It is within the framework of Communalism can we categorize the non-ceasing violence , the attacks on women, the damages on property and the evident threat to individual self-expression. When religious groups view, a mere arch as a symbolic threat and justify the subsequent violence the situation demands the urgent need for us to revisit our religious doctrines. No religion preaches violence or justifies violence against those different. All religions preach respect towards other faiths and not condemnation. Many of the radical religious groups tend to misinterpret doctrines and spread hatred between communities and religions.
As a country infamous for communal strife, the recent Hindu-Christian clashes in the Kandhamal district of Orissa do not come as a shock. In order to understand the present situation, the events leading to the clashes need to be re-examined in chronological order. The Kandhamal district of Orissa is rich in natural resources with its inhabitants belonging to various tribal communities. The district headquarters is located at Phulbani and Christian population form the majority inhabitants of the Kandhamal region. The ruling government of the state the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and its political ally is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (The pro stand of the ruling government towards radical Hindu groups is no surprise). In the recent times, there has been an increased influence and presence of radical Hindu groups in the area.
Background to the issue:
Religious tensions in the region have been quite high and the communal clashes that happened during December 2007 proved as a strong trigger point for further violence. Initial reports claim that the problems flared up when the Christians belonging to Brahmanigoan decided to erect an arch leading to their church as a part of the Christmas celebrations. With many factors at play the sole incident cannot be simply, taken up as the focal point. Several reasons like the strife between the Kondh-Pana communities, the anti-conversion campaigns by Sangh Parivar, VHP influence, the economic prosperity of the members from the Christian communities etc all acted as catalysts towards the communal tension.
As early as 22nd December the Church authorities informed the Sub-Collector that they apprehended trouble on Christmas and asked the district administration to take the necessary measures to prevent anti-social elements from exploiting the situation to create the trouble. Church authorities informed the Sub-Collector that the Kui Samaj had given a call for a bandh on 25-26 December to press their demands regarding various issues. They requested the district authorities to remain alert and preempt any trouble. On 24th December a group of 150-200 people started demanding that an arch put across the road by Christians should be removed in Brahmanigaon even though the Christian community had received official permission for putting up the pandal and for the use of loud speakers. The district administration confirmed the grant of permission. Two reasons were advanced to halt work on the arches and pandal. (i) It would affect business. (ii) The pandal was sought to be erected on the very site used by the Hindus to celebrate the Durga Puja festival in October. Protestors then sought to close the weekly market on 24 December.(NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MINORITIES - Report of the NCM visit to Orissa, 6-8 January 2008)
The weekly market is the time of good business for all shopkeepers and the Christian shopkeepers all prepared for the festival season refused to comply with the mobs, which resulted in clashes in the area. The Christian owned shops looted, destroyed and the situation aggravated with a report of attack to the vehicle carrying Swami Lakshamanda. The inflamed mobs attacked and destroyed property, inflicted violence and in retaliation, the Christian groups felled trees and blockaded the entry to the villages of the district. While this situation prevailed many of the people fled to the forests to seek asylum from the violence. The attack of the Hindu owned shops by a few Christian groups followed promptly thereby worsening the situation altogether.
The local people retreated to the forests and had to carry on without proper water, food, or sanitation, bear the chillness (A bonfire not alighted, for fear of being spotted) for almost two to three days. They had to endure mental and emotional trauma in addition to the physical hardships of the situation. (There are cases of women who underwent delivery without the essential medical support; Children with no food and water.) Added to this their property was damaged, assets destroyed and looted during the clashes. The amount of Hindus owned property destroyed and damaged is minimal in comparison.
Ever since the violence in December Kandhamal has been the boiling point for communal tensions. The after effects of the December 2007 violence were that the local markets, which were thriving, suffered financial losses. Businesses affected with people still fearing to brave out because of the insecure and violent atmosphere.
The state government officials have also taken sides by rejecting to file FIR’s lodged by the Christians but accepting those from the Hindus. In addition to this the compensation packages provided by the state government was unfair towards the Christians who had suffered a greater part with regard to property losses. In contrast, the Hindu shop owners recompensed for the damages suffered by them. Disregarded in the government compensation package many of the former Christian shop owners reduced to paupers have resorted to loans for rebuilding their businesses.
The lasting damages of communalism like mistrust between religious groups, the continuously prevailing atmosphere of tension, violence and mutual hatred, anger between communities have started to worsen and the number of causalities increasing with the incidents. Similar to numerous other situations women have been the worst hit targets of this conflict. The latest victims of this tragedy are a nun who was gang-raped and a 20-year-old woman from an orphanage immolated. There are also numerous other cases of trauma and assault which have gone unreported.
It has been almost a year since this incident and yet the discontent continues and assaults have aggravated between the religious groups. The communal fervor that has risen because of the presence of the radical Hindu groups needs to be acknowledgment and not sidelining as one among the reasons. The biased attitude and the subjective stand of the State also need to be scrutinized. The trend of justifying violence and employing violence as a means to a fair end by these religious groups has to terminate if justice has to prevail.
Millions of innocents have already fallen victims to the Communal riots and the tensions that are prevailing in the country. Most of the victims are nameless innocents who have had to give up their lives because of the self-indulgence of a few. The powerful political organisations in our country have also adopted the British philosophy of divide and rule targeting as well as threatening the minority groups in the country. By actively supporting extremists’ religious groups, the political groups have gained popularity and used misguided individuals to serve the purpose of vote-banks. In the name of religious revivalisms’ and regaining ethnic ownerships, politicians have effectively manipulated situations to serve their own interests. Numerous lessons from the past are also indicative of the growing shift towards communalism that needs an immediate check and counter.
As a country infamous for communal strife, the recent Hindu-Christian clashes in the Kandhamal district of Orissa do not come as a shock. In order to understand the present situation, the events leading to the clashes need to be re-examined in chronological order. The Kandhamal district of Orissa is rich in natural resources with its inhabitants belonging to various tribal communities. The district headquarters is located at Phulbani and Christian population form the majority inhabitants of the Kandhamal region. The ruling government of the state the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and its political ally is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (The pro stand of the ruling government towards radical Hindu groups is no surprise). In the recent times, there has been an increased influence and presence of radical Hindu groups in the area.
Background to the issue:
Religious tensions in the region have been quite high and the communal clashes that happened during December 2007 proved as a strong trigger point for further violence. Initial reports claim that the problems flared up when the Christians belonging to Brahmanigoan decided to erect an arch leading to their church as a part of the Christmas celebrations. With many factors at play the sole incident cannot be simply, taken up as the focal point. Several reasons like the strife between the Kondh-Pana communities, the anti-conversion campaigns by Sangh Parivar, VHP influence, the economic prosperity of the members from the Christian communities etc all acted as catalysts towards the communal tension.
As early as 22nd December the Church authorities informed the Sub-Collector that they apprehended trouble on Christmas and asked the district administration to take the necessary measures to prevent anti-social elements from exploiting the situation to create the trouble. Church authorities informed the Sub-Collector that the Kui Samaj had given a call for a bandh on 25-26 December to press their demands regarding various issues. They requested the district authorities to remain alert and preempt any trouble. On 24th December a group of 150-200 people started demanding that an arch put across the road by Christians should be removed in Brahmanigaon even though the Christian community had received official permission for putting up the pandal and for the use of loud speakers. The district administration confirmed the grant of permission. Two reasons were advanced to halt work on the arches and pandal. (i) It would affect business. (ii) The pandal was sought to be erected on the very site used by the Hindus to celebrate the Durga Puja festival in October. Protestors then sought to close the weekly market on 24 December.(NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR MINORITIES - Report of the NCM visit to Orissa, 6-8 January 2008)
The weekly market is the time of good business for all shopkeepers and the Christian shopkeepers all prepared for the festival season refused to comply with the mobs, which resulted in clashes in the area. The Christian owned shops looted, destroyed and the situation aggravated with a report of attack to the vehicle carrying Swami Lakshamanda. The inflamed mobs attacked and destroyed property, inflicted violence and in retaliation, the Christian groups felled trees and blockaded the entry to the villages of the district. While this situation prevailed many of the people fled to the forests to seek asylum from the violence. The attack of the Hindu owned shops by a few Christian groups followed promptly thereby worsening the situation altogether.
The local people retreated to the forests and had to carry on without proper water, food, or sanitation, bear the chillness (A bonfire not alighted, for fear of being spotted) for almost two to three days. They had to endure mental and emotional trauma in addition to the physical hardships of the situation. (There are cases of women who underwent delivery without the essential medical support; Children with no food and water.) Added to this their property was damaged, assets destroyed and looted during the clashes. The amount of Hindus owned property destroyed and damaged is minimal in comparison.
Ever since the violence in December Kandhamal has been the boiling point for communal tensions. The after effects of the December 2007 violence were that the local markets, which were thriving, suffered financial losses. Businesses affected with people still fearing to brave out because of the insecure and violent atmosphere.
The state government officials have also taken sides by rejecting to file FIR’s lodged by the Christians but accepting those from the Hindus. In addition to this the compensation packages provided by the state government was unfair towards the Christians who had suffered a greater part with regard to property losses. In contrast, the Hindu shop owners recompensed for the damages suffered by them. Disregarded in the government compensation package many of the former Christian shop owners reduced to paupers have resorted to loans for rebuilding their businesses.
The lasting damages of communalism like mistrust between religious groups, the continuously prevailing atmosphere of tension, violence and mutual hatred, anger between communities have started to worsen and the number of causalities increasing with the incidents. Similar to numerous other situations women have been the worst hit targets of this conflict. The latest victims of this tragedy are a nun who was gang-raped and a 20-year-old woman from an orphanage immolated. There are also numerous other cases of trauma and assault which have gone unreported.
It has been almost a year since this incident and yet the discontent continues and assaults have aggravated between the religious groups. The communal fervor that has risen because of the presence of the radical Hindu groups needs to be acknowledgment and not sidelining as one among the reasons. The biased attitude and the subjective stand of the State also need to be scrutinized. The trend of justifying violence and employing violence as a means to a fair end by these religious groups has to terminate if justice has to prevail.
Millions of innocents have already fallen victims to the Communal riots and the tensions that are prevailing in the country. Most of the victims are nameless innocents who have had to give up their lives because of the self-indulgence of a few. The powerful political organisations in our country have also adopted the British philosophy of divide and rule targeting as well as threatening the minority groups in the country. By actively supporting extremists’ religious groups, the political groups have gained popularity and used misguided individuals to serve the purpose of vote-banks. In the name of religious revivalisms’ and regaining ethnic ownerships, politicians have effectively manipulated situations to serve their own interests. Numerous lessons from the past are also indicative of the growing shift towards communalism that needs an immediate check and counter.
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