Kandhamal victims demand postponement of polls

Kandhamal victims demand postponement of polls

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New Delhi (PTI): Victims of Kandhamal riots on Wednesday demanded postponing of the polls in the violence-hit area of Orissa, claiming that a large number of people were still living in the relief camps and would not be able to cast their votes.

A delegation of victims, which is in the national capital to meet the Election Commission members in this regard, said the commission should monitor the "hate speeches" being made by fundamentalists in the area.

"A large number of people are forced to live away from their homes as Hindu fundamentalists are threatening them. They are also making hate speeches against Christians to polarise the votes in the communally sensitive area," noted social activist Teesta Setalvad alleged.

They victims claimed that over 22,000 people, who have been displaced during the anti-Christian riots last year following the killing of Swami Laxmanand Sarswati, are still living in the relief camps and would not be able to cast their votes due to continued tense situation in the State.

The delegation also met National Human Rights Commission and UN Commissioner for Human Rights here and appraised them about the situation there.

Maoists, not Christians behind killing of RSS leaders: Orissa DGP

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Bhubaneswar, March 20: The Orissa police today rejected the Sangh Parivar claim that Christians were behind the killing of RSS activists in the state and urged for peace in the communally sensitive Kandhamal and elsewhere in Orissa.

"Police have got specific indication of Naxal involvement in the killing of Pravat Panigrahi who was gunned down yesterday in Kandhamal," DGP Manmohan Praharaj said.

Asking the Sangh Parivar not to target a particular community for the crime, Praharaj said, "A number of senior Maoist leaders had earlier claimed responsibility of killing VHP leader Laxamananda Saraswati."

Pointing out that Naxals were not necessarily Christians, he said, "Ashutosh, Adzad and Sabyascachi Panda, the Maoists arrested for Saraswati's killing, are not Christians. So, it is not justified to come to a conclusion that Christians killed Saraswati."

He said police were not aware that Pravat Panigrahi was facing a threat to life.

"I request the persons facing threat to life to contact the police. We will certainly provide security to them," Praharaj said, asking political leaders to inform police regarding their tour in Maoist-infested areas.

He said Orissa required at least 50 more companies of central force for deployment during elections.

BJP demands CBI inquiry

Condemning the Orissa government for failing to maintain law and order in the state, the BJP on Friday demanded a CBI inquiry into the killing of right-wing activist Prabhat Panigrahi.

"BJP condemns Orissa government for its total failure to maintain law and order and pleading helplessness in front of Maoists. BJP demands CBI inquiry into the killing of Prabhat Panigrahi," party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told reporter here.

Raising doubts on Panigrahi being killed by Naxalites, Javadekar said, "Even it is doubted whether the killers are Naxalite or Christians under the guise of Naxalites. Panigrahi was eliminated as he knew the conspiracy to kill Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati".

RSS leader Prabhat Panigrahi, who was arrested in connection with anti-Christian riots last year, was gunned down by suspected Maoists in Orissa's Kandhamal district on March 19.

The BJP pulled back its ministers and support to the state ministry after Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government snapped its 11-year old ties with the party after the seat-sharing talks between them failed.

Bureau Report

We're very happy over BJP-BJD split: Orissa Archbishop

We're very happy over BJP-BJD split: Orissa Archbishop
New Delhi (IANS): The church is happy to see Orissa's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) part ways with ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), top Christian leader Rafel Cheenath, said on Monday while hoping that secular parties would now govern the state.
"We are very happy over the termination of the alliance between the BJP and the BJD. Now all small secular parties have come together in the state. We hope the BJD government will continue after the trust vote (Wednesday) with the support of all small parties," Archbishop Cheenath, who is the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archbishop, told IANS by phone from the state capital.
Violence against Christians in Orissa by Hindu rightwing activists last year, particularly in Kandhamal district, is believed to be one of the reasons behind the collapse of the BJD-BJP alliance in the state.
"The Kandhamal incident may be one of the reasons for breaking the alliance," Archbishop Cheenath acknowledged.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat has said his party leaders met Orissa Chief Minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik following the attack on Christians by rightwing Hindu groups and told him that "it is untenable for him to continue with the BJP".
Kandhamal district in Orissa witnessed large-scale violence against Christians after the murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Aug 23 last year. At least 38 people were killed and thousands of Christians were driven out of their homes.
Archbishop Cheenath himself received death threats from alleged VHP activists that his life would be taken to avenge the killing of the Hindu seer.
He expressed hope that secular forces would come to power in the state after the general elections. Polls to the legislative assembly will be held in Orissa along with those for the Lok Sabha on April 16 and April 23.
Archbishop Cheenath said the situation was still not normal in the violence-hit Kandhamal district as the conspirators of the riots were still holding meetings at night. "And the police have not arrested the criminals who killed the innocent people," he said.
"Threat still prevails in the district. More than 4,000 people are still in the refugee camps. They are not able to go home. Only Christians who converted to Hinduism are allowed to stay in their homes," he said.
The archbishop also urged the government to distribute the compensation announced for the riot victims.

Over 3,000 still in Orissa camps

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Prafulla Das
Told by communal forces that they can return to their homes only as Hindus
People in six camps not willing to leave
Not forcing anyone to return: Collector
BHUBANESWAR: More than seven months after Orissa’s tribal-dominated Kandhamal district experienced widespread anti-Christian violence, 3,100 people belonging to the minority community are still living in relief camps being run by the administration.
About 25,000 people took shelter in 19 relief camps when communal violence was at its peak in the district in the aftermath of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four others on August 23 last.
The number of people living in the camps has decreased slowly but the 3,100 people in six camps are not willing to leave as they are being told by the communal forces that they can return to their homes only as Hindus.
The camps are at Raikia, Tikabali, K. Naugaon, Mandasar, Mandakia and Tiangia, according to Kandhamal District Collector Krishan Kumar. “We are not forcing anyone to return to their villages. People are returning to their homes following the process of peace building and reconciliation,” Mr. Kumar told The Hindu over phone on Saturday.
Apart from the State police, 19 companies of the Central Reserve Police Force are on duty to maintain law and order in the district.
The district administration has sought additional forces for the smooth conduct of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections to be held simultaneously next month.
“We are hopeful that the district will witness a free and fair poll,” Mr. Kumar said.
Meanwhile, an independent fact-finding team, comprising prominent social activists, has urged the State government to keep the relief camps open till normality was restored in the affected villages.
Observing that the victims should be able to return to their homes with dignity, peace and security, the former Special Rapporteur to the National Human Rights Commission and one of the members of the team, K.R. Venugopal, has written to the State government that “there can never be any dignity if people practising a particular religion – here Christianity – are told that they can return to their homes only as Hindus.”
“Such threats are unconstitutional and the State has a duty to intervene proactively to put a stop to that and guarantee peaceful residence to the citizens with a right to their religious conviction,” Mr. Venugopal said in a letter to G.V. Venugopala Sarma, Secretary in the State government’s Revenue and Disaster Management Department.