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History

What’s Happening in Kondhamal?

December 2007

Introduction :

The district of Kondhmal in Orissa was engulfed in communal riots that began on Christmas Eve 2007, destroying buildings and infrastructure worth crores of rupees, and reducing communities to poverty and vulnerability in hours. The targets seemed to have been Christian Institutions and Churches on the one hand, and houses in selected streets (Christian and Hindu) in specific villages. The list of buildings destroyed is controversial and difficult to assess, as the government has banned even relief teams and national leaders from entering the district. But some numbers quoted by the NCCI and CBCI are 5 large churches, 48 village churches, 5 residences of religious sisters, 5 houses of priests, 7 hostels for 800 children, 2 vocational centres, 500 houses and 126 shops. Reports have also been made of destruction of offices of Christian NGOs like World Vision. Houses destroyed have been of both Christian and Hindu families. It is clear that the Government and the District Administration failed to prevent or control the mobs immediately, but however swung into action to limit further campaigns of rioting.

The triggering incidents occurred at Bramunigaon, with the vandalizing of Christmas decorations. Reports spread that the VHP leader Swami Lokananda was attacked and injured by Christian mobs. (Whether this was true or not is unclear ; we hear his entourage was attacked by a Christian group in response to the disruption of Christmas celebrations) Almost immediately, the Catholic Church campus in Baliguda town was ransacked. And mobs were all over the district. In Brahmunigaon, the Church, 7 selected Christian houses and some shops were destroyed. The Oriya Hindu Street of maybe 300 houses was burnt down. The worst damage was in Barakhama village where a huge crowd looted and totally destroyed the Christian street of maybe 300 houses, beside the churches and vehicles. The same was enacted in numerous villages of the district. Trees were felled on all roads to slow the arrival of police. Some police stations were also attacked. Reports of deaths appear to be relatively less; maybe 5 or more people were killed in the rioting. But the target was the infrastructure of the Church and the economic security of the people.

By the time the Government got around to action and called in central forces, thousands were homeless and scattered in the forests, facing the severe winter with no food, no clothes, no shelter. The presence of central forces brought the mobs under control, at least in the main road areas. Relief Camps have been set up in schools. But the Government claimed exclusive right to providing relief, saying that any outsiders coming in could aggravate the situation. Or was that a cover up ? The government’s history with disaster relief even in a non-partisan situation like a cyclone was not the best. There are stories of poor quality materials and discriminatory distribution in the camps. Given that the right-wing BJP is half the present government, there are understandable doubts about how neutral or biased the administration is. In fact, the Governemnt quickly transferred out the heads of administration and police after the riots, and brought in more credible officers.

As of now, most people appear to have returned to their villages, except for those who have nothing to return to, and those who live in total fear. Compensation has been announced for those who lost their houses or their lives – but it is never anything near what one had earlier. Nobody is talking about compensation for the churches destroyed. Instead, accusations are being thrown every day against Christians, saying they are responsible for this situation. Fingers are pointed at missionaries alleging forced conversions, financing of Naxalites, instigating violence etc etc. None of this explains the bald truth – that it is Churches that were destroyed.

The suddenness and ferocity of the campaign has left us in the Christian community in Orissa bewildered and shocked ; feeling vulnerable and confused. It appears that this was a well-planned, pre-meditated and orchestrated action, that manipulated and used pre-existing caste differences to achieve momentum. Is this the Gujarat model being implemented now in Orissa ? And the cycle of heating up, hitting and then confusing the issues by blaming the victims, seems to be working. The perpetrator claims victim status. Other peripheral issues are highlighted to obfuscate the main facts. Naxalism and Terrorism and other such scary words are thrown in to make the victims look evil. And so on. The machine rolls on.

Questions abound. Will Christians, who already come from the most marginalized social groups, decide it is too much to fight the Sangh Parivar and the Government, and choose for the “Ghar Vapasi” (return home – or convert “back” to Hinduism) being offered to them by the Hindu right ? Isn’t that the worst example of conversion by fraudulent means and coercion ? Will the campaign of hate be spread to other districts ? There is an election due in a years time ; is this the beginning of the election campaign ? Is the clean gentleman image of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik being used as a cover (like the “mask” of Vajpayee) while a communal machine is being put in place? Is this the future?

We do not know. But it is important to try and understand what is happening, and the ingredients that allowed such a tragedy to occur ; to peel of the layers of disinformation and selective media reporting ; to listen to voices from the ground. We may get it wrong, but we can only call it as we see it.

Background :

Demographic Picture :

Kondhmal District (formerly known as Phulbani District) is the geographical heart of Orissa – a predominantly tribal district, with mountains, forests and streams ; the home of the Kui Kondh peoples. According to the Census 2001, the population of the district was as follows :

Historically, the Kondh Hills of Phulbani were the exclusive domain of the Kondhs and the Pano’s. The impenetrable forests were not considered inhabited by the British till their first military brush with the Kondh people in the 1850’s. It is said that the first European to reach uptil Baliguda was the Baptist missionary, John Goadby, in 1862. Traders from the plains of Ganjam followed the British in and set up business settlements, that are now the small towns of Kondhmal.

The main interaction of the British government with the region was in the Meriah Wars, when they tried to forcibly stamp out the Kondh ritual of human sacrifice. This is well documented by Felix Padel in “The Sacrifice of the Human Being”.

The Church in Kondhmal :

The history of the Church in the area is documented by Barbara Boal in the book – The Church in the Kondh Hills. Baptist Missionaries like John Goadby, John Biswas etc lived and died to reach the people with the good news that God loves them. The Mission set up many Schools, and established the Mooreshead Memorial Hospital at Udayagiri in the 1930’s. In the sixties, this hospital was arguably one of the best in the state, with surgery by Dr Stanley Thomas sought by people from all over Orissa. Their School of Nursing was also famous and pioneering. All this wound down gradually and at present is rudimentary in nature, more closed than open in the last decade. The other Church with a long and extensive presence in Kondhamal is the Catholic Church. Less strict and more colourful than the Baptists, many joined up. And as usual, the Catholic Church invested on people ; building schools, convents and health centres. The buildings and infrastructure of the Catholic Church in Kondhmal is very visible as one drives through the district, and the dedication and service of sisters and fathers to the marginalized is well known.

In recent years, there have been numerous new churches that crop up all over, eating into the numbers of the main two – the Baptists / CNI and the Catholic Church. These include the Korea-based Good News Church and the Kerala-based Believers Church, besides various Pentecostal Churches.

The Census 2001 says that 18 % of the people in the district are Christians. The impression is that a large percentage of the Dalit (SC) community and a lesser yet significant percentage of the Adivasi (ST) community are Christian. The impact of this has been on the education level, social standing, dignity, life-styles and socio-economic status of these otherwise marginalized communities.

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