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30 Minutes: Orissa asks, your God or mine?
Published on Sun, Sep 07, 2008 at 21:17, Updated on Mon, Sep 08, 2008 at 09:46 in India section
Tags: 30 Minutes, Orissa Violence
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Not many Indians would have known where Kandhamal is on the country's map or even that it is a part of the state of Orissa.
But Kandhamal is burning and the world has sat up to take note.
For nearly two weeks, Dalit Christians have been attacked in this district. Officially, 16 people are dead, hundreds injured, and thousands have fled their villages.
On the ground, Christian groups say, the numbers are higher. From Khurda to Koraput to Jagatsinghpur, Dalit Christian homes and churches have been targeted and burnt to the ground.
It began long ago
Until the 50s and the 60s, before the missionaries and the Hindu groups descended on Kandhamal, the tribals here had their own traditions and beliefs.
The tribes felt free to practice their own beliefs, free of religious aggression and dogma. But now their sheer numbers have made them a major political force. In Kandhamal.
It's a battle of faith with the tilak-annointed Hindus and the cross-worshipping Christians pitted against each other.
The winner gets to keep his god.
On August 23, 2008 unidentified men entered a Hindu ashram in Jalespada and shot dead four men. Among them was 90-year-old Swami Lakshmanada Saraswati, a local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader and an open critic of the Church.
"We heard some sound and then all the kids got scared. We heard someone had killed him," narrated Kamalika Kahara, an inmate of the ashram.
The cold blooded murder stoked an inferno in Kandhamal. The main targets were the Dalit Christians mainly from the Pana community who've converted to Christianity.
No one bought the police version that the Swami had in fact been killed by a naxal group.
"The police say the naxals killed him. The Naxals have denied it. It is obvious that people of our faith won't kill him. So who does that leave? Christians, of course!" says Jogendra Kamalo an inmate.
200 villages were targeted across the state. As the riots spread, hundreds of churches - big and small - were burnt down.
Kandhamal has seen clashes between the Dalit Panas and the tribal Kandh community before.
The Sangh Parivar has converted thousands of Kandhs to Hinduism, and wants the Christian Dalit Panas to re-convert to its folds, as well.
The vote bank politics
Political geography further complicates matters. 2 of the 3 constituencies in Kandhamal were reserved for Scheduled Tribes. But 2 years back, the 3rd constituency was also declared an ST seat, prompting Dalit Panas to demand ST status. That lead to more tension.
60-year-old Kadampulo Naik has today lost her husband and her home. The night after the Swami was killed, men dressed in saffron came to her village in Bakingia with trishuls and petrol. The first target was Kadampulo's husband - the local pastor. Naik was stabbed in his chest and the village torched.
"They told my husband that if you become a Hindu we will save you but my husband refused stating that he had travelled across Orissa preaching about Christianity. He reiterated that he would rather die than become a Hindu. So they killed him," said a soobing Kadampulo Naik.
Basanti Pradhan too, watched her brother dying as their house in Suleswar village was burnt down. Today, the people at this village are afraid to admit they are Christian.
Village after village occupied by Christians has been completely burnt down. What was home to a Christian family, now looks like a dump of charcoal with the smell of burnt wood and tin hitting you when you enter Raikia in Kandhamal district.
Malati Digaro, a Christian convert sobs as she looks at what remains of her home. "This is all that is left of my house. It took us four years to build this and look at what has happened to it," she adds with tear-filled eyes.
For four days Malati and her family hid in the forests, like hundreds of others who fled for cover while their homes were being burnt. They survived just on prayers, not daring to come back as they feared for their lives.
Bidyadhar Diggal is another Kandh tribal, worried about the immediate problems on his hand.
"They kept chanting Jai Bajrang Bali, Jai Shri Ram, Bharat mata ki jai. They first burnt the church and then came to our village. My wife is pregnant and may deliver soon and I am worried. There is no food to eat. I don't know what is going to happen!" said Bidyadhar Diggal.
And his fears are not unfounded. Because when he had once tried to reach the Gunjibari village to look for food, he collapsed on the ground in tears at the sight of his burnt house.
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The Anti-Naxal team also should have somebody like, Dr. Kalam as mentor from non-security focrces to understand the social aspects
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Its good that Orissa matters are covered by a national media in prime time. We thank CNN-IBN for giving us
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The Christians are supposed to have AK47s to kill the VHP leader and the VHP could atttack them with just
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To those who support violence in name of religion (like RSS and VHP, BD hooligans) who comment here should understand
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what a pity, this country has stooped to its lowest in recent years, not much future here guys, people get
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