BJP & police don’t buy Maoist angle

Rajaram Satapathy TNN
Bhubaneswar: Five days after the gruesome murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates, police are still clueless about the killers. The state government still maintains that Saturday’s attack on Jalespeta Ashram in Kandhmal district was the handiwork of Maoists, but BJP — the ruling coalition partner — refuses to buy its own government’s version. Neither do the police. BJP and other saffron organizations have thrown the blame on “Christian militants” who, according to them, were intolerant to the Swamiji’s “relentless battle against conversion and his years of effort to educate poor tribals”. DIG R P Koche, who has been put in charge of Kandhamal district after the district SP’s suspension in the wake of the killing, said some people have been detained for the incident, but that the “arrest process is yet to begin”. He re-fused to say how many suspects have been detained so far. Sources say even the police are baffled over the manner in which the attack was made on the Swamiji and the weapons used. The postmortem report says the Swamiji was riddled with bullets from AK-47 assault rifles and 9 mm pistols. “The attack group had more than 40 people, all young. They had about four AK-47s, and some carried countrymade guns,” said a senior officer. “It was not a spurof-the-moment hit. They came fully prepared.” The government seized on the AK-47 bullets to point a finger at Maoists. Besides, Kandhamal has been emerging as another hotbed of the Naxalites, who are using the dense forests and hilly, uninviting terrain to hold training camps and recruit locals. Even in the Nayagarh attack in February, in which truckloads of arms from police were looted and 15 people were murdered, the Maoists had used Kandhamal as their base before launching the offensive, sources say. But the police brass is not willing to believe the government’s theory on the Maoist angle. “Any killing by Maoists is decided by its 39-member central committee and they normally issue statements, taking the high moral ground. In case of Swamiji, the Maoists have so far not owned responsibility. More so, Laxmanananda Saraswati was not a class enemy for them — a terminology they often use against oppressors and exploiters. The Swamiji spent his entire life fighting against conversion,” a senior officer said. He said Maoists normally do not antagonize local people and couldn’t be so naive as to kill the propoor Swamiji. “We believe some of their newly recruited people may have done the killing,” he added. (TNN)

Kandhmal a tinderbox

Sandeep Mishra TNN
Bhubaneswar: Caught in the vortex of conversion and reconversion, Kandhmal’s agony is manifold. Like most other tribal-dominated districts, this southern Orissa district, too, grapples with poverty, deprivation, illiteracy and malnutrition. But what is most disturbing is the increasing ethnic and communal schism that has turned it into a tinderbox. Political one-upmanship and entry of Maoists have only made matters worse. Simmering since long, Kandhmal experiencing communal conflagrations — like in the present instance or last December — isn’t surprising at all. In fact, communal violence was waiting to happen. And at the genesis of this lies the divide between the tribal Kandhs and Panas (an SC community). What was more a competition for economic resources between the two communities over a century ago, has with time assumed religious dimensions due to Christian missionaries and Sangh Parivar outfits. Over the years, a many Panas have embraced Christianity, while a significant mass of Kandhs entered the Hindu fold. And taking advantage of the religious polarization, missionaries and the Sangh Parivar have in the last few decades been playing the politics of proselytisation. While Kandhmal (formerly Phulbani district) has been split along ethnic lines for decades, the problem took a turn for the worse in the early 1990s. “The ST central list was amended with enlistment of three more groups: Kui, Kuvi, Kuee. A lot of Panas also speak Kui language and they, too, started demanding ST status. This was a calculated demand as ST status would entail government benefits even for those Panas who had embraced Christianity,” a researcher says. Expectedly, this wasn’t acceptable to the Kandhs, who feared the Panas would corner the benefits. Matters turned ugly when delimitation of constituencies changed Kandhmal Lok Sabha seat’s reserved status from SC to ST, and the Panas resumed their demand for tribal tag. “An aggressive drive for illegal conversion by Christian missionaries is the root cause of the tension in Kandhmal,” said VHP state general secretary G P Rath. The president of All India Christian Council (Orissa chapter), P R Paricha, says: “The Sangh Parivar is making baseless allegations. Preaching is done in tune with the Constitution. Nobody can deny that the missionary has done a lot of good in Kandhmal.” ‘Call out army’ Mumbai: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the archbishop of Mumbai, has appealed to the Centre to deploy the army in the jungles of Orissa, where hundreds of Christians have taken refuge after being allegedly terrorised by activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. “It is a shocking and shameful situation,” the cardinal told TOI on Wednesday. “The state government and the police have failed to build confidence among the minorities.” TNN

Blind faith? Fragile peace blown to bits in Orissa

CNN-IBN
Religion has split Orissa and the divide is murderous. Several people have been killed in communal clashes in Kandhamal district after the murder of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader on Saturday.
The VHP called for a statewide shutdown in the state on Monday during which churches, prayer houses and vehicles were attacked in many places.
The communal tension began after Swami Laxmananand Saraswati, a member of VHP’s central advisory committee, and four others were murdered by suspected Naxals in Kandhamal district.
Police and paramilitary forces are on guard in towns of Kandhamal district. Section 144, which prohibits the assembly of four or more people, has been clamped across Kandhamal.
Saraswati was leading a campaign against cow slaughter and religious conversion in the communally sensitive district. Rightwing Hindu groups allege that Christians killed Saraswati because he opposed conversion. Christian organisations reject such allegations.
In one of the worst attacks, a Christian woman died and a priest was severely burnt when a mob set fire to an orphanage run by Christian missionaries in Bargarh district on Monday.
The incident again brought shame to the state. Nine years ago, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two young sons were burnt alive by a Hindu mob in Keonjhar district.
What has caused the communal divide in Orissa? Is religion to blame or politics? Are conversions pitting Hindus against Christians? CNN-IBN’s Sagarika Ghose asked this on Face The Nation.
The guests on the show were: RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav, Reverend Dr Richard Howell, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, and Professor Manoranjan Mohanty, of the Council for Social Development.
Madhav was infuriated at allegations that Hindu groups were targeting missionaries and Christians in Orissa. “The situation is quite different. Hindus are at the receiving end. A highly respected saint was killed. There is enough evidence to prove the complicity of Christian organisations in the murder,” he claimed.
Howell rejected the Madhav’s allegation and claimed conversion has become an excuse to attack Christians and malign them. “The VHP gets the maximum amount of money India than Christians. Christians have used money to serve and empower the poor and marginalized. Not a single case has been proved till date in the courts of forced conversion (by Christian groups),” he said.
The issue is not religion but poverty, said Professor Mohanty. “Kandhamal is one of the poorest regions in the country. Seventy per cent people here are below the poverty line; 51 per cent are tribals and 16 per cent are Dalits,” he said.
It is a situation of poverty and landlessness, both among Hindus and Christians. Orissa has become the experiment ground of globalisation, economic reforms, mega projects and Hindutva politics.”
Hindu groups are not to blame for the violence and the state is in turmoil because of Christian missionaries, alleged Madhav. “Every conversion in Orissa has to be registered with the local police or magistrate but no such thing happens. Where is the chance for Hindutva politics when missionaries are going about aggressively and alluring people,” he said.
The Sangh Parivar doesn’t hate conversions as much as it does Christians, alleged Howell. “An ideology of hatred has been propagated by some sections of the Sangh Parivar. They don’t hate Christian service; it is the very identity of being a Christian that is hated. There are just 2.4 per cent Christians in India and we too have contributed to the growth of the country.”
Christians are not hated, insisted Madhav. “Every religion is respected in this country but Christians criticise and attack Hindu religion. It this attitude of Christians which is leading to tension in this country,” he alleged.
The communal divide in Orissa’s tribal districts is the result of poverty and “competitive politics”, said Mohanty. “The shrinking rights of tribals over forests and land and the coming of mega projects is the economic issue there. They are all poor there and poverty is being diverted to communalism. It is competitive politics,” he said.
Madhav called such an analysis wrong. “There is a clear cut division between Hindus and Christians and it is because of their (missionaries) wrongdoing and Congress leaders. A holy person is killed and the very next day the Congress tables a no-confidence motion against the state government—what does it suggest? The Congress is a part of a larger political conspiracy,” he alleged.
Howell announced Christian institutions in the country would close on August 29 to protest against the attacks in Orissa. “I hope the civil society wakes up before it’s too late,” he said.
Madhav said Christian groups were free to shut their schools and institutions but they must also shut “proselytization” activity.
“Do not make this a Christian versus Hindu issue. We must go into the sources of violence,” said Mohanty.
Check the video cli8ps here: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/72250/.html
Related links:
Patil tour of Kandhamal expected, district restive
Orissa’s Kandhamal district continues to be tense
Orissa clashes premeditated: Minority

Christians Condemn Violence, Killing of VHP Leader; Hope Peace will be Maintained in Orissa

Contact: Mr. Madhu Chandra, Regional Secretary, All India Christian Council (aicc), 98-681-84939, aiccdelhi@gmail.com

New Delhi, August 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- The All India Christian Council is deeply concerned at the attack on an ashram near Tumudibandh in Kandhamal District of Orissa last night in which the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates were killed.

This is the latest in a series of attacks over recent months by political extremists, often called Naxalites or Maoist guerillas, which have left dozens of policemen and others dead in several districts of Orissa.

Dr. Sam Paul, aicc National Secretary of Public Affairs, 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 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."

According to media reports, the attack killed four people in addition to Saraswati. The attack involved shooting and hand grenade explosions. Saraswati was reportedly warned by the Maoists a few days prior to the incident to leave the area. (See CNN-IBN, "Naxals attack ashram, kill 5 key VHP leaders in Orissa", Aug. 24, 2008,)

Dr. John Dayal, aicc Secretary General, said, "We are concerned at reports of communal violence in the last few hours against innocent Christians in nearby districts. We've heard that at least one prayer hall in Sudergarh was burnt, the van of some Catholic nuns was destroyed, and the sisters were injured. We urgently appeal to the Chief Minister, the Governor of Orissa, and the Minister of Home Affairs Mr. Shivraj Patil to take whatever steps are required to maintain peace and harmony in all areas of Orissa, to prevent further attacks on Christians, and to arrest those responsible for the deaths of Saraswati and his associates."

Dr. P.R. Parichha, aicc Orissa state president, said, "The situation in the district was slowly returning to normal. People were engaged in rebuilding houses and settling down after a horrifying experience over Christmas 2007. Now we are afraid that the death of Saraswati will further destabilise the situation in the communally-sensitive Kandhamal district. The aicc will continue to work for peace in Orissa, one of the most undeveloped states in the country."

The All India Christian Council, birthed in 1998, exists to protect and serve the Christian community, minorities, and the oppressed castes. The aicc is a coalition of thousands of Indian denominations, organizations, and lay leaders. (Earned media)