Supporters of Staines' killer threaten to distribute anti–Chistian booklets in Orissa

New Delhi – In a move aimed to intimidate the Christian community living in Orissa, the Dharmarakhya Shri Dara Sena (army of Dara, the protector of the Hindus), an anti–Christian organization based in New Delhi, formed by the supporters of Dara Singh, the killer of the Australian missionary, Graham Staines, has threatened to flood the towns and villages of Orissa with anti–Christian booklets, Christian Today has confirmed.

The organization has distributed as many as 30,000 booklets that portray Dara Singh as a “hero” and “defender of Hinduism” and depict Christianity in a poor light.

The murder case that tugged the conscience of the nation and received global media coverage took place on the night of January 22, 1999 when Dara Singh, alias Ravindra Kumar Pal, instigated a Hindu mob and attacked the Australia missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons who were sleeping in their jeep parked on the outskirts of Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district, Orissa. In the darkness of the night, the mob, led by Dara Singh, torched the jeep, thereby burning the occupants alive.

On June 22, 1999, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheeted 18 persons including Dara Singh for the murder but it was only on January 31, 2000, that Dara Singh was finally arrested in the jungles of Mayurbhanj district, Orissa.

On September 22, 2003, the District and Sessions Court, Khurda, sentenced Dara Singh to death and awarded life imprisonment to 12 others. However, on October 10, Dara Singh challenged the ruling of the lower court in the High Court of Orissa, finally getting a reprieve on May 19, 2005.

While delivering its 106–page judgment, the Division Bench, comprising of Chief Justice Surjit Burman Roy and Justice Laxmikanta Mahapatra, stated, “The eyewitnesses never attributed any particular fatal injury to appellant Dara Singh for which he can be held individually responsible for the death of the three deceased persons or for the death of any of them. Evidence against the participants – including Dara Singh – being of identical nature, they were all equally responsible for the three murders. Therefore, no justification is available from the evidence on record to single out Dara Singh for convicting him under Section 302 IPC…the sentence of death thereunder cannot be sustained and must be set aside.”

However, the court went on to add that though the appellant cannot be held individually liable, he can be held “liable vicariously along with others by invoking Section 149 IPC, for the murder of the three deceased persons.”

Calling the evidence furnished by the prosecution against Dara Singh “weak and speculative in nature,” the Division Bench commuted the death sentence of Dara Singh to one that of life imprisonment and acquitted 11 others whom the lower court had awarded life imprisonment in the case stating that the convictions and sentences of the remaining 11 appellants “cannot be sustained as there is no reliable evidence on record as regards their identification.” The Court, however, confirmed the trial court’s decision to award life imprisonment to another convict, Mahendra Hembrum.

Besides the killing of the Australian missionary, Dara Singh is also the prime accused in the murder of Arul Doss, priest of Jambani church in Mayurbhanj district. Fr. Doss had succumbed to arrow–shot injuries when Dara and 21 others allegedly raided the church in 1999 a few months before the murder of Graham Staines.

He is also an accused in two other murder cases that includes the August 26, 1999 incident at Padiabeda weekly market in Mayurbhanj district where a Muslim garment trader, Sk. Rehman was burnt alive and the August 16, 1999 incident at Kendumundi in the same district in which a helper of a truck engaged in the transportation of cattle was killed.

Dara Sena chief Mukesh Jain, reportedly had promised to distribute several hundred copies of the booklet in the Karanjia area while on his way to visit the 11 people who were acquitted in the murder case by the Orissa High Court on May 19. It has not been established yet whether he has done so.

Located in the northern part of Orissa, Karanjia is a rural area dominated by tribes, who Christian advocacy groups claim, have been open to the Gospel despite pressure from Hindu militants.

Jain had also met Dara Singh at Baripada central jail in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district, shortly before the Orissa High Court commuted Singh's death sentence to life imprisonment.

To allay the fears of the Christian community in Orissa, the Superintendent of Police of Mayurbhanj district has made clear that he will not accept the distribution of anti–Christian publications.

"So far, no booklet has been distributed. But if they start distributing them, the police will arrest them," the police official promised, dismissing reports that communal tensions were surfacing in Orissa.

Hindustan Times, a national daily suggested that the booklet distribution was aimed at creating a base for Dara Sena's political ambitions. "Officials in the state intelligence don't rule out the possibility of at least one of the acquitted persons taking the plunge into politics with the active support of the Dara Sena," the newspaper commented.

According to news reports, Dara Singh himself had told the media once that he was contemplating joining politics. However, he added that his decision on participating in elections would only be taken upon the recommendations of Dara Sena's executive committee.

Analysts say, however, that Dara Singh, being convicted of a crime, will not be allowed by the Election Commission of India to participate in a ballot.

Christians in Orissa have been living in fear ever since the Orissa High Court pronounced its verdict.

According to Christian advocacy groups, Hindu fundamentalist groups have started revering Dara Singh “as a god.” Recently, a prime suspect in two brutal murders of pastors in Andhra Pradesh has claimed that he was prompted to kill the “missionaries who were a threat to the Hindus” and was encouraged by the act of Dara Singh.

Dara Singh Singh has reportedly challenged the verdict of the High Court and has plans to appeal to the Supreme Court of India for a full acquittal.

However, some Christian advocacy groups and church leaders have demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which investigated the murder case, challenge his appeal and the verdict of the Orissa High Court in India's apex court.