Orissa:
Hindutva’s tinderbox
In October 2003 and February-March 2004, Communalism
Combat published two lengthy reports on the increasing communalisation
of the state and polity in Orissa through the writings of Dr Angana
Chatterji.
In June 2005, a citizens’ tribunal investigated further
into issues raised by the increasing attacks on minorities in the state.
The Indian People’s Tribunal on Communalism in Orissa (IPTCO) was
constituted and has recently released its report. Led by Justice KK Usha
(former chief justice of the Kerala High Court), the tribunal was convened
by Dr Angana Chatterji (associate professor at the California Institute of
Integral Studies) and Advocate Mihir Desai (Mumbai High Court). Here,
Communalism Combat publishes some extracts from the report,
Communalism in Orissa – Report of the Indian People’s Tribunal on
Environment and Human Rights:
Education and the ‘Hindu worldview’
The RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) has constructed a
network of educational institutions across Orissa. Vidya Bharati operates
391 Saraswati Shishu Mandir schools with 1,11,000 students in Orissa.
The VKA (Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram) runs 1,534 projects and
schools. The sangh has initiated 932 Ekal Vidyalayas in 10 districts in
Orissa. Most RSS-run schools are affiliated with the State Board of
Education and adhere to the state approved curricula. The sangh has
infiltrated into supervisory bodies and has been actively involved in the
rewriting of textbooks. With the increasing impetus to privatise
education, the RSS has been proclaiming its links to these schools and
actively inaugurating schools in areas across Orissa where the government
fails to provide public funding.
The government of Orissa has neglected to provide
functioning, viable and affordable schools therefore creating an
educational vacuum and market for the education offered by sangh-affiliated
schools. The literacy rate in Orissa is 63.61 per cent (Census, 2001),
with female literacy rates at 50.97 per cent.
Communalisation of education is a serious concern across
India. Sectarian education campaigns undertaken by Hindu extremist groups
demonise minorities through the teaching of fundamentalist curricula. Such
corruption of education incites the political and social fires of
communalism.
The RSS has spearheaded the education campaign,
successfully penetrating into the educational systems of both the
grassroots and centralised regulatory commissions. The RSS has fashioned
an institutional umbrella that has had a damaging impact on secular
education at the local level.
Hindutva politics and the BJP-BJD coalition
The sangh parivar’s mobilisation has been complemented and
aided by the BJP’s growth in Orissa. The BJP-BJD (Bharatiya Janata Party-Biju
Janata Dal) coalition came to power in the state in 2000. With the aid of
the sangh parivar, the party had consolidated its position, so much so
that even while the BJP was defeated in the 2004 national elections, the
BJP-BJD coalition was victorious in Orissa and won 18 of 21 parliamentary
seats.
On 16 March 2002, following the riots in Gujarat, about
300-500 communal activists attacked the Orissa Assembly, demanding that
the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya must proceed; they also
complained about allegations against the two organisations made by some
house members. No substantive legal action was taken.
In November 2004, during the Bharat Bandh, the all-India
strike in protest against the arrest of the Sankaracharya of Kanchi, the
communal cadre attacked the Communist Party of India office in Bhubaneswar
and attacked the chief of the Orissa Gana Parishad, a regional political
party. They also mistreated the delegates of the All India Democratic
Women’s Association and activists of the Ambedkar Lohia Vichar Manch.
Notwithstanding the presence of certain fora, such as the
Campaign Against Communalism in Bhubaneswar, and the vigilance and
opposition of Left political parties and certain civil society
organisations to the sangh parivar, the absence of sustained and organised
resistance to the sangh parivar has helped the Hindu right wing
consolidate their position in the state.
Communal tensions and minority disenfranchisement are used
to advantage by political parties such as the Congress, the ruling BJP-BJD
coalition, and in turn benefit the sangh parivar.
Training and militancy
The RSS takes the lead in coordinating the training
regimen for the sangh parivar cadre in Orissa. The RSS conducts month-long
training sessions across Orissa during the summer vacations, drawing
youth, students and young children. The RSS enlists officers for the
Officers Training Camps (OTC) from amongst the trainees, where further
training is undertaken.
Four different levels of RSS and other sangh parivar
functionaries are trained through the OTCs. The OTCs are held twice each
year and provide training in self-defence and ideological and political
leadership. Once the training is completed, the sangh cadre begins
mobilisational work at the grassroots level in different villages. The
instruction received at the OTC is not compulsory for those who join the
Bajrang Dal or the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) directly.
In June 2003 the Bajrang Dal had announced that it would
organise a trishul diksha (trident distribution, the trident is a
weapon used by the sangh parivar cadre with mythological symbolism) in
Orissa. This project was postponed due to protests from secular political
parties. In May 2005 the Bajrang Dal, together with the VHP, undertook a
trishul diksha programme in Nimapara village in Puri district and
tridents were distributed to about 400 youth from throughout Orissa. These
youth undertook an oath to defend Hinduism and ‘reconvert’ Christians. The
BJP-BJD government of Orissa refused to ban the trident distribution
programme despite protests from opposition leaders from the Orissa Gana
Parishad, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist) and
Janata Dal (Secular).
In October 2002 a Shiv Sena unit in Balasore district
announced the formation of the first ‘suicide squad’ to train youth to
undertake dangerous missions for Hindutva’s cause. In August 2005 the Shiv
Sena also announced that it would establish Sena units in every district
in Orissa.
Funding
Substantial funds were raised by sangh parivar
organisations during the Gujarat earthquake (2001) and Orissa cyclone,
which enabled the expansion of communalist networks in both states. Such
funding was mobilised both in India and abroad. After the Orissa cyclone,
the India Development and Relief Fund (IDRF, a sangh-affiliated charity
registered in the United States) reportedly collected $90,660 for Sookruti;
$23,255 for Orissa Cyclone Rehabilitation Foundation; and $37,560 for
Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti, as documented in the report, "Foreign
Exchange of Hate".
In the United Kingdom, Seva International, the
fund-raising wing of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS, which is the RSS
equivalent in the United Kingdom and United States), sent a majority of
the £2,60,000 raised for cyclone relief to Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti
in Orissa (Awaaz, 2004).
Currently, Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti undertakes
disaster relief on a sectarian basis and has been working with
approximately 50,000 beneficiaries after the floods of 2001, funded by RSS-affiliated
organisations abroad. Also, IDRF allocated $13,010 to Banabasi/Vanavasi
Seva Prakalpa in Kalahandi district in 2002 and $11,000 to Aurobindo
Srikshetra Trust in Cuttack district, $10,525 to Loka Shakti Unnayan
Sanstha in Jajpur district and $5,730 to Sahayoga Seva in Bhubaneswar
(Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service, 2002).
The IDRF sent $29,570 to Sookruti in Bhubaneswar in 2003,
$13,625 to Banabasi/Vanavasi Seva Prakalpa, $10,290 to Loka Shakti Unnayan
Sanstha and $8,045 in 2003 and $7,500 in 2004 to Keonjhar District Tailik
Vaisya Samaj, listing the continuation of cyclone rehabilitation work.
Tactics
Majoritarian communalist organisations have been utilising
social, economic, political, legal, physical and psychological violence
against minority groups in Orissa through the destruction of property and
means of livelihood; social and economic boycotts; intimidation,
exploitation, propaganda and surveillance; and arson, rape and murder.
They have also utilised the media and the law and order system to
perpetrate violence and expand their power. They have used the Orissa
Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1960 to lobby against cattle traders who
are predominantly Muslims and economically disenfranchised Dalits.
They have used the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act (OFRA),
to successfully lobby against conversion rights of Christian communities.
OFRA was passed in 1967, a harsh and authoritarian Act. The government of
Orissa strengthened OFRA in 1999, mandating the sanction of local police
and district magistrates prior to any conversions. Those who perform
conversions without the necessary permissions may be imprisoned for up to
two years. OFRA also requires that district magistrates submit monthly
reports on statistics of conversions to the government.
While the Constitution of India ensures freedom of
religion (Article 25) and prevents intolerance based on religious
affiliations (Article 15), the state can ban religious organisations under
certain circumstances: if they participate in heightening communal
tensions, or in acts of terrorism or sedition, or if religious
organisations violate provisions of the Foreign Contribution Regulation
Act (FCRA) of 1976. However, no provision currently exists for the
scrutiny of Hindu communalist organisations as they accumulate funds from
abroad for anti-minority work.
Right wing sectarian organisations have also undertaken
coercive conversions through the ‘Ghar Vapasi’ (homecoming) programme.
Communalists rumour that all Adivasis and Dalits are Hindus, even as
Adivasis and Dalits often do not self-identify as such, and therefore
justifies ‘bringing back’ Christian Adivasis and Dalits to Hinduism.
Christian social service providers and clergy have been charged with
forcible conversions or with the intent to convert and with using money to
induce poor Adivasis and Dalits to convert to Christianity. Numerous
Christian organisations have protested these allegations and have also
issued injunctions against the integration of proselytisation and charity,
such as the warning issued by the United States National Council of
Churches following the tsunami and its impact in 2004-05.
Contrary to available information, Hindu right wing
organisations have undertaken campaigns to activate the rumour that
Muslims are ‘infiltrating’ in large numbers from Bangladesh and that they
threaten the livelihood, security and well-being of Hindus in Orissa. They
also spread rumours that Muslims from Bangladesh are linked to insurgent
activity in Pakistan seeking to undermine India. In actuality, it is
primarily Hindus that emigrate from Bangladesh. In instances when Muslims
migrate from Bangladesh, poverty is the major motivator.
People who migrate from Bangladesh are categorised by the
state into three groups: (1) immigrants before 25 March 1971; (2) between
25 March and 16 December 1971; and (3) those who migrated after that time
frame.
Immigrants in the first group have the right to reside in
India. Those in the second category have been authorised for deportation
by the government of India and those in the third category may be deported
as well. The Orissa home department has listed that approximately 3,000
‘infiltrators’ from Bangladesh are currently resident in Orissa. Nearly
all of them are of Hindu descent. In January 2005 the government of Orissa
served notices to evict 1,551 immigrants it has determined are from
Bangladesh. Some of those identified stated that they are initially from
Orissa and some claim to have families that migrated from Bangladesh
during 1951 and 1955 and are therefore not actionable.
In response to a public interest litigation, the Orissa
High Court required an inquiry seeking to verify the status of 1,551
immigrants who had been listed as ‘illegal’ immigrants by the government
of Orissa. After an initial verification process was undertaken by the
Orissa police together with the relevant district magistrates and revenue
and extension officers, it was found that 227 persons possessed the
necessary documents, such as identity cards or refugee registration
papers, which established that they were legal residents of Orissa. This
inquiry contradicts the government of Orissa’s allegation that these
persons were residing in Orissa illegally.
Reported violence against Christian communities
"The Christian community in Orissa, they are living in
fear and anxiety because of increased persecution by the sangh parivar. In
some cases, the affected people went to nearby police stations and filed
complaints but in some cases they were not entertained. Police did not
take their complaints. The Christian community, they are not getting
support from the police or from the state administration. The Hindu
activists are very much encouraged because the political forces are behind
them."
– Reverend Pran R. Parichha, president, All India
Christian Council, Orissa Chapter, January 2006
December 1998: 5,000 sangh activists allegedly
attacked a Christian area, Ramgiri-Udaygiri, near Ranalai village in
Gajapati district in early December, setting fire to 92 homes, a church, a
police station and government vehicles. Earlier that day, sangh parivar
activists allegedly entered the local jail forcibly and burnt two
Christian prisoners to death.
January 1999: Graham Staines, 58, Australian
missionary, and his 10 and six-year-old sons were torched in Manoharpur
village in Keonjhar district. The inquiry commission led by Justice DP
Wadhwa charged Dara Singh, alias Ravindra Pal Singh, a key Bajrang Dal
organiser, with the act, even though it failed to hold sangh parivar
organisations responsible. In September 2003 the Khordha sessions court
delivered a verdict sentencing Dara Singh to death and 12 others to life
imprisonment. Dara Singh’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in
May 2005. Of those formerly sentenced to life in prison, 11 have been
acquitted. In August 2005 the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a
special leave petition with the Supreme Court, challenging the Orissa High
Court’s decision to convert Singh’s sentence. In August 2005 Dara Singh
also filed a special leave petition with the Supreme Court, seeking
discharge. Both appeals were admitted in October 2005 and are pending.
February 1999: Jacqueline Mary, Catholic nun, was
gang-raped by men in Mayurbhanj district.
February 1999: Communalists allegedly damaged a
crucifix on a hillside near Ranalai.
March 1999: 157 Christian homes were set afire and
more than 12 persons injured in Ranalai village. Three persons received
gunshot wounds. About 100 Adivasi activists working for Hindutva are
claimed to have attacked the village bearing firearms and other weapons.
After the attack, Bharat Paik, a BJP leader, said that the Christians had
burnt down their own homes.
September 1999: Arul Das, Catholic priest, was
murdered in Jamabani village, Mayurbhanj district, followed by the
destruction of churches in Phulbani district.
December 2000: Communalists in Jharia banned the
statue of Jesus from being installed by local Christians. That same month,
about 4,000 people from eight villages in Balasore and Mayurbhanj
districts announced that they would not allow conversions to Christianity.
June-July 2001: 18 Hindu Dalits converted to
Christianity in Korua village, Kendrapara district. Sangh parivar
organisations protested. On 08 July, police arrested 18 persons who
converted and the pastors who administered the ceremony, using OFRA. While
police reports stated that the conversions were consensual, 22 cases were
registered for not obtaining permission prior to the ceremony. On 26 July
2001, 15 of the 18 persons who had converted to Christianity were
‘returned’ to Hinduism by sangh activists.
June 2002: VHP converted 143 Adivasi Christians from
46 Adivasi families to Hinduism in Tainser village, Sundargarh district.
January-December 2002: The VHP claimed to have
converted 5,000 people to Hinduism in 2002.
December 2003: A 15,000-member rally was organised by
the VKA in Bhubaneswar and Jagadev Ram Oram, president, VKA, stated that
Adivasi converts to Christianity must not be accorded the benefits of
reservation. Dilip Singh Bhuria, then chairperson, National Commission for
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, commended the BJP for its pro-Adivasi
policies.
February 2004: Seven women, Sanjukta Kandi, 45 years,
Shanti Kandi, 25, Sumitra Kandi, 22, Umitra Kandi, 19, Nayana Samal, 21,
Nisha Samal, 40, and Subhas Samal, 28, and a male pastor were forcibly
tonsured in Kilipal, Jagatsinghpur district, and a social and economic
boycott was imposed against them.
March 2004: 212 Adivasi Christians converted to
Hinduism in Jharsuguda district, in a ceremony held by the VHP and VKA,
with BJP leader and former union minister, Dilip Singh Judeo, attending.
August 2004: On 26 August 2004, Our Lady of Charity
Catholic Church was vandalised, figures of Mary and Jesus shattered, some
sacred objects burned and the community targeted in Raikia in Phulbani
district. Continued targeting of the Christian community led by a communal
proselytiser and his cadre has forced the Christian community there to
segregate themselves economically by opening up their own markets rather
than using the local market. Local community members claim that the sangh
parivar has also infiltrated into the Adivasi community in the area,
organising Adivasis against Christians.
September 2004: 75 Adivasi Christians converted to
Hinduism by the VHP in Sarat village, Mayurbhanj district.
October 2004: 336 Adivasi Christians converted to
Hinduism from 80 families within 11 villages in Sundargarh district.
February 2005: Gilbert Raj, Baptist pastor with the
India Mission, was murdered and allegedly tortured before being killed.
February 2005: Dilip Dalai, Pentecostal pastor, age
22, was stabbed to death at his residence in Begunia village, Khordha
district.
May 2005: 567 Christians converted to Hinduism by the
VHP in Bargarh district.
June 2005: Motivated by Hindutva activists, 268
persons from 19 villages in Gajapati district filed a public interest
litigation. The petition argued that missionaries were forcing conversions
to Christianity in the area. The Orissa High Court instructed that charge
sheets be filed immediately and cases registered. Invoking Sections 3, 4
and 5 of OFRA, the division bench of the chief justice ordered that
district magistrates act strongly against Christian conversions.
October 2005: 200 Adivasi Christians were converted to
Hinduism in Malkangiri district.
November 2005: Hindu communalists are alleged to have
burnt 15 Christian homes in Gandahati village in Gajapati district,
seriously injuring six people and leaving others homeless.
In response, police arrested eight Christians from the
village for instigating violence.
November 2005: 58 Adivasi Christians, 27 women and 31
men were converted to Hinduism by the VHP in Dharanidharpur village,
Sundargarh district.
December 2005: 16 Christians from Jamundar, Tabada and
Tangarashi village, Sundargarh district, were converted to Hinduism in
Tainda village. The Bajrang Dal and VHP conducted the ceremony and
informed the local administration. Subash Chouhan stated that 733
conversions had taken place from among 161 families in 2005, in western
Orissa.
January 2006: Reportedly led by the village BJP
leader, Pastor Kulamani Mallick was attacked and his home set on fire in
Matiapada village in Jajpur district. Seven adjacent houses, six belonging
to Christians, also caught fire. The police asked that the name of the BJP
leader be removed from the First Information Report (FIR) and questioned
the Christians under OFRA; 50 RSS activists attacked a Christian home in
Koikonda village in Malkangiri district where four missionaries from the
Indian Evangelical Team were meeting with 14 Christian families; 136
Adivasi Christians, 75 women and 61 men from Tumbei, Kodaligoccha and
Pankadihi village were converted to Hinduism in a ceremony organised by
the Bajrang Dal and the VHP in Tumbei village in Rourkela district.
March 2006: A church was burned in Nandapur village in
Koraput district; 913 Christians from 150 families from Sonepur, Bargarh
and Balangir districts were converted to Hinduism in Kandumunda village in
Sonepur district.
April 2006: 342 Christians from 74 families were
converted to Hinduism in Chakapad in Phulbani district, connected to the
RSS and VHP organised Rath Yatra and Sammelan (conference, gathering) held
in Orissa on April 8-10.
Reported violence against Muslim communities
"Orissa’s Musalman (Muslim) community, in the years of
Biju Janata Dal and BJP rule, have not been given financial, economic,
political, social benefits. The situation of minorities in Orissa is
critical and our demands, which we have placed to the national government
and Orissa government, are not heeded. In Bhadrak (city) the population of
minorities is large and it is a sensitive area. The situation is
increasing and there is no response from the Orissa government to stop
those that are creating communal disharmony and there is no regard for our
security and health."
– Leader, Muslim Jamaat, Bhadrak, January 2006
April 1998: A truck transporting cattle owned by a
Muslim man was halted in Satkoshia Ghat in Keonjhar district and the
cattle confiscated and given to local Adivasis, to organise them against
Muslims.
June 1998: Another such incident took place in
Thakurmunda block in Mayurbhanj district and the driver was beaten.
August 1998: Another truck transporting cattle was
looted and burned in Mayurbhanj district.
October 1998: Another truck transporting cattle was
looted and burnt and the driver’s aide was beaten to death in Keonjhar
district.
November 1998: A shop was looted in Kendumundi weekly
market in Karanjia block in Mayurbhanj district. Haji Ali Baig, the Muslim
male trader, was dragged out and threatened with death. Local gangs
intervened and allowed for his escape.
August 1999: Sheikh Rehman, a male Muslim clothes
merchant, was mutilated and burnt to death in public demonstration at the
Padiabeda weekly market in Mayurbhanj district and various social and
economic boycotts placed against the Muslim community. Buluram Mohanty, a
colleague of Dara Singh’s, was charged. It was also alleged that Dara
Singh was involved in this case. Andha Nayak, an accomplice of Dara
Singh’s, was arrested in 2003 for inciting Adivasis against Muslim cattle
traders in the Padiabeda area.
November 2001: In Pitaipura village in Jagatsinghpur
district it is contended that there is an ongoing attempt by Hindu
communalists to orchestrate a land-grab connected to a Muslim graveyard.
On the morning of 20 November 2001, around 3,000 activists from nearby
villages started rioting; as Muslim houses were burnt down, Muslim women
were ill-treated and their property, including goats and other animals,
stolen.
August 2005: In Kendrapara district, a male contractor
was shot on Govari Embankment Road, supposedly by members of a Muslim
gang. Sangh parivar groups claimed that the shooting was part of a gang
war associated with Islamic extremism and called for a 12-hour bandh
(strike). Hindu right wing organisations are alleged to have looted and
set Muslim shops on fire.
Recommendations
"We have lived here for many generations but we are called
"foreigners", "traitors", "terrorists". The Hindu Suraksha Samiti
threatens us: "Musalman ka ek hi sthan, Pakistan ya Kabristan (For
Muslims there is one place, Pakistan or the grave)." Where will we go?"
– Muslim elder, Bhadrak, June 2005
"There is virtually no political opposition to sangh
parivar in the state."
– Senior leader within people’s movements, Bhubaneswar,
December 2005
State of emergency in Orissa
While the Constitution of India requires that institutions
of state stand apart from religion and religious practice and remain
neutral and impartial, contrarily, we find government officials in Orissa
engaging in religious practices as part of their official duties and using
religious sentiments in enacting their duties; idols and photographs of
deities in government offices; religious ceremonies being performed on
government property such as railway stations; and public institutions and
military paraphernalia named after objects of religious significance.
This report shows how the state is implicated in
fortifying communal activities in Orissa, far removed from the
observations made in the SR Bommai and Others vs Union of
India and Others case of 1994 on the constitutionally mandated
character of the state in the Indian republic.
Based on its findings, the tribunal recommends that the
government of India and the government of Orissa treat the communal
situation in the state as on par with an emergency and act promptly to
address the injustices perpetrated on minority and disenfranchised persons
and groups as a preventive measure against future injustices.
Acknowledging the magnitude and appalling impact of the consequences of
majoritarian communalist mobilisations and the reciprocal human rights
violations that have ensued, we urge that the following recommendations be
acted upon expeditiously:
Law and order
The investigations of the people’s tribunal confirm that
an alarming situation has developed in respect of the supremacist ideology
of Hindutva. We recommend that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
immediately investigate the activities of the Bajrang Dal, VHP and RSS,
and apply, wherever necessary, relevant provisions of the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. We note that under Section 2G of the
Act, ‘unlawful association’ denotes: (1) ‘that which has for its object
any unlawful activity, or which encourages or aids persons to undertake
any unlawful activity, or through which the members undertake such
activity’; or (2) ‘which has for its object any activity which is
punishable under Section 153A or Section 153B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC)
1860 (Central Act 45 of 1860) or which encourages or aids persons to
undertake any such activity; or of which the members undertake any such
activity’.
We recommend that a review panel be appointed by the
government of Orissa, in consultation with the National Human Rights
Commission, the National Minorities Commission and other relevant
independent bodies, such as the People’s Union for Democratic Rights and
People’s Union for Civil Liberties, to identify and investigate the
status, actions and finances of communal groups and their affiliates and
cadre, and the actions of their membership. The tribunal strongly
recommends that these groups be investigated and monitored and, as
appropriate, requisite action be taken and sanctions be imposed on their
activities and reparations be made retroactively to the affected
communities and individuals.
We recommend that the government of Orissa and the central
government make concerted efforts to identify, investigate and eradicate
paramilitary hate camps being operated by the communal groups that
instruct cadre in arms training and militancy with the express purpose of
threatening and destroying disenfranchised and minority populations
through social and economic boycotts, sporadic and organised intimidation,
arson, rape, murder and other forms of social, gendered, economic and
physical violence.
We observe that certain organisations, such as the VHP and
VKA are registered as charity organisations. As their work appears to be
political in nature, we recommend that they should be audited and
recognised as political organisations. A serious concern is whether the
activities of these fall within the objectives of the trust; whether in
fact these organisations should have been registered as social trusts
given the nature of their activities; whether the monies collected are
indeed used for the purposes for which they were collected and whether
illegal and political activities are being carried out in the name of
social work. Given these concerns, we recommend that the charitable
status, and the rights and privileges thereof, enjoyed by these groups be
reviewed.
We recommend that the disparagement, demonisation and
vilification of any religion should be statutorily prohibited and held
punishable under the IPC.
We recommend the repeal of the Orissa Freedom of Religion
Act, 1967 following the precedent set in Tamil Nadu in 2004 whereby the
ordinance of 2002 was set aside pertaining to the ‘freedom of religion’.
As provisions for preventing and prohibiting conversions that commence
under duress and coercion already exist under the IPC, we find no basis
for the existence of a separate law, especially one which sets draconian
parameters and has been used by communalists to target and prohibit
voluntary conversion within minority, especially Christian, communities.
We strongly recommend that the government of India and the
government of Orissa take adequate and expeditious steps to ensure that
those who convert voluntarily to Christianity, Islam or any other faith be
allowed to practice their religion. Failing to do so is in serious
violation of Articles 25-28 of the Constitution of India, which define the
fundamental rights of every citizen of India, and those that the
government of India and the government of Orissa are obligated to uphold.
We find that sangh parivar organisations are converting
Christians and other non-Hindus to Hinduism. We also note with concern
that sangh parivar activists claim India to be a Hindu nation and all
Adivasis and Dalits to be ‘originally’ Hindus even as Adivasis and Dalits
often do not self-identify as such. Drawing on such rationales, communal
organisations justify coercion in ‘bringing back’ Adivasis or Dalits to
Hinduism. We urge the recognition that by and large most Adivasi
communities and Dalit groups do not identify as part of the Hindu
community and urgent steps should be taken to stop their Hinduisation by
means of coercion or duress. We recommend that the police and courts act
immediately and authoritatively to stop communalists from enacting
forcible conversions or ‘reconversions’ and that the police be required to
submit regular and public reports documenting their work.
We find that various police and court investigations
related to crimes against minorities have not been undertaken. On occasion
the police have refused to file first information reports. We recommend
that police desks be set up for registering minority grievances and filing
FIRs, and that the government of Orissa appoint a team of special public
prosecutors to conduct proceedings as necessary.
We note that the BJP-BJD-led coalition government in
Orissa has refused to ban the trident distribution programme, which was
undertaken in May 2005, despite protests from opposition leaders and human
and civil rights groups. We recommend that the trishul be
categorised as a weapon and its mass distribution be prohibited under the
Arms Act of 1959, irrespective of the size of the blade.
We recommend that the Orissa Prevention of Cow Slaughter
Act, 1960 be reviewed. We note that provisions for preventing and
prohibiting cruelty to animals already exist under the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and find no basis for the existence of a
separate law, especially one which is utilised to intervene on the
livelihood practices of economically disenfranchised groups with
detrimental effects, such as among Adivasis, Dalits and Muslims that
engage in cattle trade and cow slaughter.
Institutional issues
We recommend that the government of Orissa must establish
and activate the State Human Rights Commission and State Minorities
Commission. Given the scope and extent of human rights violations in
general, and of minorities in particular, we recommend that this must be
made a priority.
We recommend that the government of Orissa appoint a task
force, with requisite participation from civil society, for a
comprehensive assessment of communalism in the state, with particular
attentiveness to Hindu communalism.
Taking note of the coercion applied by communal
organisations in converting non-Hindus and once-Hindus to Hinduism, we
recommend that the government of India, in conjunction with the National
Human Rights Commission, investigate, assemble and release a status report
regarding the issue of (re)conversion of Christians to Hinduism that is
being undertaken by communal organisations.
We find that communal organisations have been
orchestrating active campaigns to spread rumours about large-scale Muslim
‘infiltrations’ from Bangladesh that threatens the well-being of Hindus in
Orissa and India. Based on our investigations, we do not find evidence of
any such imminent or remote danger. We note that the use of the term
‘infiltration’ is deliberately misleading and inflammatory. In fact, the
majority of those who have migrated from Bangladesh are of Hindu descent.
We recommend that the government of India, with the participation of
established civil society groups that work for communal harmony, assemble
and release a status report on the actual number of Muslims from
Bangladesh that have migrated into the area and describe the
socio-economic forces that result in such migration.
We note that communal organisations have instituted an
extensive educational network for inducting rural and disenfranchised
peoples in Orissa into the sangh parivar. Building on a mandate that
validates the paramountcy of a ‘Hindu worldview’ in India and the
assembling of a Hindu state, the curriculum taught in these educational
institutions, such as Ekal Vidyalayas, one-teacher schools and the VKAs,
often denigrates minorities. The communal curricula should not be allowed
by the state or central government to masquerade as standard education, as
it cultivates a culture of hate toward those who are non-Hindus. We
further note that communal organisations are reported to utilise such
educational networks as mechanisms for recruiting and mobilising local
communities, including women, Adivasis and Dalits, in campaigns against
religious minorities. The recent participation of women, Adivasi and Dalit
communities in the genocide of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 is one example
of this pattern.
We recommend that the government of Orissa set up a
special task force to review and monitor these schools and educational
institutions, and terminate state linkages and support to these
institutions. We further recommend that the government of India and the
government of Orissa ensure that the curriculum, which is prescribed in
all schools of secular persuasion, should be diligently enforced and where
appropriate, religious curricula should foster understanding of difference
and diversity and not seek to promote adversity or retributive activism in
the name of religion.
Furthermore, we observe that majoritarian communalists
have made persistent efforts to stop instruction in the Urdu language. We
recommend that the government of Orissa intervene to remedy the
environment of intimidation that prevails and ensure that instruction in
Urdu is continued and requisite teachers are hired at the school and
university level.
We recommend that the government of Orissa undertake
concrete steps to secularise public offices, such as police stations, the
block development office and other government offices, by removing idols,
religious structures, religious images from government offices, vehicles
and public places, and prohibit religious ceremonies from being carried
out in public places and on government premises.
Social concerns
We urge that the government of Orissa take steps to
identify and intervene in areas of communal tension where economic and
social boycotts are being or have been imposed on minority communities.
Further, we note with grave concern that such boycotts have been placed
against the Christian community in the past in Raikia in Phulbani
district, against the Muslim community in Bhadrak town and against the
Muslim community in Pitaipura in Jagatsinghpur district, and is currently
ongoing against Dalit Christians in Kilipal in Jagatsinghpur district.
Such action has caused minority communities to isolate and ghettoise
themselves and some have been forced to relocate to escape fear and
intimidation. We remain gravely concerned about the impact of such actions
on children, women and the poor as well as men who are targeted among
Adivasi, Dalit, Christian and Muslim communities.
We recommend that confrontational and libellous statements
made by persons and organisations to the electronic and print media that
contribute to communalisation should be investigated and acted upon and
the burden of proof placed on such persons and organisations to clarify or
retract their statements. We note that media and non-governmental
organisations should be encouraged to take the initiative and play an
active and independent role in the secularisation of society.
We note that organisations such as the Ashram Shalas,
which have extensive networks, have been spreading propaganda against
minority communities. We recommend that such organisations must be subject
to social auditing to ensure that values and ideals of plurality prevail.
Conclusion
We find that significant human rights abuses have taken
place in Orissa due to communal violence and that the government of Orissa
has been negligent in intervening on the actions of Hindu communalist
individuals and organisations that threaten the peace and security of
minority and disenfranchised groups in the state. The imminent concern
before the government of India, government of Orissa and the citizenry is
to prevent the unchecked cruelty inflicted by communal organisations.
Through the tribunal’s investigations, including the site visits, we were
witness to the extent of episodic violence and everyday brutalisation
experienced by individuals and communities targeted by these groups in
Orissa. These injustices also highlight the severe and existing
hierarchies of caste, class, tribe, religion, gender and sexuality in the
state, and compound social suffering and cultural violence.
We find that the government of Orissa has failed to
respond to these issues and the serious concerns they pose to democratic
governance in the state. We recommend that the Indian state must take
preventative action to uphold the rule of law, justice, right to life and
livelihood, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly,
freedom of inquiry and the right to information in Orissa.
(Communalism in Orissa – Report of the Indian People’s
Tribunal on
Environment and Human Rights, published by Indian
People’s Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights, September 2006.) .
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