A Passage to Orissa, where Christians die

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Hilary Freeman
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1 The attacks began with the assassination of a Hindu leader by Maoist warriors. Within a few days 37 persons, mostly Christians, lost their lives. This was followed by arson and devastation, 150 churches burned and schools A Passage to Orissa, where Christians die INDIA text and photos by Emanuele Confortin and housing razed to the ground, resulting in an exodus of 50,000 refugees. Ethnic origin is difficult to establish by looking into the faces of the faithful. For the most part they are Dalit, untouchables and outcasts... F irst to rise are the women. They step out of the rows of wooden benches with their hands folded against theirs bosoms and approach the altar. An orderly line quickly forms on the tiled pavement of the single nave, the silence broken only by the rustling of multicoloured saris and the humming of the fans suspended midway to the ceiling. In the stifling heat of the church the priest descends a couple of steps toward the faithful to distribute the Eucharist. It is a solemn moment; only a handful of elders take the initiative, intoning an Oriya language chant soon taken up by the harmonium (the Indian version of the accordion) and accompanied by the percussion of tabla and dholak. The newly painted white walls bear no frescoes or sacred images, except for a large crucifix hanging above the tabernacle and a statue in gesso of the Madonna some 10 feet to the left. As seen from the outside, the church forms part of the bishop s residence, which is surrounded by a low masonry enclosure surmounted by a fence in order to keep out the wild cows squatting in the shadows of the palms beyond the gate, munching on old newspapers and the garbage strewn along the streets. A few steps away stand a couple of policeman from the nearby Bhubaneswar 138

INDIA command; armed with bamboo rods and an old service rifle, they have been assigned to protect the principal place of Christian worship in the Indian State of Orissa.

2 INDIA command; armed with bamboo rods and an old service rifle, they have been assigned to protect the principal place of Christian worship in the Indian State of Orissa. They seem not at all worried as they gaze out along the rickshaw crowded street, heedless of the fact that, only a few weeks before, a crowd of armed Indians, intent on burning the church, had materialized from that same direction. Meanwhile the second mass of the morning has ended; it is just after 9.00 on a bright October morning and the faithful begin to file out of the crowded house of prayer. At least 400 men, women and children, for the most part refugees from Khandamal, a tribal district 300 kilometres from the capital Bhubaneswar, spill out into the crowded churchyard. Since the end of August killings and violence against Christians have plagued their abandoned homeland. These have been perpetrated by thousands of tribal members whose miserable conditions of life have been exploited and transformed into a weapon by Hindu nationalists sworn to eliminating the presence of missionaries in the district. The attacks began with the assassination of the Hindu leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati by the People s Liberation Guerrilla Army, the Maoist military force operating in the jungles of Khandamal, Gajapati and Rayagada, which supports the India-Maoist Communist Party. Within a few days 37 persons, mostly Christians accused of the assassination due to the connections of some of the converts with the PLGA, lost their lives. The subsequent arson and devastation, resulting in 150 churches burned, schools and houses razed to the ground, caused the exodus of 50,000 refugees. Ethnic origin is difficult to establish by looking into the faces and observing the behaviour of the faithful. For the most part they are Dalit, a term applied to the untouchables and outcasts relegated to the lowest orders of Indian society, known as Pano in Orissa. Others are Kondh (from whom the districts takes its name), tribal members who

practice shamanism, known for their stiff resistance to Her Majesty s troops during the British Raj, and consequently considered a warrior breed superior to the Pano, though poorer and weaker

3 practice shamanism, known for their stiff resistance to Her Majesty s troops during the British Raj, and consequently considered a warrior breed superior to the Pano, though poorer and weaker politically. Fleeing to the jungle to avoid being lynched I approach a man in his sixties who is headed for the gate with his grandson later I learn that it is his son, and that the father is about 50 years of age his name is Pradyumna Pradhan, a Pano, and after a few words in Hindi he invites me to follow him to his new home, consisting of a bamboo mat shared with his three sons under the large tent erected next to the YMCA hostel. It is one of the two refugee camps in the capital; there is another at Cuttack and twelve more in various districts of Khandamal. He takes pride in telling me, We ve been Christians for three generations, while a few feet away a hundred or so refugees sit on the pavement listening in silence to the reading of the Bible, translated into the Orija language. We come from the village of Rupagam, which came under attack on August 24, the day following the assassination of the Hindu Swami. They came under cover of darkness, at least a thousand of them armed with rods, axes and Molotov cocktails. We had been expecting violent reactions and were thus able to escape into the jungle and avoid direct conflict. We hid among the vegetation, in the dark, but were able to see everything. They burned the houses, the church and all buildings belonging to Christians, including the school. My handicapped nephew was not able to escape and was burned alive in his own house. He was 35 years old. The ordeal of Pradyumna and of the other 130 refugees lasted three days, during which they stayed hidden in the thick vegetation, without food or shelter from the driving Monsoon rains, until they reached the border of the district and safety. He relates that in Khandamal he was a small farmer who owned four cows, some banana trees, and considered himself well-off because I had food each day _This page: Pradyumna Pradhan, one of the 130 Christian refugees forced to flee, like Biswanath Nagak (large facing page photo), to avoid being lynched. Facing photo: Father Leo, one of the parish priests being targeted by the Hindu extremists

4 I lost everything the night of the attack.there were so many of them, an armed group that advanced shouting slogans and threats against Christians. We fled before they arrived and from the jungle we saw the light of the burning houses and heard their shouting. They even slaughtered our domestic animals

A PASSAGE TO ORISSA, WHERE CHRISTIANS DIE of the whole year and this was enough.

district, after having cut down the biggest trees and blocked the accessible (and escape) routes in order to prevent the arrival of the authorities.

I meet him in a small walled room of the hostel being used as a pharmacy, clinic and emergency medical centre.

5 A PASSAGE TO ORISSA, WHERE CHRISTIANS DIE of the whole year and this was enough. Prior to the pogrom he worked the rice paddies together with his Hindu neighbours, the same neighbours who were pointing out the houses to be burned to the ferocious crowd who come from outside the district, after having cut down the biggest trees and blocked the accessible (and escape) routes in order to prevent the arrival of the authorities. On the night of August 26 Biswanath Nagak, who together with 500 other persons had fled from the village of Rotingia (Udayagiri administration), met with the same fate. I meet him in a small walled room of the hostel being used as a pharmacy, clinic and emergency medical centre. My father was a Samnyasin Hindu (wandering ascetic possessing absolutely nothing, who lives on alms), but I accepted Jesus Christ in By Khandamal standards, Biswanath was a wealthy person of influence. He owned a store that distributed rice; he had a few animals and had put aside some savings. I lost everything the night of the attack. There were so many of them, an armed group that advanced shouting slogans and threats against Christians. We fled before they arrived and saw the light of the burning houses and heard their shouting. They even slaughtered our domestic animals. As a member of the Panchayat (assembly of village chiefs), thus a Christian leader, after one night in the jungle with the other refugees Biswanath had to leave them in order to avoid the manhunt. I left the group after we had reached a nearby police district. Unbeknownst to me, the rumour was going round that I had been captured by the rebels and reconverted to Hinduism. Thus at least 300 Christians of my village followed suit and reconverted. Naturally, pastors like Father Leo Parichha [sic] of Sukananda, now a guest in the house of the Archbishop of Bhubaneswar, were also targeted. In the minds of the Hindu extremists we Christians are considered the assassins of Saraswati, their leader, and as leaders we also have to die. They also accuse us of obtaining conversions in exchange for _Families on the run seek shelter at the refugee camp in Bhubaneswar, one of many camps that have been set up including one in Cuttack, 12 in various parts of Khandamal and others in the capital 142

INDIA money, assistance and favourable treatment; they say that we delete traces of local identity and that we are responsible for the poverty of the non-converted.

Father Leo s flight began on August 24 and lasted four days, mostly spent in the jungle and in any lodging he could find.

6 INDIA money, assistance and favourable treatment; they say that we delete traces of local identity and that we are responsible for the poverty of the non-converted. In reality, we work to provide opportunities to a people drowning in their misery. Father Leo s flight began on August 24 and lasted four days, mostly spent in the jungle and in any lodging he could find. A number of police agents informed me that within hours there would be a strong attack, thus warning us to flee to a nearby village. On the 26th however, we heard tell of the first attacks in the neighbourhood, and so we escaped to the jungle and spent the entire night sitting in the dark. At 9.00 on the night of the 27th, we heard screams coming from the village, followed by the sight of flames. They burned everything to the ground. A number of the faithful refused to leave their homes and, in the face of the attack, could not help but to accept reconversion to Hinduism in order to save their lives. They were first beaten, then shorn and forced to drink water mixed with cow urine, and finally were made to pay 1000 rupees, an enormous sum for us. Father Leo s odyssey and that of another 500 persons took them through the jungle, then to Udayaghiri to a refugee camp set up haphazardly and in haste. We were under the elements and passed the night under a torrential rain covered only by umbrellas, with mud up to our ankles. Road communications were interrupted and tension was high; we would have liked to escape farther away but this only became possible two days later. Poverty and exploitation causes of the violence The inhabitants of Khandamal are extremely poor, simple people, A.C. Sahoo of Bhubaneswar, Director of the Tribal Museum and of the Academy of Tribal Dialects, told me. He has been working with the Kondh for 30 years and has witnessed the changes brought about by the activity of the Christian missionaries and the reaction of the Hindu nationalists. Sahoo explains that the causes of the violence are to be found in the extreme poverty of the inhabitants of the district. Here a sack of rice and a few tools make the difference between eating and not eating. The situation becomes complicated when the Kondh (the major ethnic group in Khandamal) are targeted by Hindu 143

A PASSAGE TO ORISSA, WHERE CHRISTIANS DIE speculators and Christians from the cities, who for years have been snatching up agricultural land, harvests, fruit orchards and other indispensable

This renders the inhabitants of the district ever more dependent on State support, and on access to privileges and opportunities guaranteed by the reservations.

7 A PASSAGE TO ORISSA, WHERE CHRISTIANS DIE speculators and Christians from the cities, who for years have been snatching up agricultural land, harvests, fruit orchards and other indispensable resources in exchange for a few rupees, useless objects or even alcoholic beverages. This renders the inhabitants of the district ever more dependent on State support, and on access to privileges and opportunities guaranteed by the reservations. This situation is due to controversial national legislation that calls for, to begin with, jobs in the public sector, but also free medical care, tax exemptions and education, reserved to tribal groups recognized by the State (scheduled tribes), including the Kondh, and to the Hindu Dalit (in our case the Pano). The intent is to encourage the development of disadvantaged populations and to promote social diversity in public life, which has always been the prerogative of the upper castes. According to the legislation, while the tribal groups keep their access to the reservation whether or not they have adopted other religious creeds, not so with the Pano, who lose their right upon conversion. By converting to Christianity or to Islam, a Dalit is automatically emancipated from the restrictive logic of the castes imposed by Hinduism, continues Sahoo, thus losing the right to these privileges in the eyes of the State and of the community. Tension arises because it is the Pano who overwhelmingly convert to Christianity, though many of them do not officially declare their choice, as is provided for by the OFRA (Orissa Freedom of Religion Act), legislation introduced in 1967 with the ambitious goal of limiting the phenomenon of forced conversions, by means of a form signed by the converted, in which they declare the spontaneity of their decision. In this manner, according to the tribal groups and the Hindus, the converted Pano become members of the Christian society considered better off. While gaining access to better medical care (which is also available to non- Christians), greater opportunities for social growth and, above all, to academic training _The faithful attend Mass in the Khond language in the Bhubaneswar church. There are those who are forced to conceal their Christianity from the eyes of the State, in order to avoid having the system set against them 144

INDIA factors that accelerate success in employment and careers in the public sector many Christians continue to enjoy the benefits of the reservations without having a right to them.

This is a well known problem, and confirmations have been provided to me even by Father Leo and by other Christians I met at Bhubaneswar and in Delhi.

8 INDIA factors that accelerate success in employment and careers in the public sector many Christians continue to enjoy the benefits of the reservations without having a right to them. In other cases, those of the Pano that make their conversion official attempt in every way to pass for Kondh. This is a well known problem, and confirmations have been provided to me even by Father Leo and by other Christians I met at Bhubaneswar and in Delhi. There are those who are forced to conceal their Christianity from the eyes of the State, in order to avoid having the system set against them. The power usually rests in the hands of the Brahmin, who would never accept power sharing with Christians. Against this background, strong tensions have arisen among the diverse groups, fed in the field by the actions of the Hindu nationalists, inspired by Lakshmanananda Saraswati, and committed on two fronts: the conversion of the Kondh to Hinduism; and the attempt to eliminate the Christian presence in Khandamal by exploiting the poverty of the tribal groups for whom, it must be said, the current revolt is not necessarily based on religious grounds, but represents a sort of struggle for survival. Orissa in the hands of the nationalists All this notwithstanding, the explosion of violence in Khandamal is in response to a precise plan pursued by the leaders of Sangh Parivar, a Hindu nationalist group of organizations, represented here by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, National Association of Volunteers) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP, Hindu World Assembly) led by the same Swami Saraswati. These are activists operating all over India, whose objective is that of spreading and consolidating the nationalist ideology of V.D. Savarkar. It was he who in 1923 coined the term Hindutva, which defines a Hindu as anyone who considers the Land of Bharat (India) from the Indus to the Ocean, sacred land and fatherland. Based on this criterion, whosoever does not share race, culture, language and religion must go, or, in the case of Indians, must accept reconversion. This is the source of unconditional hostility to Christians, Muslims and to all non-hindu faiths, whose penetration of the social system is facilitated by the freedom of worship and transmission of religion sanctioned by the constitution. To transform India into the 145

A PASSAGE TO ORISSA, WHERE CHRISTIANS DIE Land of the Hindus the nationalists must first change the constitution, though they will need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to do it.

9 A PASSAGE TO ORISSA, WHERE CHRISTIANS DIE Land of the Hindus the nationalists must first change the constitution, though they will need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to do it. Intent on success, they have for decades sought to consolidate their ideology in India, beginning with the depressed areas where missionaries often operate, as in Orissa, explains Jose Kavi, a Christian journalist of Delhi. This is one of the objectives of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, which was the governing party in New Delhi three times from 1996 to 2004), political arm of the Sangh Parivar e major opposition party, which shares power in Bhubaneswar in a coalition with the BJD (Biju Janata Dal, the majority party). Compared with four years ago, the BJP enjoys wide margins of suffrage in Orissa and seems destined to win the elections planned for May Nevertheless they want an overwhelming majority, which means also dominating in Khandamal, where Christians are numerous, have deep roots and are not at all disposed to support the nationalists, according to S. Mahapatra, Hindu television reporter stationed in Bhubaneswar and just _Medicines are also distributed at the many refugee camps set up to help the persecuted fugitives returned from a visit to the tribal areas. Before the onset of violence and the beginning of the reconversions, there were 120,000 Christians living in the district, or 18% of the population. A large percentage, if compared with the average of 2.5% surveyed by the census in other districts of the State. It s an important voting pool, likely to vote for the Congress Party, which would here have the majority. As we go to press, Khandamal remains an area of limited access, dangerous and unstable. It is being governed by the Kui Samaj, a Kui speaking tribal group. Meanwhile, in the villages surrounded by jungle, the RSS and VHP continue to effect conversions, day after day reinforcing an invisible wall that is destined to exclude thousands of refugees, for whom the message is clear: You fled as Christians; if you come back, do so as Hindus. 146

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