Saswat Panigrahi
A year after Kandha tribals erupted in fury, the real issues behind the conflict remain unaddressed. An indifferent Orissa Government refuses to recognise the reality
One year on, the agony of Kandhamal is refusing to simmer down. At a time when Kandhamal’s real problems are being disregarded and there is a deliberate miscalculation in handling the crisis by secular fundamentalist media and political parties which pin blame on ‘Hindu groups’, comes a report which not only exposes the allegations against the much-touted ‘Hindu hand’ but also depicts the authentic source of tribal anger.
The report, titled Kandhamal: A Fact File by Michael Parker, published by India Foundation, reveals that the violent upheaval in Kandhamal is rooted in its socio-demographic history. Parker is a Washington based researcher of ancient indigenous cultures of the world and their role in a globalised society. “A social chaos, similar to that experienced by American tribes threatened the cultural stability of the entire region,” the report says.
Kandhamal has two distinct inhabitants -- the tribal Kandhas and the Schedule Caste Panas - their relations have a history of turbulence and the report has brought its genesis. It was during the British period the Panas made a ‘momentous choice’ of coming closer to the Christian missionary and eventually converted to the Christianity. However, for Kandhas, Christianity was closely identified with the British colonial powers that they have battled in at least eight different wars.
The problem arises, says the report, when Christian Panas are unwilling to forgo the benefits of being a member of Scheduled Caste. “Not only have the Christian Panas obscured their religious identities as Christians, they have submitted fake certificates identifying themselves as members of the Kandha tribal community,” the report says. These certificates are used to usurp land, Govt jobs and academic opportunities reserved for the Kandhas. Alienation of tribal land is the foundation of the Kandha-Pana turmoil. “Kandhas were blatantly disinherited from their lands for generations,” the report says adding, “Another major complication related to the land issue is that posed by Christians use of encroached lands to build churches.” Despite Indian law prohibits sale of tribal land to non-tribals, Odisha Government official report says 52 per cent of Kandhas own less than 10 per sent of the land in the district.
“Adding yet another layer of turmoil to the situation, the Christian Panas began a movement demanding official recognition as a Schedule Tribe,” the report says on Kui controversy. Kui is the native language of Kandhas. The amended central Scheduled Tribe list included the ‘Kui community’ in the ST category. Parker report quotes two schools of thoughts in dealing with the controversy. A section of experts on tribal affairs says Kui means Kandha and there is no need to add Kui in the Central Scheduled Tribe list, where as another section says the word Kui is used not in terms of language but in reference to a tribe.
“The records and the facts prove that Panas are not and have never been a tribe in accordance to the guidelines set by the Indian Constitution,” Parker says.
“Thus the Kandhas are understandably in an uproar over the loss of opportunity. A system that was designed to alleviate their poverty and social stagnation has been hijacked and their woes compounded,” the report states. “The dire consequences of a trauma denied and unresolved are always sudden and explosives…It is obvious that it is a primary cause of the turmoil at the heart of Kandhamal’s crisis,” it observes.
Another ominous side of Kandha-Pana divide, as brought out by the report is the shadow of the Maoists in the region, who take advantage of the situation. “The tension between the Christian Panas and Kandhas is so tangible that it has been identified as a strategic opportunity for the Maoists,” the report says. It further adds, “The enmity between the Maoists and Kandhas (after Kandha’s 2002 declaration of war against Maoists) created the dynamic for a Maoist-Christian Pana alliance.” This provides the Maoists a reliable source of recruits. And from the Christian Pana perspective the Maoists became a powerful weapon to use against the Kandhas.
The report has taken note of foreign sources of funding which continue to pour into Christian coffers. The Odisha Government record says an amount of Rs 4,215, 585,000 (approximately $100 million) of foreign funds went to such groups from 1999 to 2003 which are allegedly being used to convert people away from their native faiths.
The report quoted the documental evidence of the murder conspiracy of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, who fought against fraudulent conversion and cow-slaughter, by the evangelists, uncovered by Ashok Sahu, senior Odisha BJP leader and former Assam ADGP.
“He was attacked on multiple occasions and it was a common knowledge that every attack had been at the hands of the Christian extremist,” the report says, adding “The Swami appears to have been killed by a conspiratorial alliance of Pana Christians and Maoists.”
The Congress-led UPA did not pay heed to the request of Odisha Government to control the violence that followed the Swami’s killing, the report says. “As violence swept across Kandhamal the Government of Odisha issued an official request for assistance from the Central Government of India. The Congress controlled UPA Government refused to cooperate. The State of Odisha was subsequently obliged to file a petition with the Courts. Only after the judicial branch ordered the Central Government to provide assistance, were peacekeeping forces sent and funds allocated towards the State’s request,” it says.
The report has also brought out the State of Odisha’s miscalculation in handling the emergency that followed the violence in which both Kandhas and Panas were affected. “As Pana Christians sat cozily in relief camps getting food, medicine and shelter, the Kandha had no refuge or food,” it says. Deprived of the relief the Kandhas took shelter in jungle. “Kandhas were arrested arbitrarily. Daily labourers and wage earners remained hungry and tribal women rallied for relief….Night raids and arrests on trumped up charges based solely on Christian Pana complaints combined with allegations of sexual harassment of Kandha women, theft, raids on livestock and food by CRPF troops had the Kandhas up in arms,” the report adds.
Further, the report has brought out the Kandhamal nun rape accusation and media’s ‘carte blanche’ acceptance while promoting the allegations as proven facts. Parker has raised some moot questions in his report that suggest that the claims of the nun were in a constant state of flux. In her initial complaint the nun did not mention the rape, but it was added to her testimony a full 24 hours later. Forensic evidence revealed that the nun was sexually active, no vaginal injuries signifying rape was found yet semen was recovered and no evidence of rape was found upon the clothes of the nun in the tests conducted by Odisha State Forensic Science Lab.
“The media, rather than relying in facts, went overboard in misinterpreting the case and the creation of an alternative reality that fit their pre conceived agendas,” Parker says.
India has survived repeated onslaughts of foreign forces. Kandhamal is an example. There was an international conspiracy to defame Odisha and India. In Parker’s word, “Various Leftists commentators, empowered by the Globalist-controlled media outlets added their illogical rationales to India’s anti-indigenous combine. It has been suggested that some among these powers have a definite role to play in the Kandhamal violence.” Time will reveal the conspiratorial roles in Kandhamal mayhem.
-- This is an extended version of the article published in the Op-Ed page of The Pioneer on November 9, 2009
Also read:
No comments:
Post a Comment