Congress demands Patnaik's resignation over Orissa violence

Congress demands Patnaik's resignation over Orissa violence

Bhubaneswar, Jan 6 (IANS) The Congress party Tuesday demanded that Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik resign over the communal violence in Kandhamal district as the Supreme Court had held the central and state governments responsible for the security of minorities.

A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice Markandey Katju and Justice P. Sathasivam had Monday said that the central and state governments should 'ensure the minority's safety'.

'The apex court's observation is quite clear. Chief Minister Naveen Pantaik has no right to stay in power for even a minute,' state Congress president Jayadev Jena told IANS.

He added that the state government woke up to the matter only after thousands of Christians in Kandhamal, about 200 km from here, had fled to nearby forests following the communal riots.

'He (Patnaik) should resign immediately. If he doesn't resign, the Congress will take the issue to the public,' Jena said.

The Supreme court bench was hearing a petition by Cuttack Archbishop Raphel Cheenath, seeking Christians' safety in Kandhamal, the district that was ravaged by anti-Christian violence following the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates Aug 23.

While police blamed Maoists for the killings, some Hindu organisations held Christians responsible for the crime and launched attacks on the community. Christian organisations have repeatedly denied their involvement in the murder.

At least 38 people were killed and thousands of Christians were forced to flee their homes after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs. Over 6,000 people are still living in government-run relief camps.

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Politics of hatred has left India bleeding

Politics of hatred has left India bleeding (Comment)

December 30th, 2008 - 4:49 pm ICT by IANS - Send to a friend:

The year 2008 can easily be marked as an unforgettable year in the annals of Indian christianity for the simple reason that the Christian community here faced its most trying and testing time in its 2,000 years of history. It is not the case that Christianity had not faced hostility and opposition earlier in India; it did right from the very start when St Thomas, an Apostle of Jesus, came to our shores in the first century to preach the good news: he was martyred by those who opposed to his presence and teachings. However, as in several other parts of the world, Christianity in India did not face an orchestrated and protracted persecution for the most part of the last two millennia. That is partly because Christianity for the first 15 centuries or so was mostly confined to the south western shores of India, the Malabar coast to be precise. It was only after the arrival of the Portuguese missionaries in the latter part of 15th century AD that Christianity began to make its presence felt in other parts of India. more

Puri Seer lashes out at PM-Sonia, supports Orissa Bandh

By Anurjay Dhal
Last updated: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:04:50 GMT




Bhubaneswar ( Orissa): Shankaracharya of Puri Gobardhan Pitha, Jagadaguru Swami Nischalananda Saraswati was on Wednesday apprehended that some International forces have been working overtime to eliminate Hindus and destroy their age-old culture to register their dominancy in the country.

Gobardhan Peetha is one of the four important mutts of Hindu faith in the country founded by Adi Sankaracharya.

Speaking at a press conference here, that the Hindu Seer, who got a threat letter from the outlawed CPI (Maoists), however indirectly attacking on Church said, "I am not perturbed by the threat call issued by an outfit. I see some others behind the nexus than the CPI (Maoists)."

The outfit in a threat letter, that sent to the Gobardhan Pitha in Puri, has alleged that the Hindu Seer has been spreading communal feelings and dividing society on religious lines.

The Seer charged that Congress led UPA Government at Centre is being patronizing anti-Hindu elements in the country. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi have been making all out effort to appease the minorities, he lambasted.
read ita all here:http://www.odishatoday.com/orissa/Puri_Seer_receives_threat_call_131208-8754120213569854.html

Parivar to go ahead with Orissa bandh on Dec 25

Debabrata Mohanty
Posted: Dec 17, 2008 at 0022 hrs IST

Bhubaneswar: Unperturbed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s reiteration that he would not allow Orissa bandh by the Sangh Parivar on December 25, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati Sradhanjali Samiti on Tuesday said it would go ahead with its earlier announcement as the state Government had failed to nab the killers and conspirators behind the killing of Saraswati.

On Monday, Naveen told the Orissa Assembly that the state Government would not permit the statewide shutdown on Christmas called by the Sangh Parivar. “No shutdown will be permitted on December 25. The Government will come down heavily on those who try to create any trouble,” the Chief Minister said. The police have already arrested seven persons, including four on Sunday, in connection with the killing of Saraswati.


The Samiti came down heavily on Naveen for his “pro-Church attitude” and warned him with dire consequences as the anger of tribal Kandhs was rising. “We had set a deadline of December 15. The state Government has failed to nab the killers and conspirators. So, we have decided to go ahead with the bandh call,” Samiti president Ratnakar Chaini told reporters.
“The bandh would be observed from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. From 5.30 to 5.40 in the morning, people across Orissa would ring bells to wake up the state Government, which is in deep slumber.”

Chaini alleged that the state Government had so far arrested more than 800 Hindus in connection with the communal violence while it could nab only seven persons in connection with the murder case.

Meanwhile, a BJP legislator has alleged that one of the 10 accused arrested for the alleged rape of a nun in Kandhamal was blind. read it all

Four more held for killing Orissa VHP leader

15 Dec 2008, 0053 hrs IST, Sandeep Mishra, TNN
Print Email Discuss Share Save Comment Text:
BHUBANESWAR: Four more people were arrested on Sunday in connection with the August 23 murder of senior VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati,

taking the total arrests in the sensational case that had triggered widespread communal violence in Orissa's Kandhmal district to seven.

Interestingly, the police success came just a day before saffron brigades' ultimatum to the state government to arrest the killers of the VHP leader, failing which they would organize an Orissa bandh on December 25.

"We have arrested four of the accused and are on the look out for others,'' IG (crime branch) Arun Ray told TOI. Police sources said the four were arrested during raids by Special Operations Group personnel in Kotgarh area of Kandhmal district.

"We're looking for seven accused. We arrested four Christians, believed to be Maoist supporters, for killing Saraswati and four of his followers at an ashram in Jalespeta on August 23, from a place bordering Rayagada district. Search operations are on to nab the other three,'' the sources said. more

Orange County - Mujibur Rehman on violence against minorities in India

Kandhamal, one of the 30 districts of Orissa, was  created in 1994 by the then Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, father of  present CM Naveen Patnaik. According to the 2001 Census, 52 per cent of Kandhamal’s population are Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 17 per cent are Scheduled Castes (SCs). Out of 100,000 Christians, 60 per cent are converted from SCs, locally known as Pana Christians. The region is called Kandhamal because it is land of the Kandha tribes. The word ‘Kandha’ means hills. The per capita income in the district is Rs 4,730, whereas Orissa’s per capita income is Rs 5,264. It has only 15 sanctioned police stations with a capacity of 647 personnel looking after 648,000 citizens.

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While Naveen Patnaik runs a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), his father had opposed alliances with Hindutva parties. In the 1989 national election, when all major non-Congress parties had electoral alliances with the BJP, Biju Patnaik opposed the move, and yet won a majority of the Lok Sabha seats in the state for his party. The electoral history of Orissa elections indicates the rise of the BJP from the 2000 election. In 1980, the BJP garnered only 1.36 per cent of the vote; in 1990, the BJP fielded 63 candidates, garnered 3.56 per cent, won two seats and lost deposit in 54 seats. In the 2000 election, however, 38 out of 63 of its candidates won, and it got 18.20 per cent votes, and in 2004, it won 32 seats and got 17.11 per cent votes. But the BJP’s presence has created advantages for Hindutva organisations to consolidate their base. While Naveen Patnaik may claim that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) represents the legacy of Biju Patnaik, the fact is the most important legacy of secularism is being deeply compromised by the BJD by first being part of the coalition and then not being able to control the recurring violence against Christians.
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Orissa’s religious violence is intriguing because Oriya sub-nationalism was never rooted in Hindu religion. Instead, it grew around the Oriya language. It was Lord Jagannath and his cult which defined the mainstream Oriya  religious traditions. The statement  once made by an unknown Bengali writer, “Oriya ekta bhasa naye (Oriya is not a language)” became a rallying cry for a separate state movement leading to the creation of Orissa on April 1, 1936. Madhusudhan Das, a noted barrister, led a mass political movement through his political party, Utkal Sammilani, which was independent of the Congress Party. The idea of Orissa, along with Sindh, as a separate state, was floated in a White Paper prepared by British in 1933, as a sequel to the report of the Simon Commission. Thus, Orissa is the first state to be created on the basis of a separate language and inspired state reorganisations across linguistic lines in post-independent India.


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Ways to help Orissa Christians

Want to help Orissa Christians? Here's how! click here

Catholic nun stripped naked and raped public

Nun was gang raped and priest brutally assaulted in Kandhamal

Parvathi Menon  The Hindu   September 30, 2008

FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to Christians

Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity. These incidents took place on August 25 at K. Nuagaon, 12 km from the Baliguda subdivision in Kandhamal district. Both victims filed First Information Reports at the Baliguda police station. Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister specifying the atrocities. ...more 

Sister Nirmala’s appeal to Orissa Chief Minister

“On behalf of our suffering brothers and sisters in Orissa who are in deep anguish, pain and constant insecurity, deprived of basic necessities of life and are crying out for immediate help, I urgently appeal to you in the name of God as the Chief Minister of Orissa to do all you can to put an end to this ongoing violence since 24th August 2008 causing untold terror, loss of property and even loss of life and human dignity, violating basic human rights of our own brothers and sisters.” This is the fervent appeal Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, made in a letter she wrote Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on August 28.

It was in this letter that she narrated, in great anguish, how a young nun was “hunted out of her hiding place and stripped naked by the mob and her virginity grossly violated in public, without any help from the police present there.”  ...more 

Article 355 is believed to be issued by the Centre against Orissa

Article 355 is believed to be issued by the Centre against Orissa to ensure that the state government carry out its constitutional responsibilities
A BJD lawmaker said the move was prompted by a desire to appease Christians. “You cannot subvert the constitutional process just to look good to a certain group of people,” said Tathagata Satpathy.
The Centre’s directive will be used by the BJP, which will term it “minority appeasement” and try to win Hindu votes, predicts Kamal Mitra Chenoy, professor, school of international studies at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. But, he added, “no one will believe the BJP.”
Subhash Kashyap, a constitutional expert and former secretary general of the Lok Sabha said no Union government has used the provisions of Article 355 effectively. “It gives more powers than just issuing directives,” he said.
Significantly, Article 356 enables President’s rule.
In 2002, the NDA government successfully resisted calls from the opposition to issue directives under Article 355 to the BJP government in Gujarat in the wake of sectarian violence that left at least 1,000 people, largely Muslims, dead. Last year, the UPA resisted calls for directives being issued to the Left government in West Bengal after violence erupted in certain parts over the state’s land acquisition policy. The Left parties were then key allies of the UPA. Read

The guilty will be punished and everybody will stand behind you in this hour of distress: Orissa Governor Muralidhar Chandrakanta Bhandare

Tales of riots shock Governor

Statesman News Service
PHULBANI, Sept. 10: Nerve wrecking narration of the barbaric attacks, continued threats and intimidation for re-conversion greeted Governor Muralidhar Chandrakanta Bhandare when he visited a government run orphanage where the riot affected had taken shelter today.
He also visited the Phulbani relief camp where he spent about 45 minutes interacting with affected people mostly women and children.
Many of the distressed people submitted petitions to the Governor who in turn assured them of adequate security and a better future. "The guilty will be punished and everybody will stand behind you in this hour of distress," he said.
Mr Rajendra Mallick who has taken shelter in the camp apprised him about the situation on behalf of the inmates. Women in the camp cried inconsolably when Mr Mallick provided vivid details of the attacks that had rocked the district since 23 August.
Moved by the plight of the women, the Governor said: "Your sorrow and grief are mine and that of the state. I shall be happy only when you return to your respective villages and build a better tomorrow," he said. "The administration is with you and is duty bound to protect your life and property," he said.
Some of the inmates alleged that there were threats being issued in villages asking people to re-convert or face dire consequences. "Many of our relatives are still hiding in the forests fearing for their life," they complained.
The Governor suggested to the district authorities present, that a complaint book should be maintained at each relief centre so that people can record their grievances.
The Governor visited Chakapada Ashram, set up by late Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and interacted with its inmates before returning to Bhubaneswar today.
Yesterday Mr Bhandare had visited Kurmingia and Bastingia villages under G Udayagiri and Tikabali block respectively. He had also inspected relief camps at G Udayagiri and Tikabali and spent the night at Phulbani 

Read

558 houses, 17 places of worship torched during riot: Orissa govt-India-The Times of India

558 houses, 17 places of worship torched during riot: Orissa govt-India-The Times of India:
While 543 houses were burnt in the worst hit Kandhamal district, 15 houses had been set ablaze in Gajapati district, said Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy after a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
A total of 35 people were injured in the riot in Kandhamal, he said.
All the torching of places of worship were reported from Kandhamal district where over 185 people were arrested on charge of rioting, arson and other offences.

Besides Kandhamal, Tripathy said, people were provided with food in free kitchen in Rayagada and Gajapati districts. While 12,539 people were fed in 10 relief camps, 783 people got the facilities in two relief camps in Rayagada district." > full story

Gayadhar Digal: Frenzied mob did not know he reentered Hinduism and cut him to pieces

Gayadhar Digal paid the price for taking matters of religion in a communally troubled part of the state too lightly. He was born a Hindu and died a Hindu, but in between he proclaimed his liking for Christianity. This cost him his life at his native Kasinipadar village in Phiringia block of Kandhmal district.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sangh Parivar men, enraged over the killings of senior VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and his disciples, attacked his house. Gayadhar, with his wife and son, ran for safety only to be hacked one km away in the field. Gayadhar succumbed. Raimati and Baisnab, a school student, are battling for lives in hospital. Attackers set ablaze many of the 350 houses in the village, with the Digals suffering the most: losing their breadwinner.

Why was the family targeted? The reasons offered by their relatives and villagers would shock even the stoic. "My uncle was a Hindu. I don't know why they attacked him and his family. Possibly, it was due to confusion over his religious identity," said niece Malati. Saroj Kumar Digal tried to clear the air. "All the Christians had left the village and moved into the jungle, fearing violence. The attackers perhaps mistook Gayadhar to be a Christian and vented their ire on him."

Why him? And a villager whispered: "He practiced Christianity for sometime, but was back to the Hindu-fold later. Maybe those in the mob who were from nearby areas, didn't know about his reentering Hinduism."

"The situation in Kandhmal is such that Christians have started claiming to be Hindus to escape communalists' rage. As such, it's difficult to ascertain religious affiliation of people. Many people, even after embracing Christianity, choose to remain Hindus in official records for SC/ST benefits," said a police officer.

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