Targeted killings of Christians meant for ‘religious cleansing’

New Delhi: More than 25 people are reported to have died in eastern Indian state of Orissa since August 23 in the aftermath of the murder of a controversial Hindu right-wing leader Swami Laxmanananda and his associates.

The controversial swami had been mobilising against Christians for over two decades and was instrumental in organising re-conversions or ‘ghar vapasi’ as they call it. He also had several criminal cases pending against him. Maoists later in a statement took the responsibility for killing the swami, saying he had a diabolical agenda of spreading communal hatred.

An independent ten-member team of concerned citizens comprising academics, journalists, lawyers, filmmakers and social activists has squarely blamed the state government for continuation of violence instigated by Hindu organisations against Christians in Kandhamal district.

Administration a silent spectator

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, the team members said that while the rampaging mobs led by members of right-wing groups like Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad were indulging in the horrific killings of poor Christians and vandalising their houses and places of worship, the police and the administration were only playing the role of silent spectators instead of trying to act against them.

They added that this had led to a situation whereby many villagers had to run away to nearby forests to save their lives. But they were chased even into forests and were nabbed and beaten up. Some were even killed. When the administration opened relief camps, many of them came back in the hope that they would be more secure there.

Media reports have suggested that thousands of houses have been torched and hundreds of villages wiped out. A nun raped, a priest stripped naked, a Hindu preaching amity killed, orphanages and churches razed to the ground – these are some of the ugly forms that the violence has taken in Kandhamal.

Professor Manoranjan Mohanty from University of Delhi said: “It has been a Hindutva mobilisation which has led to the onset of violence leading to religious cleansing.” He even charged the Bharatiya Janata Party and Biju Janata Dal ruling coalition of colluding with attackers, ensuring that they were not “hounded out.”

“We saw enough evidence of abetment and to say the least [the police and administration] silently standing by when the atrocities were being committed. The central government is also equally responsible of not really intervening seriously,” he added.

He further said that at the peak of the violence as many as 27,000 people were living in 11 camps in pitiable and insecure conditions after their houses were burnt down.

Conversion is legal

Professor Kamal Mitra Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University dwelled on the aspect of Constitutional provisions with regard to conversion laws and said that conversion becomes illegal only under certain circumstances, that is, if it is carried out under coercion and enticement. There has been not a single complaint of “forced conversions” with the district administration.

He also said that Indian laws and Constitution gave complete freedom to people to choose their faith and therefore the rationale that Christian organisations were engaged in conversion activities and therefore the violence had no grounding in the law.

He also critcised the central governments for not using its power granted to it under the Constitution. He said that warning under Article 355 [Duty of the Union to protect States against external aggression and internal disturbance] was not at all sufficient and that the union government instead should use its power to direct the state government to take necessary actions to curb violence expeditiously under Articles 256 [Obligations of States and the Union with regard to ensuring compliance with the law made by Parliament] and 257 [Control of Union over States in certain cases]. He also demanded a CBI enquiry into the killing of the swami and the violence perpetrated after that.

Senior journalist Seema Mustafa expressed her anguish at the turn of events in the district saying that the most disturbing aspect was that the poor had been motivated to kill the poor. According to her, it has been a well-organised attack. It was evident from the fact that the mob was armed with pistols and other weapons and that there was suggestion of “ammunition dumps” in the forests to which the attackers had access.

She also lambasted the “corporate media” for not paying enough attention to the happenings in the area just because in its calculation it was an impoverished area and the hapless victims did not matter much to it.

Prof Mohanty mentioned that this was a place of absolute poverty where as many as 75% people were living below the poverty line. This also happens to be a place where the proportion of tribal population is 52% and dalits constitute 18% of the total population.

And yet neither the state nor the central government has adequately responded to the actual problems of the people. The communal mobilisation in the area is pitting the adivasis against the dalit Christians, he concluded.

The other members in the fact-finding team included Sagari Chhabra, a filmmaker and writer, Professor Amit Bhaduri from JNU among others. The team during its visit from September 15-18 met the victims of violence, leaders of political parties, state authorities and social workers.