversy in Muslim circles in 2011; local Muslim leaders claimed that the cathedral was too large for Pristina's small Catholic community and complained that most Muslim places of worship in the city were far smaller. An initiative to erect a monument to Mother Teresa in the town of Peć that same year was also protested by some Albanian Muslims. A youth group calling itself the Muslim Youth Forum started a petition demanding that a monument to Albanian veterans of the Kosovo War be erected instead, and collected some 2,000 signatures by May 2011. The Muslim Youth Forum claimed that the building of a Mother Teresa monument would represent an insult to the town's Muslim community, which makes up about 98 percent of the population. Noli Zhita, the group's spokesperson, claimed that Mother Teresa was not an Albanian but a Vlach from Macedonia. He described the monument's planned construction as part of a plot to "Christianise" Kosovo. The Mayor of Peć, Ali Berisha, voiced support for the monument's construction and indicated that the head of the Islamic community in the town had not raised any objections.
Mother Teresa Women's University,[150] Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, was established in 1984 as a public university by government of Tamil Nadu, India.
Mother Theresa Post Graduate and Research Institute of Health Sciences,Pondicherry was established in 1999 by the government of Puducherry, India.
The charitable organisation Sevalaya runs the Mother Teresa Girls Home, named in her honour and designed to provide poor and orphan girls children in the vicinity of the underserved Kasuva village in Tamil Nadu with free food, clothing, shelter, and education.
Various tributes have been published in Indian newspapers and magazines written by her biographer, Navin Chawla.
Indian Railways introduced a new train, "Mother Express", named after Mother Teresa, on 26 August 2010 to mark her the centenary of her birth.
The Tamil Nadu State government organised centenary celebrations of Mother Teresa on 4 December 2010 in Chennai, headed by Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi.
Beginning 5 September 2013, the anniversary of her death has been designated as the International Day of Charity by the United Nations General Assembly.
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