By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: The National Commission for Minorities, (NCM), in its report on Orissa violence against Christian community on the eve of Christmas in the last week of December last has asked the Orissa Government that it must issue a White Paper on the conversion issue to dispel fears and suspicions that have been assiduously raised about the Christian community and the role of its institutions.
The NCM report has recommended the Orissa Government that it must take the necessary steps to set up a statutory Minorities Commission for safeguarding the rights of minorities.
The report had concluded that it may take months and even years to restore their confidence. This will depend, above all, on the State Government’s ability and willingness to address both the immediate and long term issues that were responsible for the violence.
A two-member NCM team comprising of members Zoya Hasan and Dileep Padgaonkar had visited Orissa from January 6-8 to investigate the violence against Christian community. The members met a cross-section of political, civil society, religious groups and organizations and the affected people. The team held meetings with district officials engaged in restoring peace and normality in the disturbed areas. They apprised the team of the measures taken by the administration in the past two weeks to restore peace. In the State capital the Members met the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary, DG (Police) and other senior officials before calling on the Chief Minister. The team also paid a courtesy call on the Governor.
The conclusions and recommendations of the NCM report are as follows:-
1. Throughout the fact finding mission one question rose again and again and this was whether the choice of 25th December for holding a bandh by the Kuis was a mere co-incidence. A second bandh called by Swami Lakshmananda to protest the attack on his car was also fixed for the same day. We find it difficult to believe that this too was entirely fortuitous. The authorities were warned well in advance by the Christians that trouble was brewing during the Christmas season. In this background it is extremely difficult to understand why the district authorities did not take active steps to defuse the situation and ensure that peace was maintained.
2. The official accounts sought to stress the complexity of the situation in Kandhamal district and attributed the violence to the confusion over the High Court Order on the inclusion of SC Christians in the ST category which is vehemently opposed by the Kui tribes in the area. The situation is certainly complex and overlaid with multi-layered contradictions. The conflation of caste-tribe-communal issues has contributed to the aggravation of social conflicts in this area. But none of this complexity detracts from the principal issue which is that the Christian minority was the target of organised attacks. The State agencies if they had been vigilant could have prevented the violence arising out of the two bandhs on Christmas.
3. The State Government must look into the speeches of Swami Lakshmananda to determine whether they amount to incitement to violence and take appropriate action.
4. The State Government must issue a White Paper on the conversion issue to dispel fears and suspicions that have been assiduously raised about the Christian community and the role of its institutions.
5. Rehabilitation package announced by the Orissa Government needs to be reviewed to provide rehabilitation keeping in view the actual loss suffered by the victims of violence.
6. Augmenting the number of police personnel and providing them with adequate training and equipment was also imperative. Moreover, for reasons that have not been explained, the State Government was reluctant in reaching out to civil society and NGOs working as they do work at the grassroots can provide authorities with advance information about simmering tension and co-operate in the prevention of such incidents.
7. Orissa does not have a State Minorities Commission. The State Government must take the necessary steps to set up a statutory Minorities Commission for safeguarding the rights of minorities.
8. The confusion created by the High Court Order needs to be swiftly cleared to prevent further outbreak of tensions between STs and SCs. The government must address the obvious tensions that will arise from the different treatment given in the matter of reservation to Christians belonging to the SC community and the ST community. If Christian tribals are backward Christian SCs are no less so. To create an artificial distinction between the two is simply to communalise poverty and drive a wedge between two homogenous groups who are among the most deprived. The group, therefore, recommends that the reservation given to Christian tribals should be extended to cover Christian SCs who are of exactly the same background and are subject to exactly the same disadvantage.
9. None of the above must detract from the social and economic backwardness of the district. Every indicator points to acute poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, lack of infrastructure, in short, an absence of development. Nearly two thirds of the people in this district live below the poverty line. Even as the authorities are called upon to show greater vigilance to prevent the outbreak of violence, the Government must urgently address issues of social exclusion and structural inequities.
10. The terrible fact remains that in parts of Orissa Christians were unable to celebrate their most important festival. By preventing Christians from celebrating Christmas, the VHP and its affiliates have ensured that the minority should not be in a position to enjoy the rights guaranteed to it by the Constitution. The action of such forces is blot on the Republic, a matter which deserves more attention and consideration from authorities both at the level of State and Centre. ([email protected])