Click to play videoKandhamal: In the recent riots in Kandhamal district of Orissa, religious animosity may have been blamed. But that's not the only reason. There's a caste angle as well.
For the world outside there is no more communal violence in Orissa's Kandhamal but curfew is still in place in the villages.
CNN-IBN has learnt that it's quota and not religion that triggered the flare-up. The 'Kandha' tribe which constitutes more than 80 per cent of the population here allege that the 'Paana' tribe most of whom are converted Christians have fraudulently got scheduled tribe status.
Kandha tribe Arun Kumar Kaji says, “Many such 'Paana' (scheduled caste) community people even after converting to Christians still enjoy the status of a schedule tribe and gain benefits. They should not have got the tribal status at first place."
Local BJD MLA Padmanabh Behera and Congress Rajya Sabha MP Radhakant Nayak too belong to the Paana community. They were apparently behind getting Paanas ST status.
Orissa chief secretary Ajit Tripathy says, “We have got information that many have got such ST certificates fraudulently. We assure to take strong action against those people and the officers who gave them these certificates."
Meanwhile, the VHP and RSS leaders allegedly took full advantage of the situation and instigated the Kandhas to attack the Paana Christians.
And as the Kandhas and Paanas fiercely fought each other over ST status, political parties gave it a communal colour.
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