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Gandhian activist to speak on
empowering rural poor
WSN Bureau
 STANFORD:
Krishnammal Jagannathan -renowned humanitarian, Padamshri award
winner and Gandhian, who has been working zealously for provision
of land, housing and education to Dalit women and children in Tamil
Nadu and who has been honoured with the Right Livelihood Award and
the Opus Prize would be speaking at the Cubberley Education Building
on 12 November at the department of Religious studies of Stanford
University.
For over 50
years, friends and admirers from around the world traveled to a
remote area of southeastern
India to meet
Krishnammal Jagannathan and S. Jagannathan, founders of Land for
Tillers' Freedom (LAFTI). This couple is Gandhians who have
committed their lives to uplifting the rural poor. They worked with
Mahatma Gandhi and later with Gandhi's successor, Vinoba Bhave,
founder of the Sarvodaya ("universal uplift") and Bhoodan ("land
gift") movements.Among their many visitors were world leaders, such
as Jawaharlal Nehru, and peacemakers who came to study Gandhian
methods.
In 1959, Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, visited
their humble, sparsely furnished home, located on the edge of
Gandhigram
Rural
University.
When asked about this visit, Krishnammal simply replies, "Ah yes,
they were here. I cooked them a meal."
Renowned
throughout India and honored with numerous awards, Krishnammal and
Jagannathan continued to lead modest lives and always remained
committed to their goal of improving the living conditions of
India's rural poor. Born into extreme poverty and called a Dalit
("untouchable"), Krishnammal was especially activated by a massacre
of 43 Dalit women and children that took place in 1968, perpetrated
by landlords who were retaliating against a movement to raise
agricultural wages.
Her life-long
dream of providing an acre of farmland and decent housing to every
impoverished family in the region continues to burn deep in her
soul. LAFTI has served hundreds of villages, supporting poor and
vulnerable people, especially Dalit women and their families, with
projects that include land distribution, housing construction, adult
training, youth education, domestic animal distribution, and
emergency assistance.
This year she is
one of three finalists for the Opus Prize, given annually to
recognize unsung heroes of any faith tradition, anywhere in the
world. Opus Prize winners combine an entrepreneurial spirit with an
abiding faith to combat seemingly intractable global issues like
poverty, illiteracy, hunger, disease, and injustice. They
demonstrate that change is possible, empowering and inspiring all of
us. Two of the finalists will receive $100,000, and the first place
winner will receive $1 million.
12 November
2008
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