I Cannot Sleep Tonight Because of Orissa; Can You, Sir?
- By Professor Prabhu Guptara
- Published 08/27/2008
Professor Prabhu Guptara
Professor Prabhu Guptara is Executive Director, Organisational Development, Wolfsberg (a subsidiary of UBS - one of the largest banks in the world). He is also Freeman of the City of London and of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, and Chartered Fellow of the of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development; he is also Fellow: of the Institute of Directors, of the Royal Commonwealth Society, and of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of the Arts Commerce and Manufactures; and he continues to supervise PhD research at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) as well as to be Visiting Professor at various Universities and Business Schools around the world.
Earlier roles include: a Governor of the Polytechnic of Central London, Member of the Council of the British Institute of Management, of the International Federation of Training & Development Organisations (IFTDO), of the Association for Management Education and Development (UK), of the South East Regional Council of the Confederation of British Industry.
Judge, 1988 National Training Awards, 1980 Commonwealth Poetry Prize, 1990 & 1991 Deo Gloria Prize for Fiction; Chair of the Panel of Judges, Deo Gloria Prize 1992 & 1993.
Experience with an enormous range of organisations including: Akzo Nobel (Netherlands), the Associated Banks Institute (Germany), Barclays Bank (UK), British Petroleum (UK), the Council of Europe, Cultor (Finland), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Groupe Bull (France), Federation of Finnish Engineers (Finland), the International Management Association of Japan, Kemira (Finland), Kraft Jakob Suchard (Switzerland), Leadership Academy (Finland), Nokia Telecommunications (Finland), Novo Nordisk (Denmark), Sedgwick International Insurance and Reinsurance Brokers (UK), Singapore Institute of Management, Sonatrach (Algeria), Sun Alliance (UK), UNCTAD, Valeo (France), and so on.
Organiser, chair and lecturer by invitation for numerous international conferences, he has contributed widely to radio and television in the UK and other countries (The Money Program, Any Questions) and has written for Financial Times (London, UK), The Guardian, The Times and other publications; articles, for example, in The Gower Handbook of Management, The Gower Handbook of Quality, and the International Encyclopedia of Business & Management (Routledge).
A CD-ROM has been issued of his lecture at the Professorenforum, University of Zurich, titled "Making the World Better - Why it does NOT happen...and what TO DO about it"
Further information available from rbadertscher@coba.ch
His best-known research publication is "Top Executives in the Global 100 Companies and their IT-Competence" (ADVANCE: Management Training Ltd., UK, and Wolfsberg Executive Development Centre, Switzerland, 1998); and he is included in Debrett's People of Today and in Who's Who in the World. Professor Prabhu Guptara lives in Switzerland.
Though the situation in Orissa is quite complex, there is no excuse for either the state or the central governments failing to protect innocent citizens of whatever caste or creed. Similarly, there is no excuse for failing to bring the culprits to justice, whether in the case of the murder of the Swami, or in the case of the murder of tribals and other economically disadvantaged individuals and families.
Meanwhile, I have received a copy of the following message to Shri Navin Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa, and am putting it on my blog with the kind permission of Shri Kostka.
Many will be interested to see whether he receives any response from Shri Patnaik.
I CANNOT SLEEP TONIGHT BECAUSE OF ORISSA; CAN YOU, SIR?
Dear Sir,
I am an Indian professional who, after having spent about half my life overseas, has recently returned to work towards the development and progress of India.
When I left India the last time in 1999 it was with the haunting images of Graham Staines and his two innocent sons burnt alive as they slept in a jeep in rural Orissa.
My first Christmas back in India, last year, was against the backdrop of innocent SC and ST Christians having their churches and homes torched, pursued and persecuted, forcing many to spend cold weeks in the jungles.
If that was not bad enough, this past week, following the heinous murder of the Swami and his colleagues reportedly by Maoists/Naxalites, even worse terror has been unleashed on the hapless Christians in your state.
Surely, having learned from last December's experience, you would know better to dispatch police and para-military forces immediately to the sensitive areas.
Instead we are reading reports of your officials standing "helplessly" as Hindutva mobs rape, beat up, burn (alive), hack to pieces and just simply kill Christians as well as destroy their personal and institutional properties.
I certainly cannot sleep while this goes on; can you, sir?
Aghast, ashamed, anxious and awaiting your urgent response to turn around the situation,
Ivan Kostka
Chief Visionary Officer
FORWARD!
PS: I am praying and fasting for you and the state of Orissa.
Prabhu Guptara
Map of Orissa, India