Kandhamal victims want polls to be adjourned

Thousands of victims living in relief camps after escaping the 2008 Kandhamal riots have demanded the Election Commission to adjourn the polls.

In a petition, a delegation of victims under Kuidina Forum for Peace and Justice, expressed difficulty to cast their votes in the wake of threats and "hate speeches" made by Hindu hardliners in the volatile Kandhamal.

Intriguingly, the delegation supported by the Citizens for Justice and Peace questioned where the 20,000 victims of the 23,000 stated by the government in September 2008 have decamped?

They articulated that the present figures only show of 3000 victims in relief camps. The rest were neither in their homes nor in any camps, they said, calling for an inquiry on the missing people.

Noted social activist Teesta Setalvad alleged, "A large number of people are forced to live away from their homes as Hindu fundamentalists are threatening them. They are also making hate speeches against Christians to polarise the votes in the communally sensitive area."

This, she said, would mean thousands of voters would not be able to exercise their franchise.

The secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace, Ms. Setalvad also told reporters that violence against women and children continued. She demanded a proper compensation to the families who have lost their members and children who were forced to stay out of school and college.

The delegation has met with the officials of National Human Rights Commission, the National Commission of Minorities and the office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights urging them to restore peace and to provide with adequate security for the victims to return home.

They also pointed that those who had gone back were being threatened to either convert to Hinduism or leave.

With the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections just a month away, Christians pray that the new government will be more secular-minded and uphold the democratic values of the nation.

Major political parties will contest in the polls from April 16-23, coming close on the heels of recent break-up between the ruling BJP and its saffron ally of 11 years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).