India's conversions controversy

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Anti-Christian riots have rocked several parts of India over the past month. The BBC's Soutik Biswas travels to a remote region in the eastern Orissa state, where it all began, to explore the touchy issue of religious conversions.

Churches have been attacked in Orissa

Sixty-year-old Indian farmer Kanduri Digal says he converted to Christianity a decade ago because he found "it a very useful religion".

For most of his life, Digal languished at the bottom of India's caste pyramid as a Hindu untouchable. But he doesn't say he escaped Hinduism because the caste system gave him a raw deal.

Instead, he says, Christianity offered him a road to redemption.

"When I was a Hindu I was stealing, doing bad to others. I have become a better man after I converted. Salvation is ensured in Christianity," he says.

Forty-year-old government peon Ashok Kumar Behera, who converted to Christianity 18 years ago, says he changed faith to get some "peace of life and salvation".

"The Bible says when we die we go to heaven. The holy book also lays down the instructions about life in detail, unlike Hindu scriptures," he says.

However, Digal and Behera have now discovered that in the Kandhamal district of Orissa state where they live their leap of faith has a darker side to it.

They are among the over 13,000 Hindu untouchables-turned-Christian converts who continue to live in 11 camps in the district a month after a wave of anti-Christian violence convulsed the area. Most have fled their homes which were looted and torched by mobs shouting pro-Hindu slogans.

At the root of the confrontation is an age-old rivalry between the majority local Hindu-tribes people and the converted Christians over land, affirmative action benefits and identity rights.

Touchy issue

But last month, it took an overtly religious turn after the killing of an octogenarian Hindu holy man who was a working among the tribes people, railing against conversions and arranging for reconversions of people returning to Hinduism.

It is still unclear who killed Laxmananda Saraswati. But angry tribes-people turned on their Christian neighbours triggering off a spiral of violence that left over 20 dead.

Displaced Christians speak

Radical Hindu groups say Christian missionaries and NGO's are responsible for the situation.

One of them, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, says in a pamphlet that the "Christians in the area have long been trying to convert the tribal population... The tribals in the region over the last few years have been despising conversion due to the attacks on their cultural moorings by the Christian community".

Christian groups deny these allegations and say nobody is being converted against his or her will.

Religious conversions have been a touchy issue here. Orissa is an overwhelmingly Hindu majority state, and at just 3.8% of the population, Christians make up the largest minority.

Changing faith has also become a messy issue thanks to a controversial 31-year-old state law which outlaws religious conversion by "force, inducement and fraud". It also instructs that every case of conversion has to be reported to and recorded by the local authorities.

It is clear that the law was introduced primarily to stop the state's Hindu untouchables and tribes people, who comprise 39% of Orissa's population, from converting to Christianity. The punishment for converting these groups illegally is harsher than for converting groups such as higher caste Hindus..

But both Christians and Hindus have flouted the law openly: only two cases of conversions - both, from Hinduism to Christianity, have been officially recorded in Kandhamal in the last 31 years!

But the Christian population in the district has gone up by 56% between 1991 and 2001 alone, over four times the average population growth in the district. The Hindu population has grown by a more modest 12% during the same period.

Orissa has a long and chequered history of Christian proselytising.

There have been countrywide protests against the attacks

On the one hand, large numbers of untouchables and tribes people have converted to escape poverty and deprivation.

It is a moot point whether that has worked: nearly 80% of the people in Kandhamal, for example, continue to live under the poverty line, according to official records.

At the same time, Christian zealots have sometimes operated with impunity: a state pastors gathering in November 1996 openly made a call to "win Orissa for Christ by 2000". And, in 1993, the police booked 21 pastors in Nowrangpur district for carrying out "induced" conversions, invoking the conversion law.

It is another matter, as some analysts argue, whether the state should get in the way of personal faith and keep tabs on and demand explanation from a person who is changing faith.

'Dangerous paternalism'

"Crude evangelism is a reality. We may also be uncomfortable at the fact that people seem to convert for all kinds of inducements," says political scientist Pratap Bhanu Mehta.

"But as a mature society we have to recognise this fact. The state cannot be in the business of saving anyone's soul. Why people convert is a matter entirely for them to decide. There is a dangerous paternalism if we give the state the right to decide whether someone's conversion is genuine and when it is not.

"For that matter why not also inquire into the fact whether staying in any faith is often due to inducement, coercion and false representations as well?" he asks.

Whatever the reason, the religious fault lines in Kandhamal are now beginning to look ominous and threatening to tear asunder two indigenous communities who have lived in mixed villages for centuries.

Christians in Orissa are scared to return to their villages

Things are so bad that a spokesman of Orissa's Christian community has been given, of all things, a bullet proof jacket by the police to protect himself.

"The Christians are so angry in Kandhamal that they want gun licenses to protect themselves. I am telling them to restrain themselves," says Dr Swaroopananda Saraswati, a spokesman for the Christian community says.

And in Kandhamal, the head of an influential Hindu tribes people organisation sits in his house-cum-office surrounded by two bare-chested armed constables of the local police.

"I am scared that this has become a religious war now. I don't want our tribal agenda to be hi-jacked by religious interests.," says Lambodhar Kanhar.

Kandhamal, clearly, needs a respite from proselytizers of all kinds to return to normalcy and calm. After which, the people and authorities can begin sorting out the real issues.

Peace talks amid violence

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Bhubaneswar, Sept. 28: A day after chief minister Naveen Patnaik visited the strife-torn district of Kandhamal, tribal leaders under the banner of Kui Samaj Unnnayan Samiti today went into a huddle to discuss the ongoing crisis even as reports of sporadic incidents of violence trickled in. Hooligans torched five houses at Kupaguda and three at Malipada under G Udaygiri police station yesterday night, while some houses were burnt at Lamungia under Raikia police station this morning. Police recovered three more decomposed bodies from the Badasalunki river in Phulbani today. “One of them is of an unidentified elderly woman,” said Kandhamal superintendent of police Praveen Kumar. Although violence is still continuing in the district, the tribal leaders vehemently criticised the arrest of “innocent” tribals at the meet at Chakapad today and demanded immediate arrest of those involved in Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati’s killing. “First the Swamiji’s killers should be arrested. Only then should the police arrest the tribals. Many of them, if involved in the riots, will then voluntarily surrender,” Lambodar Kahara, the leader of the organisation, said. Today’s meeting assumes significance because this has been the first time that the leaders of the Samiti agreed to meet after the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23. More than 100 leaders of the organisation primarily discussed the means and ways to sort out problems and restore peace in the region with immediate effect. Unanimously appreciating the sops declared by the government, they said the ongoing violence was a stumbling block in the road to development. The state government’s decisions to recruit tribal youths as police, solve land disputes through camp courts and open eight new tehsils were lauded. The leaders were disappointed over Naveen not holding a dialogue with them during his visit, but they were happy with his wish to have an open dialogue with them at Bhubaneswar at a convenient time. The chief minister had yesterday announced several measures, including verification of caste certificates taken up on a war footing and deployment of 10 police inspectors in the district specifically, to end the crisis in Kandhamal.

Kandhamal Violence Photos - 5

mob sets firevillagers flocking to refugee camps

a destroyed church

a refugee in camp

refugees in the camp

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a house burneda boy inside the damaged church

a road side house has been completely damaged

furnitures burned

a woman inside her damaged house

Kandhamal Violence Photos - 3

Baliguda church burned

several houses torched

a burned house

in refugee camp

loss of house and relatives

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a church burneda home burned and destroyed

a home burned

a home burned

a thousand house burned like this

Maoists warn Sangh Parivar

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BHUBANESWAR: Renewing its warning to members of the Saffron brigade, the State Organisation Committee of CPI (Maoist) has trained its guns on at least 14 persons, accusing them of targeting the minorities in the volatile Kandhamal district.

Issuing a release, committee secretary Sunil said Swami Lakshmanananda was ‘punished’ for similar reasons. Now, it would be the turn of the Sangha Parivar members who are eliminating the minorities in the guise of riot.

The outlawed outfit named them - BJP MLA Narendra Majhi from Baliguda, RSS district president Niranjan Sahoo and contractor Ajit Sahoo of Daringibadi. Similarly, Sangha Parivar leaders like Manoj Pradhan, Sudam Behera, Padma Panda and Dilu Mohanty (Raikia), Ganga Sahu and Rabi Sahu (Baliguda), Balakrushna Jundi (Phirngia) and Krushna Panigrahy, Bisi Majhi and Kaka Sahu (K Nuagaon) were also on the hit-list of the Left wing ultra outfit

Mob burns houses, clashes with police in Kandhamal

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Bhubaneswar, Sep 25 (IANS) Tension continued in Orissa's volatile Kandhamal district Thursday after more houses owned by Christians were set on fire and hundreds of people clashed with police and blocked roads.

Officials said clashes broke out Wednesday night after police tried to prevent mobs from torching Christian homes.

'Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel chased away the people who were trying to set houses on fire in Daringbadi block but some houses were damaged Wednesday night. The situation in the region is tense,' District Collector Krishan Kumar told IANS.

Oriya daily Sambad reported that the mob burnt at least a dozen houses as well as a church and a prayer house in villages under Daringbadi block.

On Wednesday, people had also blocked several roads with wooden logs to protest the killing of a person in police firing in Raikia town, about 280 km from here.

More than 1,000 people, mostly women, had Tuesday surrounded a police station in Raikia, demanding the release of two people who had been arrested Monday on charges of rioting.

The mob pelted stones, forcing police and CRPF troopers to hit people with batons and then open fire. One person was killed and 25 people, including many policemen, were injured.

'We managed to remove the wooden logs by Wednesday night and sent around 150 policemen and paramilitary troopers to the area,' Kumar said.

They joined the 500 policemen and CRPF personnel who had been camping in the area since the firing, he said.

Kandhamal district has been witnessing communal violence since Aug 23, when Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four others were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his Jalespata Ashram.

Since then, thousands of people have been rendered homeless, many churches attacked and at least 25 people, mostly Christians, killed in the state.

Prohibitory orders are still in force in the district and night curfew is imposed in most towns

Kandhamal Violence Photos

An open Letter to the Chief Minister of Orissa by Sudarsan Das

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Dear Honorable Chief Minister:

Please accept my regards. I don't know if at all, you will read this letter or not. But I am writing this letter to you on behalf of the people of Orissa. May be someone will read it to you.
You may well ask me, where do I get the audacity to write to you, on behalf of the people of Orissa? Who or what gave me the authority? Well, a few days back you visited the riot affected, Kandhamal. We have been told, while you were touring the torched villages, turned to graveyards, an affected old destitute woman came to you, held your hand, and cried disconsolately. The heart rending cry of that old woman and the tragic circumstances melted your heart, and tears rolled down your cheeks. The media head lines next day went hoarse " The Chief Minister, cried". On return to Bhubaneswar with a heavy heart you told the media: "The incidents of Kandhamal are the most unfortunate event during my administration".

Not only you but majority of the Orissan public think that way. The incidents of Kandhamal have affected them deeply. The compassion in their hearts, as your's, have rolled down as tears. The people of the State have been deeply saddened by the recent communal incidents, in Kandhamal. The combined gash of their hearts and tears of their eyes, is the source of audacity, that has culminated in writing of this letter.

There is no space here to analyze the recent happenings in the Kandhamal district of Odisa nor the consequent situation. Neither is there any necessity of such analysis. As Home Minister of the state, you are fully informed of every thing, if not you are damned. Who in the state is more aware than you of the conspirators and conspiracies, going on in the state? Probably you are still unaware of those who murdered Swami Laxmanananda. But if you claim to be unawares, as to who are behind the subsequent mayhem and violence, no one will believe you. Thus the legitimate question comes to mind, as to whether you are feigning ignorance and you support these beastly acts or you have become a helpless victim of the circumstances? In our culture tears in the eyes, are usually considered an expression of helplessness. One wonders, if the tears that rolled down you cheek in Kandhamal district, is expression of any such helplessness?

You are a very well read man. Thus I am sure you are not aware of the history of Indian communal violence. It becomes evident from the history of Indian communal violence that, main reason of riots is: Government inaction.. Of course Gujarat is a rare exception where, official encouragement was behind the riots. But in most places, riots become uncontrollable when and where Government fails to instill the fear of law in the minds of the rioters. When Government fails to instill confidence in the mind of the affected public and take steps to create fear of Law in the mind of the rioters, it is self-evident that riots will spread. Strict Government action alone, impedes riots and rioters. In this regard in September 1957, the then Prime Minister of India, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, had written a letter to the then Chief Ministers, which I quote. Invoking them to resist people involved in communal violence and hate, he
wrote, "The issue should be fronted with strong action, as early as possible. The violators of law should be arrested and enterned, asap. People should believe that Government has no soft corner for the rioters. Unhappy at the administrative actions taken, Nehru further wrote, "We have slowed down in this regard. Thus the problem has continued to escalate. The main promoters of poison of communal hatred, the mischief mongers and goons, are thus continuing their work, unhindered. Yet, when the issue comes to a boil, a few innocent are arrested, the master minds escape the persecution. We observe the deviations from these guide lines, in Nehru's own time in office. But relevance of that letter and invocation is still paramount, particularly in light of the current communal violence in the Kandhamal. Will you Sir, not admit the fact, that administrative inaction is largely responsible for the Kandhamal riot & violence? If one analyses
the sequence of events from last December till today, one comes to the clear conclusion that YOUR Government, has not to taken the measures necessary to prevent spread of communal hatred and consequent violence. Rather your Government has remained a silent spectator. Do you have any evidence, rationale or argument, to counter this widespread, public perception?
Now this communal hatred and violence has spread to the rest of rural Orissa. The fire of communalism in Kandhamal has also spread to other states of India, like Karnataka & Kerala. Not only will this amber of communalism engulf the civil society & ordinary innocent citizens, but it's smoke will soon choke you and your Government, if you don't act. The fire of communal hatred has already touched you. The rioters have started attacking your police and have fired on your police. The perpetrators of communal politics have started pointing fingers at you, taking the advantage of your dormancy and silence. The honchos of communal politics have called upon you to resign. Is it not enough warning for you Sir, to be circumspect?

Your tears will rid you of your anguish & agony but will not relieve public of the torment & tribulations. Encouraging people and organizations seeding communal hatred may retain your power but history will not forgive you. On a personal level, we know, you have stayed far above communalism. We have rarely seen you in any religious gathering. So it beats us, as to why you are you favoring & harboring this brutality and bestiality in the name of religion? What is the reason for your vulnerability & feeble action against the rioters?

Majority of Orissans are religious but are not communal. Even today they are free from communal hatred and malice. Communal amity still prevails here. But the individuals & organizations, undermining this amity need to be brought to book, with a strong hand, pronto. Else the situation will soon go out of hand. Actually, we are inching closer toward such a reality. And if you fail to act and face the situation boldly, you will remain an accused in the courts of history.
Yours faithfully,
A friend of communal amity

States must act on crimes against Dalits

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NEW DELHI: Next time there is a Kandhamal carnage or a Khairlanji massacre and the state government is unresponsive, there could be serious constitutional consequences.

A proposal to give more teeth to the law to curb anti-Dalit crimes makes it incumbent upon states to file reports to the Centre and National Commissions for SCs or STs within four days of filing FIRs on grave offences.

It would give the Centre a virtual foothold in states on the issue of crimes against SC/STs, without invoking the politically sensitive clause of Article 355 which triggers immediate protests from the opposition.

With the change, the Centre would skirt the constitutional sensitivities of Centre-state relations while still being in a position to embarrass local governments in case of a carnage or rise in grievous crimes against Dalits or tribals. A non-compliance of the provision to file a detailed report on every such case within four days would anyway provide the Centre an opportunity to point fingers at state capitals.

The amendment proposed to the Prevention of Atrocities against SC/STs Act is serious as it is believed that it would push the states to act. Social justice minister Meira Kumar told TOI: "We have to make the PCR and POA Act more stringent."

According to the proposal mooted by the Union ministry, the states would have to submit reports for three types of crimes, which involve — fabricating evidence to implicate a Dalit in a crime providing for life sentence or death; using explosives or fire to damage property belonging to SC/STs, or commiting an offence which is punishable for a term of 10 years or more. The proposal is to insert a clause in section 21 of the POA Act dealing with "duty of government to ensure effective implementation of the Act".

In another key move, the Centre is seeking to cut down on the time of trial in crimes against SC/STs by completely doing away with the first level of scrutiny — the magistrate. The MSJ has proposed that special courts designated to try cases under the POA Act shall be "competent to try the offences as a court of original jurisdiction without the case having been committed to it by a magistrate under the said code (CrPC)".

This would save the cases from being scrutinised by a magistrate before it is committed to the sessions court. A new sub-section would be added to section 14 of the POA Act. The amendments, which the MSJ plans to table in the coming session of Parliament, are crucial as they come in the wake of attacks on tribal Christians as also the Khairlanji verdict in which the court convicted the accused but absolved them of charges under the POA Act. With these changes, it could be different.

The Kandhamal crisis has led to a face-off between the UPA-led Centre and the NDA-led Orissa government. Feeling that Orissa is not acting against Bajrang Dal activists, the Centre's threat to invoke Article 355 has led to a political confrontation. If the amendments are accepted, then the state would be legally bound to file reports to the Centre as also the national commissions.

'Vested interests are hitting back at Christians'

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September 22, 2008

The Catholic Secular Forum, a Mumbai-based NGO, has been in the forefront of protests against attacks against the Christian community in Orissa, Karnataka and other parts of the country.

CSF General Secretary Joseph Dias, was part of a citizens' delegation that called on the President and other politicians in New Delhi [Images] last moth, urging the Union government to use its powers to stop the attacks.

Dias, who says that he has travelled to almost all the places where Christians have been attacked and seen the horror of the attacks, spoke to rediff.com.

Are the Mangalore and Orissa incidents turf battles between right-wing Hindutva and Christian forces?

The attacks on the Christian community are not restricted only to Mangalore or Orissa, but have spread to other states like Madhya Pradesh [Images], Kerala [Images], Chhattisgarh and even the national capital. They are military-like operations, carried out with clinical precision and are brutal, with no discrimination -- sparing, neither clergy, women nor children. The objectives are manifold -- consolidation of the Hindu vote, polarisation of the majority and minorities, demonising the community, crippling Christians economically. These attacks, when they happen in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states, are nothing short of government-sponsored terrorism, while in other places it is sheer mobocracy, using brute force, with the authorities unable to act because of political compulsions of not getting on the wrong side of the majority.

Why do you feel Christians are being targeted now across India?

The vested political and economic interests are hitting back with vengeance. Christians are sitting ducks, where no or negligible retaliation expected. The Church works in areas, where even the government dares not to go because it is not profitable. The Church's education, healthcare and social services in these backward areas has empowered the weak, poor and deprived vested interests of vote banks and cheap labour. The emancipation through education, healthcare, awareness of alternatives and provision of opportunities have set the oppressed classes free from the clutches of the upper caste or rich Hindus and slavery of their political masters. These interests are therefore hitting back at the Christians to maintain their hold on those, whom they have been exploiting since ages.

What is your answer to criticism that the Church lures the poor by offering them money?

We condemn those indulging in conversion by force or inducement. Catholics do not accept a conversion, unless it comes from the heart. But the saffron brigade raises this bogey, since in believes in (Nazi propaganda chief Joseph) Geobbels's principle of repeating a lie umpteen times, so that it will stick. Another ploy is to divide us into Catholics and Protestants, so that they can divide and rule. This makes it easy for Hindutva radicals to take the remaining Christian population. Those who criticise groups that convert by inducement, must realise that an individual, who converts, will do so only if he finds his previous religion with limitations and Christianity a better faith.

Do Christian talk of the re-conversion or ghar wapsi programmes of the Hindu fundamentalists? Not so far. But I think we must now. There gifts and incentives are given to people to return to the Hindu fold.

Do you see a larger design behind the targeting of Christians?

The larger design is political domination and economic supremacy. The Hindutvawadis will stop at nothing -- murder, carnage, destruction, human rights abuse, subverting the rule of law and the Constitution of the country.

Politically, with the beginning of an era of coalitions and with Lok Sabha and assembly polls round the corner, it is do or die for the BJP and its allies. They want power at any cost and ideologies take a backseat. It is target either Christians or Muslims and this the BJP believes will take them to Parliament. The Gujarat model has become a showcase for replication in Hindutva laboratories all over the country. The BJP knows that secular parties like the Congress and to an extent even the Left and regional parties will not be able to take a stand against the majority (80 percent) and in favour of the minorities (20 percent), so the opportune time to strike is now.

Are conversions at the centre of the violence, or do you see a different ploy behind it?

Even the saffron brigade knows that there are no conversions worthy of mention happening. There are at least five states, which have anti-conversion laws, but not a single case of forceful or induced conversion has been proved. And many of these states are BJP ruled, but they have not been able to nail Christians on this count. In fact, in some states the police and administration are used to reconvert Christians to Hinduism and even tribals, who have a religion of their own.

Incentives, besides our health, education and social service institutions over the centuries could have converted millions of poor and downtrodden into Christianity. If that was the case, the Christian population would have shot up and not declined to around 2 percent. Further, why would even affluent non-Christians flock to our institutions (schools, hospitals) if they were convinced that they ran the risk of conversion? The saffron brigade is frustrated that even the Hindus are not buying their story of conversion, and has resorted to a vulgar public display of brute force.

Why now, you think? Is there an element of timing behind the violence?

The elections decided the timing of attacks on Christians. It never happened so far to Christians in India. Since Independence, it happened with Muslims in the run-up to various elections and stopped thereafter. The Hindutvawadis have managed to marginalise the Muslims, who now live on the periphery of the national mainstream. It is the saffron brigade's heart-felt desire to do the same with Christians. It is now or never for them.

Share with us the details of your fact-finding missions.

I have been to most districts affected by the anti-Christian violence in India and I can claim to be among the few to have done so. I have spoken to hundreds and listened to almost a thousand victims. The stories are horrifying. My feelings from ground zero have been so traumatic that I just could not sleep since then. Last week, it was the three priests with whom I stayed when I visited Orissa, who gave me sleepless nights, seeing them brutally injured. But what brought tears to my eyes were the helpless cloistered sisters in Mangalore, who were attacked. We met cardinals, bishops, pastors, priests and lay leaders in many places, across the country. Their plight moved me. It is not the government that rules the roost in most states - the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bajrang Dal do. And this is only the beginning.

The Karnataka government initially announced a Corps of Detectives level inquiry. Are you happy with it?

It is a big sham. The role of the Karnataka government is implicit -- as in the case of Orissa. It has blood on its hands -- innocent blood. The conclusions of the inquiry can be easily predicted and the Christian community is not foolish to fall for it and expect something. The police atrocities on women and Christians are well documented and presented to the national commissions for women, minorities and human rights. There is no need for any other inquiry, which will have no credibility and whitewash the sins of the government. Christians will boycott it.

What do you expect from the government, both at the state level and at the Centre?

The Union government should intervene instead of mouthing platitudes. I met the President and a number of VIPs in the national capital, who all beyond condemning the attacks did nothing else.

We would now expect that:

1. Communalism is treated as a crime against the state, like terrorism and made a non-bailable offence. Mob terror is equal, if not worse than bomb terror.

2. Government compensation and relief for all victims, including reconstructing churches and Christian institutions, which are presently not sanctioned.

3. Enactment of legislation on the lines of the Prevention of Atrocities on SC/ST Act, to protect minorities from the brute force of the majority.

4. Moving law and order from the state list to the concurrent list so that the Union government can intervene.

5. Permit an independent inquiry by international human rights organisations into the anti-Christian attacks and foreign funding.

6. A CBI probe into the source of foreign and Indian contributions to the RSS-VHP-Bajrang Dal troika and related organisations.

What do you have to say about the official response to the violence?

The official response was pathetic, to say the least, especially from the United Progressive Alliance. The governments in at least five states behaved as expected -- either participating in the act or turning a Nelson's eye, when push came to shove. Innocents have been arrested and persecuted, while relief or compensation will never come through. In fact, some states have not allowed even Christians to provided succour to their own and instead are conducting an inquiry into the foreign contributions to Christian NGOs.

There is a lot of talk that the Maoists and the Church share a common cause, which is at the root of the violence in Orissa. What do you have to say about it?

The only thing common between Maoists/Naxalites [Images] and the Church seem to be their concern for the backward and exploited classes. However, the means differ drastically and there is no meeting ground. In Orissa and places where Maoists/Naxalites have struck a chord among tribals or exploited classes, it is because the government has failed in its duties towards the citizens. The Maoists/Naxalites are also known not to allow religion to divide people, besides believing in equitable distribution of resources. Hence, attacks on communalists and the dominating classes/castes are justified and the only way out.

New Life has been blamed for the conversions in Mangalore. Is it part of the church?

The New Life movement is part of the Christian Church, not Catholic, which is tremendously popular for its evangelical approach. Faith healings, non-ritualistic approach to religion and involving believers in prayer and worship, which are popular have ensured a huge following for New Life and other such groups. These have been falsely blamed in the conflict.

Have the Hindutva elements been emboldened by the BJP government in Karnataka?

Of course. In fact, until the BJP formed the government in Karnataka or Orissa, there was no report of religious violence. In order to remain in power and pander to its supporters the BJP has had to play the Hindu card. It also has to pay back the Hindutva troika for getting it into power and so these elements thrive in BJP ruled states. It is a case of one feeding off the other -- a symbiotic relationship.

Has the government response to the violence against churches been adequate? Do Christians feel threatened in Karnataka or Orissa?

The governments, at the Centre nor in the states, have not responded at all. Christians are relying on the Lord to protect them, as he always has, besides looking up to fellow Christians to stand by them. We believe and history is witness that whenever Christians were persecuted, the Church has emerged stronger and triumphed.

Is there any reason for the Catholic Church to express solidarity in situations where it is not involved? New Life or the Southern Baptists have no connection with the Catholic Church? And they are organisations whose activities the Catholic Church may not have knowledge of?

There are many reasons for the Catholic Church to express solidarity with Christian churches -- we don't call them Protestants. It is also a lie to say that the Catholic and mainline Protestant churches do not believe in proselytising today. In fact, in keeping with the Great Commission as urged for by Jesus himself in the Bible (Go forth into the world and preach the Good News to all creation - Mark 16:15) that every Christian -- Catholic or Protestant -- is duty bound to do so. The Catholic church has a special 'Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples', dedicated solely to this task. Pope Benedict XVI himself appointed Cardinal Ivan Dias, earlier Archbishop of Mumbai to be 'Prefect' of this world body, signifying the importance attached to conversion by the Holy Father. Can the mainline Protestant churches, who believe in the same Jesus and his word, Bible be any different?

It is ridiculous to imagine that there could be any debate on a matter of faith, as basic as this. Catholics and Protestants of all hues, if they are Christians stand united on the issue of conversion, also guaranteed by the Indian constitutional right to preach, propagate and practice the religion of one's choice. Catholics have the best of relations with other Christian groups -- be they New Life or Southern Baptists -- for Jesus' prayer to God, the Father was -- that they may all be one.

Who's the real HINDU

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Hindustan Times, August 31 2008

Are SIMI, Bajrang Dal two sides of same coin?

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Thursday, Septemer 18, 2008

The spate of attacks on Christians and churches continues in the BJP-ruled states of Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.

Coastal districts of Mangalore, Dakshina Kannada, Chikmagalur and Udupi are tense after 14 churches were attacked on Sunday, allegedly by the activists of Hindu outfit Bajrang Dal.

On Wednesday, a mob attacked a church and statue of St Mary in Kolar in south Karnataka, taking the number of attacks to 19 in the past one month. Security has been stepped up following the incident. Police say the situation is tense but under control.

Last month Orissa too witnessed a similar flare up. Christians were attacked in the Kandhamal district and 24 people died in the communal clashes that followed.

As the Government considers bringing in tougher measures to deal with terror, CNN-IBN debates if Hindu outfits like Bajrang Dal could be compared with Islamist terror groups like the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

To debate the controversial issue on Face the Nation were the President of Indian Christian Voice, Dr Abraham Mathai; and BJP leader Gopal Prasad Sinha.

Abraham Mathai kickstarted the debate and strongly argued the Bajrang Dal was terrorising minorities in the state. Mathai and also hinted at state complicity.

"The state is talking about SIMI activists being in hiding and here we have the Bajrang Dal people openly admitting to having done this. How can you differentiate between the two? Should SIMI be banned just because they are Muslims?" he asked.

Mathai quoted incidents of Bajrang Dal activists being caught in the act. "In Nanded, they were caught making bombs and even confessed to having dressed as Muslims," he alleged.

But Gopal Prasad Sinha lashed back and said it was unfair to compare Bajrang Dal with SIMI. "It's a well-established fact that SIMI is an anti-national force, is part of Lashkar-e-Toiba, al-Qaeda and is responsible for blasts across the country," he said.

Sinha also defended Bajrang Dal's action as a "reaction to a planned mischief to convert people in Karnataka".

"I don't support the violence of Bajrang Dal but how do we react to these things," he asked arguing while Bajrang Dal had an ideology, SIMI was destroying the idea of India.

"SIMI is an international force, a part of an international terror group," he said.

Mathai retorted and said SIMI and Bajrang Dal shared the same underlying ideology.

"Bajrang Dal activists have killed 50 Indians in Orissa — they haven't killed Pakistanis, Bangaladeshis or others. Is that not anti-national? Just because they are from a majority community and have the backing of a political party, should they be spared?" he asked.

But the Bajrang Dal has also been accused of distributing tridents, bringing down the Babri Masjid and has been compared with the Nazis.

In fact, senior BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee said he was ashamed of the group's activities. However, Sinha dismissed these arguments as exaggerated public reaction.

As regards forcible conversions, Mathai argued there has been no conviction despite there being the draconian anti-conversion laws in place in five states.

"Because they have failed, they are trying miserably hard," Mathai said, adding, if conversions gave someone respect and dignity, they were not wrong.

SMS/ Web poll: Are SIMI, Bajrang Dal two sides of the same coin?

Yes: 56 per cent

No: 44 per cent

'State must ensure reconversion is not forced'

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September 17, 2008
National Commission for Minorities vice-chairman Michael P Pinto visited the violence-hit Kandhamal district and neighbouring places over the weekend. The mostly Christian tribal population in the area has been under attack by Hindu extremist organisations after a sadhu, Swami Lakshmanananda, who has been working for the welfare of the downtrodden, was killed by an armed mob in his ashram on Janmashtami day.

After the violence broke out, Pinto was told by government officials that the situation was under control whenever he asked. But when he visited the place what he saw, Pinto said, was worse than what the situation was in the aftermath of the December 2007-January 2008 violence after Swami Lakshmanananda was attacked just before Christmas.

In this interview with Special Correspondent Krishnakumar, Pinto speaks about the current situation, the immediate steps that need to be taken, and long-term measures that will ensure lasting peace in the region.

How was the situation in Kandhamal when you visited?

The situation is very bad. I started at Phulbani and visited nearby places like Raikia and Udayagiri. I visited camps where a large number of people have been living ever since violence broke out.

They said there is no way they can return to their villages. There is this threat that you can't return if you don't convert to Hinduism. One lady even showed me a letter personally addressed to her with her name on it. It said if she wanted to return to her village she had to reconvert to Hinduism. And that if she doesn't she will lose her property too.

While there is this threat, the violence also continues unabated. Only yesterday, we got reports that two more churches and a lot many houses were burnt down in Kandhamal district.

How many people have been displaced?

The number of the people in the camps keeps varying. It would be safe to estimate that about 15-16,000 people are in these camps at any given time.

The situation is better in the towns. People get the ration and supplies from the camps and get back to set up their homes again. But in the rural areas, the people are very reluctant to go back. There are still people who have taken shelter in the forests. So as long as the government doesn't act and ensure that the elements who are perpetrating the violence are dealt with strongly, these people will not be able to get back.

Who all did you meet in the government? What did they say?

I met with all the top government people including the chief minister. He said Orissa is a secular state and that the government is trying to do everything possible to ensure that the situation returns to normal.

I told them that the problem has not subsided and it has been going on for too long and they should quickly take strong action against those who are causing trouble.

What immediate measures did you recommend to the government?

The first need is to stop all the rumour-mongering. The government should ensure that none of the victims who are living in the camps are forced to reconvert under duress. If they want to reconvert willingly, there isn't any problem. But the State must ensure that they are not forced.

I also recommend that the government strictly apply the freedom of religious practice against those who are forcing people to reconvert. Unless those people are stopped and action taken against them, the situation will not become normal.

How would you compare the situation with how it was in the aftermath of the previous incident in December?

I visited the place in April, some time after the violence has stopped and the situation had returned to normal. Everything was peaceful then and the process of building houses for those who had lost their property had started. This time it is far worse. The problem still exists.

And this is a systemic problem that exists. I had made a detailed report last time.

When you say systemic, what is it?

Well, the most obvious problem is the murder of the swamiji. We are told that a large number of people barged into his ashram and killed him. Now this should have been foreseen. When a religious leader of his eminence is shot down, there will be repercussions. If the state had been alert, this could have been avoided.

Last year too, an attack on the swamiji sparked the violence�

Last year's violence started with a number of things. There is the issue of reservation policy where Dalit Christians do not get reservation. Upwardly mobile Christians who opened a shop and put up an arch in a public place and was traditionally used by Hindus also had a part.

But the point, is there is more than one cause. Not only a question of religious tolerance it is also a question of people fighting for economic space and a question of reservation.

After your last visit, what were the key recommendations that the commission made?

First was that there was a strong need for confidence building measures. I visited a place called Bamunigaon in the most remote region. I found that there was a Christian sahi (a settlement) and a Hindu sahi. Despite my persuasion, the Christians didn't come when I visited the Hindu sahi and vice versa. These places were a mere 25 to 30 metres apart. There was a divide even though they belong to the same homogeneous people who have been together for centuries. There was an artificial divide.

Two, economic betterment of the region as a whole. In the same Bamunigaon, there were two Christian sahis next to each other and one was attacked and the other was not. Hindu sahis were also attacked. I went to the ones that were attacked and saw that those were into business and upwardly mobile. So, we have to find out ways in which there is economic prosperity and everyone benefits from it.

The third recommendation was that the places of worship should be reconstructed. The government said it is not policy to spend government money on constructing religious places. I would agree with this argument, but when there is a Hindu-Muslim problem for instance, temples are rarely destroyed and mosques are very rarely desecrated. Someone might throw a cow or a pig's head into the places. But when you remove it, the places of worship still stand.

And four, it is important to have a minorities commission. It will act as a sounding board, where the minorities are able to sound off and the government will have a place from which it can listen to their grievances.

How many of your recommendations has the government implemented?

Not much. That is the problem. When there is peace if we do not do these things, then it is difficult to tackle periods of strife like the one we are seeing now. It is like the ant and the cricket story. What you do in periods of calm will help you handle such situations or even prevent them.

You spoke about reservations and the economic reasons. How much of an issue is the conversion issue, which some perceive as being forced?

It is difficult to answer that question. One thing is certain. The rights to preach practice and propagate should not be denied to anyone. So if people are motivated to change, there is nothing wrong.

But one who uses force is my enemy as much as anybody else's. There are adequate pieces of legislation where action can be taken. If there is any is any allegation I think we should take action.

Do you see the condition of minorities deteriorating across the country?

I can't answer that question in general terms. There are areas where things have taken place and areas where things are normal.

Like for instance, Ahmedabad [Images] and Hyderabad are two different cities these days...

I didn't see it in Hyderabad. I certainly take the point that there has been a divide in recent years. There has been a wedge driven in certain cases and that is terrible.

Are we seeing the minorities resorting to violence to safeguard their interests? Do we have a militant Christian fringe in Orissa for instance?

I am not aware of militant fringes. In certain villages there have been Christian youth who had taken to arms. I think this is an exception rather than a rule.

If we have this system in which we have an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will only have blind people unable to eat.

But to answer your question, I don't have any evidence of that now. I don't think Christian groups are coming together and encouraging people to take to arms.

Have the Maoists hijacked the agenda and made hay in places like Kandhamal in Orissa?

Of course! That is the thing that is more worrying. When there is a conflict of this nature and the State does not come forward, this is what happens. Any form of extremism breeds in places where the State has ceded its place. So, here when religious differences have been allowed to fester, that is an ideal situation for extremists to step in.

Finally, about providing ST status Dalits from Muslim and Christian communities, has the commission made any recommendations?

It has been a longstanding demand of the commission that Dalits of all religions should get the benefit from affirmative action. Right now, it is only Dalits from Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religions who get it. Muslim and Christian Dalits are neglected. Our theory is that affirmative action cannot be denied on the basis of religion, because changing religion does not alleviate all the problems of a Dalit.

In the name of God

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VIJAY SIMHA examines the consequences of lessons taught by men of religion, among the desperately poor in Orissa

Marooned The faithful ponder the future over the ruins of a church PHOTOS: SHAILENDRA PANDEY

WHEN THEY came for Narmada Digal, she wasn’t there. She had fled, five children and mother-inlaw in tow, to the safety of the jungles a kilometre away. So, they set about what she left behind. A framed picture of Jesus, a Bible in Oriya, utensils in the kitchen, some clothes, and linen. By the time Narmada tiptoed back, her home was gone. What was left was still hot from the ashes, and smoking. The neighbours came to commiserate. Narmada took a good look, stood erect, and pulled her sari over her head. She began to pray.

“Lord, forgive us our sins. Jesus, you are the only one. Save us from our misfortune. Free us, Lord.” The words are tumbling out. Narmada’s children have joined her. She is weeping as she pleads for deliverance. So is everybody else. It’s a simple bond that no human wrath can sever, a woman and her God. “I will die. But I won’t stop being a Christian,” Narmada says.

This is in the heart of Kandhamal, a district at the geographical centre of Orissa, ravaged by probably the worst fighting in India between Hindus and Christians. Kandhamal is young, constituted as recently as 1994. It has 2,515 villages spread over 7,649 sq km. The terrain is inaccessible, full of hills and narrow lanes crisscrossing the villages. There isn’t a single industrial unit here. There are no railway lines, and so no trains come here. Buses are rare. It’s so far behind that even the official website of Kandhamal says, “Overall, the district is ranked as a backward district in the state of Orissa .”

In this doleful land live close to eight lakh people. In terms of castes and tribes, the Kandha tribe constitute more than half the population of Kandhmal. The Panos, who are the dalits, form the next big chunk. The Kandha tribe is almost fully under the control of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an 83-year-old socio-political organisation, which is the fountainhead of many Hindu outfits in India. The Panos are where the Christian community gets its numbers.

In terms of population, nearly a quarter of Kandhamal are Christians, the rest almost wholly Hindus. The percentage of Christians in Kandhamal — 25 percent — is astonishingly high compared to the 2.44 percent for the whole of Orissa. In percentage terms, Orissa has the third-largest concentration of Hindus in India (nearly 95 percent in the 2001 Census). Muslims are barely two percent.

The rise in the number of Christians in Kandhamal is offering radical Hindu outfits like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) the perfect alibi to launch an aggressive anti- Christian movement. The movement has two aims: to reconvert Christians to Hinduism, and to stop the alleged slaughter of cows.

An 81-year-old RSS activist, Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati, was heading the VHP movement in Kandhamal. He operated largely from two ashrams 150 km from each other. He was a member of the VHP’s Kendriya Margadarshak Mandal, a powerful decisionmaking panel. On August 23, Saraswati was gunned down in one of the ashrams at night while celebrating Janmashtami. It was the tenth attempt at killing Saraswati, a figure disliked by the Christians, but revered by a band of fanatic Hindu male followers in his ashram.

The Freedom Of Peace Three villages in Kandhamal are brave enough to stay calm SUDDENLY, THERE is a church intact in Kandhamal. In three villages, Dolukamba, Sugudabadi, and Bradabadi, Hindus and Christians are not fighting. Together, 1,100 people live in these villages. They attend each other’s funerals and celebrate festivals. “It’s a tradition we have been passed down from our forefathers,” says Amit Mallick, a Christian who is a part-time teacher. With Mallick are Pramod Mahapatra and Surya Mahapatra, both Hindus, and Samarendra Nayak, a Christian student looking for work. Behind them is Kanta Behera, 81 years old and still fit. In clear English, Behera says, “Hindus and Christians are equal. I hope they keep it this way.” They are preparing for the festival season beginning with Ganesh Chathurthi on September 3. “It won’t be the same fun as in the past. But, we will celebrate as always,” says Surya Mahapatra. But, the peace from these three villages hasn’t travelled far. In hamlets barely a kilometre from Sugudabadi, the Christians are leaving their homes for the relief camps. Mallick and his friends have laid boulders across the roads to keep the aggressors away. Tonight they’re safe. Tomorrow is another story.

Few know who killed Saraswati. But, there are some theories. The Orissa Government says the Maoists (who are trying to build a base in Kandhamal) killed him. The government claim is based on two statements purportedly released by the CPI (Maoist), taking responsibility for the murder. The second statement said: “We have decided to punish anti-people, fanatical leaders like Saraswati because of endless persecution of religious minorities in the country. There will be more such punishments if violence is continued against religious minorities in the country.” It is too pat for the Orissa Government. And, if true, the statements would mean that the Maoists have entered the religious conflicts of India.

A second theory is coming from the VHP. After Saraswati’s murder, VHP International President Ashok Singhal issued a statement saying, “Once again the cruel face of the Christian missionaries has been exposed. Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati was working for 45 years among the tribals by building hospitals, schools and hostels. He was neither a capitalist nor an anti-social. Because of his work, the tribals were awakened to our culture and religion, which was an obstacle only for the Christian missionaries.”

Christian bodies, on the other hand, have a third view. They say they have nothing to do with Saraswati’s murder and have sought an inquiry by the Central Government. The National Secretary of Public Affairs of the All India Christian Council, Dr Sam Paul, said, “The Christian community in India abhors violence, condemns all acts of terrorism, and opposes groups of people taking the law into their own hands. We have had major differences with Mr Saraswati, the deceased VHP leader. It was the hate campaigns of the Sangh Parivar [the RSS is often referred to in this fashion], which led to untold misery for Christians — including the unprecedented violence last Christmas in Orissa. But, we wish peace to everyone and urge everyone to follow the rule of law.”

Whatever the truth, the murder inflamed passions. Even those who do not support the RSS were disturbed by media reports that 30 people in masks and hoods had come to kill Saraswati, and that they hacked at his legs after shooting him. When the Orissa Government allowed Saraswati’s funeral procession to pass across 150km in Kandhamal, reason went out.

By August 25, hordes of Hindu militants were attacking Christian homes and places of worship in Kandhamal. The attacks were mainly at night. On September 1, the Orissa Government told the story in figures: 16 persons killed, 35 injured, 185 arrested; 558 houses and 17 places of worship burnt; 12,539 fed in 10 relief camps; 12 companies of paramilitary forces, 24 platoons of the Orissa State Armed Police, two sections of the Armed Police Reserve Force, and two teams of the Special Operation Group deployed.

The human story is worse. VHP International General Secretary Praveen Togadia, who trained to be an oncologist but who likes nothing better than to drive non-Hindus out of India, reached Kandhamal for Saraswati’s last rites (he was buried in a sitting position — the padmasana — in his Chakapada ashram, where he ran a school and hostel for boys). Togadia said a Christian sect had killed Saraswati. It was enough to trigger murderous assaults on Christians in Kandhamal and elsewhere in Orissa. Hundreds of Christian homes were set ablaze, a few pastors were slain, and warnings were issued asking them to return home as Hindus, or never.

IN SOME cases, the terror works. In the jungles off Sankarakhol village, one of the first targeted by the militant Hindus, a group of RSS whole-timers are reconverting 18 Christians to Hinduism. It’s a daytime ceremony. The RSS Mandal Mukhiya (head of the Mandal unit) Sudhir Pradhan, a slim bearded man, is in charge. There are 30 Hindus to make sure that the 18 Christians don’t change their mind.

Each of the Christians has brought a Bible, in Oriya, along. They have also brought a coconut each, and some incense sticks, red thread to tie around the wrist, and vermillion for their foreheads. The Christians first burn their Bibles in a small bonfire. They sit in a circle. In the middle are the coconuts, each one signifying a Christian, and the other paraphernalia. The God of the Hills is appeased first in a prayer.

Ashes to ashes This woman’s son is still hiding in the jungles

Then, a Christian rises. He has a coconut in his hand. “I swear that I have become a Hindu today. After today, if I ever become a Christian again, may my dynasty perish,” he says. He breaks the coconut on a stone. The other Christians follow, each one making the same promise. Some murmur, some are loud. A Hindu priest begins to apply vermillion on the foreheads of the Christians-turned-Hindus. One of them protests, but it is too late. There’s a red streak on his forehead as well.

Sudhir Pradhan then takes over. Eyes closed, spine firm, and voice ominous. There is a deep and rhythmic chanting of Om followed by the Gayatri Mantra, a sacred chant of the Hindus. The slogans follow: “Bharat mata ki jai.” “Ganga mata ki jai.” “Gau mata ki jai.” “Sri Ramjanambhoomi ki jai.” They pause for a few moments and the Christians-becoming-Hindus kneel, placing their foreheads on the ground. There’s a final “Jai Shri Ram.” The first stage of reconversion from Christianity to Hinduism is over. The motivation for these Christians to reconvert is life. They want to live in Kandhamal, keep their houses and, maybe, get some regular work.

Months afterward, these Christian-turned- Hindus will be asked to attend a yagya — a Hindu ritual of sacrifice that involves the worship of deities, unity and charity. In the yagya, they will wear saffron clothes and a sacred thread, and get their heads shaved. They will offer a few goats and some rice as fee. They will be given Gau Mutra (cow urine) and Tulsi water to drink. They will take Hindu vows. Then, they will share the mutton and rice (cooked from their offerings) in a small feast. This completes their reconversion. From then on, they will have a Tulsi plant in their homes, have pictures of Hindu gods on their walls, and celebrate Hindu festivals. They will pray only to Hindu gods.

Pradhan is happy. He’s done his job for the day. He explains the difference between a Hindu and a Christian. “They (Christians) eat cows. We (Hindus) worship cows.” Therefore, “people who eat cows should be given the same treatment that they give the cows.” Pradhan says Togadia has laid down the policy. “He has already announced that there is no place for Christians. If Christians don’t become Hindus, they have to go. We don’t care where they go. They must leave Orissa,” he says.

BUTWHAT’S the point in killing and driving a people out, merely to nudge the percentage of Hindus from near 95 percent to 100 percent? Dr Krishan Kumar, the young District Magistrate of Kandhamal, thinks it’s actually about jobs, land, and only then religion. Kumar has studied medicine (hence the Dr prefix), and was given overnight charge of Kandhamal when the Hindu militants began attacking the Christians.

Kumar works out of a suite in the Circuit House at Phulbani, the district headquarters of Kandhamal. He has gone two days without sleep during the crisis. After Saraswati’s murder, he was told of the killing of a pastor in Raikia, an area in Kandhamal where the Christians outnumber the Hindus. He drove with a full company of the Rapid Action Force and a contingent of the Orissa State Disaster Management Agency. “It took me 11 hours for a journey that normally takes two hours. There were so many trees cut and laid across the road,” Kumar says.

He explains why he thinks jobs are the first cause of war in Kandhamal. He says his administration has 1,000 cases of fake caste certificates to investigate. Apparently, many non-tribals, which in Kandhamal usually mean the dalits, have submitted fake certificates showing them as members of the Kandha tribe.

The certificates enable government employment in the reserved quota. This is possible because the law enables job reservation for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) even though they have converted to Christianity, while the Scheduled Castes (SC) are deprived of this quota if they convert to Christianity or another religion. This is a principal reason why the Dalit Christians are seeking reservations as well.

Government jobs are precious in Kandhamal, since there are barely any private outlets offering employment. So, the STs seethe with resentment against the SCs over jobs. Often, they fight. Since the STs are Hindus and the SCs form the bulk of the Christians, the battles can easily take a religious turn.

Then, there is land. “The tribals have been around forever. They are the original dwellers here. They never had to prove that they owned the land. I mean, why should they? In the early 1900s, the tribal land opened up. Pattas, a certificate indicating ownership of land, began to be given out. The tribes have a complex social structure. Within themselves, they had given land to neighbours for various reasons. When they had to prove ownership of land, they couldn’t. Others came in and the tribals couldn’t integrate with the market economy,” says Kumar. Loss of land could, therefore, be a cause for the fighting between the STs, who are Hindus, and the SCs, who are Christian.

Reconversion The first act when Christians reconvert to Hinduism is to set fire to the Bibles and put an end to old beliefs. This is the scene in the clearing of a jungle in Kandhamal

Vermillion Red is a favoured colour and the RSS makes a ceremony of applying the tika on a convert’s forehead

The vows A convertee swears that his dynasty will perish if he becomes a Christian again

A new dimension emerged in November 2007 when the Orissa Government said both the dalits and the tribals were part of one family, the Kui Samaj. Kui is the dialect spoken in Kandhamal, and the government intended to bring the dalits and the tribals on a common platform using language as glue. More importantly, it intended to give dalits job reservation and other social advantages that the tribes were given, even if they had converted to Christianity. The tribals objected strongly.

Into this mix enters religion. “Nobody fights over spirituality,” says Kumar. The war is over theology and the power that comes with organised religion. Kandhamal area has a history of 300 years of missionary work. Among the first Christians to work here were Catholics and Lutherans from Madhya Pradesh. These foreign missionaries set up schools and provided medical facilities. In those days, malaria was a major killer. The missionaries would go house to house, and help people recover from malaria and other diseases.

The core appeal of the Christian missionary is this: he helps the locals in distress when the authorities or the RSS are not around. Thus, the motivation for a Hindu to take to Christianity in the past may have been a better life. The Church provided access to better education and improved health. Some of the earliest recoveries from malaria may have helped create the myth of faith healing as well. The concept of miracle cures is a powerful attraction, and many Hindus who convert to Christianity in Kandhamal say they do so because a member of the family was healed when they began to pray to Jesus.

Money and work may be possible motivation as well. Narmada Digal, the woman who stood her ground in her razed home, is convinced. Narmada became a Christian in 1998, when her daughter Subhadra was healed. “She had a peculiar fever, which didn’t go even though I prayed to the Hindu gods. One day my husband told me about a pastor who said we should pray to Jesus. I did, and my daughter was cured. Why should I not be a Christian?” she asks.

Narmada’s husband Goverdhan Digal, who carried the pastor’s message, was employed with the local post office. He often had to take his daughter Subhadra for medical check-ups. One day, Goverdhan’s boss told him he had taken enough days off and had to report for work. Goverdhan had to take his daughter for another check-up. He told his boss that he would be by his daughter’s side. He lost his job. His travails soon reached the pastor’s ears. Damodar, the pastor, talked to Goverdhan about Jesus, the Bible and Christianity.

Goverdhan and his family converted to Christianity. They were given a Bible, and told that Jesus is the only God who gave his life for others. After six months, they were baptised. Narmada says Goverdhan was paid Rs 800 the first month, and Rs 2,000 for six months afterward. Stories like those of Goverdhan and Narmada have helped the Church to spread.

Today, there are around 1,500 churches and congregations in the 2,515 villages of Kandhamal. Between 500 and 750 churches are solid structures, made of marble, wood, cement and even glass. There are close to two lakh Christians in Kandhamal, a quarter of the population. The Catholic Church has a big presence. And among the Protestants, the most active denominations are the Baptists, the Pentecostals, the Church of North India, and the Church of South India.

TO A man like Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati, the rise of the Church would’ve been an insult. To his followers, Saraswati was the incarnation of Parashurama, the first warrior saint in Hindu mythology. Legend has it that Parashurama had killed the Haihaya-Kshatriyas, enemies of the Brahmins, on earth 21 times for their arrogance. Saraswati saw himself as the saint who would vanquish the Christians. Saraswati was a member of what are now called the Most Backward Castes. He was a government employee and quit his job in unpleasant circumstances. Apparently, there were some “irregularities” though the nature of the irregularity is not known precisely. There isn’t much on what he did afterward, except for unconfirmed reports of a police case for murder and criminal conspiracy.

Sometime in the 1960s, the RSS leadership summoned Saraswati. The RSS had begun to implement its plan of working in the most backward areas of India, unlike the Marxists who had begun to work in the industrial townships. The then RSS Orissa head Bhupendra Kumar Basu chose Kandhamal for Saraswati.

From all accounts, Saraswati was a driven man. He pursued his Christian foes with all his energy. By 1969, he had begun his ashram in Chakapada, where he is now buried. The ashram has between 300 and 400 students. All of them are Hindus and trained to be fulltime RSS activists. Saraswati also enlisted volunteers for the renovation of several small and dilapidated temples. And, to thwart the Christians, he worked on the lifestyle of the tribals.

He began to hold satsangs, an assembly of people with the guru who listen to and talk about issues and the truth. Saraswati began to talk of the alcoholic ways of the tribals and started a campaign against beef. His followers say he helped restore healthy lifestyles among the tribals. Coincidentally, the Christians were doing exactly that among their followers.

By 1988, Saraswati opened another ashram, for girls, at Jalesapata (where he would be killed), 150 km from his first ashram. This became controversial and questions were asked of the ethics of a man teaching young women in a residential school. By then, Saraswati had simplified his work into reconverting tribals who became Christians, and protecting cows.

In December 2007, major clashes erupted between Hindus and the Christians when Saraswati ordered his followers to demolish an arch that the Christians had erected on government land in front of a church. The Christians said it was for Christmas and they would take the arch down in a day or two. Saraswati didn’t wait. After his men pulled the arch down, Saraswati drove down to see it. He passed by a village where the Christians outnumbered the Hindus.

Some Christians in the village stopped Saraswati’s car and pulled him out. Stones were also pelted at him. One of Saraswati’s assistants called friends in the VHP and told them “Babaji ko maar diya (they’ve got Babaji)”. Saraswati’s men set upon the Christians on a scale similar to that of the current attacks.

AFTER THE December riots, Saraswati gave an interview, probably his last, to the RSS publication Organiser. He said, “With their numbers increasing, Christians forcefully took away Hindu girls and forced the neo-converts to eat beef.” He said the Christians “threw the mortal remains of cows on temples”. Saraswati said that the Christian missionaries were “serving medicines claiming them to be the prasad of Jesus”. He said the “Church and Christians erect a small prayer house in the middle of a Hindu locality, close to a temple, and after a few years of missionary activity, transform the prayer house into a big church”.

Towards the end of the interview, Saraswati said foreign money was being pumped into churches in India to erect “insolent symbols of the church which offend the eye, the heart and the mind of Hindus”. He spoke of “towering Jesus Christ statues obstructing the skyline, towering steeples with a cross atop, which is visible from a long distance, new and big churches close to old and popular temples”. He called for a constitutional ban on conversion of Hindus to “Abrahamic faiths” and warned that “Christians in India must understand fast that they cannot be protected by the US State Department writing its annual vituperative anti- Hindu reports on religious freedom and human rights”. He added: “Christians can be protected only by the goodwill of the majority Hindus in whose midst they have to live.” These thoughts Saraswati drilled into the Kandha tribals.

The tribals of Orissa are a tough people. They gave Ashoka the Great the fight of his life. Ashoka invaded Kalinga in 261BC. There was no king to oppose him, but the tribals fought against him. Ashoka won the Kalinga War, but 110,000 people died in battle. Ashoka never fought again and took to Buddhism.

It is this lineage that Rupesh Kanhar, 19, comes from. Rupesh and his friends are part of an RSS war council meeting on August 28 in the jungles near Gopingiya village. He passed out of Saraswati’s ashram in Chakapada in 2006. He lives near the jungle and is a fierce member of the Kandha tribe. There are 15 people in the meeting including Rupesh’s friend Bhimraj. They are working out plans to attack Christians. The meeting concludes that they will not kill Christians, but scare them into leaving Kandhamal.

Rupesh recites the RSS prayer fluently. He hasn’t killed a Christian, but he has burned some houses down. In a few hours, Rupesh and his friends will prepare to attack. Some of them would have downed plenty of liquor by then. The group will assemble at 9 pm, about 200 of them. They will have axes, swords and machetes, and torches. They will tie red threads around their wrists, so tight in some cases that they leave red marks on the skin, and they will anoint each other’s foreheads with vermillion. They have colour codes for the headbands. If it’s an ST versus SC battle, the headband will be red. Tonight, it’s a Hindu versus Christian fight, so it will be a saffron headband.

Rupesh and his group will march until past midnight, scaring Christians and sending them rushing into the jungles at night. It’s a daily routine in Kandhamal, the Hindu militants shouting slogans and conducting torchlight marches. A conch is blown. It’s the signal to attack. The slogans come rushing: “Vande Mataram”, “Jai Shri Ram”, “Om, Shanti Om”, “Hindu Rakhiya, Momo Dikhya (Save Hindus, Save our Culture)”. When 200 people say them, even the deaf can hear.

Displaced Christians line up in a relief camp to register themselves

Helping hand Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik consoles a victim

BUT INTROSPECTION respects no ideology. Even the best efforts of the RSS and the VHP can’t stop a change of heart. Vijay Pradhan, 35, is hiding in Raikia. For eight years, Vijay Pradhan says, he was an active RSS worker. He worked with Saraswati and conducted several reconversions. He also trained many RSS workers in the art of reconverting Christians to Hinduism. “I taught people what I was taught. That I must serve the country by fighting the Muslim and Christian religions, which are foreign to us. Our culture had to be saved. Then, one day a young pastor told me about Jesus. I was surprised at his courage in accosting me, but I was curious. This man told me that I could have eternal life with Jesus,” says Pradhan.

The one-time RSS worker says he was confused after this encounter. “I began searching for Jesus because I was intrigued by what I was told about him. On January 26, 1994, I challenged the creator. I asked why there are so many religions if there is one creator. I said whoever you are, I need to know you by name. I threatened that I would turn atheist if the Creator didn’t show himself. I couldn’t sleep at night. At 4.30 am, as I was getting ready for yoga, I saw a human-like figure. There was plenty of light. A voice said, ‘I am the one you are looking for,’” says Pradhan.

He says his thought process changed after this. He began spreading the gospel and going to church. “The RSS workers came to me and asked me why I had converted. They asked me how much money I was given. I used to ask people the same things. But I wasn’t paid. The RSS searched for me. I had to hide in the jungles. As long as there is trouble, I will hide,” he says.

Pradhan says only those who are called by Jesus are the true converts. “Only the attraction of God can make them that. Hindus become Christians, they are never made into Christians. The reconversions by the VHP and the RSS are false. They are conducting a political war in the name of God.”

The state is, of course, missing in all this. The law in Orissa states that religious conversions are allowed. However, people must seek the permission of the District Magistrate. The District Magistrate will enquire into it. If he is convinced that there is no bribe or threat involved, he permits the conversion. Officially, there are only two conversions shown in Kandhamal since 1961.

The retreat of the state is an accepted part of life in Kandhamal. People can tell you who the RSS pramukh is, or who the area pastor is. But they wouldn’t know the names of the Sarpanch, or the police head. Soon, they may not need the state. On the night of September 1, there were two meetings in the Raikia relief camp. The Inspector General of Police chaired a peace meeting with 21 officials and several Christian seniors. Then, a group of young Christian men met separately. They declared pride in two villages of Raikia: Gundhani and Gamandi. Christians mainly populate these villages. Yet, they have been untouched so far. Apparently, because the Christians there have put together a few home-made bombs and repulsed at least one attack by Hindu militants.

The young men said these villages were the pride of Christians and that they had shown the way. They said they needed to arm themselves so that they could fight the Hindu militants. Some pastors objected. They said Christianity doesn’t teach violence. They are not sure if they were heard. •