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By: John Malhotra
Saturday, 25 April 2009, 12:12 (IST)
The Orissa administration or the riot-affected victims need not worry for security till May 16, as the Election Commission has further extended the period of Central force deployment in Kandhamal district.Last week, the state government expressed apprehensions over the withdrawal of the CRPF forces with the end of polling. It had pleaded for an extension at least till the election results were announced."The Election Commission and the Union Home Ministry have agreed to retain 20 companies of Central force out of the total 39 companies deployed in Kandhamal till the end of the election process,” Home Secretary A P Padhi said.The Ministry of Home Affairs (NHA) and the Election Commission (EC) jointly took the decision.There are total 45 CRPF companies, of which 20 have been deployed in Kandhamal and the rest 25 scattered to other parts of the state. With the conclusion of elections, the Centre has called back the forces except those deployed in Kandhamal.The forces were very instrumental in maintaining peace and stability during the time of elections, last week. There were no reports of violence on riot-affected Christians in relief camps.The Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in fact appraised the Centre that although normalcy has returned in the state, there is dire need of forces at least till the 3,000 victims in relief camps returned to their villages.The forces were deployed in the state after the murder of Swami Laxmananada Saraswati and four of his disciples at Jalespeta ashram.
Maoist 'commander' arrested for Orissa VHP leader's murder
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Bhubaneswar (IANS): A Maoist was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly masterminding the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Laxmanananda Saraswati in Kandhamal district last year, police said. The murder led to widespread communal violence in the state.
Udaya alias P. Rama Rao, 'commander' of the Bansadhara division of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), was arrested with three of his associates from Gudari area of Rayagada district, some 400 km from here, District Superintendent of Police A.K. Singh told IANS.
"Udaya is one of the masterminds in the killing of Laxmanananda Saraswati in Kandhamal," Singh said.
"Udaya is third in command of the Maoist group operating in Orissa. He was involved in over 20 heinous crimes including murder, rioting, looting of government armouries," the official said.
Kandhamal, about 200 km from here, witnessed widespread communal violence after the murder of Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram at Jaleshpata Aug 23 last year.
Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs. At least 38 people - most of them Christians - were killed in the violence. Police had earlier arrested seven people for the killings.
Singh said that Udaya, 45, was also involved in the Maoist attack at Nayagarh town, some 85 km from Bhubaneswar, in February last year.
Over 500 rebels allegedly led by Udaya and other Maoist leaders simultaneously attacked several police stations, a police training centre and a police post and looted weapons from a government armoury. Over a dozen policemen were killed in the attack.
"We have also recovered several weapons from them which include a revolver and a pistol and live cartridges," the official said.
Bhubaneswar (IANS): A Maoist was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly masterminding the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Laxmanananda Saraswati in Kandhamal district last year, police said. The murder led to widespread communal violence in the state.
Udaya alias P. Rama Rao, 'commander' of the Bansadhara division of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), was arrested with three of his associates from Gudari area of Rayagada district, some 400 km from here, District Superintendent of Police A.K. Singh told IANS.
"Udaya is one of the masterminds in the killing of Laxmanananda Saraswati in Kandhamal," Singh said.
"Udaya is third in command of the Maoist group operating in Orissa. He was involved in over 20 heinous crimes including murder, rioting, looting of government armouries," the official said.
Kandhamal, about 200 km from here, witnessed widespread communal violence after the murder of Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram at Jaleshpata Aug 23 last year.
Thousands of people were forced to flee their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs. At least 38 people - most of them Christians - were killed in the violence. Police had earlier arrested seven people for the killings.
Singh said that Udaya, 45, was also involved in the Maoist attack at Nayagarh town, some 85 km from Bhubaneswar, in February last year.
Over 500 rebels allegedly led by Udaya and other Maoist leaders simultaneously attacked several police stations, a police training centre and a police post and looted weapons from a government armoury. Over a dozen policemen were killed in the attack.
"We have also recovered several weapons from them which include a revolver and a pistol and live cartridges," the official said.
Elections in Orissa rigged as extremists force Christians to vote for Hindu parties
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by Nirmala Carvalho
In Kandhamal villages BJP supporters kept an eye on polling stations, threatening Christian voters. Global Council of Indian Christians Chairman Sajan George says no violence took place but “these elections cannot be said to have been peaceful and calm.”
Bhubaneshwar (AsiaNews) – “Mark the lotus!” Christians in the village of Gujapanga, northern Kandhamal District, were repeatedly told on 16 April, first day of India’s election, or else. The lotus is the symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its supporters have kept villages in this Orissa district under a watchful eye in order to intimidate Dalits and Christians.
by Nirmala Carvalho
In Kandhamal villages BJP supporters kept an eye on polling stations, threatening Christian voters. Global Council of Indian Christians Chairman Sajan George says no violence took place but “these elections cannot be said to have been peaceful and calm.”
Bhubaneshwar (AsiaNews) – “Mark the lotus!” Christians in the village of Gujapanga, northern Kandhamal District, were repeatedly told on 16 April, first day of India’s election, or else. The lotus is the symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its supporters have kept villages in this Orissa district under a watchful eye in order to intimidate Dalits and Christians. Global Council of Indian Christians (GCII) Chairman Sajan George told AsiaNews that he received reports from villages like Gujapanga with similar stories of intimidation.
“Extremists standing outside polling stations told Christians to vote for the ‘lotus’ if they wanted to avoid threats to their life.” Although no incident was recorded, “these elections cannot be said to have been peaceful and calm.”
Fr Ajay Singh, who heads Jan Vikas, a social organisation in the diocese of Bubhaneswar, visited several polling stations to “see the situation in person.”
“I left Gajapati District early morning for Kandhamal. Along the road trees had been uprooted to block the road. No one was around. When I got the polling station in my village I found out that I was the first voter to show up. Two hours after it had opened no one had come to cast a ballot. Only later, when villagers heard that someone had actually gone to vote, did a few others come out to vote.”
In light of the tense situation Father Singh decided to travel around some villages in the district.
“In the villages of Kattingia and Lingagada, anyone who dared to vote got threats. In Nulungia where a tribal Christian was killed a few months ago, people told me that at least 40 Christians (who fled last year’s violence) did not vote for fear of being beaten,” the clergyman said.
Many displaced people dared not go back to their villages. “All you have to do is visit Phirigada, Gunjibadi, Badabanga, Dodingia, Raikola, Chanchedi. In the area near the market at G Udayagiri 43 families (who abandoned their homes) are living in pitiful conditions, but do not dare go home,” he added.
The same is true for thousands of displaced people who left for the States of Maharastra and Gujarat.
Another case the clergyman cites is that of Betticola, a village where Hindu extremists want to build a temple on the ruins of a church that was destroyed in last August’s pogrom.
“Not one of the 38 families from the village is living in its own home,” Father Singh said.
“Not one of the seven Christians who went to vote was allowed to cast a ballot because they did not have the right papers,” he said. “Their explanations were of no avail even when they told election officials that their identity papers and certificates were lost to fire during the violence.
There will be more blood
Josy Joseph
Sunday, April 19, 2009 3:03 IST
At Shanti Stupa, a 'peace pagoda'in the foothills of Dhauli, the sight that greets the small group of tourists today is quite different from what Emperor Ashoka saw after the Kalinga War of 272 BC. Daya isn't a river of blood, but a sparkling stream in the afternoon sun. And the death and gore of the Kalinga battle have receded far, far beyond the Dhauli Hills into ancient history, a forgotten fact that is now 2,281 years old. What is visible now all around, as a legacy of that monumental clash, are Ashoka's rock edicts, the pleas for compassion from a mighty emperor humbled by the horrors of his own triumph. Sadly, no such remorse is forthcoming from the 'victors' of the more recent bloodbaths in Orissa, or so it seems.
There are no regrets from the religious warriors who have successfully created a "Hindutva laboratory" a few hundred kilometers away, in the tribal district of Kandhamal.
No regrets from the aggressive evangelists who have converted hundreds of the poor to Christianity. And no remorse at all from the traders and other business interests from outside the district who have taken over most of the commerce in the area, and are actively funding the Hindutva campaign.
By craftily working on the old fault lines between the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs), by exploiting the fears and poverty of the people of Kandhamal, religious fanatics have created mayhem in what has traditionally been a peaceful land.
While the BJP's Lok Sabha candidate from Kandhamal, Ashok Sahu, takes pride in having created a Hindutva laboratory, evangelists are proudly reeling off numbers to show their achievement: from just six per cent of the district's total population in 1971, the number of Christians has grown to 18 per cent today. Sahu, incidentally, was arrested on April 14, for a hate speech, and sent to jail for two weeks after his bail petition was rejected.
Clash of fundamentalisms
On August 27, 2008, Nalin Naik's husband and two other men were returning home after the day's harvest of faith in Kandhamal. Armed with Bibles and belief, the three Pentecostal church members had gone visiting families, preaching the Lord's word, and 'enlightening' them about Christianity.
On their way back to the relief camp, where their families had already shifted following eruptions of violence in several villages, the Bible-wielding warriors of Christianity were waylaid by the trishul-wielding warriors of a Hindutva mob.
Two days later, word reached the camp about three burnt bodies atop a hill. Naik and some others from the camp, accompanied by security personnel, went up and identified the bodies. Naik recognised her husband from his half-burnt shoes and wrist watch.
Identifying the living -- Christians from Hindus, SCs from STs -- is more difficult here. It is possible only for those who have been next-door neighbours for years. And it was precisely such neighbours who led the mobs as they swept down on Christian families in their villages. At least 41 were killed in a few weeks' time and hundreds more were injured during the riots in Kandhamal last year.
Slaughter in the villages
Village after village of Kandhamal district has been 'cleaned' of Christians. If Christians want to return to their villages, they have to reconvert to Hindusim, and in many cases, pay a 'fine' of a few thousand rupees. "If we have to go back, we have to go back as Hindus. If we return as Christians, they will kill us," says Girija Digal, a resident of Gondogaon village.
When the attackers first came to Digal's village, Christians fled to the forest, and later made their way to the relief camp. Many of Digal's Christian neighbours have shifted out to cities or fled the state itself. Over 3,000 Christians are crowded into protected relief camps. Their numbers were as high as 25,000 at one point. Many of them have gone back home, voluntarily reconverting to Hinduism and buying peace with the Hindutva activists.
Some others, like Tileswar Digal, a retired Army soldier, have dared to go back and sleep in their burnt houses. "We are hearing that after the elections they will destroy whatever remains," says Tileswar. "Most of our livestock, household, and agricultural products have been stolen. We are trying to protect whatever is left."
As the Christians struggle for basic amenities in the relief camps, it isn't as if the 'Hindus' in the villages are leading apeaceful life. The 'liberated' Hindu villages are under heavy police protection and fear of the Naxals hangs heavy in the air. The saffron flags flutter over most houses, and a BJP wave in the elections seems a foregone conclusion.
In the town of Tikawali, the traders are overwhelmingly in favour of the BJP for the state assembly elections. The candidate, Manoj Pradhan, is a fanatical follower of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati of the VHP, whose murder last year triggered the anti-Christian riots. The murdered Swami had spearheaded an anti-conversion movement in the region. Pradhan was allegedly leading the rioters from the front, and is in jail now.
Ashram of the slain Swami
About four hours' drive from Tikawali is the ashram of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati. The two rooms and the bathroom still carry marks of the Naxal attack on August 23 last year, which killed five people, including the ageing Swami.
"Swamiji was clear that he would not allow Kandhamal to become a Christian district," says Neelambar Upadhyay, who has been deputed by the VHP's Cuttack office to look after the ashram. "The Christians arein league with the Naxals," he alleges. But the administration does not have any evidence of such a nexus.
However, for the local police personnel and many observers, one thing is becoming clear: the influence of the Naxals in the area is set to increase as they 'deliver' justice for the oppressed Christians. At several police and CRPF pickets, the personnel are clear who they must fear: the Naxals surprising them in the night.
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