# Jegath Gaspar Raj

Jegath Gaspar Raj ( Gaspar Raj Maria Paulian ) is a Chennai-based Catholic priest. He is the founder of the Tamil Maiyam organisation and co creator of the Chennai Sangamam festival. During 1995–2001 he served as the director of the Tamil service for Radio Veritas. He is also the organiser of the Idea-GiveLife Chennai International Marathon. He is also the founder of the Naller publications, a book publishing company. In 2009, during the final stages of Eelam War IV, he functioned as an intermediary between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the Government of Tamil Nadu.
He also founded an organisation for business personalities of Tamil as a mother tongue. This is called (Confederation of Tamil Agriculture, Commerce, Industry and Services - CTACIS) In Tamil THAMIZHAR THOZHIL VARTHGA VIVASAYA PERUMANDRAM. All the members meet once in a week to discuss and improve their respective businesses.
He is also a person of interest in an FBI investigation pertaining to arms smuggling for the LTTE.

## Education

* M.A. (Political Science), Madurai Kamaraj University.
* B. A. (History), University of Madras.
* B.A. (Philosophy), Urbaniana University, Roma, Italy.
* B.A Theology, Sacred Heart College, Poonamallee, Chennai.
* Attended 8 months of Masteral Program at the University of Madras on : Defence and Strategic studies.
* Schooling at Carmel Higher Secondary School, Nagercoil, Kanyakumari district, TamilNadu.

## Key areas of competency

* Mass Media and Communication.
* Developing dynamic and creative leadership in and for Social/educational/religious and political sectors.
* Human and Organizational networking.
* Advocacy.
* Strategic policy planning for society, culture, education, media, religion and politics.
* Conflict resolution and consensus building.
* In depth knowledge on Sri Lankan ethnic conflict and South Asian politics in general.
* International humanitarian law/Law governing war and conflicts, Refuge issues.

## Special Learnings

* Western music, Indian Carnatic music and folk arts.
* Tamil Literature from ancient to the modern.
* Basic learning in classical languages Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

## Accomplishments

* Served Radio Veritas Asia –Manila, Philippines from 1995 to 2001 as director of the Tamil department, became internationally known as an accomplished broadcaster, humanitarian and human rights activist and won several awards. I prefer to sub-list some of the major accomplishments in this period.
* Wrote, edited and read more than 1000 world news bulletins, 200 analysis programs, 250 magazine programs.
* Organized and conducted several Symposiums on media and participated in many.
* Founded Tamil Maiyam in 2002, to promote arts, culture and scholarly research in Tamil. The first project of Tamil Maiyam is the historic Thiruvasakam in Symphony by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. More than 250 artists and technicians from Hungary, USA and India were involved in the project and I coordinated everything pertaining to the project from fundraising to the extremely challenging logistics.
* Co-created Chennai Sangamam. The biggest Open Festival of India.
* Co-created Project “Give Life” in 2007 along with Akhila Srinivasan, MD-Shriram Life Insurance, which so far has supported the education of 47000 underprivileged children.
* Envisioned the Re-Green Chennai and Palmyra Nation initiatives.
* Founded Confederation of Tamil Agriculture Commerce Industry and Services- CTACIS which is today an inclusive platform of more than 500 small- medium entrepreneurs.
* Founded The Rise- a Global Organization of Tamil Entrepreneurs and Professionals.

## Ideals

Fr. Jegath Gaspar Raj is a staunch believer in democracy, equity, gender justice and environmental peace. He fiercely resists ideologies and politics of hate and exclusion. He considers fearless voice as a crucial instrument of fairness and justice.