Today(1st Jan 08) two houses were attacked and burnt in Phiringia. Police said the houses belonged to two local leaders and the attack was not communal in nature. (IBN-CNN)
Casual and non-serious attitude of police and district administration facilitated the rioters to take it granted to do all kinds of nuisance on 24 and 25 December. Can any body take the present statement seriously?
Compensation Package
Statesman News Service
BHUBANESWAR/PHULBANI, Dec 31: Chief minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik today announced a package of assistance for those affected by the communal and ethnic violence in Kandhamal district.
Indira Awaz Yojana houses will be provided to those who had been rendered homeless while house repair assistance of Rs 10,000 will be given in cases where the damage has been partial he said. He also announced Rs 1 lakh ex-gratia each, to the family of the three persons who had died in the violence.Mr Patnaik reviewed the situation with top officers here and was told that there had been an improvement since no untoward incident had taken place for over two days now and police patrolling, night curfew etc had been enforced.Relief camps have been established and already Rs 44 lakh provided in terms of giving food, blankets etc to the affected people.Official sources said over 3,000 people had been affected in the five day mayhem that had rocked the district, 400 houses damaged and at least 1100 were taking shelter in the 4 relief camps that had been set up.
Search operations conducted by police at Brahmanigaon unearthed 12 unlicensed guns and 20 persons have been detained in this connection.With pressure mounting from all quarters including the PM and union home minister, the Orissa government , for the first time felt it proper to appraise the media. Chief secretary, Mr Ajit Tripathy held a press conference to provide details including a chronological narrative of the chain of events that had taken place since 24 December.Significantly, Mr Tripathy denied that the violence was related to 'conversions'. It was due to an ethnic problem and a clash between a religious minority and the majority community over erection of gates on Christmas eve. This coupled with the attack on Swami Laxmananda Saraswati led to the violence, he said.
Meanwhile, leader of the Opposition Mr JB Patnaik today denounced the government for preventing him from visiting Kandhamal district.
I have every right and more so as the Leader of the Opposition to be with the distressed people, he said while declaring that come what may he will go to the district on 2 January.
FRONTLINE
Black Christmas
PRAFULLA DAS
Communal violence mars the peace in Kandhamal district of Orissa around Christmas time.
On December 24, when the world was preparing to celebrate Christmas, the Kui-speaking tribal people of Orissa's Kandhamal district were getting ready for a 36-hour bandh beginning the next morning. But even as preparations were on, the bomb of hatred that had been ticking for long went off, ripping the communal fabric of the district.
Trouble apparently began when a section of Hindus opposed the preparations for Christmas. Following this, a group of Christians allegedly attacked Swami Lakshmananda, a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, who was on his way to perform a yagna in the Brahmanigaon area of the district. Activists of the VHP retaliated by setting ablaze churches and other Christian institutions, and houses belonging to members of the community. The VHP also called for a four-hour, State-wide bandh the next day in protest against the attack on its leader. The bandh coincided with the one that was called by the Kui Samaj Samanwaya Samiti.
The Kui Samaj has been agitating against the alleged granting of Scheduled Tribe ( S.T.) status to Dalits in the district, which has a sizable Christian population. The vast majority of the Dalits in Kandhamal are Christian whereas only a small section of the tribal population has embraced Christianity. The divide between the tribal people and the Dalits has widened in recent years with the VHP repeatedly contending that religious conversion was at the root of the trouble in the central Orissa district.
As the agitating tribal people felled trees on all roads leading to the district on December 24 night to enforce their bandh beginning from the next day, VHP activists put their organisation's stamp on the Kui Samaj agitation and went about vandalising churches and prayer houses.
Prayers were not held in any church in Kandhamal on Christmas day. One person was killed and over 30 people were injured in the clashes between the two communities.
Caught unawares, the administration imposed a curfew on Phulbani, the district headquarters, and three other towns – Brahmanigaon, Baliguda and Daringibadi. Prohibitory orders were enforced in the remaining areas of the district. In Bhubaneswar, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appealed to the people of Kandhamal to maintain peace and harmony.
It was only on December 26 that the State government took up the matter seriously and deployed additional forces in different parts of the district. The situation, however, did not show any improvement as the police could not enter most of the areas because of roadblocks put up by Kui Samaj members.
When Kandhamal was burning, on December 26, leaders of the ruling Biju Janata Dal were busy at a massive rally in the State capital, Bhubaneswar, on the occasion of the 10th foundation day of the party. At the rally, Naveen Patnaik, who is also the BJD president, reiterated his party's resolve to realise the dream of his father, the late Biju Patnaik, of building a prosperous Orissa.
Patnaik, however, took time off and reviewed the Kandhamal situation at the State Secretariat twice that day. The government said three companies of the Central Reserve Police Force had been called in from other places in the State to restore peace in Kandhamal.
As Kandhamal remained cut off from the rest of the world for the fourth day on December 27, the Chief Minister flew to Phulbani and held a review meeting, which was attended by Director General of Police Gopal Chandra Nanda and top officials of the police and the administration.
On his return, Patnaik told reporters in Bhubaneswar that the situation in the district had normalised to a great extent. Admitting that churches and prayer houses had been damaged or burnt down in the district, he said more than two dozen people were arrested and action was being initiated against the offenders. In reference to the tribal agitation, Patnaik said that his government would look into the grievances and take necessary steps to resolve the issue.
Patnaik, however, appeared to be unaware of the fresh violence that was occurring around the same time in Kandhamal. By evening, reports started pouring in that at least a dozen more churches and prayer houses had been burnt during the day. Besides, three persons were reportedly killed in police firing when an armed mob, said to be VHP supporters, attacked the Brahmanigaon police station. A mob attacked the police station after the police personnel tried to prevent them from attacking members of the Christian community. A senior officer was injured in the police station attack. Fresh trouble began in Brahmanigaon after the body of a child was recovered from the locality earlier in the day.
Confirming the death of three persons in police firing, a top official said that the police had opened fire in self-defence. Confronted with reports of the damaging and burning down of more than 40 churches and prayer houses by December 27 evening, he said the exact details were not available. It was difficult for the administration to keep track of incidents taking place in remote hilly areas, he explained.
Police stations were also attacked at Phiringia and Tikabali and many police vehicles were burnt by mobs. It was difficult to assess as to whether the attackers were Sangh Parivar members or Kui tribal people, an official observed.
On December 27, a delegation led by Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, met the Chief Minister and submitted a memorandum stating that Christians were not safe in Kandhamal. The representatives of the community, who claimed that at least 50 churches had been damaged over the previous four days, also demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the incidents. The VHP alleged that Hindu places of worship were also attacked in some places.
As violence continued in Kandhamal, the Opposition parties and other organisations criticised the government for its failure to maintain law and order. They also blamed Patnaik for being soft on the Sangh Parivar because the Bharatiya Janata Party was a partner in the two-party coalition government.
Four days after Kandhamal smouldered, Patnaik went on a damage-control exercise. He ordered a judicial inquiry into the violence in Kandhamal on December 28. He, however, clarified that only one person had been killed in police firing the previous day and not three persons as had been reported in the media. Only one body had been recovered, he added.
Soon after Patnaik ordered the judicial inquiry, Steel and Mines Minister Padmanabha Behera, who hails from the violence-hit district, resigned from his post. The government also appointed a new District Collector for Kandhamal.
The dropping of Behera from the Cabinet was one of the demands put forward by the Kui tribal people. Behera belongs to the Dalit community. The Kuis have also been demanding the appointment of a direct Indian Administrative Service officer as Collector instead of an officer who was promoted to the cadre.
Orissa CM under fire, cops blame Naxals
Jan 01, 2008 at 10:33 , Updated at Tue, Jan 01, 2008
Bhubaneswar : Orissa woke up to a bleak new year on Tuesday as tension continued to simmer in the riot-hit Kandhamal district.
Three people were killed and several injured in the clashes between Hindus and Christians in Kandhamal. Christian groups claim that nine people were killed in the attack by Hindu groups in the tribal dominated area.
According to the Catholic Bishops Conference of India - the premier Christian organisation in the country - five parish churches, 50 village churches and six convents and other Christian institutions were destroyed or damaged in the violence that began on December 22.
The pressure is also building on Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Minorities Commission prepare to send their teams to Orissa.
On Monday, Patnaik announced a compensation for the victims. "Rs 1 lakh compensation for the dead, Indira Awas Yojana houses for those who lost houses and Rs 10,000 for partially affected," he said.
But the victims are far from satisfied. Many who fled to jungles fearing for their lives are yet to return. For these people, whether Hindus or Christians, tribals or dalits, the government's promises mean little.
"I have lost everything in the riots. After the riots my sons are all missing leaving their family behind, starving," says a victim Shanker Nayak.
Christian activists are also in no mood to relent. On Monday, CBCI sought an "unbiased" inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. They also want an explanation for government inaction despite the warning of violence.
Christians blame Hindu fundamentalists for the riots. "After Gujarat, it is Orissa's turn. Only in one place the Hindus have been attacked. Christians have not attacked Hindus anywhere else," says Archbishop, Bhubaneswar, Rapheal Cheenath.
However, the state government has a different story to tell.
"We suspect Naxal involvement in the attacks, but we are not yet confirmed. Even yesterday we found guns from ordinary people in that area," says DG Police, Orissa, Gopal Nanda.
But the question remains why Naveen Patnaik government could not contain the violence for five days.
Meanwhile, the CBCI has warned the situation would worsen unless immediate and urgent steps are taken.
Orissa: Anti Christian Violnce Ram Puniyani Gladys Stains is a name etched in our memory for wrong reasons. Her husband and two sons were torched to death around a decade ago in Keonjhar Manoharpur Orissa. She wrote to Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh recently, to ensure that communal peace is restored in Orissa. This she did in the backdrop of the scattered attacks on Christians, over 40 churches torched in Orissa (24 Dec.2007). In the violence which broke out, many of the people have been severely injured. Some of the priest and laity have run for shelter, leaving their homes and hiding in the forests in the biting cold. All this has happened in the Adivasi area in and around Phulbani and Kandhamal. The timing is around the Christmas celebrations, 2007. It is no coincident that the BJP is part of the ruling coalition in Orissa, and those involved in the vandalism are part of some or the other organization directly affiliated with the RSS. The major such are Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Bajrang dal and their local variants. While the media reports are sketchy, the Citizens Inquiry team, which was to visit the area has been denied permission to visit the districts and was escorted out of the area. The attacks on minorities and weaker sections is launched for short term or long term political goals, but the care is taken that a pretext is manufactured and then the attacks are unleashed. In this case it has been said that Swami Lakkhanand was attacked by Christians and so the retaliation. One is supposed to believe that a Swami from the majority community, with sizeable following, will be attacked by the section of miniscule minority! The Christmas season is the chosen time for anti Christian attacks. Earlier also such occasions have been chosen for beating and attacking the Christian community, notably in Dangs in 1998. This time in Phulbani area the declarations being made by the Swami and associates is that the presence of Christians will not be tolerated in the Adivasi areas. The visible attacks on Christian minorities started from 1996. The areas selected for these attacks have spread over from Gujarat , Dangs on the extreme West, to the Orissa on extreme east of the tribal belt. It is in these areas that anti Christian violence have been going on in scattered form since then. Most of these acts of violence have a bit different characteristic, i.e. unlike the anti Muslim violence which is more in the cities and occurs as spurts of killing hundred or thousands in a single go, here the cauldron is kept boiling continuously, The intensity is that of a slow but sustained intimidation and attack.
The most ghastly anti Christian violence was that done by Bajrang Dal activist, Dara Singh, who instigated the Adivasis and led the burning of Pastor Graham Stewart Stains. He and his organization kept propagating for months that pastor has come from Australia for converting the gullible Adivasis to Christianity, that his work amongst the leprosy patients is just a ploy to do his real work of conversions. The Wadhwa commission, appointed by the NDA Govt. with Advani as the Home minister, in the aftermath of this brutal killing, concluded that the pastor was not involved in any conversion activities and that the percentage of Christian population in the area has remained static despite the Pastor working in the area.
At national level the attacks on Christians have been investigated by different civic groups, compiled in 'The Politics behind Anti Christian Violence' (Media House, Delhi) Most of the reports conclude that the attacks have been deliberately stepped up in the Adivasi areas. The main targets of these attacks are the Christian missionaries working in the area of education. The contrast is very glaring. The city based Christian mission institutions are upheld and respected for their contribution in the area of education, while in the Adivasi areas the same are being hounded out. The reports also observe that the RSS affiliates have been trying to do anti Christian propaganda along with Ghar Vapasi (re-conversion in to Hinduism) campaign. The major work of Ghar Vapasi has been undertaken in the BJP ruled states, or in the states where BJP has been sharing power. The subtle assistance of the state machinery in the anti Christian tirade is always at the service of RSS affilaites. The Ghar Vapasi asserts that Adivasis are basically Hindus, who had to flee to the forests to escape the conversion by Muslim invaders, so they are 'nationally' Hindus, who have forgotten the Hindu rituals and gods and so have fallen low in the hierarchy of Hindu religion. This ritual of re-conversion is supposed to religiously restore them to their old Hindu glory! The case of Orissa was specifically investigated by India Peoples Tribunal, led by Justice K.K.Usha (retired) of Kerala High court in 2006 (Communalism in Orissa) This tribunal forewarns about the shape of things to come. " The tribunal assessed the spread of communal organizations in Orissa, which has been accompanied by a series of small and large events and some riots. Such violations are utilized to generate the threat and reality of greater violence,and build and infrastructure of fear and intimidation." It further notes that minorities are being grossly ill treated; there is gross inaction of the state Govt to take action. Outlining the mechanism of the communalization, it points out, the report also describes in considerable detail how the cadre of majoritarian communal organizations is indoctrinated in hatred and violence against other communities it holds to be inherently inferior. If such communalization is undertaken in Orissa, it is indicative of the future of the nation - the signs are truly ominous for India 's democratic future. (p 70)
In these Adivasi areas swamis have made their permanent Ashrams, Lakkhanand, in Orissa, Assemanand in Dangs, and followers of Asaram bapu in Jhabua area to name the few. Also Hindu Samgams, congregations, are being held, the culmination of which was the Shabri Kumbh in Dangs where thousands of Adivasis were brought. In those areas the Hindutva organizations spread the intimidating rumors that those who do not attend these functions will be dealt with in due course. Interestingly these are precisely the areas which are the poorest; these are the areas where the problem of land, education, water and food is the highest. Anti Christian violence is in the continuation of RSS agenda of Hindu Rasthra, Pehle kasai Phir Isai (First the Muslims then Christians). There is an additional factor in the anti Christian violence. One concedes that there may be many a Christian groups who might be focusing on the conversion work, within the bounds of Indian constitution, of course. But one has to note that in India, over all population of Christian minorities is declining over a period of last four decades, ( 1971-2.60%, 1981-2.44% , 1991-2.34%, and 2001-2.30%). While Christianity is a very old religion here, during last nineteen centuries or so only 2.odd percent have become Christians.
The major problem is that the effort of missionaries to reach education to the adivasi areas. Educated Adivasi, empowered Adivasi will be more aware of her rights and that's precisely what RSS combine cannot stand. That the tiny minority can be a threat to the huge majority of Hindus is quiet a concoction. There is a need to deal these violations of human rights firmly, there is a need to curb the hate other propaganda in these areas and of course the need to promote modern education and other welfare schemes in these areas. Christmas which should be a festival of joy is being turned into an annual ritual of violence and mayhem by the RSS combine. --Issues in Secular Politics January 2008 IFor circulation/circulation __._,_.___ *****************************************
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