Kandhamal 2020: We Live with the National Shame of Impunity in Perpetuity

Teesta Setalvad

There was national shame for many of us three days before Republic Day, January 23, 1999 when pastor Graham Staines along with his two young boys were burnt alive in the eastern state of Orissa.[1] Charred beyond recognition and reduced to ashes, the three bodies lay clinging to each other in what must have been a vain attempt to protect each other and escape the mob. Having surrounded them from all sides, a murderous crowd set on fire the old four-wheel drive station wagon in which the three had retired for the night. The incident took place on the night of January 22-23 in the wilderness of Manoharpur village in the sleepy rural outback of Orissa’s Keonjhar district. President K.R. Narayanan’s words ring loud and clear when he described the murder as “a monumental aberration of time-tested tolerance and harmony. The killings belong to the world’s inventory of black deeds”.

The killer of Staines, was none less than Dara Singh who had also been charged in the murder of Muslim trader, Shaikh Rahman in Mayurbhanj district of the state and also convicted in the murder of a Christian priest, Dr Arul Das in Orissa. Singh was arrested after a year long chase in January 2000 after the murder of Graham Staines and is now serving his life sentence in prison.[2] The then home minister of India and deputy prime minister, LK Advani had given a clean chits to organisations like the Bajrang Dal and Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) even before the investigations had been completed.

A culture of impunity pervades with powerful perpetrators escaping the long arm of the law, especially when it comes to attacks against the minorities and India’s marginalised sections. Christians have also borne the attack of the political Hindutva right wing since 1998-99.[3] This was also the period of the first BJP dominated NDA I government.[4] A selective census of Christians that went against the Indian Constitution was begun in the state of Gujarat[5] and a spate of attacks on religious persons took place in that state, Orissa, Madhya Pradesha and Uttar Pradesh. Apart from the Staines’ murder, the brute killing of Sister Rani Mariam (Regina Mariam Vattali) in a bus at Nacanbore, Indore on Fenruary 25, 1995, at the hands of a hitman sent by powerful landlords, is another brute such act.

Thereafter, one of the most systemic and targeted attacks against Christians was in Kandhamal district, also in Orissa, almost a decade later in 2007-08: over 395 churches and nearly 6,500 houses were destroyed and more than 75,000 people were displaced. Several cases of forced conversion to Hinduism were reported and about 40 women were reportedly raped and sexually assaulted. This pogrom was declared a response to murder of a Hindu preacher as a result of a ‘Christian conspiracy’.[6] Twelve years down, justice has eluded the thousands of Christians impacted in that bout of targeted violence.[7] One hundred lives were lost in this frenzy of violence.

It is this anniversary of mass, targeted violence that will be commemorated this week end even as the guilty go unpunished. Some 70 organisations which started acting under the banner of National Solidarity Forum undertook various forms of actions soon after the Kandhamal pogrom. A People’s Tribunal was held in Delhi in 2010 headed by A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, Several exhibitions were organised in different parts of the country, different research studies on diverse issues related to Kandhamal were undertaken, effective documentation on different aspects of the pogrom was conducted, campaigns were held in colleges, universities and educational institutions, various organisations held public programmes, seminars and public debates in different parts of the country, many written reports in the mainstream media and social media appeared, video documentaries were made and exhibited in different parts of the country, books were released, support mechanisms, solidarity actions were organised in India and abroad, observing Kandhamal Day became a regular affair every year in Kandhamal, Bhubaneshwar and in many other parts of the country; and political leaders, cultural activists and celebrities extended their support to such events and so on.

I recall visits to the state of Orissa, Phulbani, Kandhamal a good eighteen hours away from the state capital, at the time and since. While politically, the Naveen Patnaik government cleansed itself by severing ties with the BJP, then an ally in the state, the inability of the state apparatus to actually punish the guilty stains its performance. The state of the relief camps remained a travesty on state accountability; women were forced to face de-humanising conditions there even as pre-natal, neo natal problems confronted a hapless female population. For months, the internally displaced who had fled the villages to faraway states could not return. The church and its outfits were compelled to labour on under vicious maligning and attack.

Before and after this targeted attack of violence, we have had Delhi (2020), Muzaffarnagar (2013) Gujarat (2002), Delhi (1984), Nellie (1983) and Hashimpura-Meerut (1987) and Bhagalpur (1989) and Bombay 1992-93) in between. It was the nationwide outrage after Gujarat 2002 – to whch statutory institutions like the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and even the Supreme Court of India responded that pushed for a political demand to enact a law that, as Siddharth Vardarajan wrote in The Hindu, “A Bill to settle a Terrible Debt”. He wrote on June 21, 2011,

“In a vibrant and mature democracy, there would be no need to have special laws to prosecute the powerful or protect the weak. If a crime takes place, the law would simply take its course. In a country like ours, however, life is not so simple. Terrible crimes can be committed involving the murder of hundreds and even thousands of people, or the loot of billions of rupees. But the law in India does not take its course. More often than not, it stands still.

“If one were to abstract the single most important stylised fact from the Indian “riot system”, it is this: violence occurs and is not immediately controlled because policemen and local administrators refuse to do their duty. It is also evident that they do so because the victims belong to a minority group, precisely the kind of situation the Constituent Assembly had in mind when it wrote Article 15(1) of the Constitution: ‘The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them’.

“The CTV bill sets out to protect religious and linguistic minorities in any State in India, as well as the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, from targeted violence, including organised violence. Apart from including the usual Indian Penal Code offences, the NAC draft modernises the definition of sexual assault to cover crimes other than rape and elaborates on the crime of hate propaganda already covered by Section 153A of the IPC. Most importantly, it broadens the definition of dereliction of duty — which is already a crime — and, for the first time in India, adds offences by public servants or other superiors for breach of command responsibility. ‘Where it is shown that continuous widespread or systematic unlawful activity has occurred,’ the draft says, ‘it can be reasonably presumed that the superior in command of the public servant whose duty it was to prevent the commission of communal and targeted violence, failed to exercise supervision … and shall be guilty of the offence of breach of command responsibility.’ With 10 years imprisonment prescribed for this offence, superiors will hopefully be deterred from allowing a Delhi 1984 or Gujarat 2002 to happen on their watch.

“Another important feature is the dilution of the standard requirement that officials can only be prosecuted with the prior sanction of the government. The CTV bill says no sanction will be required to prosecute officials charged with offences which broadly fall under the category of dereliction of duty. For other offences, sanction to prosecute must be given or denied within 30 days, failing which it is deemed to have been given. Although the bill says the reasons for denial of sanction must be recorded in writing, it should also explicitly say that this denial is open to judicial review.

“Another lacuna the bill fills is on compensation for those affected by communal and targeted violence. Today, the relief that victims get is decided by the government on an ad hoc and sometimes discriminatory basis. Section 90 and 102 of the CTV bill rectify this by prescribing an equal entitlement to relief, reparation, restitution and compensation for all persons who suffer physical, mental, psychological or monetary harm as a result of the violence, regardless of whether they belong to a minority group or not. While a review of existing state practice suggests victims who belong to a religious or linguistic ‘majority’ group in a given state do not require special legal crutches to get the police or administration to register and act on their complaints, the CTV bill correctly recognises that they are entitled to the same enhanced and prompt relief as minority victims. The language of these Sections could, however, be strengthened to bring this aspect out more strongly.”

Today more than ever is the need for such a law. Since 2004, Communalism Combat and I personally as an activist have been pushing for such an enactment. Between 2010-2011 we held and addressed over 300 meetings all over the country on the need for such a law. I wrote in November 2011,

“It is imperative that those concerned with justice and reparation join the campaign for the restoration of fair debate. Currently the proposed law has become the victim of hysterical propaganda – led, unsurprisingly, by players whose political trajectory gained momentum by legitimising irrational prejudice and even hatred, who rose to power on the wings of communal mob frenzy.

“To enable a reasoned rational discourse on a long overdue law, the Communal and Targeted Violence Bill must be tabled in Parliament and be put before a Standing Committee forthwith. Any anomalies within it can be ironed out at that stage. We must not allow this process to be derailed by the same cynical political players who have gained political brownie points and mileage through the spread of hatred and the generation of mob frenzy.”

Normalcy never really returns after such attacks unless there is some acknowledgement, recompense and reparation. For the many and repeated bouts of mass targeted violence against India’s religious minorities there has only ever been a grudging acceptance that these crimes were communally charged and targeted crimes. Justice has not been done or seen to be done except in the case of Gujarat 2002 where thanks to the efforts of survivors and Citizens for Justice and Peace (cjp.org.in) 172 powerful perpetrators were punished, 124 to life imprisonment. Many were released thereafter as the higher courts either granted bail or reversed sentences. This has gone hand in hand with the political ascendancy of the very forces that perpetuated the violence.

Otherwise, there has been a deafening silence.

Notes:

[1] https://cjp.org.in/remembering-the-graham-staines-murder/; The then government counsel appearing in the judicial commission to investigate the triple murders by arson of missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, had found a link between arsonist/murderer, Dara Singh and the RSS. “Dara linked to Sangh: Government counsel”: The Indian Express, August 15, 1999

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dara_Singh_(Bajrang_Dal)

[3] https://www.sabrang.com/cc/comold/jan99/cover.htm; https://www.sabrang.com/cc/comold/july00/ storybox1.htm

[4] https://www.sabrang.com/cc/comold/july00/co-story.htm

[5] https://www.sabrang.com/cc/comold/feb99/doc.htm

[6] https://thewire.in/communalism/kandhamal-violence-anniversary-remembrance

[7] The National Solidarity Forum, representing 70 national and regional organisations, has issued a statement and appeal on the anniversary of the violence in 2020: according to the figures in the statement, there have been more than 3,300 complaints, but only 820 odd FIRs were registered. Of these, only 518 cases were charge sheeted. Of these 518 cases, 247 cases disposed off. Those cases disposed of have resulted in mass acquittals.A study conducted by SCI advocate, Vrinda Grover and professor of law, Saumya Uma, reveals that the conviction rate is as low as 5.13% in the charge sheeted cases. On August 2, 2016, the SCI stated in their judgement that the quantum and scope for compensation was not satisfactory and found that the court also found it disturbing that the offenders of law were not booked. The SC ordered a review of 315 cases of communal violence, however four years later, these cases have not been reopened. The SCI judgement did not set any deadline. There are houses, churches, institutions and volunteer organisations, whose properties were destroyed in targeted violence but who never received compensation despite the SC order.

(Teesta Setalvad is secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace – an organisation that has stood for the defence of rights and dignity of the voiceless and most marginalised sections of Indian society.)

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On the Anniversary of Kandhamal Violence, the Least We Can Do Is Remember

Apoorvanand

A lot of us may not know where Kandhamal is – or even what it is. A simple Google search will reveal that it’s a district in Odisha, created in 1994. You would also be told that it is famous for its local turmeric, known as Kandhamal haldi.

We do not, however, remember Kandhamal for its haldi. Remembering Kandhamal is difficult and painful – also because it is a mirror in which we see our true face as a nation. It tells us that we have failed our own, we have failed to become one people.

The road we have taken a as a nation dotted with milestones – Jabalpur, Bhiwandi, Meerut, Aligarh, Jamshedpur, Bhagalpur, Hashimpura, Nellie, Delhi, Gujarat, Kokrajhar, Muzaffarnagar, Atali and then again Delhi. Milestones, big and small. Bloodstained. The size of the milestone depends on the number of the murdered, mutilated and displaced.

How big and heavy is the milestone called Kandhamal?

In 2007 and 2008, Christians were attacked in Kandhamal. It was the biggest organised attack against Christians in the last three centuries, and can be called a pogrom. In this massacre, more than 395 churches and places of worship were destroyed. Nearly 6,500 houses were damaged. Several educational, social service and health institutions were looted. More than 75,000 people were displaced. Several cases of forced conversion to Hinduism were reported. About 40 women were reportedly raped and sexually assaulted. Over 100 people were murdered.

This a necessary count.

This attack was also called a reaction. The same action-reaction theory which is often thrown at the massacred, the mutilated, the humiliated. At Muslims, Sikhs and Christians alike.

A preacher, Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati, was murdered. It was promptly declared a murder executed after a conspiracy, a Christian conspiracy. After the murder, a long yatra was announced with the body of Lakshmananda. Then leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Parvin Togadia arrived. The funeral procession crossed all areas populated by Christians. And then blood flowed.

The pogrom is dismissed as a reaction to the murder of a pious man. Whether his intentions were religious preaching or not we do not know, but his mission was very clear. He is on the record declaring, “The actual intention of the Europe, US, the Pope and Sonia Gandhi was to convert the entire region into the independent Christian land. God has sent me from Himalaya and it was stalled. That is why their campaign was to drive away swamiji and create a Christian land. As long as I am alive I shall not let you do that”.

So, it is evident that Lakshmananda was not actually a religious preacher. He was an anti-Christian hate peddler. It becomes easy, then, to blame his killing on Christians. Who else would kill him but those against whom he was working, is the simple theory. Believed even by the court when it convicted seven men and gave them life term.

They are out on bail now, after 10 years of struggle. The judgment needed to be revised after Maoists owned up to the murder – but that has still not been done.

All of that is inconsequential in India. This is a land where crimes are manufactured by the investigative agencies, a land where ‘criminals’ are invented.

That aside, we do need to ask why a murder should be avenged by murdering another 100 people and plundering a whole population? A very simple question, but one that we do not ask.

We thought that it was normal for the bodies of those burnt in the fire in a coach S6 of the Sabarmati Express to be taken around in a procession in Ahmedabad; that a strike call by the so-called Hindu organisations was also normal; and the mass attack on Muslims was only to be expected. For if Hindus die in a fire in a train, who else but Muslims should be blamed for it? And who else but Muslims should pay for it? We did not need an investigation. The then liberal Prime Minister asked angrily, “Who was the first to light the fire?” The answer was assumed.

It is the acceptance of this theory that led to the pogrom in Kandhamal. Also because we never ask how a person whose mission it is to spread hate is accepted and venerated as pious.

These are the questions we need to keep asking. August 25 is an occasion to repeat these questions.

The National Solidarity Forum, representing 70 national and regional organisations, has issued a statement and appeal on the anniversary of the violence:

“During the communal violence in Kandhamal, there have been more than 3,300 complaints, but only 820 odd FIRs were registered. The rest of the complaints were not even registered. Among these complaints, only 518 cases were charge sheeted. The remaining cases were treated as false reports. And out of these 518 cases, 247 cases disposed off. The rest of the cases are pending before the sessions and magistrate’s courts. And among those cases which have been disposed off, many are already acquitted.

“According to study conducted by Supreme Court Adv Vrinda Grover and Law Prof Saumya Uma, it is reported that the conviction rate is as low as 5.13% of the charge sheeted cases. If you take complaints as a yardstick of justice process, it is just around 1% only.

“None of the criminals responsible for destruction are in jail today. The murderers, rapists, looters and destroyers are today running scot free. However, seven innocent persons were in jail for 11 years have come on a bail with fabricated cases.

“On August 2, 2016, the Supreme Court led by Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Uday Lalit mentioned in their judgement that the quantum and scope for compensation was not satisfactory and found that the court also found it disturbing that the offenders of law were not booked and ordered to review 315 cases of communal violence that were filed. The cases are still not yet reopened even after four years as Supreme Court has not set any deadline. There are houses, churches, institutions and volunteer organisations, whose properties destroyed were never found in the compensation list. There are many yet to receive the house damage compensation despite the SC order. Assets and shops of thousands of people were not listed nor considered.

“It is quite a tragedy that even after 12 years; there are hundreds of families are not able to return back to their ancestral villages for fear of losing life. This has huge toll on their lives. The displaced ones within the districts now live in new colonies without access to resources for livelihood and life. The migrants, who left the district for life & livelihood are caught up badly with the pandemic COVID 19. The widows, the relatives of those killed are fighting a court battle as well as survival besides the fear of the fanatics’ threats.”

These are sad and cruel figures.

Kandhamal is not an isolated incident. We should have known that anti-Christian hatred was thriving in Odisha and India; we had already legitimised the murder of Graham Staines and his children. Again an act of reaction, even if bad, but a “natural” reaction to what the murderers believed he engaged in, that is conversion. It was a lie, but how does it matter?

Let us do our duty of remembrance. Remember how it was allowed to happen and how the mass crime was ignored by all our state agencies and political parties. Also how we have not done enough to ensure that Kandhamal is not repeated. Let us read the following, also from the NSF appeal:

“There are reported cases of 122 violence against Christians; of which only 23 FIRs registered until June this year 2020. The latest incident involving murder of a young Christian boy named Somaru Madkami in Odisha to instances of physical assaults, threats and intimidation by family members and villagers alike and social ostracism. The year 2019 witnessed at least 328 incidents of targeted violence against Christians. The victims of these violent attacks included 275 tribal, 55 Dalits, 164 women and 117 children. Out of these, 131 incidents involved dereliction of duty by law enforcement authorities. The attacks on Christians have increased consistently like 292 in 2018, 240 in 2017, 208 in 2016, 177 in 2015 and 147 in 2014. As a matter of fact, according to the World Watch List of 50 countries, India is the 10th most dangerous country in the world to live in for Christians as against 28th in the year 2014.”

Hate is very much alive in India. This is what we need to remember, on August 25.

(Apoorvanand teaches at Delhi University.)