Click to play videoThe crisis in Kandhamal, a remote district in Orissa, is being pitched as a Hindu versus Christian battle. A Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader is killed, several churches are destroyed and many lives are lost. Orissa's communal conflict now threatens to spill over — the Vatican is outraged, and Christian schools observe a one-day protest. But what lies at the core of the tension — is it religious conversions, poverty or growing intolerance? IBNLive Messageboard: The reader's verdict
That was the question raised on The Weekend Edition with Rajdeep Sardesai. On the panel to discuss the issue were former MP, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), B P Singhal; Secretary, General All India Christian Council and member of the National Integration Council, John Dayal; Member, Council for Social Development, Professor Manoranjan Mohanty; Editor, Religion and Culture, The Hindustan Times, Renuka Narayanan; MP, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Tathagata Satpathy; and Principal, St Xavier's College Mumbai, Father Fraser Mascarenhas.
Are Conversions Pitting Hindus Against Christians?
Rajdeep initiated the discussion by asking the panel if conversions were pitting Hindus or maybe VHP against Christians, who are restricted to a small area of Orissa.
B P Singhal replied, “We are dealing with two major religions, Christianity and Islam, which have announced their plan of conquering the entire world. Hindus, who are now aggressive are on the receiving end of both.”
Addressing the issue in Kandhamal, he said VHP started a movement of single-man schools in the area in a bid to counter conversion. The concept, which Singhal described as de-conversion, was to reinforce the original faith of people.
While Christian population in Orissa is 2.4 per cent, the corresponding figure in Kandhamal, according to some reports, is as high as 25 per cent.
Dayal defended that if a change in demography leads to violence, then Delhi must be on fire.
“Let the Christian population in Kandhamal be 100 per cent. How does it matter? If demography the cause of violence in 2008, then kill me now,” he asked.
Singhal, however, countered his argument by asking why VHP leader Swami Lakshmanada was killed. “Swami Lakshmanada had been receiving death threats and he had informed the collectors about it. In fact, he had been attacked two or three times before he was killed,” he said. He said that it wasn’t the Maoists who killed the Swami, as is being claimed.
But there was a letter found at the spot signed by someone called Azad. The letter said the VHP leader had to pay the price for last year’s riot. Azad is a member of the CPI-M Maoist in the local area.
Rejecting the theory, Singhal said that the letter could have been planted.
Manoranjan Mohanty made a pointed statement. “Even if some Christians were involved, does it make the whole Christian community is responsible for that?” he asked.
Dayal seconded his opinion. He said that in every case there has to be an investigation. “Why are they not investigating before they go killing?” he said.
But, there is a feeling that the state government has simply not been able to maintain law and order on the ground. BJP is BJD’s electoral partner, and that is why the VHP expects BJD to protect and back them. Is that the reason for complexities on ground zero?
Responding to that question Tathagata Satpathy said, “I don’t agree that we have lost control. Government has deployed enough policemen, CRPF and RAF personnel but sporadic incidences violence do take place. That is, however, not limited to Kandhamal. It has sprouted in other places to, which just goes to show that something has been done — whether it’s conversion or de-conversion or re-conversion — which is alien and disturbing to the local population.”
Somewhere the political and religious interests of the local Christian missionaries clashed with that of the swami, a local Hindu religious leader identified with the VHP, who engaged himself in re-conversion and carried out a campaign against cow slaughter?
“The man is dead,” Dayal said and added, “It’s a shame he’s been killed.” He said the Christian community deeply regretted the killing. He, however, added, their community was being cornered in the Panigai Commission of enquiry by affidavits upon affidavits from “lone hate campaigners over years.”
Singhal strongly objected to that. “Hate campaign?” he asked. “They write books about our deities, our gods and our saints.”
When asked if the nature of conversions was forced, Dayal said, “I would like to put on record that there is no equivalence of the VHP or RSS in the Christian faith. If conversions were an issue, then every Christian in the world should be dead.”
Was the move to close down all Catholic schools for one day a move to bring the two communities together?
Father Fraser Mascarenhas clarified that it was a decision taken by different authorities in the Christian community across the country. “It’s a symbolic action. We believe that the situation in the country is turning very serious. The whole fabric of secular nation is being poisoned,” he said.
When asked if the Christian community, in any way, feels threatened, he said, “It’s not just about the Christians. It’s about all vulnerable communities, which include the Dalits and the tribals.”
“The type of destruction” he added, “is of orphanages, schools and centres where people are being served and empowered. Therefore it is something that the whole country, not just the Christian community, should protest against.”
Are Poverty And Reservation The Main Problem Areas?
Have conversions become an excuse to attack and malign Christians, when the real issues really are poverty and reservation?
Mohanty alleged that it is political mobilisation by the Hindu forces which is the main reason causing all these problems.
“Neither the present government in Orissa nor the Centre is addressing the problems of poverty. The swami’s funeral march was allowed to travel 200 km through the district, provoking violence. Wherever it went, arson, looting and killing followed the march. Now they are planning a kalash march. The kalash is supposed to carry the ashes of the swami but there are no ashes really. I plead with the government, Centre and administration to not allow the kalash march.”
There are serious allegations that the BJD-BJP government in Orissa has been complicit in some way. Praveen Togadia, for example, was allowed by the state administration to visit the affected areas, but when the Minister of State for Home comes from Centre, he’s not allowed to visit it.
Satpathy defended, “This is a democratic nation. If the Pope the and the Italian government can comment on what’s happening in Kandhamal, then I’m sure any citizen of India is allowed to come to Orissa.”
As for the Home Minister’s visit, he clarified, that no helicopter could take off from Bhubaneshwar for Kandhamal because of bad weather.
“The Home Minister only had a gap of five minutes. His airplane would land at Bhubaneshwar, he would board the helicopter go to Kandhamal and come aback and at 4.55 pm, board the aircraft and go back to Delhi. He was keener on going back to Delhi than Kandhamal.
Kandhamal is one of the poorest regions in this country. Does that make people more susceptible to religious conflicts? Is it the fact that at the bottom, for the people who want to climb up the social ladder, religion becomes a way of upward mobility? Hinduism, perhaps, doesn’t allow them the kind of space?
Strongly contesting the argument once again, Singhal said that people from the so-called backward groups and communities form 27 per cent of BJP leadership. “No other party has that,” he said.
Is it possible that, perhaps, the missionaries are exploiting the poverty on the ground?
“It is a fool who comes to Christianity to get rid of his poverty,” Dayal defended. “It is very difficult to become a Christian. If you’re a Dalit, you lose your job and scholarship. The number of poor Christians in the 2.4 per cent national average is more than 80 per cent.”
He added that people don’t convert to Christianity to gain something. “They do it to get freedom from the clutches of caste,” he said.
Renuka, however, begged to differ. She argued that that reasons to convert were economic rather than religious.
“With all respect to Mr Dayal,” she said, “I think he is overstating the case because I know heaps of caste Christians who observe castes. I’ve run across them all over India. I think it’s unfair to demonise entire Hindu community, which is not like this, and people have moved on quite a lot. Not all Hindus are caste obsessed.”
Mohanty countered that argument. He said that Hindu extremist organisation have a single-point agenda, which is religious mobilisation/
“VHP‘s programme has not included, for example, in Kandhamal what to do with the rich economy of ginger and turmeric. It hasn’t planned how to revive that and use the minor forest produce and have processing units,” he said.
Is The VHP Being Demonised Through This Conflict?
After Kandhamal violence, various people have demanded that the BJP and the Bajrang Dal should be banned like the SIMI, as they are just another form of terrorism. Isn’t that demonising VHP? Isn’t that accentuating the nature of conflict?
Dayal answered, “I am one of the very few people in this country who are against all kinds of ban — whether it be films, theatres, political parties or fanatic or lunatic groups. Is the VHP demonised? No. Is it being exposed? Yes.”
With so many extreme voices, the space for moderate voice is getting reduced. If you constantly say VHP is a terrorist group, are you, perhaps, alienating some of those voices which the moderate groups could otherwise capture?
Mohanty said, “All religions have a fringe that is extremist and violence-oriented. For example, Christian fascists bombed the Okhalama Federal Bulding in the US. There are Sikh terrorists, Islamic terrorists and Hindu terrorists, but they don’t represent their communities as a whole.”
But why should everything be settled through confrontation and violence? Let’s assume that there was a strong case in the favour of the theory that some local Christian group killed the swami. Why not conduct a full investigation into it?
“I will not give licence to violence but on the ground if immediate redressal operations don’t take place, people react on their own,” Singhal replied.
Isn’t it worrying that on the ground, the tribals and the Dalits are being used as a lab for a larger political experiment?
Satpathy replied, “The point is that if I am sitting in a chair and I want to grow so much that I move other people who are sitting besides me, they are going to object.”
He added it has become fashionable to speak against Hindus in order to be marked as a secularist. “Secularism doesn’t only apply to Hindus,” he said and added, “It applies to Christians, Muslims and everybody. The tribals and the backward classes had been living in the area without any problems for centuries. In fact, there was no problem till two years ago. Suddenly with the missionaries coming in from different parts of the state and the country, this problem has started coming up. I’m not talking against the missionaries. What I’m saying is that it is time they themselves take stock of the situation — whether they want to destroy the fabric of a peaceful society or be content with what they have.”
Isn’t it true that Evangelical Christianity should also looked at with the same hard look with which we look at the VHP?
Mascarenhas said, “There is a constant reflection going on in Christian community and that is the reason why we take such a strong stand on education. Wherever the Hindu forces are willing to collaborate with us, we are extending the hand of friendship.”
Religion in India should be the language of peace, sacrifice and compassion. In India, it seems to have become synonymous with violence and animosity. Why?
Renuka said, “At the end of the day, we all seem to be on the same side, which is the need for the government to focus on economic development. Funny things happen in India. I’m a believing Hindu, but the RSS thinks I’m on the payroll of the Jesuits.”
“Society should take very strong economic and developmental actions. Education is the key,” she added.
Is it possible for the Evangelist Catholics to also reach out to the other side? According to Census 2001-2, merely 2.3 per cent of Indians are Christians. How can they be a threat to 80.5 per cent Hindus? Why do you need a hate campaign against the Christians?
At the end of the day, Kandhamal is one of the poorest parts of India. The answer to the crisis of Kandhamal really lies in addressing the issues of poverty and development, for that’s where the religious players come in and exploit people.
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