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Indian state of Orissa

Religious violence in Orissa has surfaced repeatedly in recent times, increasing in severity. These outbreaks have been between the Hindu and Christian communities, with Christians suffering from the greater part of the violence. Tensions have centred on issues such as tribal differences, economic challenges, Foreign funding and illegal religious conversion.

Background

Behind the clashes are long-simmering tensions between equally impoverished groups: the Kandha tribe, who are 80% of the population, and the Pana. Both are original inhabitants of the land. The Hindu tradition of 'untouchability', where dalits, so-called 'lower caste' people, are subject to social and economic discrimination is outlawed in the Indian constitution. The prejudices remain and 'conversion' out of 'untouchability' has been a push factor for millions of such people to escape from their circumstances through joining other religions. Islam, Budhism and Christianity have all been destinations for such people. The Panas have converted to Christianity in large numbers and prospered financially .Over the past several decades, most of the Panas have became Dalit Christians.

Hindu nationalist groups have blamed the violence on the issue of religious conversion. Conversions have been legislated by the provisions of the Freedom of Religion Acts, replicated in some of the states in India. Orissa was the first state of independent India to enact legislation on religious conversions. The Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967, stipulates that no person shall “convert or attempt to convert, either directly or otherwise, any person from one religious faith to another by the use of force or by inducement or by any fraudulent means”. Hindus have alleged that the increase in the number of Christians in Orissa has been a result of exploitation of illiteracy and impoverishment by the missionaries. The Census of India shows that Christian population in Kandhamal grew from around 43 thousands in 1981 to 117950 in 2001.

Staines killing

Graham Staines was an Australian missionary working with the Evangelical Missionary Society of Mayurbhanj, an Australian missionary society. On the night of January 22, 1999, he was sleeping in his station wagon when it was set afire. Graham and his two sons, ten-year-old Philip and six-year-old Timothy, were killed..

Dara Singh, a Hindu fanatic from Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested for the crime. On September 22, 2003 a court appointed by the Central Bureau of Investigation sentenced Dara Singh to death and 12 others to life imprisonment for the murders.

Dara Singh's connections to the Bajrang Dal drew suspicions of a larger conspiracy.However, the Wadhwa Commission ruled out the direct involvement of any organisation in the killings.

In May 2005, the Orissa High Court commuted Singh's sentence to life imprisonment.

December 2007

Church authorities informed the Sub-Collector that the Kui Samaj had given a call for a bandh on 25-26 December to press their demands regarding various issues. They requested the district authorities to remain alert and preempt any trouble. On 23 December 2007, however, Christians of Brahmanigoan village tried to erect a Christmas gate in front of a Hindu place of worship. The incident caused clashes between the Christian and Hindu communities.

Swami Lakshamanananda, a respected Hindu Guru, visited the site and was assaulted by gunmen. This led to further clashes between Hindus and Christians..

The authorities imposed a curfew in order to control the situation.

Concerned with rising violence,after their assault on the Swami, some Dalit Christian leaders lodged a complaint with the Police for protection.

The outbreak of violence started on 24th December, 2007 at 8.00 a.m. at Bamunigam village. Some Hindu activists. forcefully removed the Christmas decoration which some local Christian businessmen had put up as a preparation for Christmas, on the very site used by the Hindus to celebrate the Durga Puja festival in October. This was followed by violence between the two groups.

Swami had earlier demanded a high level probe into illegal beef trading in Kandhamal. VHP had also called for Kandhamal bandh over this issue. In protest against the attack and illegal beef trading, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati demanded action against the accused.

By December 29, 2007 many persons of both faiths, mainly Christians, had to move to government-run relief camps to avoid attacks. Three persons were killed: one Christian and two non-Christians, as per the subsequent NCM Report.

By December 30, rioting was got under control by the security forces such as the CRPF. The total number of security personnel deployed was about 2,500 police and paramilitary. The total number of people taking shelter in relief camps increased to 1200.

On Jan 1, 2008 further violence was reported at several places. Police said at least 20 houses and shops were torched at Phiringia, Khajuripada, Gochapada and Brahmanigaon by rioters on Tuesday night (January 1, 2008)

Jacob Pradhan, general secretary of the Kandhamal district chapter of the Christian Endeavour Union, stated that around 100 houses belonging to Hindus were burnt in Brahmanigaon, Godapur, Barakhama and some other villages on December 26 and 27. He suspected that these houses were torched by sections of “misguided Christians” possibly incited by Maoists. .

August 2008 violence

Swami Lakshmanananda Murder

Main article: Murder of Swami Lakshmanananda

On the evening of Saturday, August 23, 2008, the octogenarian Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, a leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad was killed at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal district in Orissa, along with four others; three fellow leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and a boy. The attackers, estimated at thirty gunmen, were suspected of being Maoist insurgents. Both the manner of attack and a letter found at the attack provided the basis for this. The government announced a special investigative probe into the attack.

However, Hindu groups in the state, including the BJP, blamed Christians for killing Lakshmananand. They cited Lakshmanananda's claims that Christians were trying to eliminate him for his opposition to conversion, and had attacked him eight times before. He was regularly receiving death threats and the last threat letter had been submitted to the Police only the day before the murder.

On August 28, a letter of denial was received by a some media outlets, the VHP office in the Gajapati District of Orissa and the Bajrang Dal from a Maoist group. While the letter denied that the Central Committee of the Kotagarha branch of the Maoists had approved the attack, it claimed that some Maoists may have been bribed by Christians to launch the attack. Sources within the police force have said that Maoists could have carried out the operation to appease their Christian support base. Soon after the appearance of the aforementioned letter, Azad, a leader of the Maoist People's Liberation Guerrilla Army, claimed responsibility for the murder of Lakshmanananda. Azad was suspected by the police of leading the attack himself. On September 9, 2008 the Maoists, who work underground, made an official press release claiming responsibility for the killing of Lakshmanananda. Many Maoist sympathizers of south Orissa had initially denied the role of CPI-Maoist in the murder of VHP leaders that sparked off communal violence in Kandhamnal district. . Communist Party of India (Maoist) leader Sabyasachi Panda claimed that they killed Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his disciples at his Jalespeta ashram on 23 August . On Monday, October 6, 2008, the Orissa police announced they arrested two Christians in connection with the murder of the Swami.

On 16th October in an in interview to PTI the IG police Mr Arun Ray told that "Maoists were given money to train certain youth of a particular community to eliminate Saraswati," The plan to eliminate Saraswati was made immediately after the December, 2007 communal violence in Kandhamal, he added. Elaborating the probe by the crime branch, Ray said investigations also showed that a group had collected money from some villages in Kandhamal which was given to the Maoist group to train their youth for the purpose. The police said that they already arrested three persons, including two Christian tribal's and others who belong to the extremist groups and efforts were now on to arrest the other accused.

Sister Meena Lalita rape

On 30 September, various news sources reported an alleged case of rape which occurred on 25 August. These incidents took place at K. Nuagaon in Kandhamal district. While a police complaint was lodged soon afterwards, no action was taken for over a month, adding to accusations of police misconduct. Eventually, four men were arrested for the attack, and a senior police office suspended over the delayed investigation. During the recording of her statement, which was done in presence of two witnesses, she had denied any ocurrence of rape. Later she gave a written complaint stating that "one man from the mob" had raped her.During her public appearance before media, she alleged that a group of unidentified persons, dragged her along with the priest and took them to a deserted building where she was stripped and raped. The priest was doused with petrol and beaten up. She also alleged that the Crowd paraded her almost naked on the streets in the presence of a dozen policemen. After the launching of the complaint, police conducted medical examination on the nun and suspected that the nun might have been raped. Police had sent the clothes of the said nun to State Forensic Laboratory for further verification. The Superintendent of Police said that the medical report suggests a possibility of rape. Police arrested nine people in connection with the rape case while the nun in case was found to be missing. On 20 October, Odisshatoday Daily reported that SFL sources found no sign of sexual inter-course in her clothes during examination. Report of the nun’s medical examination said that there was no external or internal vaginal injury, but semen stains were found inside. The Crime branch took charge of the probe following a government decision after the medical report, 38 days after she was allegedly raped in a mob attack.

On 22 October 2008, the Supreme court of India, rejected Sister Meena Lalita's appeal for CBI probe and asked her to participate in the test identification parade of the accused to nail the culprit with state police.

On 25 October 2008, Sister Meena Lalita came out before media persons for the first time, describing her shocking experience and demanding a CBI probe into the incident. She alleged that the police had been "friendly" with the attackers. She said she went into hiding after the attack to protect herself from Hindu extremists but decided to come forward after the Supreme Court turned down her initial request for a CBI inquiry. Archbishop of Cuttack, who earlier filed a petition seeking directions to the CBI probe into the alleged rape of the nun by the Bajrang Dal activists.

The nun's appearence before the media sparked off a hot debate among the clergy and the laity about the Church's propriety in making her do so.

Religious Violence

A Christian girl who was burned during 2008 religious violence in Orissa

To protest the five killings of Hindus including that of Swami Lakshmananda, the VHP called for a statewide shutdown on Monday, August 25, 2008. On the same day, rioters attacked a Christian orphanage at Khuntpalli village in Bargarh district. An employee and prospective convert of the orphanage, a local Hindu, was killed when the orphanage was set on fire.

The statewide protest by the VHP and Bajrang Dal against the five murders, turned violent and was retaliated to by Christians. Amit Sharma of the VHP said Hindu people in the area had taken the death of the Swami "very seriously, and now they are going to pay them back." A curfew was imposed in all towns in Kandhamal. Despite this, violence continued in Phulbani, Tumudibandh, Baliguda, Udaygiri, Nuagaon and Tikabali towns. By August 29, 2008 at least 20 people were killed and 3000 people were reported to be living in government run relief camps. 1000 homes had been set on fire. Many others fled into the jungle. All nine towns in the district were under a curfew, and the police had license to shoot.

On August 31, 2008 violence continued in several parts of the state. As a result curfew was imposed in Jeypore town of Orissa's Koraput district. Five police personnel were injured in mob violence. The state government sought additional paramilitary forces to combat the continuing violence.

On September 1, 2008 Government of Orissa claimed the situation was under control. However, 558 houses and 17 churches and prayer halls were burnt in riots. 543 houses were burnt in the worst hit Kandhamal district. 12,539 people were fed in 10 relief camps, 783 people got the facilities in two relief camps in Rayagada district. In all, 12 companies of para-military forces, 24 platoons of Orissa State Armed Police, two sections of Armed Police Reserve forces and two teams of Special Operation Group (SOG) were deployed to control the riots. On September 4th, 2008 in Tikabali, Kandhmal over 300 Hindu tribal women attacked a relief camp for the Christian riot victims. The rioters were protesting Christians' having provisions in relief camps while the Hindu community was not so provided.

On September 7, 2008 VHP leader Praveen Togadia announced that an All-India agitation would be launched if the killers of Lakshmananda were not arrested. The Church in turn demanded dismissal of the state government.

On 15 September 2008, NDTV reported attacks on two hindu temples in Orissa's Sundergarh district. One was attacked on the night of 14 September, and the other 2 weeks earlier.

Political Fallout

The ruling government of Orissa, headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, was a coalition of the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). In the 147-member state assembly the BJD-BJP combine has 93 members, 32 of whom are from the BJP.

Some BJP legislators blamed the government for not providing adequate protection to Saraswati, despite other attempts on his life. They called for withdrawing support from the government, which would lead to its collapse.

On Wednesday September 4, 2008, India's Supreme Court issued an order on a petition filed by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath seeking a CBI enquiry and dismissal of the state government. The order asked the Orissa state government to report on steps taken to stop a wave of communal rioting that has claimed at least 16 lives. The supreme court also asked the Naveen Patnayak government to file an affidavit by September 4 explaining the circumstances under which it allowed VHP leader Praveen Togadia to carry out a procession with the Saraswati's ashes, an act that would clearly inflame further communal tension. Togadia said that he never proposed to carry the "ashes" of Saraswati and alleged that Archbishop Raphael Cheenath had "lied under oath to the apex court". The dead body of Swamiji was not cremated as his was a samadhi, where a holy man is entombed on death. So the claims of the 'asthi-kalash yatra' (carrying of ashes), were not true.

Total damage

According to All India Christian Council, the 2008 violence affected in 14 districts out of of 30 and 300 Villages, 4,400 Houses burnt, 50,000 Homeless, 59 People killed including at least 2 pastors, 10 Priests/Pastors/Nuns injured, 18,000 Men, women, children injured, 2 women gang-raped including a nun, 151 Churches destroyed and 13 Schools and colleges damaged. The violence targeted Christians in 310 villages, with 4,104 homes torched. More than 18,000 were injured and 50,000 displaced and homes continued to burn in many villages.

Arrests

The Police have so far arrested about 1000 people, mostly Hindus, in connection with the overall attacks in Orissa. . On October 14, Cuttack archbishop Raphael Cheenath moved the Supreme Court seeking Rs 3 crore as compensation to rebuild the demolished and vandalized churches in the communal riot-hit areas. He also sought Rs 5.5 lakh to the kin of each of those killed in the riots and a house building compensation of Rs 60,000 to those whose houses were damaged or torched by miscreants.

See also

Anti-Christian violence in India

References

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