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Stop the violence against Christians
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 organised violence broke out in the wake of the August 23 murder of an anti-conversion Hindutva activist, Swami Lakshmanananda, 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 — inc luding 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 numbers of people into refugees. This reign of terror, which has been reported in depth and with fresh detail in the columns of The Hindu, calls for the strongest action by the State government. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik professes modernity and secularism but his Biju Janata Dal is locked in a political alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In consequence, the coalition’s response to the crisis has been worse than inept. If it is to regain credibility, the State government must act urgently to stop the semi-fascist attacks carried out by extremist saffron organisations. It must protect the people and places targeted, restore public order in Kandhamal district, ensure the safe return of the internally displaced, and enforce the rule of law. 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.
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 the 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 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. Nuagaon took place in front of a police outpost. It was only after the media began to focus on this 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. In the interest of an objective and speedy investigation, pressure must be brought on the 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. Equally important, tough disciplinary action must be taken against senior police officers guilty of dereliction of duty. This will send out a salutary signal and help turn the situation around.