Andaman and Nicobar

Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
	Participants of the National Convention in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 1986.
	Location of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
National Assembly	Andaman and Nicobar
History:; Firsts
How to contact:
Official Website	http://www.bahai.org/national-communities/andaman-and-nicobar-islands
	Related media
	Categories: Andaman and Nicobar Islands • People

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a Union Territory of India meaning that they have an independent Government, unlike the States of India. They are located to the east of India, east of the Andaman Sea and west of the Bay of Bengal.

History[edit]

Shoghi Effendi named the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as one of the virgin territories which the Bahá’í communities of India, Pakistan and Burma were responsible for opening to the Faith during the Ten Year Crusade in his message to the Asian Intercontinental Conference held in New Delhi from October 7th to October 15th, 1953.^[2]

The National Spiritual Assembly of India, Pakistan and Burma began developing a pioneer project for the Islands the same month as the Conference, and Dr. K. M. Fozdar pioneered to the Andaman Islands, arriving on November 24, 1953, and his son Minoo Fozdar pioneered to the Nicobar Islands, arriving on December 26, 1953.^[3]^[4] Shoghi Effendi named Dr. Fozdar a Knight of Bahá’u’lláh for pioneering, announcing his placement on the Roll of Honour in a Cable sent March, 1954.^[5] Four locals became Bahá’ís while Fozdar was in the Andamans however he was only able to remain in the territory for four months as the authorities did not grant him a prolonged residency.^[6]

When the Continental Board of Counsellors was formed in 1968 the Bahá’í communities of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were the responsibility of the Counsellors for the West Asia zone. This changed in 1973 when the Islands were made the responsibility of Counsellors for a newly established zone, South Central Asia.^[7] By 1970 a Local Spiritual Assembly had been established in the Andaman Islands.^[8]

In 1975 a Mr. and Mrs. Chaterjee conducted a teaching trip to Port Blair, the capital city of the territory, and met with the islands Chief Commissioner and the Bishop of the Andamans. They were able to display Bahá’í literature in a local bookstore and donate Bahá’í books to a college library.^[9] By 1978 there were six Local Spiritual Assemblies in the Andamans and in January 1979 the first Bahá’í Conference of the Andaman Islands was held, with over fifty people attending including the Andaman Development Commissioner, B. R. Tumata, who gave an address.^[10]^[11]

In 1980 the Universal House of Justice made the establishment of a National Spiritual Assembly of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands a goal of the Seven Year Plan which had begun the previous year.^[12] The National Spiritual Assembly of India formed a state teaching committee in 1982, which was tasked with raising the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to twenty.^[13]

In 1983 Bahá’ís established the Glory Educational Institute, a kindergarten, in Chouldari.^[14] In July 1983 the Universal House of Justice announced that a National Spiritual Assembly of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was to be established the following year, and in February 1984 the territory formed its twentieth Local Spiritual Assembly.^[15] A three day Bahá’í winter school was held in February 1984 to prepare the community for forming its National Assembly during Ridvan that year.^[16]

The first Bahá’í Convention of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was held from April 27 to April 29, 1984. The National Spiritual Assembly of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was established at the Convention, and Hand of the Cause Rúhíyyih Khánum was in attendance, meeting with the inaugural Assembly.^[17] In October 1984 the newly formed Assembly achieved its homefront pioneering goals, with Bahá’í pioneers moving to the islands Katchall and Car Nicobar.^[18]

In May 1985 a copy of The Promise of World Peace was presented directly to the Lieutenant Governor of the Islands, L.M. Kampani.^[19] In January 1986 a World Peace Through World Religion Symposium organized by the Bahá’í community was held in Port Blair.^[20] In May 1987 a teaching project was undertaken in Diglipur on North Andaman Island which resulted in twenty-five people declaring and four Local Spiritual Assemblies being formed.^[21] In 1988 the Local Spiritual Assembly of Port Blair organized two homeopathy medical camps in areas lacking medical facilities.^[22] In January 1989 a week long teaching campaign was held for the islands, resulting in forty-three people declaring, and two defunct Local Spiritual Assemblies being reformed.^[23] A second teaching campaign was held in May 1989 which resulted in seventy-three declarations.^[24]

In 1996 the steady growth of the Andaman and Nicobar communities was acknowledged by the Universal House of Justice in its 1996 Ridvan message to the Indian Subcontinent and Region.^[25]

In November 2003 a Jubilee commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Faith in the Islands was held consisting of a dinner, attended by the Lieutenant Governor, and a concert attended by 700 people including the Chief of Staff of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, Rear Admiral Rakesh Kal. Jamshed Fozdar, son of Dr. K. M. Fozdar, attended both events at which he gave talks. There were eleven Local Spiritual Assemblies in the territory at the time of the Jubilee.^[26]

In early October, 2017, Bahá’í scripture was included in the program of an official Gandhi Jayanti event in Port Blair,^[27] and on October 30, 2017, the Bicentennial of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh was commemorated in Panchayat Hall in Port Blair with approximately 120 people attending.^[28] In 2019 the Fozdar Training Institute Board held a Youth Spiritual Empowerment Programme camp at Bahá’í House in Port Blair which received press coverage,^[29] and the same year some Andaman youth prepared a documentary about the Life of the Báb for the Bicentenary of His birth.^[30]

References[edit]

[1] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_706.pdf&page=16

[2] ttp://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/MBW/mbw-76.html.utf8

[3] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_272.pdf&page=8

[4] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_277.pdf&page=7

[5] ttp://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/MBW/mbw-38.html.utf8?query=andaman&action=highlight#gr1

[6] Baha'i World, Vol. 13, p 893

[7] Bahá’íhttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_509.pdf&page=3

[8] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:National_Bahai_Review_32.pdf&page=6

[9] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_518.pdf&page=4

[10] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_571.pdf&page=18

[11] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_579.pdf&page=16

[12] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_603.pdf&page=5

[13] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_611.pdf&page=18

[14] ttps://bahai.media/images/5/59/Baha%27i_News_661.pdf

[15] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_630.pdf&page=12

[16] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_642.pdf&page=16

[17] Baha'i News (1985). National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States. No 646, Pg(s) 14. View as PDF.

[18] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_648.pdf&page=19

[19] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_683.pdf&page=4

[20] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_678.pdf&page=3

[21] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_680.pdf&page=19

[22] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_685.pdf&page=8

[23] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_698.pdf&page=17

[24] ttps://bahai.works/index.php?title=File:Baha%27i_News_706.pdf&page=16

[25] ttps://bahai.works/MUHJ86-01/218/Supplementary_Message-Ri%E1%B8%8Dv%C3%A1n_Message_1996-Indian_Subcontinent_and_Region

[26] ttp://news.bahai.org/story/271/

[27] ttp://thephoenixpostindia.com/isles-celebrate-gandhi-jayanti-befittingly/

[28] ttp://thephoenixpostindia.com/bahai-bicentenary-celebrations-organised-baratang/

[29] ttp://thephoenixpostindia.com/jr-youth-spiritual-empowerment-prog/

[30] ttps://www.bahaiblog.net/2019/12/birth-of-a-new-revelation-documentary-about-the-bab-by-youth-of-andaman-islands-india/

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Andaman and Nicobar

History[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]