Catholic Priest’s Brother Forced to ‘Reconvert’ to Hinduism

Christians in Orissa face the choice between their Faith and Homes. While the State’s police have been mere spectators in the continuing mayhem, survivors have been forced to flee to the state capital Bhubaneshwar.

Catholic priest Fr. Prabodha Kumar who reached the state capital received a troubling news report about his brother back home. Compass Direct reports:

Among those who have fled to Bhubaneswar was Father Prabodha Kumar, a Catholic priest who reached the Catholic Archbishop’s House in Bhubaneswar after a seven-day journey from Onjamundi village in Kandhamal.

He was among other fearful sojourners at the house whose mobile phones constantly rang with news of more attacks from their relatives, friends and church members in interior villages of Kandhamal.

Fr. Kumar looked deeply troubled after one such phone call yesterday.

“My brother has been forced to ‘reconvert’ to Hinduism, as he was told that if he did not do so, his house would be destroyed,” he said.        

Source: (http://orissaburning.blogspot.com/)

Communal harmony, the need of the hour

The killing of people and destruction of religious places in Orissa cannot be justified, whatever the provocation. If any act committed by one invites the wrath of the other sections of society, then the path of dialogue must be adopted..

CJ: Mohammad Taiyab Khan 

WE ARE aware of the communal violence that erupted in Orissa on August 24, 2008 after the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. It was presumed by a section of the people in Orissa that the Swami was murdered by Christians because he once said that Christians must convert to Hinduism in the interest of the country. Armed with this presumption, the saffron brigade, with the help of local criminals took to the streets, beating and murdering people and vandalising houses and churches. Christians were forced to take shelter in the nearby forest for their safety. Whatever the provocation, one cannot justify the killings, arson and destruction. This is surely an act of insanity.

Despite these shameful and inhuman acts on the part of the saffron brigade and its followers and the subsequent condemnation which followed the said acts in India and most parts of the world, the said criminal elements are on the look out for Christians to root them out. Some conversions may have been accomplished by luring people belonging to the socially and economically backward sections of the society but it still is not the way to treat humans. After all, Christians have not hurt anybody and so we should ensure their safety across the country. If an act committed by one invites the wrath of other sections of the society, then the path of dialogue alone must be followed to sort out the issues. It’s unbelievable that groups like Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) engage in criminal activities on the pretext of protecting the country and brand the various minority groups in general as anti-nationals. But they often engage in violent and criminal acts, which go against the laws of the land; since they violate the law of the land, they should be called anti-nationals; they are not protecting the country; they are promoting hatred in the country to achieve their political ends. Actually, they are harming the society and bringing shame on the country.

In my article ’Orissa Violence: Is it difficult to be Human’, I raised the issue of criminalisation of society, hurting the minority Christians in Orissa and attacking the people, their homes and religious places. Also, I asked whether we should all become prosperous or we should become a ’proud’ nation with soaring poverty and misery levels. Surprisingly, I received comments from different ’educated people’, reflecting their communal bent of mind and hatred of Christians. This mindset is not good for the health of the society or the country.

According to one comment, “All the killings that are happening in Orissa are not because of hatred. All Hindus are peace-loving.” Yes, we believe in this truth. We are not talking about Hindus in general, but only those sections of society which are destroying the very structure of our healthy society and democratic India. The comment further said, “Every person would cherish three things in life: motherland, mother tongue and one’s own tradition and culture. Other countrymen, languages and religions are to be respected provided the same respect is shown by them towards the locals.” Whoever commented doesn’t actually realise that Christians are not violating the law of the land; nor are they insulting the language the people of India speak. As for tradition and culture, well, the tribals in Orissa are very much attached to their traditions and culture even after conversion to Christianity.

The worst comment I received said, “Is the Pope gonna be Queen Elizabeth and Vatican City, the East India Company”? Italians did not condemn the Ahmedabad blasts … they did not condemn the Jaipur blasts … and worst of all, they did not say anything when thousands of innocent Hindus and Sikhs were butchered by General Dyer in Jallianwala Baugh.” One incident the person knowingly forgot to mention was the Gujarat killings of Muslims. This can only be attributed to short-sightedness. They are after the innocent minorities and the socially backward sections of society all over the country. The blood shed by Christian martyrs in Orissa will spread the Gospel in Orissa.

Another viewer said, “There is no doubt that the Sangh Parivar wants all minorities either to vacate India or accept Hinduism. Minorities need to come together to form a forum to safeguard themselves.” A Christians remarked, “Christians of all denominations all over India must unite and stand by their brothers and sisters in Orissa in every possible way. It is sad that atrocities against Christians are ignored by the authorities. Even smaller communities in India are stronger and more influential. It’s time that Christians set aside their differences and fought for justice and security before it’s too late.”

It is clear that the minorities in India want to be assured of safety and security by the government of India. They want exemplary punishment to be meted out to the fanatics that harm them, especially in Orissa.

VHP leader Praveen Togadia is to undertake an Orissa Yatra to condole the killing of the Swami. Fearing more violence, the Archbishop of Cuttack pleaded in the Supreme Court on Thursday (September 4) that allowing the said Yatra would amount to throwing a matchstick in the communal tinderbox. Despite the Orissa government’s affidavit in the Supreme Court that the State government will not allow any such Yatra, Togadia said the Yatra would go on. Also, responding to the alleged failure of the Orissa government to contain violence in the State and given the sensitiveness of the issue, the Supreme Court has decided to keep an eye on the issue. It has asked the State government to file a detailed affidavit by September 11, 2008 to the effect that “steps would be taken to prevent any untoward incident from taking place.”

Togadia also said, “We will condole the death of Swami Laxmanananda with a Yatra across the State. We will march through every village and town of Orissa despite the pressure tactics of the Christians to ensure safety for Swami’s murderers.

     Other Articles by  Mohammad Taiyab Khan

• Orissa Violence: Is it difficult to be human?

” Togadia is actually not going on a Yatra to condole the killings of the Swami but to gain political mileage and incite more violence against the Christians. He is trying to add oil to the communal fire. His mission is clear – spread hatred and destroy the minority Christians in Orissa. Togadia has such shameful acts to his credit. All he and the saffron brigade want is the ’blood of the minority’. He has never been involved in humanitarian activities. The need of the hour is to contain the internal terrorism perpetrated by these extremists, whose hands are soaked with the blood of innocent people; otherwise it is feared that India will go back to the 18th century, in terms of its economy and geographical border. (merinews)

A tragedy foretold (Editorial on Orissa Violence in The Statesman)

Way back in 1966, students set ablaze two churches by the side of a college in the heart of the divisional town of Berhampore in Orissa. The indiscretion was more a youthful prank carried out by agitating students on the spur of the moment and not communally motivated violence. 
Compared to the Hindi heartland, communal disturbances were a relatively rare phenomenon in Orissa till the eighties. The atrocities unleashed on the Hindus in East Pakistan in 1964 set off a serious communal backlash in parts of eastern India, including Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Ranchi and Rourkela.  
The riots in the Rourkela Steel Township against the Muslim community were the first major outbreak of communal violence in post-independence Orissa. Since then there has been no significant Hindu-Muslim strife in the state, though lately Hindu fundamentalist forces have launched a sustained violent campaign against the indigenous Christian community in the remote tribal areas of the state. 

Communal hatred

Since 1999, BJP affiliates like the Bajrang Dal, Viswa Hindu Parishad, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram have systematically fomented communal hatred and engineered inter-religious clashes at different places in Orissa in a bid to expand their parent party’s political support base. The post-Babari attacks on the religious minorities include social and economic boycotts, vandalism, torching of private and public properties, physical and emotional threats, abuse and violence, including torture, rape, arson and murder. 
In January 1999, Bajrang Dal activist Dara Singh and his associates murdered Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, Philip and Timothy, in Keonjhar district when they were sleeping in their camper. Next month, Jacqueline Mary, a Catholic nun, was gang-raped by some men in the neighbouring Mayurbhanj district. In September 1999, Atul Das, a Catholic priest, was murdered in the same Mayurbhanj district. 
In February 2004, in Jagatsinghpur district, seven Christian women and a male pastor were forcibly tonsured and a social boycott was imposed on them, which continues till today. In August 2004, a church in Phulbani district was attacked. In 2007 alone, thousands of Adivasis and Dalits were forcibly converted to Hinduism. 
Hindu majoritarianism operates with the aim to maintain dominance and Hinduise non-Hindus and other marginal and secular groups, including Christians, Muslims, Adivasis and Dalits, as a part of the goal of turning India into an exclusively Hindu state. 
The Sangh Parivar perceives and projects itself as an adjunct and/or adversary to the state that offsets governmental failure to dispense “morality” and “progress” to citizens. The Hindu communalists use local militarism (as in Kandhamal) as consort to state controlled militarisation (as in Kashipur, where in December 2000, three Adivasis were killed in police firing, and Kalinga Nagar, where in January 2006, 12 Adivasis and a policeman were killed in police firing). 
Hindu communalist groups are estimated to have proliferated in 10,000-14,000 villages through sectarian relief work in the aftermath of the devastating 1999 cyclone. In 1965-1966, the RSS announced the Go Raksha Andolan across India. In 1967, the VHP started operating in Orissa, with Raghunath Sethi, a Dalit RSS pracharak, as its secretary, and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP) started its Orissa chapter. During 1967-69, the RSS entrusted Lakhan (later Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati), a Hindu proselytiser, with the task of regularising the mandate of the Orissa Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act of 1960. 
The Sangh Parivar extended its reach to Adivasi localities in the state, via the VHP, appointing Lakshmanananda Saraswati, in 1969, and Raghunath Sethi to oversee the Hinduisation and Sanskritisation of Phulbani/Kandhamal district. 
Drawing upon such mobilisations in Phulbani and other places, Golwalkar convened a full-scale RSS training camp in Orissa in 1967 to provide RSS cadres with in-state training. In 1970, the Sangh acclaimed Orissa as an “advanced prant”.
Allegations of proselytisation are a common and key political issue in Kandhamal and other adjoining districts. Rival political parties exploit communal tensions between the tribal Kandhs and the Dalit Panas. Over the years, a large number of Panas have become Christians, while many Kandhs have affiliated with the VHP and the BJP. 
In the 1990s, the list of Scheduled Tribes was amended with three more groups ~ Kui, Kuvi and Kuee  ~ designated as ST in addition to those included in the original list. Those on the ST list are entitled to state benefits and reserved jobs. Many Panas speak kui dialect and demand ST status. This apart, a conflict over land rights arose as land rights of the tribals in Orissa are protected under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution. 
Tension rose further when the Delimitation Commission reserved the Kandhamal Parliamentary constituency and all the three state Assembly constituencies of the district for the STs in December 2006. The Panas resumed their demand for tribal status so that their leaders might contest the seats. 
The attacks on the Christians in December 2007 in Kandhamal were perpetrated with a view to dividing the communities and strengthening the political support base of the political group concerned. In the latest bout of communal violence, the murder of the VHP leader Laxmananda Saraswati on 23 August, 2008 was carried out with similar motive. 
For its part, the VHP blamed the Christians for the incident and called a dawn-to-dusk bandh on 25 August. Union minister of state for home affairs Prakash Jaiswal was denied access to the affected areas pleading lack of security. Following the murder of the VHP leader, violence against the Christians spread fast to other places across the state. 

Organised violence

Beginning on Christmas day last year, there was systematic and organised violence on the Christians in Kandhamal district. Four people were killed and hundreds of Churches were burnt down. 
These gruesome events, documented by the National Commission for Minorities, should have been an eye-opener for the state government and prompted it to beef up security in the district, but no effective measure was taken by the incumbent Biju Janata Dal-BJP coalition government to prevent recurrence of inter-religious violence. 
Following the anti-Christian riots of December, 2007 the state government appointed a Commission of Inquiry headed by retired High Court judge Basudev Pasigrahi, but the Commission started its work only a few weeks back. It embroiled itself in a controversy by touring the riot-affected areas even before the notification appointing it was formally issued and making uncalled-for comments on the alleged conversion of people to Christianity. 
In the backdrop of all that happened in December 2007, the anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal last month was a tragedy foretold ~ a painful narrative of police and administrative indifference, of repeated official complicity and consistent incompetence. And, finally, it is the testimony of total collapse of the law and order machinery in the sate. It was a tragedy that was waiting to happen and a tragedy that can repeat itself yet again under the present dispensation in the state.

(The Statesman Editorial)

Orissa violence: VHP threatens nationwide stir

NEW DELHI: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia on Sunday threatened to launch nationwide stir if the killers of a Hindu leader and his four associates shot dead in Orissa on August 23 were not arrested immediately. 

The VHP international general secretary demanded that a special bench be set up for hearing the case of murders of Swami Laxmananand Saraswati and his four disciples whose killings sparked off widespread communal violence in Orissa. 

The police said that Maoists rebels were responsible for the killings. But blaming Christians for the murders, thousands of Hindus attacked Christian homes and churches in the state. Christian groups have repeatedly denied the charge. 

Togadia, speaking at a meeting at Karol Bagh to pay tributes of the slain Hindu leader, alleged that the Orissa government was trying to shield murderers of Saraswati. 

He said the government has not even identified the names of the four suspects arrested in the case. 

Saraswati was a VHP leader and lived in Jalespata Ashram under Tumudibandh block in Kandhamal district of Orissa. (The Economics times)