Lawrence D’Cruz, a former Dalit Christian employee of Loyola College has accused the institution and principal Father Thomas Amirtham of misappropriation of funds, caste discrimination, and untouchability. He also alleged that Chennai’s famous Don Bosco School’s Principal Father Anand Raj has been indulging in misappropriation of funds.
The Commune had covered in detail about the alleged caste discrimination meted out to Lawrence D’Cruz who was terminated by the Loyola manaagement.
Now, Lawrence D’Cruz in an interview to Thamarai TV has said, “The incident occurred at Perambur Don Bosco School two years ago. Under the guise of providing free education to Tamil medium students, the school’s principal, Brother Anand, doubled the fees for English medium students. However, on record, he only showed the fees before the hike, and he illegally amassed ₹1.5 crore. Don Bosco’s alumni association committee, which has been dominated by the same set of people for the past 15 years, is also involved in the crime. People from the association, in particular David Selvam, David, Panneerselvan, and, most importantly, Vincent, are more involved in this corruption. We initially assumed that the money had been misappropriated by the Alumni Association, but we later learned that Principal Anand Raj was involved.”
Earlier in June 2021, former Students of the Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Egmore took to social media and expressed unrestrained anger against election fraud and gross mismanagement in their Past Pupils Association.
Several former students took to social media and called out all the irregularities in the association.
They have even formed an online group in Facebook to specifically address this issue
Lawrence added, “When we brought this to the attention of Father Jose, Provincial of Salesian Society (a Roman Catholic congregation similar to the Jesuits and others), the principal Anand was transferred to another Don Bosco school near Karnataka as a punishment post.”
He further said, “Following the removal of the old team, the new team was formed, which included Father Stephan and Father Antony Raj, who was appointed as the Principal and Correspondent of Don Bosco in Perambur. Initially, they agreed to our suggestions for cleaning up the system, such as the formation of a core committee and others. However, when the core committee was formed, my name was not included, despite the fact that I am eligible and have a sufficient number of supporters. Later, the Principal and Father Stephan informed me that my name was not included due to pressure from Loyola College principal Father Thomas Amritham, as I had filed complaints with the generals of the Salesian and Jesuit orders about the management. Father Thomas Amirtham, the principal of Loyola, is a fraudster, as is Father Anand Raj, the principal of Don Bosco. As a result, they banded together. Father Thomas Amirtham was against me because I exposed his corruption as Principal of Loyola College while working as his personal assistant for ten years.”
He stated, “Father Thomas Amirtham looted money by getting money/donations for admissions to Loyola Arts and Science College despite telling management that he would not be collecting money for admissions that year. When I told Father Thomas Amirtham that what he was doing was wrong, he abused me by referring to my caste and claiming that those who belong to that caste will have this attitude. Even when people convert to Christianity, they bring their caste hegemony with them. Despite the fact that I was a Christian, he abused me as he belonged to a higher caste. When this happened, I filed a complaint with the General of the Jesuits (a religious order) in the Vatican. Upon knowing about my complaint, they threatened me to withdraw my complaints.”
He also stated that he is not the only Dalit who has been affected and that a total of 25 Dalits have been forced to resign from their jobs by Correspondent Father Selvanayagam and Father Thomas Amirtham who belonged to a dominant caste, demonstrating the caste hegemony of Fathers in Christianity. The 25 Dalits, some of whom were professors, were assigned the task of cleaning toilets. When the Dalits revolted, Father Thomas Amirtham and Father Selvanayagam forced them to resign based on false charges. He went on to say that he has video evidence of Dalit employees, including some professors, being forced to clean toilets. They also made them work 10 to 12 hours a day when other staff members only worked 8 hours. I complained to several authorities, including the district collector, but no action was taken, and I was threatened to drop my complaints.
He stated, “When I spoke up for the 25 Dalits who were fired from their jobs, they falsely accused me of sexual harassment. A member of a committee formed to investigate the complaint informed me that the committee was formed with the intent of terminating my job. They later fired me as well.”
He also stated that government officials and police officers, particularly those from the Nungambakkam police station, who acted as if they are on the payroll of Loyola College, threatened him not to pursue legal action against the college.
He further added, “Rector Father Francis Rector, who is in charge of the Loyola College campus, called and told me that there will be no support from their side as I have approached the Vatican directly. He said nothing about our complaint that 25 Dalits were forced to resign. There are also allegations that Father Francis Rector misappropriated UGC funds by purchasing used machines instead of new machines. This was stated in his book by Father Albert Muthumalai, who was appointed as Loyola’s principal twice because of his honesty. However, Jesuit Congregation did not take any action.”
He added, “Several churches, particularly in rural areas, practice caste discrimination and untouchability. They do not allow people of lower castes to enter the church, forcing them to sit in the last row, do not allow dead bodies to be cremated in the cemetery, have two ambulances for Dalits and other castes, and many other things. I have endured all this. This discrimination against Dalits is not limited to Loyola professors, but also to Dalit students who were forced to do cleaning work.
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