SAFFRON TERROR

The continuing large-scale violence targeting Christians in Orissa’s Kandhamal district is indicative of a constitutional breakdown in the area. More than a month after the organised violence broke out in the wake of the August 23 murder of an anti-conversion Hindutva activist, Swami Lakmananda, by suspected Maoist elements; the district continues to be out of bounds for the secular constitution and the rule of law. Numerous atrocities have been committed – including murder, rape, arson, assaults on Christians, their churches, and service institutions, the intimidation of Dalits to make them give up the Christian faith, and the conversion of large number of people into refugees. However, the state government’s response to the crisis has been worse than inept.
What is evident from the published accounts of the victims, clerical and lay, is that in several instances the police have watched the atrocities in silence. They have refused to register cases – even when the crime was murder – on the basis of complaints made by such affected families. Such extreme indifference suggests complicity of a dangerous political kind. So bad was the situation that the Orissa High court had to direct the Superintendent of Police of Kandhamal district to take stringent action against policemen found sympathising with the rioters. The rape of a 28 year old nun and the brutal assault of a priest on August 25 at K.Nuangaon took place in front of a police outpost. It was only after the media focussed its attention on the shocking case that it was handed over to the state police’s crime branch, four persons were arrested, and the inspector in charge of the Baliguda police station was placed under suspension. Unfortunately, under the circumstances, there will be little confidence that any arm of the state police can uphold the law, free from political interference.
The issue didn’t end with Orissa. Within weeks the wave of brutal attacks against Christians spread to other parts of the country. Prayer halls in Karnataka and Jharkhand started to be attacked by Pro-Hindutva activists and a person was even stabbed. The Bharatiya Janatha Party has been in power for less than five months in Karnataka, but the saffron brotherhood has already begun to flex its muscles in a show of strength and given a previously peaceful state, a saffron tint. The BJP is has started using Karnataka as the gateway for its southern conquests and plans to adopt a “Gujarat model” of development; a phrase that send a chill through the minority groups. The military precision with which the attacks are being carried out show that these have been done after meticulous planning and that it is not an uprising of individuals or common people.
It is high time to enforce the rule of law upon Sangh Parivar organisations which blatantly flaunt their decisive ideas. After Gujarat they have now taken Orissa as their laboratory for creating a “Hindu Rashtra”. Within just months coming to power in Karnataka, they have already started unleashing releasing religious terrorism in this previously peaceful state with respect to religious matters. Even after there was ample evidence that the Swami Lakshmananda was murdered by Maoists, the VHP general secretary, Praveen Togadia made a statement that the killing was carried out by Christians. Several other Sangh Parivar leaders like Gauri Prasad Rath, Subhash Chavan, Ram Madhav, Kuppahalli Sudarshan, etc have been engaged in delivering similar messages filled with contempt against “the candle bearers” and inciting violence against the Christian community. Such irresponsible statements should be met with the full force of law. They are all culpable for penal action for the crime of creating enmity between communities and religions.
At another level, the situation calls for effective intervention by the central government. Up to this point, it has done precious little to stop the mischief, with its Article 355 advisories failing to have any effect on the ground. As many as 77 companies of central paramilitary forces are available to the state government but it has avoided their effective deployment to act against the thugs and protect their target. Now after enormous damage has been done, the central cabinet has bestirred itself over the “very grave situation” and Home Minister Shivraj Patil has issued a stern warning to the Patnaik Government and sent its officials to the states to review the situation.
The violence in the states continue without adequate police forces to stop mobs which break curfew and harm innocent civilians, chasing the citizens of this same country like animals in the forests.
In this context, the governments, both at the centre and in the states, should get their act together. Rescue and relief measures for the affected persons, victims should be taken up immediately and the people who have fled into jungles out of fear should be brought back and complete security, food relief, medical treatment and shelter for the homeless should be ensured. Compensation to the next of kin of the deceased persons during the violence should be declared immediately. The government should also bear all the medical expenses of the people who had been injured during the riots. Proper action must be taken against the present state governments for their utter failure of the governance systems to protect the lives, property and dignity of the people and stern action must be against the individuals and organisations, including the ministers and leaders who instigated/ participated / involved in the violence. Equally important, disciplinary action must be taken against senior police officers guilty of dereliction of duty. All the organisations under the Sangh Parivar, especially the Bajrang Dal, VHP, RSS be need to be declared as terrorist organisations and should be put under the same category of other banned organisations in the country with immediate effect for spreading such large scale violence across the nation. In the interest of an objective and speedy investigation, pressure must be brought on state government to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation; if this fails, the higher judiciary can be approached through a petition seeking the transfer of the case, by court order, to the CBI. The killers should be punished in accordance with the law so that the truth is revealed to the common man of this country.