The following is an article that I wrote for the May 2012 edition of Snehasadesham. It might be of some relevance in the current debate around knanaya endogamy.
Knanaya Membership Formula
Knanaya membership, following Darwin’s Theory,
keeps evolving. But unlike his theory in which lower
life forms evolve into higher ones, the evolution of
Knanaya membership moves in the opposite direction. Look at the following formulae and you can see a distinct devolution of Knaism towards the amoeba stage quickly followed by metamorphosis into the nihilistic mode.
In the following formulae: K= Knanaya community
member, k = kna, f= father, m=mother, s=spouse,
and A= African-American, B=Brazilian, C= Chinese,
…..., Z=Zulu
The traditional formula is:
K= (kf)(km) + ks,
[a true kna(K) has a kna father (kf), a kna mother (km) and a kna spouse (ks)].
It has now devolved into the Moolakkattu formula:
K= (kf)(km) [spouse need not be kna]
This will soon devolve into the Angadiath formula:
K= (Af)(km) or (kf)(Bm) or (kf)(Cm) or................or (Zf)(km) [here every family contains at least one k or a fraction thereof].
One welcome fallout of the current upheavals created by what is termed the Moolakkattu Formula is that Knanaya Makkal have begun to give serious thought to their history, the practice of endogamy, and their future as a community. More welcome is the audacity of little lambs to stand up to and bleat at their shepherds.
My personal views on Knanaya issues:
1. The ratio of fact to fiction in the history of the migration of Knai Thoma with 400 people made up of 72 families in A.D. 345 is unclear. Was history created around a myth or were myths woven around a fact?
2. The belief that it was a ‘missionary’ migration to spread Christianity among Kerala heathens with commerce as a co-curricular activity is tenuous. This has been done to add a spiritual dimension to give the migration a nobility of purpose (probably to support the creation of the Kottayam diocese).
3. If the migration did take place, it is difficult to believe that women and children were included in that voyage through dangerous seas to an unknown world.
4. Based on this assumption of an all-male migration, one can infer that these men took local wife/wives (depending on the customs of the time and place) and lived and multiplied in exclusive colonies subjecting themselves to social apartheid.
5. There is a great probability for such a community to develop the practice of endogamy in course of time as a survival technique.
6. From A.D.345 to A.D. 1911 this group survived and prospered like the Nair Service Society (NSS).
7. The 1911 creation of Kottayam diocese exclusively for Knanaya people added a spiritual dimension to a purely social group. It was tantamount to mixing crude oil and seawater with the oil always on top suffocating all life forms below.
8. Since 1911 the wealth of the community is solely in the hands of the Bishop of Kottayam, who, like a feudal king, treats the members of the community like serfs.
9. There is no accountability by the Bishop of this wealth; often, this wealth and the influence the community commands are exploited for the benefit of relatives and associates of the clerical establishment and a coterie of hangers-on from the elite. Strong rumors persist that substantial funds are diverted to defend the accused in the Abhaya case. Given the lack of transparency, rumor-mongering is inevitable.
10. Any progress made by the community in the past is not because of but despite the spiritual leadership of the community – one must salute the Knanaya members of the medical, information technology and business professions for the current healthy financial standing of the community.
11. One does accept the claim that the diocese has started many schools, colleges, hospitals etc. The question remains: who benefited and is benefiting?
12. One can define a kna as one whose parents are knas; the requirement that a kna must marry another kna to remain as a member of the Knanaya community became a ‘tradition’ (not a rule) for the survival of the community.
13. Endogamy has many positives. But one negative dimension that is purposefully swept under the carpet is the prevalence of an above average case of genetic disorders found among endogamous groups. (According to some, mental illnesses, topped by bipolar disorders, stand out.)
14. The current confusion, commotion, never-heard-of-questioning one’s Archbishop – these are symptoms of fear and anxiety about losing one’s ‘tribal’ identity. According to Joseph Campbell, myths are stories and legends that people perceive as being an integral part of their culture. In the society in which they are told, a myth is usually regarded as a true account of the remote past. Campbell defines the function of mythology as the provision of a cultural framework for a society. In this sense, the ‘myth’ of Knai Thoma’s missionary migration has served the very useful purpose of uniting a group of people giving them a sense of identity. This sense of identity is the main cause of jealousy among non-knanaya groups.
If NSS can function and prosper – the society owns
and runs colleges, hospitals, and other social services – without poojaris owning and controlling them, Knanaya laymen can do the same. It was a grave mistake on the part of the Knanaya community to allow the clerical establishment to hijack the Knanaya community – its wealth and its administration. The present membership issue is a direct result of that.
As per the Knanaya legend, bishops and deacons
came along to cater to the spiritual needs of the
members, not to own and control what the
community held in common.
The current crisis will not go away until Knanaya
laymen wrest control of the community back from the clerics. The assets of the community belong to its members, not to the Pope in Rome through the local Bishop. If the Nairs can successfully run a Society without putting poojaris at the helm of its affairs, so too can the Knanaya community. Let Knanaya clergy confine themselves to looking after the spiritual needs of the members.
The application of the bishops’ formulae is sure to
lead to the extinction of Knanaya community as an endogamous entity. Get into a Time Machine and travel 60 years into the future to Chicago. As you enter the Sacred Heart “Knanaya” Catholic Church, you see three statues – one of Blessed Cardinal Moolakkattu, another of Blessed Cardinal Angadiath and a third of the Servant of God Archbishop Mulavanal. Scan the church pews and this is what you observe. In the front row there is Mary from Kallara with her Nigerian husband Rasheed Mohammed Onwu and their 8 curly haired children; beside them sits Mathai from Kaduthuruthi with his Chinese wife Hu Ha Ho and their 3 slit-eyed children. Behind them you find Leelamma from Uzhavoor along with two African co-wives of her Zulu husband John Buthalezi and their combined harvest of 15children. Thanks to Blessed Angadiath, it is a veritable United Nations that is gathered in the “Knanaya church” as members of the “Knanaya community.”
As I embarked on the Time Machine to return to the
present, I heard the congregation shout in unison: Praise the Formula! Alleluia
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