Orissa govt failed to protect Christians: panel

ibnlive.com

TimePublished on Thu, Jan 17, 2008 at 22:01, Updated at Thu, Jan 17, 2008 in Nation section

New Delhi: The attacks on Christians in Orissa’s Khandamal district in December were “pre-planned” and the state government was “negligent” in controlling the violence, the National Minority Commission has said.

Commission members Dilip Padgaonkar and Zoya Hasan, who toured Khandamal to probe allegations by Christians, said in Delhi on Thursday that the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) "vitiated" the atmosphere in the district but refrained from blaming it for the attacks.

"The Government and the local officials had been warned of trouble as early as on December 22 but they did not take any action and the result was the large-scale violence," said Padgaonkar in a press conference.

"It was an organised and pre-planned attack on the Christian community," he said.

An important reason for the violence was the rivalry between the Kui tribals and Pana Christians. "Some Christian groups (Panas) have been asking for inclusion in the scheduled tribe (ST) category to get benefit from the reservations that go with the status," Hasan said.

The Kuis are against this demand on the ground that they are ethnically different from the Panas. "Kuis have also been agitated because Scheduled Caste (SC) Christians allegedly obtained false certificates to benefit from the reservations," Hasan said.

Padgaonkar said two strikes called by two separate organisations on December 26 fuelled the violence. Another important factor was the anti-conversion campaign conducted by VHP and Sangh Parivar for the last few years.

When asked whether the riots were planned, Padgaonkar said, "There was enough evidence to suggest that the outbreak of violence in Khandamal was organised."

"An anti-Christian atmosphere was created and there was large-scale destruction of Christian property." He alleged that the local administration did not take appropriate and quick measures to control the mob.

Padgaonkar said 2,000 trees were cut in two hours to block roads leading to the riot-affected areas. "This was done to delay the patrol parties from reaching the riot-affected areas. It shows that the riots were organised," he was quoted by IANS as saying.

"Rehabilitation package announced by the Orissa government should be reviewed to provide rehabilitation keeping in view the actual loss suffered by the victims of violence," the delegation members said.