SEPTEMBER 2012 UPDATE ON KANDHAMAL

At last, a token of hope amid injustice

But Christians still face an uphill struggle

By John Dayal

New Delhi: 

In the continuing gloom of injustice, broken promises and misadministration in Kandhamal, the birth of the new parish of Pakari has come as a token of hope and light for a Christian community still living with the memory of brutal attacks in December 2007 and August 2008 and with the ensuing “structural violence”.

The two young priests in charge of the parish, Fr. Bimal Nayak and Fr. Cassian Pradhan, a Panos Dalit and a Kondh tribal, are hopeful that it will invigorate the almost 5,000-member local church. They hope that in a few years, they will see the birth of another parish in the remote region of Orissa.

The church building is still just a design on a piece of paper, broadly resembling the church in Brahminigaon, which is getting the finishing touches on reconstruction after its destruction on Christmas Eve, 2007. The new parish will have a hostel and perhaps even a school, as well as the presbytery for the parish priest and his assistant, and a few rooms for visiting bishops and clergy.

One school may not be enough to challenge the success of the Sangh Parivar in spreading its hate ideology to the young.

Surveys by several groups, including mine, the All India Christian Council, reveal a massive effort by the Hindu nationalists to penetrate every village in the region. By this summer, the Sangh had set up an estimated 500 “Shishu mandirs,” or formal schools, and as many as 500 additional “Ekal vidyalayas,” or one-teacher schools, in remote villages.

Neither the government nor the church comes anywhere close to these numbers.

Observers have also noted changes in the tactics of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the main cadre of the Hindutva Parivar in the villages. The presence of Maoists in Darringbadi and other blocks has made the Sangh focus on areas where the Maoists are absent, or present only in small numbers. No major attacks have been reported this summer against Christians.

But the absence of violence brings little joy for much of the Christian community. In interviews and affidavits, residents speak of extreme economic hardship, particularly in remote areas, because of a lack of employment and ongoing economic boycotts of Christians.

In the villages of Tikabali, Adasapanda and Mujhlimandi, Christians are not being employed as labor in the fields or in the local markets.

Worse, many Christian men and women have been kept out of the government-run Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which is supposed to provide 100 days a year of paid employment on official projects such as roads, bridges and water conservation works.

Government agencies are still harassing tribal Christians, forcing them to get a recommendation from the political outfit Kui Samaj when they come to get their “caste certificates” which are needed for scholarships, jobs and other “benefits” from the state and union governments. This is of course illegal, but the practice goes on despite Christian activists and lawyers notifying the District Collector.

There is also no government initiative as yet to give land to the landless tribals.

The cumulative impact of these situations is the migration of tribals and Dalits first to Phulbani, the district capital, and Baliguda, the only two major towns in the district, and then out of Kandhamal and even out of Orissa.

Recent surveys have confirmed that as many as 10,000 of the 56,000 people impacted by the violence have not returned to their homes in the villages.

With the justice process in the two fast-track courts showing no progress, Christian groups have once again petitioned the Supreme Court for re-investigation of the murders committed during the August 2008 violence. There have been just two convictions in more than 30 cases accepted by the government, after a death toll of more than 90. The Supreme Court is expected to take up the writ soon.

In another major initiative, the National Human Rights Commission is being approached by victims and their representatives who are seeking a comprehensive justice and rehabilitation package such as the ones victims of the anti-Sikh violence of 1984 and anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002 won after interventions by the Supreme Court and the National Human Rights Commission.

The comprehensive application points out that thousands of children continue to be without education, and men and women without jobs. Both individuals and the church have been denied adequate compensation for the destruction of property during the riots, because of deficiencies in government surveys and irrational systems of calculating the loss.

Christian activists have taken great heart from the recent Supreme Court judgment holding two BJP politicians guilty of murders in Gujarat’s Naroda Patiya area, and NHRC decisions in similar cases.

This has been reflected in the mass rallies that have been held in Phulbani and Bhubaneswar on August 25. Police gave permission at the last moment for Christians to mark the fourth anniversary of the violence. Berhampur Bishop Sarath spoke to about 4,000 people about the need for justice and rehabilitation.

The RSS held its own rally on August 23 to commemorate the murder, by Maoists, of Vishwa Hindu Parishad vice president Lakshmanananda Saraswati. Several hundred RSS activists shouted slogans asking for the arrest of the “real” murderers of Saraswati. Seven Kandhamal Christians have been rotting in jail for four years as suspects, their bail applications routinely denied by the courts.

[First published in Ucan News, 12 September 2012, New Delhi]

Kandhamal Update March 2011

ORISSA KANDHAMAL UPDATE

MARCH 18, 2010

Deep in village, thugs enforce economic boycott of Christians

From John Dayal

As Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, now on a farewell pastoral tour of Kandhamal, extols the courage, faith and perseverance of the Dalit Panos and Tribal Kondh Christians of the central Orissa district in the face of unceasing Hindutva pressure, deep in the villages, the economic boycott of Christians in enforced by organised gangs of fanatical thugs.

The 77 year old Divine Word Society prelate of Orissa retires on 2nd April 2011. Like Archbishop Alan De Lastic of Delhi who emerged the face and voice of the community in his unflinching challenge to persecution in the 1990s, Cheenath was the central figure in the legal and civil society challenge to mass arson, serial murders and gang rapes unleashed in 2007 and 2008 by members of the RSS, Adivasi Kalyan Ashram and Bajrang Dal, whose political identity was confirmed by Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik in the State Legislative Assembly.

Cheenath saluted his people saying “You have raised the faith into new heights at the face of death. I am proud of you.” As he cautioned them not to be misled by the apparent peace prevailing in the area, he said “For the government, peace has returned, but I am not sure how long it would remain, We cannot sit idle, but continue to fight for our Constitutional rights, especially religious freedom to earn sustainable peace.”

In the past, stressing that justice and peace had to go together, the Archbishop moved the Supreme Court in 2008 when the arrogant Collector-cum-District Magistrate Dr Krishna Kumar banned the entry of Christian relief organisations to help the traumatised people. The Supreme Court ruled in the Archbishop’s, favour. He has moved the Supreme Court through the Human Rights Law Network on several issues, including a challenge to the Orissa High Court granting bail to a convicted murderer, Manoj Pradhan, on the plea the he was a legislator. The Supreme Court again ruled against the lower court.

Despite these heroic efforts, much remains the same in that heavily forested district as far as justice and state action is concerned. Br Markose, a Gabriel Brother from Ranchi now working at the grassroots, has been systematically reporting issues of economic boyctott an official apathy.

In an email to me yesterday, Br Markose narrated recent cases of vigilante decisions from Bodimunda where houses of Christians were destroyed in August 20908. Twice during 2009, the Christians tried to bring construction material such as sand to rebuild their houses. On both occasions, the sand was reloaded into the tractor and taken to the temple. The owners of tractor were fined before the vehicle was released by the hardcore Sangh cadres of the village.

After six months, due to the untiring efforts of activists, the villagers took courage to hire a tractor and bring sand. On 14th March this year, Pradeep Nayak hired a tractor from village Rudangia and brought two loads of sand. The next day, Joseph Nayak hired the tractor of Tileshwar Digal of village Breka,. After making two trips, driver Ishak was stopped by a mob of about 12 persons led by Birendra Pradhan, stopped him and demanded a fine of Rs. 5051. The driver did not have the money. He left the tractor on the road and returned to the village.
Nabin Nayak and Bikram Nayak called Bro Markose on the phone who told them to immediately tell the police. Pastor Sunil Paricha called up the Superintendant of Police who referred him to the Tikabali police station. The Police cane to Bodimunda at night and the tractor was released. But the goons had taken away battery, jack and wrench from the tractor in lieu of fine. They told the driver that these materials would be returned when fine was paid.

On 17th March a four-hour long meeting was held at Catholic Church of the village more than 60 Christian men and women participated. Finally they wrote a formal report to the police, saying they would see the matter through, come what may.

------------

LEGAL FACT-SHEET AND UPDATE DECEMBER 2010

Complaints lodged before the police station in Kandhamal after the
Violence of 2008 -- 3232
Cases registered -- 831
Number of cases committed to the Fast track courts 1 & 2 -- 277
Number of case Acquitted ( Violence case ) court No – 1 & 2 -- 128
Number of case Convicted ( Violence case) court No – 1 & 2 -- 59
Number of case pending trial (Violence case) court No – 1 & 2 -- 44
Accused convicted so far --183
Accused acquitted so far -- 639

Kandhamal Update 4th December 2009

4TH DECEMBER 2009

From John Dayal in Kandhamal:

Of the 12 murder cases tried inthe fast Track courts in Phulbani, Kandhamal district or Orissa, India, the accused have been let off in 11 murders, and convicted in just one. A member of the State Legislative assembly on the Bharatiya Janata party ticket, Mr Manoj Pradhan, has been let off in th four cases in which he has been tried so ar. He and his henchmen have been accused by witnesses of terrorising them, or seeking to bribe them.

A belated effort is now being made to revive civil society and the process of justice and reconciliation towards a lasting peace in Kandhamal, which remains the worst single case of persecution of Christians in South Asia. Most of the over 5,000 houses destroyed in the December 2007 and August 24-October 2008 mayhem remain un-built, and several thousand of the 50,000 Christian refugees are still to return home. Many cannot as they have been told they have to convert to Hinduism before they will be accepted in the villages. The threats and coercion continue till today.

The police and administration, as usual, look on. The one change is the Chief Minister, Mr Naveen Patnaik’s acceptance, in an answer in the State legislature, that it was the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and its sister organisations of the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad which were responsible in the anti Christian violence, the first time the government has accepted this reality. Two judicial commissions of enquiry, plodding on in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, are yet to admit this fact.

The following is an update:

I. The Harsh Reality of Orissa and especially of Kandhamal is:

1. No one raised a voice when violence hit the Christians in December 2007 and August 2008, not even the governments

2. Civil Society in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, if it existed, played dead, and nation was not moved.

3. Barring a few Left parties who could protest, the Political Apparatus remained silent and invisible, including so called friendly parties and groups

4. The Media was violently biased, specially the Oriya Media

5. Fact Finding groups either misunderstood the causes, or just blamed either Conversions or Dalit-Tribal conflicts as the cause of the violence, and even people’s enquiry commissions incouding An Oriya Judge and Teesta Setalvad have yet to give their reports on the 2007 violence.

6. Post violence, civil society and peace institutions have yet to be revived.

7. Church was shattered, deeply wounded and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the violence. Barring the PILs in the Supreme Court, no real pressure on Government to construct all houses fully, pay sustenance allowances etc, and government jobs.

II. Post Violence;

1. Church is focussed on helping complete houses instead of using the law to let government complete the houses. As a result, though the Catholic Church says it will help complete 1200 houses, Believers Church 900 Houses, Eficor about 300 houses, and CNI a similar number, another 2,500 houses remain without help. Also without help are the 250 or so victims of the 2007 violence, especially in Barakhama, who have been left to thereon devices.

2. Although there has been much work by religious groups in distributing Holy Bibles and clothes, and in counselling victims, there has not been commensurate work in enhancing the sense of security.

3. The result is that complainants and witnesses to violence feel very insecure and are susceptible to coercion, blackmail and perhaps allurement.

4. The result has been that despite the effort of well meaning young lawyers, especially of the CLA and HRLN, not much progress has been made in getting convictions especially in the murder cases involving BJP political leaders.

5. In many villages, refugees have not been able to return because the threat of forcible conversion to Hinduism remains.

6. The government peace committees remain on paper, or are loaded against Christians

7. Not much headway has been made in getting the Collector to secure land for non Tribals so they can construct their houses.

8. No headway has been made at village level towards reconciliation

III. Reviews:

1. Civil Society groups have met sporadically to assess the situation, including those coming from Delhi, but there has not been much sharing of info and concepts.

2. The first major initiative was taken by Fr Ajay and Mr Dhirendra Panda to call a meeting on 3rd November 2009 in Bhubaneswar to assess the satiation. Almost the entire political spectrum, excluding the BJP, BJD and Congress, were present, incouding women groups, tribal and Dalit groups and specialists. Several victims were also present. Dr Dayal, and Advocate Sr Mary Scaria, Ms Lansinglu Rongmei, Mrs Tehmina Ram Arora and Ms Vrinda Grover met several times in New Delhi to discuss the legal issues.

3. As part of the follow up of the decisions and recommendations of those meeting, some activists held meetings in It was also decided o get senior advocates and observers to be present for some time in the Fast Track courts so that grounds could be prepared for intervention in superior courts.

4. As a follow-up of those meetings and after consultations with senior Bishops of Orissa of various denominations, it was felt that the Church had a major role to play at the grassroots level to reconstruct social and civil society structures to give courage and strength to the victims. This can be done only at the homeland village level and not by outsiders from Bhubaneswar or elsewhere in the country.

5. It was therefore decided to call a meeting in Berhampur, the nearest big town, of all religious workers – Priests, pastors, catholic religious, NGO workers, catechists and others – on 7th December 2007 for a full day discussion cum workshop to discuss the issue and to encourage the religious groups to begin grassroots work apart from the religious work and relief they have been doing.

6. It was decided to bring experts to help brief the religious on these issues.

Justice, Kandhamal style

Miscarriage of Justice in Kandhamal Courts

From John Dayal

12 November 2009

I have just come back from Orissa, very depressed at the way the criminal justice system is working in that benighted state.

I had gone to take part in a rare Civil Society meeting with victims, some law experts and some Human Rights activists on 3rd November 2009 in Bhubaneswar. In truth, barring some leaders of various Left parties and Women’s groups, there is not much of a civil society in Orissa as far as violence on Christians or Muslims is concerned. Fortunately, there are activists – and Dhirendra Panda is one such – who are determined to press for justice. Fortunately again, there are some more activists working in the defence of the rights of Tribals and workers whose very existence is threatened by the entry of global mining giants trying to profit from the underground riches of Orissa. About them, in another note.

Advocate Rasmi Ranjan Jena says “As we know in most of the cases already tried in the Fast Track Courts in Kandhamal the accused persons have been acquitted. This is nothing but a great failure of the criminal justice system which has miserably failed to give justice to the victims of the communal violence. At this juncture there is an urgent need of critical analysis of the factors responsible for the failure. Though nothing much should be expected from a judicial forum in a communal society, but we need to have a self introspection to develop a strategy for the upcoming days.”

The following is a more urgent situation report on meeting convened under the banners of the Common Concern and Orissa Manavik Adhikar Suraksha Abhijan on justice delivery crisis. The report’s authors include Dhirendra Panda and Fr Ajay Singh. While this report is critical of the legal support systems for the victims, I must acknowledge the work done by the Human Rights Law Network and the Christian Law association who have had to work with young local lawyers and limited resources in the face of official machinery that is determined not to pursue justice with honesty.

I quote from the report:

“In the context of regular acquittals of the persons accused of criminal involvement during Kandhamal violence by Fast Track Courts on the ground of non-availability of witnesses, a meeting was held at Lohia Academy, Bhubaneswar to listen the experiences of the victims and their witnesses seeking justice. About seventy five persons including the victims, activists, representatives of left/democratic political parties and civil society organisations, advocates, media persons, civil society

members, church leaders and others participated in the Meeting.

Agenda

• Sharing of experiences/concerns by victims and witnesses in and outside courts

• Sharing on challenges faced by Lawyers and organizations engaged in legal aids

• Observations/Suggestions by the Participants

Among the participants, Prafulla Samantara, renowned activist and an ardent advocate of people’s rights and movements, Radhakant Sethy, former MLA and leader of CPI-ML Liberation, Dr. John Dayal, Member of National Integration Council, Sudhir Patnaik, Editor, ‘Samadrusti’, John Nayak, former DG of Police, Orissa, Prasant Paikray and Ramakrishna Panda – leaders of CPI, Smt. Tapasi Praharaj, CPI-M leader, Smt. Saila Behera, Shanti Ranjan Behera – Senior Social Activist, Ms. Lalita Missal – Woman Rights’ Activist (NAWO), Hemant Nayak – Social Activist, Mahendra Parida - Social Activist and Trade Union leader, Pradip Pradhan – RTI Activist and many others shared their observations regards to the approaches to the problems faced by the victims.

Observations

• Public Prosecutors are mostly found biased against the victims

• In comparison with the skills, influences, clouts, numbers of advocates favoring the accused persons, the strength of advocates need to be improved

• Faulty and biased methods of police investigation, framing the charge sheets and presentations in the Courts weaken the cases

• Absence of social and physical security of the victims and witnesses inside and outside the Court

• The provision that in GR cases only Public Prosecutors can argue, while the victim parties can not appoint their own advocates privately, does not help the victims in cases where PPs are biased.

• Show of extra-favour to the accused ones by some judges harass the victims and their counsels

• Lawyers counseling the victim parties are even persuaded not to continue their legal assistance

• Witnesses are threatened/allured to turn hostile

• Absence of democratic and left parties in comparing to the dominance of BJP and RSS helps the culprits and corrupts the atmosphere of the courts

Suggestions

• Appeal to transfer the cases to outside Kandhamal, preferably to Bhubaneswar and Cuttack courts.

• Christian Lawyers’ Association, Human Rights Law Network and other groups engaged for legal aid should work in a coordinated manner

• Assistance from senior and experienced lawyers should be taken up

• Engagement of other lawyers to assist the P.Ps\A.P.Ps in GR cases and submission of written arguments by other lawyers

• Mobilisation of activists to be present in the court will help in building confidence among the victims and influence the PPs/APPs and judges to be careful to some extent

• A Public Hearing/People’s Tribunal can be organized..

• Lawyers should be smart enough to intervene at the right manner at the time of necessity

• Local people need to create their own defense mechanism

• Secular minded organizations/activists, particularly the people participating in this programme, need to evaluate the ongoing legal actions and decide upon appropriate measures to respond to the current situation collectively.

• At the state level a joint committee involving people from various sectors need to be formed to keep regular watch on legal matters and monitor the actions being taken up by the organizations engaged in legal aids

• It is necessary to document the court proceedings and situation of witnesses and victims, which can be used in future for raising the issue before higher courts and media

• A Kandhamal level committee should be formed for monitoring justice delivery processes and for looking after mobilizing social supports for the victims and witnesses

• Extensive media campaign has to be taken up to expose the illegal and biased behavior and functioning of PPs/APPs and judges.

• Referring to the deposition of Police officers before the Sarat Chandra Mohapatra Commission, information will be collected from their respective offices using RTI and a letter can be sent to the Governor with a copy to the Commission can be sent mentioning the concerns and position of the civil society

Decisions

• An ad hoc state level joint solidarity committee was formed involving the participants to coordinate

o Interaction with political parties for their support for the victims in getting justice

o Media campaigns

o Keeping watch on legal processes

o Documentation of justice delivery processes

o Social Mobilisation for backing the victims inside/outside courts

,;

Footnote:

To understand the different factors responsible for the failure it will be convenient to have a minimum idea on the chain/ stages on which the justice delivery process runs.

The stages of criminal cases in series:

(1)Occurrence of the Incident--- (2)FIR--- (3)Investigation (includes arrest of the accused & Submission of Charge-sheet)--- (4) Magistrate( who commits the case to the competent court)--- (5)Trial (includes Framing of Charges, Summon to Witnesses, Testimony by the witnesses, Argument & Judgment)--- (6) Appeal

Difficulties & Lacunas in different stages

(1) Occurrence of the Incident

- Many of the victims are not eye witnesses as they fled away to the jungle just before the incident happened.

- As the investigation started very late the proofs and marks of violence had disappeared or washed away.

(2) FIR

- Non- registration by the police

- The names of the accused persons are not mentioned

- Delay in filing

- In some FIR the offence in specific is not disclosed

- In most of the cases copies of the FIR not given to the victim

- The informant himself is hostile in some cases.

(3) Investigation

- No proper investigation but a stereotyped process adopted by the police.

- Non-examination of the important witnesses

- Accused examined as the witnesses.

- Non-arrest of the accused persons ( particularly the kingpins) till date

- The property of the absconding accused persons could have been attached ( Sec 83 of Cr.P.C.) which could compel them to surrender.

- Proper sections of IPC not mentioned in the Charge-Sheet

- Delay in filing of Charge-sheet helped the accused persons to get bail.

(4) Magistrate

- The lawyers for the victim could have put their objection before the magistrate, before whom the charge-sheet is submitted, on the non- mentioning of appropriate sections of IPC in the Charge-sheet. ( Section 216 of Cr.P.C)

(5) Trial

- Most of the independent witnesses were hostile as they were threatened by the accused persons in the village.

- The court atmosphere is not conducive for free and fair trial.

- The judge and the public prosecutors lacks judicious mind.

- Deficiency of trained lawyers in comparison to the number of cases.

- Lacuna in the part of the lawyers engaged on behalf of the victim. No effort to build up the case in favor of the victim, only tutoring of the witnesses on their previous statement of the police is done. The lawyers could have done as the following.

- Effort could have been made to cover up the lacuna in the FIR as well as the statement before the police, while giving testimony before the trial court.

- The witness/ victim could have been prepared on the point on which the defense lawyer is striking.

- Proper caution could have been taken to avoid major discrepancy between the testimonies of the major witnesses.

- Petition could have been laid to examine the important witnesses who are not charge-sheeted. ( Section 311 of Cr.P.C)

- Written argument could have been filed in each case at the time of final argument. ( It must be kept in mind that if the lawyer has not filed the Vakalatnama from the initial stage then he may not be allowed to file written argument in the final stage.)

- Even though most of the witnesses are becoming hostile, the victim and the family members could have been properly guided before giving testimony. Because law is well settled, the sole testimony of the victims / the eye witnesses, if inspires confidence and appears to be natural and truthful and also corroborated by the documentary evidences, is enough to convict the accused.

(6) Appeal

- No appeal preferred in most of the cases where the accused were acquitted.

- Appeal should be preferred in conviction cases as in the said case conviction is done for only few accused persons and most of them are acquitted.

-

[PP is Public Prosecutor appointed by the Administration. CrPC is Criminal Procedure Code, IPC is Indian Penal Code, FIR is First Information Report, ]

Let we forget

LEST WE FORGET

In its annual report for 2008, India’s Ministry for Home Affairs recorded that the country had witnessed a high incidence of communal violence --- as many as 943 communal incidents, mainly against Muslims and Christians, took place in which 167 persons were killed and 2,354 persons were injured. The figures were up from those of 2007, when there were 761 incidents in which 99 persons were killed and 2,227 persons were injured.

Some details:

ORISSA

14 (of 30) Districts hit

315 Villages destroyed

4,640 Houses burnt [State government earlier estimates 4,215]

54,000 Homeless initially

20,000 People still living as Internally Displaced Persons

1,500 People still in Government run camps / enclaves

120 People murdered [Estimated, but not officially acknowledged]

7 Priests/ Pastors killed

10 Fathers/Pastors/Nuns injured

3 Rapes confirmed [One of Nun]

252 Churches destroyed [estimated by State government]

13 Schools, colleges destroyed

827 cases have been registered

6 persons convicted

4 Cases in which all accused acquitted

Registered

2. KARNATAKA

8 (of 29) Districts affected

33 Churches attacked update again

53 Christians injured in attacks, including Nuns assaulted by state police.

[This does not include incidents of violence and persecution witnessed in Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Andhra, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and many other States in 2008-09]

The reality of Kandhamal – One year on, the crisis of State continues

Our Lord teaches us not to hate. We do not hate our enemies.

But Fear is real, specially in Orissa’s Kandhamal district.

It is not just Kandhamal, or indeed Orissa. Unfortunately, circumstances in India are such that the religious minorities and the marginalised groups, the Dalits and others, have to live under the shadow of fear, of violence and domination, hate and official impunity, always looking over the shoulder for the next threat. Priests in forest parishes, pastors in villages, evangelists in distant rural areas, and social activists live under a very real and very dark shadow of fear.

In Kandhamal a year after that dreadful day of 24^th August 2008, the situation remains terrible. We know for a fact that perhaps as many as 20,000 [of the 50,000 who were rendered homeless when almost 5,000 houses were torched by Hindutva mobs] remain internally displaced persons, living as refugees or beggars in other towns of Orissa and in nearby states, some even in Mumbai and New Delhi. Some live in Christian ghettos created by the government which could not protect them in their home villages.

We know that so called fast track courts of the Orissa government have set free known killers because the police did not prepare a sound case and because the state failed to protect witnesses who were threatened and who could not give evidence. We know that government has reneged in its promise of financial relief and rehabilitation of widows and other victims of the violence. We also know to our deep regret how even so called judicial commissions headed by retired High Court judges have tried to pin blame on Christians citing conversions as the main cause of violence without even trying to identify the perpetrators of murderous violence.

The threat is potent enough for many Christians to prefer to live in government refugee camps in ghastly conditions because the killers roam scot free in their home villages while the police look on. All this has been documented by the international media, and by noted Indian Christian investigative reporters such as Anto Akkara and Vishal Arora. Independent scholars Professor Angana Chatterji of California, and Prof Manoranjan Mohanty and Advocate Vrinda Grover, both of New Delhi have documented this. Even the National Minorities Commission has commented on it. And of course the Church and its Human Rights activists continue to raise the issue with the National and State governments. The uneasy peace is maintained by armed police whose energies have however been diverted to cope with Maoist militant activity in this region and other states.

The main threat continues to be from Hindutva elements who have tasted blood and who have prospered and flourished under official patronage. Many of them are now joining the ruling party, the Biju Janata Dal. The police and administration is also heavily infiltrated by these elements. The lack of a witness programme and the involvement of crucial police officers prevent real investigation and ensure s a miscarriage of justice. We await superior court judgments to petitions that these criminal cases be tried outside Kandhamal and outside Orissa so that witness protection programmes can be put into place. .Official impunity, the tacit support to Hindutva, and increasing polarisation do not augur well for religious minorities.

But this is our homeland, and we will remain, even if the struggle for justice has to continue indefinitely. It is the state’s duty to end violence, a duty it must carry out. We are before the Supreme Court for this, as also before the President of India. We also know that the international human rights community is watching India.

For the Christians of Orissa, and of Kandhamal in particular, there is the strength of faith which prevents the fear from becoming a routing or crippling paralysis. Even in the darkest hour of violence in Orissa a year ago, the people refused to abandon their faith, and that is where they conquered fear of that sort.

As for reconciliation, most of us have been working for reconciliation and peace. Not reconciliation as a compromise, or as a sign of defeat; not reconciliation as surrender; but reconciliation born out of forgiveness and underpinned by justice ensured by the state. Murderers and killers, who did the violence out of ideologies of hate and mischief, need to be punished, but communities need to get over the suspicion and hate and come together once more.

Time is ripe for genuine reconciliation in Orissa and elsewhere.

Page four

Demands and Recommendations which the government must implement in Orissa:

i. Investigate the forcible conversion of Christians to Hinduism, and prosecute perpetrators under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code;

ii. Ensure that (with reference to the ruling of the Supreme Court in Writ Petitions) police unfailingly assist victims of violence to submit FIRs.

iii. There must be a Witness Protection Programme put into immediate operation giving serious consideration to the need for a suitable atmosphere for victims and witnesses to testify, in order to expedite prosecutions and convictions;

iv. Investigate reports of police officers failing to register cases or showing complicity in attacks, and bring prosecutions against offending officers;

v. Supply a substantial number of investigating officers and public prosecutors, and implement fast-track courts in at least four locations in Kandhamal district.

vi. Request that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) carry out an investigation into the assassination of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Lakhmanananda Saraswati and the subsequent anti-Christian violence from 24^th August 2008, paying specific attention to the root causes of this violence, including the propagation of anti-Christian hatred;

vii. The Government should take measures to carry out an extensive research with the view to rehabilitating the victims of violence, make the recommendations public, and implement them without loss of time.

viii. Provide education to displaced children

ix. Provide further compensation for those who have been affected by the violence, including covering the loss of crops, livestock and employment, and assess required levels of compensation on a case-by-case basis through certified independent evaluators;

x. Undertake to follow the recommendations of the National Commission for Minorities in September 2008 on the establishment of Peace Committees, and further to take measures to ensure that all communities are adequately represented within such Peace Committees, to enable these to promote reconciliation and inter-communal understanding with integrity;

xi. Establish a State Commission for Minorities (in the model of its national counterpart) and ensure that members of the commission are appointed by transparent and non-partisan procedures;

xii. Repeal the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, 1967.