Kandhamal turns the corner

7th April 2011 Courtesy TOI.
The beleaguered Orissa district has battled and vanquished its demons. Most perpetrators of the 2008 ethic violence have been dealt with and there is now both communal harmony and economic prosperity. TOI looks at the extraordinary change of fortune in the land of the Kandhs


Kuntala Pradhan is thrilled. The poor tribal from Kandhamal district landed a job in Bangalore two months back and is using her newly-acquired tailoring skills at a leading garment company to earn about Rs 4, 000 a month. "I am very happy," says the girl from Tikabali, one of the worst-affected areas in the ethno-communal riots that swept across the southern Orissa district in the latter half of 2008. Kuntala is among the hundreds of youth from the troubled region to have benefited in the past year from government-sponsored skills development training.


"I feel good when I draw my salary at the end of every month," adds Amita Kanhar from K Nuagaon block. She now works in Tirupur, a textile hub in Tamil Nadu. Kuntala and Amita finally have a reason to smile. They, like countless others in Kandhamal, were mute witnesses to the unprecedented violence that left at least 38 dead and thousands homeless two-and-ahalf years ago. The mayhem, which followed the gunning down of Hindu seer Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others inside his ashram at Jalespeta on August 23, 2008, scarred Orissa to the extent that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh dubbed it a "national shame" before representatives of the European Union.

But people of Kandhamal need no longer hang their heads in shame. Things are finally looking up and the district is now on the verge of a turnaround it could never have dreamed of. And it's not just repair of the damaged socio-religious fabric that has caught people's attention. Developmental works are pouring in by the dozens;the same PM who had been embarrassed about the tragic turn of events in Kandhamal handed over on February 2 an award to the district for innovations under the UPA's flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for livelihood generation and promotion of communal harmony.

"It was nice that Kandhamal got some positive recognition after drawing flak from every quarter because of the riots," says district collector Krishan Kumar. "The single biggest challenge before us was to take action against those who perpetrated violence without making it look biased, " he notes.

The tribal Kandhs, constituting over half of Kandhamal's 6. 5 lakh population, and the Panas, a scheduled caste group, have a history of ethnic discord. Over the last few decades, a majority of Kandhs have come under the saffron fold, thanks to Laxmanananda's efforts, while Panas have embraced Christianity. This has compounded differences, making it an ethno-religious problem. Tribals have been accusing Panas of usurping their land, availing government benefits like jobs and doles by forging their caste identities and depriving them of economic and political empowerment. Panas deny the charges.

"We had to act against criminals, rehabilitate riot victims and address long-standing tribal issues. We did everything simultaneously," Kumar says. The district administration has earned accolades for implementing not just the "Work for Peace" initiative under MGNREGS, but also the Forest Rights Act with gusto. Under the Act, the claims of around 53, 000 tribal families have been settled with around 74, 000 acres given to them, making Kandhamal a leading district in according forest rights to people.

Happy sentiments are expressed by thousands across the region rated "most food insecure" in Orissa in a 2008 report. Because of the riots, Kandhamal could only spend Rs 23 crore creating 15. 97 lakh person days in 2008-09, but the following year it utilised Rs 64 crore creating 34. 37 lakh person days, recording a phenomenal 215 per cent jump in employment generation, officers said. Under the scheme, around 56 per cent of eligible families were covered, bettering the state's average of 25 per cent and national average of 23 per cent.

Another initiative which officers say made a difference was Antaranga, a programme celebrating diversity involving 7, 500 youths from every panchayat in the district. "This was essential as youth were at the forefront of the conflict, " says Kumar.

While the state government opened its purse and chief minister Naveen Patnaik announced a special development package for Kandhamal, the turning point, so to say, proved to be the smooth and peaceful conduct of assembly and parliamentary elections in April, 2009. "There were fears ... the general perception was that electioneering will fuel divisiveness and promote hate, " says an officer involved in the elections.

Having overcome the fear factor, people of Kandhamal started rebuilding their lives, returning to their homes after months in relief camps. Police registered 828 cases against around one lakh people for alleged involvement in riots. About 1, 000 were arrested.

To ensure speedy justice, two fast track courts were set up in April, 2009, and special police teams formed to investigate the cases. Within 30 months of the carnage, at least 279 people, including BJP MLA Manoj Pradhan, have been convicted in 58 cases, chargesheets filed in around 480 cases and over 160 cases disposed. "Show us one instance in India where riots cases have been disposed and justice delivered at a faster pace," says Kandhamal SP Praveen Kumar. Kandhamal, compared to the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi in 1984, Bhagalpur riots in 1989 and Gujarat riots in 2002, has done remarkably well in punishing culprits. In the Gujarat riots, the first conviction took place in 2009, while in the case of Bhagalpur the trial started 12 years after the violence; some cases are still pending.

Kandhamal is on the road to good health. Tensions have subsided and bitter enemies are trying to revive old bonds of friendship. But life possibly can never be all that easy in Kandhamal. Maoists have begun spreading base, especially in Daringbadi, Raikia and Kotagarh blocks, even blasting an ambulance last November, killing civilians and threatening to reignite passions. "Unless Maoists are tackled effectively, they might undo all our good work, " a senior officer says. But most feel that a district which has been there and done that can do it again.