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Riots In Orissa
By Angana Chatterji
07 January, 2008
Asian Age
December 25 2007: Seven churches, Catholic, Protestant, Pentacostal,
Independent ... burned in Barakhama village, Kandhamal district,
central Orissa. December 23, 2007: Hindutva (Hindu supremacist
ideology) affiliated Adivasi (tribal) organisations organised a march,
rallying, "Stop Christianity. Kill Christians." A Dalit (formerly
"untouchable" groups) Christian leader testified, "We went to the
local police and informed them of the situation. They assured us that
things would be under control. On December 24, in the daytime, we
heard voices of Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Shiv Sena people, chanting, 'Hindu, Hindu,
Bhai, Bhai'; 'RSS Zindabad'; 'Lakshmanananda Zindabad.' They shut down
shops. That night they felled trees to block roads, severed power and
phone lines. On the 25th, we went to the inspector-in-charge of police
again. On the 25th, at 2.30, about 200 of us sat down to Christmas
prayer at our church, and around 4 p.m. we heard the mob approach."
The mob, about 4,000 persons, many bearing symbolic tilaks (religious
mark on forehead), belonged to various Sangh Parivar (Hindu
nationalist, militant) groups, named above, inciting local Hindus into
rioting. Estimates state 20 per cent of the mob comprised people from
Barkahama, 80 per cent from surrounding Baliguda, Raikia, Phulbani, as
far away as Beherampur. "They broke the door to our church. We ran. We
fell and kept running." Women and men were intimidated and assaulted.
Cries rent the air. "Christians must become Hindu or die. Kill them.
Kill them. Kill them. Gita not Bible. Destroy their faith." The crowd
carried rods, trishuls, swords. They used guns, a first in Orissa.
Predominantly middle class caste Hindus participated in looting,
destroying and torching property. Handmade bombs started the fires.
Breakage was systematic. Women and men hid for days in forests, later
seeking shelter in Baliguda town relief camp, returning to decimated
Barakhama on January 2. Engulfed in soot and sorrow, people attempted
to function amid charred remnants. A woman said, "Everything burns
down and we are left with nothing. How little our lives are made (of).
How alone we are, so far away from everything." In Baliguda, in one
church, furniture was dragged out, lit into a grotesque sculpture. The
private violated in public, made spectacle. A Catholic church burnt,
opposite the street the fire station witnessed the incident, but did
not intervene. A cow, dragged from a shed, set afire, was beaten to
death, identified as "Christian." Targeted: Bammunigaon, Bodagan,
Daringbari, Goborkutty, Jhinjirguda, Kamapada, Kulpakia, Mandipanka,
Nuagaon, Phulbani, Pobingia, Sindrigaon, Ulipadaro villages. Convents,
presbytery, hostels, a minor seminary, vocational training centre.
Organisational offices, as that of World Vision. Two churches in
Chakapad. Christian religious services were not permitted in Phulbani.
A Hindutva mob surrounded Tikabali police station, two jeeps were
torched.
Independent investigators charge that the violence was planned, that
the police had prior knowledge of Hindutva groups' intent to riot. The
pertinent district collector and superintendent of police have been
transferred, not discharged. A Judicial Review Commission (JRC)
chaired by a former (not sitting) judge has been appointed by the
government of Orissa to investigate the riots. Its power or legitimacy
is in question. The Central government did not appoint an inquiry by
the Central Bureau of Investigation, even as it is apparent that the
very administration that failed to contain the riots and delayed
deploying adequate forces, and whose officials at the district level
may have been involved in its execution, cannot administer justice.
Hindutva activists have lobbied the JRC to organise its terms of
reference premised on the claim that an attack on Lakshmanananda
Saraswati, a Hindu proselytiser, by Christians in Bammunigaon started
the riots. This timeline is falsified. Sources state Hindutva groups
planned Christmas day strikes, organised vandalism of Christmas
symbols, and incited rioting. Christians in one area responded with
reciprocal, not proportionate, violence. Dominant rationale reduces
this to majority vs minority communalism. Rather than focus on
systematic targeting of Christians, their overwhelmingly peaceful
submission to Hindutva's violence, and vast structural injustices and
differences in relations of power between majority and minority, the
scrutiny appears to be focused on the failure of all Christian groups
to simply submit to dominance.
The Kandhamal riots were not unexpected. Saraswati has been overseeing
Hinduisation there since 1969. Adivasis, Dalits, Christians, Muslims
are targeted through social and economic boycotts, forced conversions
to Hinduism, and other violences. The Orissa Prevention of Cow
Slaughter Act, 1960, deployed against Muslims; Orissa Freedom of
Religion Act, 1967, against Christians. In 1999, Mayurbhanj Catholic
priest Arul Das was murdered, followed by destruction of Kandhamal
churches. In 2004, Raikia Catholic Church was vandalised, eight
Christian homes burnt. In 2005, converting 200 Adivasi Christians to
Hinduism in Malkangiri, Saraswati stated, "How will we ... make India
a completely Hindu country? This is our aim and this is what we want
to do." In 2006, celebrating RSS architect Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar's
centenary, presided by Saraswati, seven yagnas (sacrifices) were held,
culminating at Chakapad in Kandhamal, attended by 30,000 Adivasis.
Between July-December 2007, Hindutva rallies across Kandhamal raised
anti-Christian sentiments.
Hindutva leaders rumour, "Phulbani-Kandhamal is a most important
Christian area in Orissa with rampant and forced conversions." The
Christian population in Kandhamal district is 117,950, Hindus number
527,757. Sangh leaders claim, "By VHP data there are 927 churches in
Phulbani district built on illegally taken land." Church leaders
respond there are 521 churches. Orissa Christians number 897,861, 2.4
percent of the state's population. Constitutionally authorised, the
Hindu Right inflates conversions to Christianity. This circulates in
retaliatory capacity even among progressive communities, who fixate on
conversions as contributing to the communalisation of society,
debilitating to the majority status of Hindus. Muslims are seen as
"infiltrating" from Bangladesh, looting livelihood opportunities,
dislocating the "Oriya/Indian nation," non-Hinduised Adivasis and
Dalits as "unruly."
Hindutva legitimates violence as patriotic response. The Sangh uses
local militarism (Kandhamal) as consort to state controlled
militarization (Kashipur, Kalinganagar). Hindu cultural dominance
organises Hindu nationalism. Orissa amalgamated as a Hindu state
between 1866-1936. The absence of structural reforms and assertion of
Hindu elites define post-colonial governance. The Sangh has
proliferated into 10,000-14,000 villages, operating 35-40 major
organisations, with a massive base of a few million. A Balasore
district Shiv Sena unit formed the first Hindu "suicide squad." The
Hindu nationalist BJP-BJD coalition yields power. The Hindu Suraksha
Samiti organises against Muslims. Revolting slogans, "Mussalman ka ek
hi sthan, Pakistan ya kabristan (For Muslims there is one place,
Pakistan or the grave)," perforate neighbourhoods. In Kandhamal, Hindu
militant groups, neighbours, police, chief minister, Central
government acted with egregious impunity. People remain missing, death
counts inaccurate. The police refuses Christians seeking to file first
information reports. The Baliguda relief camp is skeletal. Despite
continuing tensions, police presence has abated. Confidence building
steps are absent. Relief, compensation, reparation are incommensurate
with the extent of social, psychological, and economic losses of
communities. Political parties, focused on politicking the issue, fail
to respond to immediate and long-term needs of people.
Angana Chatterji is associate professor of Social and Cultural
Anthropology at California Institute of Integral Studies.
Forwarded By
Ancy S. D'Souza, Paladka
E2-139 Diwan Apt III
Vasai Road East
Thane Dist - 401 210
Tel: 0250-2390225
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Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
