Remember Orissa Weblog

Advent : A time of hope ; A time of apprehension November 30, 2008

Trouble Is Brewing Again

Dear Readers on this Remember Orissa Forum,

Today is the first Sunday in Advent ; a time in the Church calendar that we turn our eyes towards Christmas. A time of preparation to welcome Christ to be born anew in our hearts.

In India, we are recovering from the trauma and shock of the Mumbai Terror Attacks, made worse by the frenzy of the media, that is fueling passion, anger and political instability. The TV Anchors have gone from reporting and discussing history to wanting to shape, steer and even manipulate it. Ministers are falling like nine-pins, and cynical calculations are being made as to how this, like all else, can be milked for electoral profits.

Who then would be interested in old issues like the smoldering communal cauldron in Orissa ? Except of course those who realize that it is issues like this that fuel Terror ; that give birth to terrorists. Do not forget that one of the most high profile deaths in this terror attack, was that of Hemant Karkare, the smiling officer-gentleman who headed the Anti Terror Squad of Maharashtra. He was the public face of the investigations into the Saffron Terror Trail that dominated the news till Mumbai exploded, sweeping away all smaller crimes, clues and even the chief investigator. The very people who castigated him the previous week are now hailing him as a martyr and offering his family 10 million rupees as a prize, for being conveniently dead. Thankfully, his wife turned down the offer. We owe Karkare so much. And all those brave police officers, soldiers and hotel staff who died in their efforts to protect the country.

So Advent arrives in India in the midst of pain and terror, not very differently than it first did 2000 years ago. Here in Orissa, Advent has a new meaning this year. Last year, Christmas celebrations was what was used to trigger the campaign of hatred and violence. Ironic, isn’t it ? And this year ?

The RSS and it’s affiliates have declared that if the killers of Swami Lokananda are not arrested by the 15th of December, they will declare a Bandh or Shut Down on December the 25th – Christmas Day. As simple and open as that. And we can feel the vibrations ; the preparations ; the mobilization. In Kondhamal, the Christian community is very nervous. All those who can get out are doing so post haste. Those who can’t, are hunkering down, apprehending the worst.

But we have a feeling the Sangh Parivar has something additional up their sleeve. The district of Gajapati adjoins Kondhamal. For 2 months now, there has been an almost continuous revving up of the heat in the towns of Mohana and Adava. There are rallies and marches every other day, with loud slogans against Christians, and eulogizing the slain Swami. We get the feeling it is being built up with a plan. Is Gajapati to be the next Kondhamal ? This is a relatively small district, hived off from the larger Ganjam District. The headquarters is a town called Parlakhamundi, but most of the district is mountainous, malarious and poor. A considerable percentage of the tribal and dalit people are Christian, and the district has a large number of very visible churches all over. The district also borders Andhra Pradesh and therefore has a considerable Maoist presence. All these indicate the ingredient for trouble. Merry Christmas and Happy Diwali rolled into one.

So can I ask you all to please Remember Orissa. Please pray for us again. Pray for peace and justice. Pray for healing and harmony. Pray for those who plan violence, and those who prepare to defend themselves.

All over Orissa, churches are considering scaling down Christmas celebrations, out of fear and pragmatism. So as you plan your Christmas shopping and Carol Services, remember those for whom Christmas is quickly becoming a time to fear. Like all those babies who were killed by Herod just in case one of them was the Christ child. All the pain caused. And yet the baby Jesus survives. Hallelujah. O Come all ye faithful. Silent Night. Holy Night.

God bless !

Violence Again in Kondhamal ? November 8, 2008

Things have been relatively quiet for some weeks now. Numbers in the Relief Camps have come down to maybe around 12,000, as people try to move – either to their own homes where possible, or to stay with relatives, or to flee the district / state. We hear however, that the situation is far from “normal”, as the hate is still there, and Christians face discrimination. There is also news of small incidents off and on.

But the tension is back with the murder of a Sangh Parivar man in Kumbharigaon village near Bamunigaon. This is the area where the riots were sparked off in December 2007. The story we hear is that the deceased, Pradhani, was a building contractor, and actively involved in leading the riots. The Maoists had included his name in the hit-list published earlier, saying that those involved in perpetrating violence against the poor will be punished. The reports say that on the afternoon of 05.11.08, Pradhani was at the site of a school he was constructing, when 3 gunmen fired 12 rounds at him, killing him.

Claims and counter-claims on who did it are already in the air. As with the murder of Swami Lokananada, the police are saying it is the Maoists, while the Sangh Parivar organizations – Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram and Hindu Jagaran Samukhya – are saying that “Christian Militants have killed a VHP leader”. We hear that hundreds of people surrounded the police station in protest against the killing. It is unclear if the effect of this murder is going to be renewal of violence against Christians or fear of Maoists keeping the campaign in check.

The worries are :

Is this the start of the Maoists campaign to knock off the trouble-makers ?

Will this be the trigger / excuse for Round 3 of the Ethnic Cleansing game ?

Is the faith, understanding and the Christ-rootedness of Christians deep enough to hold them back from joining the choice of violence ? Our God shows us a better and yet more difficult way. But can we still hear Him in the noise of our fears and human frailty ?

Our reading is that this will not escalate into another big violent campaign now. We hope we are right.

Please keep praying for Orissa. Meanwhile, the only news that comes out of the state on all this is that related to the tragedy of the catholic sister who was raped by a mob on 25th August. All the pleas for the case to be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation have been rejected by the government and the courts. The Police have asked the nun to identify the culprits to be able to go ahead with the case. She said she has no confidence that the same police who stood by and watched then, can possibly give her justice now. But it looks like the choice will be between this and be the dropping of the charges in protest.

A couple of comments about some external events that are in some way related.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Mumbai, are hot on the trail of a violent, hate-and-terror group of the Sangh Parivar. To a country which has swallowed the line that “ all terrorists are Muslims, even if all Muslims are not terrorists”, this comes as a revelation. It is clear that there is a shady organization called Abhinav Bharath that includes a firebrand religious lady – Sadhvi Pragya, and some officers of the Indian Army – both retired and in active service. They have been training teams in bomb-making and terror. Some of the bomb blasts of recent years that inevitably got blamed on Muslim groups, were actually planned and executed by Hindutva agencies. This appears to be one strand of a much deeper story that is gradually emerging.

This is terrible, because this is just not Hinduism, the religion that has blessed India over ages. But it isn’t new either. For a century now, there has been this violent strand of Hindus, almost always originating from the state of Maharashtra. This founded the RSS, assassinated Mahathma Gandhi, built the Shiv Sena and it’s mad prodigy, the MNS and so on. Isn’t it sad that Sarvarkar, Golwalkar, Godse, Thackeray (Bal and Raj), and now Sadhvi Pragya are all products and proprietors of this factory of hate. What starts as a call to national pride and standing up for our culture, quickly degenerates into religious indoctrination in hate. What is scary is the picture that is emerging – the contours of the India of the Hindutva dreams – a fascist, backward, uncouth India. In Delhi University yesterday, the ABVP (student wing of the RSS) held a violent protest against a Muslim Professor SAR Geelani, who had been acquitted by the Supreme Court from charges of sedition. One of them spat on him, before they broke windows and chairs. The Student President of the ABVP, a hot and vocal young lady, said on National TV that all Indians should spit on him ; she would too. This is the India of their dreams ? What a tragedy ! What have they done to our country ?

OK. Thanks for staying with us. Even though this writer now writes in less often now. But please continue to remember Orissa in your prayers.

Diwali Message November 5, 2008

An elderly pastor sent me this message that I share with you on the festival of light that India has just celebrated last week.

“ Today is Diwali ; the victory of light over darkness ;
When we celebrate the return of Rama from Lanka after defeating Ravana and rescuing Sita.
We pray that the light of Diwali will illuminate the dark corners of Orissa ;
and that those who are unjustly confined in Refugee Camps will be free to return to their homes. We remember the people who have suffered much for their faith.
Diwali reminds us of the victory through Resurrection of our Lord,
triumphing over the powers of darkness that sent Him to His death”

A belated Happy Diwali to each of you, our readers. God bless !

Update October 31, 2008

Dear Friends and Co-Travelers,

This writer has been silent for over a week now. The physical violence has abated, though we hear news of smaller incidents off and on. And yet, there seems to be a perceptible and generalized hardening of attitudes and hearts towards Christians in the state. The late Swami led the misinformation campaign that India is a Hindu state and Christians should be wiped out. Now there is a subtler campaign that says these Christians have tom-tommed the violence and exaggerated things to attract attention, thereby insulting the fair name of the state.

When you are a small minority, there are so many potential avenues for harassment – a million ways in which pressure can be brought to bear on you. A person told me this week of how he was discharged prematurely from a government hospital as soon as the doctors found out that he was a Christian. The acute fire is over, but the chronic low grade flame is something we are going to have to learn to live with.

But let us not drown in self-pity. Let us thank God for the relative peace and calm.

May I share some words from a person who went home last Sunday for the first time since the riots. “Tears filled my eyes at the sight of the village where I had grown up. My beloved house was totally destroyed and burnt down. The whole street was devastated. The context of my childhood memories was erased. I went across to our damaged church expecting to find it empty on this Sunday morning. But it was chock full. There was no empty space. With so many denominational churches destroyed, everybody had gathered in the only one standing – Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals……….. All together, praying and singing and worshipping with abandon. All they had was gone. They had nothing more to lose. What more could happen. So they got together to praise God. Much to the consternation and quiet surprise of the security forces who are posted around to guard them. Amazing Grace !”

So with all the darkness of pain and loss, of violence and forced conversions, the sun keeps peeping out from behind the clouds, reminding us that evil never has the last word. That the Sun will rise again. That after every night, will come a new day. And we pray and wait for daybreak.

Thank you for your continued presence with us.

Update October 21, 2008

The news we hear is of positive and negative incidents, both of which are unconfirmed. Be careful when you get SMS messages saying violence has broken out and someone has been killed. It’s impossible to date these or confirm them. There is also a news report from a village near Tikabali, that the surviving community has requested their neighbours who now live in relief camps to come back ; that they may live together in peace, and worshiping their own Gods. I hope this is true, and that much more of this will happen.
We also hear of protests by groups of women against the arrests of their menfolk. After all, they had done the same kind of violence in December, and nothing happened to them. Why this time ? The protests are against the Central Police Forces who are not necessarily party to the local pressures.
There is a very interesting article I saw on the net that I would like to share here. It raises the critical questions that we have debated a month ago. I haven’t seen these discussed elsewhere. Sudhir Patnaik asks –

1. Why didn’t the Sangh Parivar protect the Swami ?
2. Why hasn’t the role of the “outsiders” in the districts been recognized and publicized ; the tradesmen from the plains, who are upper caste, and formed the base of the RSS, VHP, BJP and Congress in the district, provided the platform for Swami Lokananda and his social engineerin campaigns. Their numbers have increased 140 times over and they control the fertile lands and the businesses in the district. They are the ones who stood to gain by all this, and they brainwashed the tribal community into this anti-Christian frenzy.
3. What has happened to the tribal leadership, that they were able to wreak violence on their own members also, just because they were Christian ? Who are they and what are their political ambitions ?

I strongly recommend a reading of the following article:

Violence Against Humanity

Editorial , Samadrusti, September 1-15 issue

The brutal killing of Swami Lakshmanananda and his four associates at Jalespata in Kandhamal district on 23rd August 2008 could not be averted though the state had received all prior information about it.. This speaks volumes about the ultimate failure of the state and the Sangh Pariwar in protecting his life. Though the Swami had been spreading hatred against the minority Christians for the last 30 years, he had received no such threats from this community in the past. People associated with Lakshmanananda knew it pretty well that the alleged mortal attack on him in last December which was widely propagated throughout the state was just a drama and had been constructed to create communal tension in the district. The Swami had never been attacked anytime in the past though he was always traveling across villages dominated by minority Christians. The purpose of saying all these here is to suggest that since Lakshmanananda had received no such real threats to his life in the past, the warnings he received prior to his death should have been taken quite seriously by the State as well as the Sangh Pariwar.
Since the state is burning under communal fire since August 23rd , and the government is helplessly surrendering before Lord Jagannath to save the state, it is becoming evident that had the Sangh Pariwar sincerely wanted, it could have prevailed upon its obedient Navin Govt. to provide security to Lakshmananda. It could have also engaged its own armed goons to prevent this mishap, the same goons who have been reigning supreme since 23rd August.It is difficult to uderstand why Sangh Pariwar did not take threats to the Swami’s life as seriously as it took the task of avenging his killing. This has baffled all conscientious citizens of the state. It is just not a matter of coincidence that the Sangh Pariwar has stood firmly against all peaceful democratic mass movements protesting against displacement. Rather, it has supported state interventions against the peoples’ movements. Whenever the anti-displacement leaders and activists are branded as Maoists, the Sangh Pariwar people are the first ones to join the chorus . They also demand firm action against such leaders and activists. Today, when the Govt. of the state is running under their shadow, and the Govt. is claiming that it is an act of the Maoists, what makes them disbelieve such claims? We believe that the violence unleashed on minority Christians since 23rd August 2008 has been happening under the indirect patronage of the state Govt. Certain developments are really disturbing us.

1.      Why the Sangh Pariwar and the state did not take any step to prevent the killing of Lakshmanananda?
2.      Why the Govt. didn’t take any immediate steps to stop the organized violence of the Sangh Pariwar though it was anticipated ? The Govt. could have made preventive arrests of key Sangh Pariwar leaders prior to the Bandh call given in 25 th August . It could have issued shoot-at-sight orders aiming at all potential rioters. It could have deployed paramilitary forces at all sensitive places. It could have called an all-party meeting seeking support of all party leaders to ensure peace and normalcy in the state.
3.      It could have deputed the moderate elements in the BJP segment of its cabinet to Kandhamal district, and put pressure on the rioters to regulate them.
4.      It could have stopped the funeral procession of Lakshmanananda from covering a distance of 200 kms, and thus allow violence on minorities all along the path of procession.
5.      The Chief Minister could have personally appealed to the people to maintain peace by assuring them that his government is taking all appropriate measures to nab the culprits who commited the murder of Swami.

The role of all mainstream political parties is equally condemnable. The local leaders of the main opposition Congress party are mostly with Sangh Pariwar, which is the reason why violence on minorities could not be prevented even in pockets where Congress party has got good influence. The local leaders of the Congress have always extended good help to Swami Lakshmanananda whenever the Swami had organized  yajnas or other communal rituals.If one recalls the kind of role that Congress did play during the Gujarat riots and in the days following the riots, one would find a similar role played by the Congress in Orissa in the Kandhamal situation. The Secretary of Kandhamal Kui Samaj, Lambodar Kanhar, must be watching the way his association with the Sangh Pariwar is taking an ugly turn. By nurturing political ambitions in him, Sangh Pariwar has been planning to take undue advantage of its relationship with the Kui Samaj. Let me recall here that the rest of the leaders of Kui Samaj are yet to be wholly influenced by Sangh ideology. Kui Samaj consists of tribals belonging to Hindu as well as Christian communities, but Lambodar, through his program of action, has given the impression that the Kui Samaj belongs only to Hindu tribals. The Bandh call given by Kui Samaj on the Christmas day last year bears testimony to this. The demographic profile of Kandhamal suggests that in the last 40 years, the population of outsiders having migrated into the district has increased by 140% . They are all non-tribals and non-Dalits, who mostly belong to the upper castes – Brahmins, Karans , Telis, Sundhis, Kumudis, etc. They do trade and business with tribals and Dalits. The stories of oppression involving them can be narrated separately. Most of the fertile lands in the district are under the control of these trading communities. They are the people who provide a good base to all Sangh Pariwar outfits who operate in the district. Whenever there has been communal violence in the district, the role of such people is questionable.

The way the armed goons of Sangh Pariwar took total control of the state on 25th August while observing Bandh , the way the teachers of Sarashwati Sishu Mandir took active part in the Bandh, one can imagine what would happen if BJP comes to power on its own strength. These are the teachers supposed to build the future and the character of innocent children. Can we call them teachers who are unhesitantly spreading hatred and violence among the people ? The reporting of the Bandh in the media was equally distasteful. The state is already in news for its irresponsible journalists. Any one who reads the reports of the events since August will also have similar views.

The minority Christians of Kandhamal have taken shelter in the villages of neighbouring districts. In many villages, the Hindus have come forward to provide them shelter and food, which is taken as a true demonstration of their Hindu identities. Some of the Hindus, in Kandhamal, while trying to save the lives of minority Christians have also laid down their own lives in the hands of Sangh Pariwar goons. They all deserve to be saluted. The Editor himself has received many telephone calls from Hindus desperately seeking support to save the lives of minority Christians. The incidences of burning of houses, killing, and migration of hundreds of thousands of minorities to safer places by taking along with them kids and pregnant women through deserted routes without any food and water have hurt many of the Hindus in the district. They are all blaming the killers of Lakshmanananda for helping Sangh Pariwar to create such an adverse situation for the minorities. Now the question comes : Who is a real Hindu ? All these people, or the ones who are out in the streets holding the plaques of Sangh Pariwar and creating bloodshed ? The Hindus have never given the contract of defending their own religion to the Sangh Pariwar.

We also demand that the killing of Lakshmanananda should be independently investigated into. The real intentions of the killer should be brought to light. The culprits must be punished. But there should also be an independent investigation into any alleged conversion or re-conversion which has created lot of heat among the religious leaderships in the state. Any forced conversion or re-conversion must be stopped. We have very little hope that the Navin Pattnaik Govt. will be able to do it. The number of progressive and sensitive individuals in the state is also on the decline. Otherwise there should have been instant protests against such communal violence.

The leaders of the minority communities should work more responsibly. The Sangh Pariwar, which one day had killed Gandhiji, could go to any extent to avenge the killing of one of its frontline leaders. It is not important for them to know who has killed the Swami. The main purpose is how to organize many more killings of minorities in response to such a killing. We have to remember one fact that our children will never forgive us in the future if we remain as silent spectators to the making of a history based on hatred and communal animosity.

Sudhir Pattnaik

A Prayer For Today October 17, 2008

We pray the beautiful poem-prayer from Rabindranath Tagore

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action.
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.”

And we remember the Dalit Christians of Kondhamal District. People whose minds know only fear, and whose heads are held low. Just as they were a hundred years ago. Before the Missionaries taught them that they are precious in the eyes of God and created in His image. And before the Indian Constitution taught them that they are equal, free citizens of India. Pushed back a hundred years.

And we pray again for justice, for peace and for healing.

Stray Thoughts October 13, 2008

1.    Some people who hold the strings, obviously think they are very clever. They have planned this cyclone of terror against Christians to achieve their objectives. For some, it is subjugation of a dalit community to win a caste struggle. To others, it is just a question of votes ; vilify the minority to consolidate the majority votes. All sorts of rationale is used to form the platform. The execution has been calculated, planned and efficiently carried out. But there are three factors they seem to have missed or left out in their calculations, that could undermine their results.

A.    The Philosophy of the Cross : They fail to realize that Christians are groomed to expect persecution. The central symbol of Christianity is the Cross, the medieval equivalent of a Hangman’s Noose or the Guillotine. Our faith is centred around the fact that God loves us so much, that He chooses to die for us. And if that is the fate of the Guru, what more can the Shishya ask for ? The true Christian response to Persecution is totally different from what is expected of other communities. I am afraid the planners of the Hate and Destroy Campaign have missed this reality.

B. The History of the Church : All of 2000 years of Church History is replete with persecution and suffering, soaked in the blood of martyrs. And wherever attempts were made to suppress the Church, it boomeranged – be it in Rome, in USSR or in China. In fact, it is said that the reason the Church in India never grew beyond 2 % is the fact that there was no opposition. The Indian nation was the perfect host, absorbing all religions into its fold. With all this freedom, Christian leaders have constant committed spiritual suicide, limiting themselves by their own corruption and lack of vision. Looks like the Sangh Parivar may have inadvertently changed the equation.

C. God Himself : They had it all worked out – the amount of petrol needed to burn a village, the timing, the roads to be blocked by tree felling, the strategy, the probable police response etc etc. But they failed to include God in their calculations. And that’s a huge variable to leave out. All the equations are fine ; but if God decides to intervene, all the calculations will be in vain.

Three missing factors that may well turn the equation upside down.

2.    We continue to hear reports (missed by the media) of rallies and inflammatory speeches being made in Kalahandi and Bolangir districts. Is the ground being prepared for the next round ?

3.    Please continue to pray. Pray especially for our youth, that they may not take the law into their own hands. We can imagine their anger, frustration and hurt ; and the attraction of groups like the Maoists. But violence is never the answer. So pray that we as a people, may keep our eyes fixed on our Lord, broken and crucified. That we may place our own pains and hurt and anger at the foot of the Cross. That we may let go, knowing that He says “Vengeance is mine. It is mine to repay”. We must not retaliate. Turning the other cheek was not just a suggestion or an allegory. It was an imperative. As Kenny Rogers sings – It don’t mean you’re weak if you turn the other cheek.

The country is going up in flames. One more church attacked in Karnataka today. 6 burnt alive in Andhra yesterday. Riots in Burhanpur in MP. Terrorism breeds counter-terrorism. Somebody has to show another way. We do not have a Mahatma Gandhi in our midst. But can we the Christian community respond differently as our name implies ?

The Fire Spreads: October 11, 2008

Less Here ; More There ; Retreat Here ; Advance There

Dear Friends and Fellow-Travelers,

Thank you for continuing to come back to touch base, in spite of the general feeling that it’s all over. It isn’t. Let us update you.

In Kondhamal, there is a lull. The Relief Camp Dwellers euphemistically call it their Puja Holiday. Day curfew has been withdrawn ; night curfew continues. Those who have lost their homes cannot leave the Camps for want of anywhere to go to. Those who can flee the district or even the state, are doing so while the going is good. The District Administration is allowing secular and Christian agencies to provide medical aid in the Camps. So can we assume all is hunky dory in Kondhamal? No way. There continue to be raids and arrests of erstwhile rioters ; and then agitations by the women against these arrests. All this should keep the pot on the boil, right till the elections. And the BJP is laughing all the way to the vote bank !

On the other hand, the violence is leaking out to the peri-Kondhamal areas. The district is geographically the central highlands of Orissa. The violence is now trickling down to the adjacent areas.

In Kalahandi District, there is a lot of mobilization going on in the Kesinga area of Kalahandi. Rallies, meetings, hot speeches – all aimed at igniting trouble. On Sunday, the 5th of October, the CNI Church in a village called Sikuli was attacked by mobs, possibly from neighbouring villages or maybe from Kondhamal District. There had been threats to the Christian families there earlier, parallel with the Kondhamal violence. They had been given “last dates” for leaving the area. And then that night, a mob arrived. They broke and burnt the Church, and 4 or 5 christian houses adjacent to it. The people fled to the nearby forests. As with the Kondhamal modus operandi, trees had been felled to keep the police forces from reaching. The Collector, SP and others managed to reach in the early morning hours, by which time the attackers were safely away. Tension persists there, and in the areas around. Rumours are rife that more villages have been attacked, but they are unconfirmed as yet.

Kalahandi District is known in the national media as the epicenter of misery, starvation and distress sale of children. While all that has been true at different points in the past, what is less recognized is that at the same time, the district also produces a significant proportion of the rice in the state. And the sociology of the district is complex, with a clear belt running through the district of Marwari-dominated towns. The Marwaris are a business community, that migrated here decades ago from north-west India ; their hold runs through Kesinga-Bhawanipatna-Dharamgod-Khariar Road and on to Raipur, the capital of neighbouring Chattisgarh. Our information was that they had by and large stayed out of the violence of August-September, except for bank-rolling the attacks in Muniguda town. We could be wrong on this, but it was interesting that Kalahandi was relatively less burnt in the initial phase of violence. But something is happening there now; we just hope the powerful Marwari people continue to stay out of it. In riots, everybody finally loses – even business.

In Boudh District, also adjoining Kondhamal, 15 houses were burnt down in Lansaripalli village on Thursday, the 9th of October. This was reportedly by mobs from Gochhapada in Kondhamal, who crossed the district border to push their agenda of hate. (This is the place where a police station had been burnt down last month). According to the newspaper, the Hindu, this is the third such incident in Boudh in the last few days, raising the number of houses burnt to more than 100.

In Malkangiri District, on Friday, October 10th, 15 people were injured in a fight between Christians and Hindus. This may be unrelated to the Hate Campaign, as it seems to have started as an argument over puja celebrations. But right now, all of Orissa is a tinderbox with religious politicians of all hues willing to raise the pitch at every possible point.

The signs are not good. If the heat is now being built up in Kalahandi and Boudh, and if the groups in Kondhamal are exporting their hate campaign, then the game plan is obviously not the around the local, district-specific issues earlier quoted.

In the meantime, we watch parallel developments in horror :

Churches in Tamil Nadu seem to be getting hit by stone-throwing, motor-cyclists with dreadful regularity. Dharapuram, Mettupalayam, Erode, Coimbatore and now Chennai? The police have arrested suspects who belong to the Hindu Munnani.

The local news in Orissa says the 3 main culprits in the sad rape of a nun in K.Nuagaon on 25th August, have just been found – in Kerala ! They were hiding in Palghat district. What’s the Kerala connection, we wonder. Some of you may have heard one Father in the August phase of the violence who says he definitely heard two people in the violent mob talking in Malayalam ! We didn’t think much of it till now. Is there a connection ?

A hitherto unheard of organization called the Hindu Jagaran Samukhya (HJS) has been doing the press circuit for a few weeks now. One Ashok Sahu is its head, and they make atrocious pronouncements every day. The present line is that he has a signed document in which a group of Christian leaders agreed together at a meeting in Bethikala Church to murder the Swami ! He then jumps to the line that Christians are funding naxalites. And so on. Lots of nuisance value.

What scares us just a little less than the Hindu Fundamentalist groups, are the Christian Fundamentalist groups. It can get fashionable to talk of Persecution with a capital P. The groups want mascots, and we do not want to be theirs. They are very poor at talking with anyone outside their circle, and so the lingo also can appear quaint. For them it is an opportune rallying point ; for us it is our lives on the line. And let us be very clear ; we do not believe in Fundamentalism and Holier-Than-Thou-ism. We are just ordinary people, who find our meaning and role model in Jesus Christ. We finally need to return to Him ; the core of our faith. One loses perspective and balance when one allows the details to overwhelm the centre. And so we ask you to please continue to walk the journey with us ; pray for us ; reflect with us ; as we discover the meaning of the Cross in what has till now been for us a very cushioned Christianity.

Patterns of Violence October 5, 2008

The violence continues. Thanks to the national newspaper – The Hindu – and it’s decision to take the horrendous crimes to the front page, suddenly there is a flurry of activity again – in the media and in the government. The cover-up of the rape of a Sister, and the torture of a Father, was exposed. So finally the police officer has been pulled up and some noises of action made.

There appears to be some changes in the patterns of violence, as far as we can see. We may be wrong, but here’s what it looks like :

Violence Against Christians in Kondhamal District and Orissa after Swami Lokananada was shot dead allegedly by Maoists :

Phase 1 : 24 – 25 August 2008 :

Angry crowds, seemingly spontaneously hitting out at the Christian community, after they were told by the VHP leaders like Pravin Togadia that the Christians killed the Swami. On the 24th, the violence was mostly in Kondhamal district, ahead of and alongside the funeral procession of the Swami, as it was taken winding around the district. All Christian houses, NGOs and Churches beside which they chose to take the procession, got hit and destroyed. On the 25th, while it was vicious in Kondhamal itself, it also took off simultaneously in most districts of the state – with varying amounts of loss of life and property, but terrorizing the Christian community all the same. It was to a plan ; there was a clear method to the madness, but it was given the cloak of a spontaneous outpouring of grief and anger, as if that justified the destruction. In Kondhamal, the purpose was to terrorise and chase out all Christian leaders, while giving a brief orientation to the future for the rest of the state.

Phase 2 : 26th August to 28th September 2008 :

The riots ebbed in all the other districts, some immediately, others more slowly. But in Kondhamal it continued. The pattern here changed. Now it was mobs of Kondh people, initially men and then later on women. The men attacked houses of Christians – both dalit and tribal. The women put pressure on those in the Relief Camps, and those police forces who had dared to arrest any of their men. It was more like guerilla warfare, and what was visible was the tribal groups, and not the non-tribal business-men and government staff who hold the strings and fuel the war. Damage was extensive –  a communal purging of the district of all Christians. It was made to appear like a predominantly tribal versus dalit issue, but nobody explains why Christian tribal villages were also hit, while Hindu dalit streets were left out. This phase went up and down for a whole month. And of course why this was accompanied by a massive campaign of forced conversion of trembling Christians to Hinduism (or what they claim is Hinduism)

And then the District Administration tried a new strategy to stop the violence – they called the tribal leaders for dialogue. They asked them what their demands are. They got the Chief Minister to come in and promise the sun, the moon and the stars. The tribal leaders talked of peace. An all-religions meeting was held on 29th September to appeal for peace. It looked like at least a temporary truce was being negotiated. But within hours, that same night, Phase 3 took off.

Phase 3 : 29th September night – ? (continuing now)

This is a violence of a different kind ; with bombs and outright murder ; frank criminals with no need for niceties ; probably criminal mobs from outside the district. It started with 3 hand-made bombs being thrown into the relief camps on the 29th night. Around 3:00 am on the 30th, ferocious, vicious attacks started in Rudhingia village near Udaygiri. Here, murder was the agenda. This went on to engulf other villages too.

Finally, on the 30th night, the Police cracked down on the leaders behind the violence – the leaders of the VHP and BJP in the district. These people, who are mostly traders from the coastal districts who have moved into Kondhamal, are the backbone of the Sangh Parivar apparatus in the district. Till now, the police were arresting only the chaps with the lathis and swords in their hands. For the first time, they now started arresting the leaders behind them – the non-tribal businessmen. Why now ? After 37 days of violence and destruction ? Why not earlier ? Was some permission from the top needed to move against the men of the party in power ?

We do not know what will happen in the coming days ; what diabolical plan the VHP and Bajrang Dal will come up with next. In the meantime, the poor nun has spoken on TV (by telephone) confirming that she was assaulted, stripped, paraded and raped. The Central Government is threatening to dismiss the state government and declare Presidents Rule. In our opinion, that would be a mistake. It would make a martyr out of Naveen Patnaik, who has just won the Municipality Elections on the wave of Communal Riots and Devastating Floods. This is all he needs to divert the election subject further from the real issues of the state.

What then can make a difference ?

• Media coverage – so that more and more people recognize the hate-flled face of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal

• The normal, moderate, good Hindu needs to stand up and say, as Karan Thapar did, that the VHP and the Bajrang Dal does not represent them or their faith. The silence of the majority allows the lunatic fringe to usurp the centre stage.

• The Coalition Partners of the BJP need to be approached and embarrassed. The studied silence of the other NDA parties – the TDP, the AIADMK, the Akali Dal et al – needs to be challenged. Why aren’t they being interviewed on talk shows ? Why only the BJP and the Congress ? Lets hear Chandrababu Naidu or Jayalalitha or Omar Abdullah or the Badal clan, tell the nation and their voters, where they stand on this violence ? The BJP needs their votes. This campaign won’t end as long as it is seen as vote-winning strategy. It will be called off only when they think it will hurt their vote-banks, or at least those of their partners. These are the unexpected fruits of democracy in our country.

Think of ways you can help. Not by taking off for Orissa with a truck-load of blankets or second-hand clothes. Think differently. For example, can the good schools in the south keep some seats open for dalit children from Kondhamal, so that they can grow up away from the hatred and fear ; make a foundation for their future and their families ? Is that an option ? Will these families ever be able to live in Kondhamal again ? We don’t know. To re-locate, they are going to need support. Who will do this ? And so on. Think ; pray ; put aside ; wait.

Prayer, prayer and more prayer. Pray for the victims. Pray for the perpetrators. Pray for a change in all our hearts, that we may learn to love, to respect and to forgive, even when our hearts are breaking, and our knees are shaking.

God Bless !

Remembering Gandhiji October 2, 2008

We taught the world Ahimsa – the power of non-violence ; the use of soul-force. Cling to the truth, he said. In this time of crisis, when it so easy to give up on belief in all that is good and all that is eternal, we specially remember Mahatma Gandhi.

We also remember some of his words that speak in the present situation :

“If someone says that Religion has nothing to do with politics, he doesn’t know what religion is”

“You have to become the change you want to bring about”

“I will open the windows of my house ; I will allow the winds of the north, the winds of the south, the winds of the east, and the winds of the west to blow through my house; but I refuse to be blown off my feet”

In an age of little people parading as leaders of people, we miss Gandhiji – and thank God for him.