Hundreds attend seminar on 'The Situation of Kandhamal Today'

Ecumenical Christian Forum of Human Rights (ECFoHR) organized a seminar on "The Situation of Kandhamal Today" on 14th July 2009 at St. Mary's Hr Secondary school premises, Madurai which was well attended by people from different walks of life.

More than 300 persons (a large number of lay people, seminarians, religious and pastors) took part in it. The Forum had arranged this seminar with the help of the team which had visited the affected areas of Kandhamal in the first week of July 2009.
The objectives of the seminar were:
· To know the present status of the people affected by communal violence, after ten months;
· To analytically understand and uncover the annihilation strategy and activities of Sangh Parivar;
· To look for ways to respond to the immediate needs of the victims; and
· To plan for future course of action to bring peace and justice to the victims.

Fr. Benedict welcomed the gathering. Rev. Joseph, Secretary, CSI Diocese of Madurai & Ramnad, invoked the Spirit for courage and hope to be ever vigilant and to work for justice. Fr. Angelraj Bharathi Vicar Forane (VF) of Madurai gave the inaugural address and clearly stated the need for coming together of all the churches at this historical juncture and to work together for peace, not only in Kandhamal but all over India.
The main speaker Fr. Joseph Xavier SJ was introduced by Jebamalai raja, who had worked for 7 months in Kandhamal as the coordinator of the relief and rehabilitation and peace building activities for the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.

He gave a clear geographical and historical picture of the state of Orissa and the district of Kandhamal, the socio-economic and politico-cultural background of the Adivasis and Dalits of the Kandhamal and the forty long year systematic and sustained hate campaign of sangh parivar against the minority Christians in the hills.

He also highlighted the reasons for the violence in which more than 75 people were killed and over 5000 families lost their houses and the present pathetic conditions of the victims of the riots in a lucid manner, with recently taken photographs.

He shared with the participants the untold misery, trauma and hopelessness of the Christians who are longing to go back to their own villages to live a peaceful life with dignity. Will it be possible for the victims to live peacefully once again in Kandhamal? was the question raised by him. He also highlighted the role of Government and Church Institutions in the relief and rehabilitation works.

After that a video was screened which was taken while the Bethel Home, the Catholic Church, the presbytery and the convent were attacked by a youth mafia at Muniguda, Rayagada district.

After an hour long presentation the participants made a few observations and comments:
· Along with education, empowerment and employment, we need to politically conscientise our people and ensure that their rights are protected and promoted.
· We need to empathetically understand the pains and sufferings of these people and in whatever way possible we need to extend our hands to them.
· We will have to take steps demanding the State and Central Governments to take immediate steps to rebuild peace by initiating peace processes at different levels.
· We should demand the Government to provide necessary space and support to the Churches, humanitarian organistaion, civil society groups and INGOs in the process of executing the relief and rehabilitation activities.
· We should make an appeal to CBCI and NCCI to chalk out national level plans to commemorate 23 August as a day of Inter-religious Harmony and hold meetings at various levels all over India.

Sr. Fatima, the Principal of Fatima College summarised the feelings of the floor and gave the concluding thoughts. Rev. Wilson Mohan Raj, T.E.L.C said the final prayer asking the Lord to give us strength and courage to work together to bring real peace in Kandhamal and the rest of the country. The students of TTS and Fr. Stephen and his team sang social awareness songs pertaining to the occasion.

On behalf of ECFoHR, Fr. Jebamalai Raja thanked the main speaker and others and all the participants for their generous support and participation in all the initiatives of ECFoHR. He assured the gathering that based on the suggestions from the participants, the core committee of ECFoHR would plan out the future course of action and requested the participants for their continuous solidarity and participation in all the ventures of ECFoHR.


Report by Fr. Jebamalai Raja SJ.