[Reader-list] Stop the Violence Against Christians (Hindu Editorial page)

[TaraPrakash]

Stop the violence against Christians

The continuing large-scale violence targeting Christians in Orissa's
Kandhamal district is indicative of a constitutional breakdown in the
area. More than
a month after organised violence broke out in the wake of the August
23 murder of an anti-conversion Hindutva activist, Swami
Lakshmanananda, by suspected
Maoist elements, the district continues to be out of bounds for the
secular Constitution and the rule of law. Numerous atrocities have
been committed -
inc luding murder, rape, arson, assaults on Christians, their
churches, and service institutions, the intimidation of Dalits to make
them give up the Christian
faith, and the conversion of large numbers of people into refugees.
This reign of terror, which has been reported in depth and with fresh
detail in the
columns of The Hindu, calls for the strongest action by the State
government. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik professes modernity and
secularism but his
Biju Janata Dal is locked in a political alliance with the Bharatiya
Janata Party. In consequence, the coalition's response to the crisis
has been worse
than inept. If it is to regain credibility, the State government must
act urgently to stop the semi-fascist attacks carried out by extremist
saffron organisations.
It must protect the people and places targeted, restore public order
in Kandhamal district, ensure the safe return of the internally
displaced, and enforce
the rule of law. At another level, the situation calls for effective
intervention by the Central government. Up to this point, it has done
precious little
to stop the mischief, with its Article 355 advisories failing to have
any effect on the ground. As many as 77 companies of Central
paramilitary forces
are available to the State government but it has avoided their
effective deployment to act against the thugs and protect their
target. Now, after enormous
damage has been done, the Central Cabinet has bestirred itself over
the "very grave situation" and Home Minister Shivraj Patil has issued
a stern warning
to the Patnaik government.

What is evident from the published accounts of the victims, clerical
and lay, is that in several instances the police have watched the
atrocities in silence.
They have refused to register cases - even when the crime was murder -
on the basis of complaints made by the affected families. Such extreme
indifference
suggests complicity of a dangerous political kind. So bad was the
situation that the Orissa High Court had to direct the Superintendent
of Police of Kandhamal
to take stringent action against policemen found sympathising with the
rioters. The rape of a 28-year-old nun and the brutal assault of a
priest on August
25 at K. Nuagaon took place in front of a police outpost. It was only
after the media began to focus on this shocking case that it was
handed over to the
State police's Crime Branch, four persons were arrested, and the
inspector in charge of the Baliguda police station was placed under
suspension. Unfortunately,
under the circumstances, there will be little confidence that any arm
of the State police can uphold the law, free from political
interference. In the
interest of an objective and speedy investigation, pressure must be
brought on the State government to hand over the case to the Central
Bureau of Investigation;
if this fails, the higher judiciary can be approached through a
petition seeking the transfer of the case, by court order, to the CBI.
Equally important,
tough disciplinary action must be taken against senior police officers
guilty of dereliction of duty. This will send out a salutary signal
and help turn
the situation around.