Christians form association to aid Kandhamal victims

A crucial meeting of ecumenical church leaders in Orissa has endorsed the formation of a new association to ardently pursue reconciliation and reconstruction in riot-afflicted Kandhamal.

On Dec. 7 pastors, priests, community leaders and activists convened at Berakhpur to cogitate on ways to initiate grassroots action under the newly formed Sampradayik Hinsa Prapidita Sangathana (association of victims of communal violence in Kandhamal).

"The major task of the new association, working closely with clergy and civil society activists irrespective of religion, is to restore public confidence and to ensure that the victims and witnesses felt safe enough to depose in court," said John Dayal, general secretary of the All India Christian Council (aicc).

"This grassroots action will also help in the process of reconciliation and hopefully allow people to come back to their villages which are now barred to them by Hindutva activists who are forcing them to first convert to Hinduism before assimilating in the old habitations," he added.

The meeting at Berhampur, presided over by Archbishop Cheenath, expressed its deep distrust in the current justice delivery system which they rued was trying to finish off the cases without looking closely at the evidence.

About 2500 complaints had been registered but only 823 FIR have been registered. On top of it, last month one of the main accused in the violence was acquitted for the sixth time.

Christians, meanwhile, also decided to boycott the Justice Mohapatra commission probing the murder of VHP leader Laxmananda Saraswati and the violence that followed his death at the hands of a Maoist group on 23rd August 2008.

They said the commission has preconceived notions and has already formed its conclusions without even waiting for evidence.

In addition to this, they also expressed concern for the security of people in the aftermath of violence.

"As victims have complained to the Orissa High Court separately, witnesses are being coerced, threatened, cajoled and sought to be bribed by murderers and arsonists facing trial," lamented Dayal, who is also the Member of National Integration Council.

He added: "Shoddy police investigations have already created a crisis in the dispensation of justice, and even genuine eye witnesses are reneging in court as they see the court premises full of top activists of fundamentalist organisations and often the same persons who had burnt their houses. The police remain mute watchers, as always."

He called for urgent and immediate action by the district administration and the police to ensure that the process of justice is not thwarted and sabotaged.

The other concern raised was the lack of relief and rehabilitation to the victims which was a serious cause of vexation.

Not a single Christian place of worship or Christian NGO has been compensated for their loss; the poor victims are also being mocked by the inadequate compensation, they rued.

Says Dayal, it costs about Rs. 85,000 to reconstruct a house and yet the government gives only Rs 50,000 in separate tranches.

"It is the duty of the state to give the full money. Just to save the people from the vagaries of the weather, the Church has sought to pitch in, but their resources are meagre and more than 2,500 families cannot be helped by the Church," he pointed.