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[On Aug. 24, a self-appointed ‘people’s tribunal’ headed by Mr A.P. Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court, declared that the ‘victims’ of the 2008 violence in Kandhamal, Orissa, continue to suffer intimidation, and demanded state government protection for them. He wanted a special investigation team to re-examine allegations of sexual assault despite the fact that the most sensational rape case is falling apart in the sessions court at Cuttack! No attempt was made to balance the picture – to even acknowledge the brutal assassination of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and his disciple-sanyasis in his own ashram in Jalaspeta on Janmasthami day, Aug. 23, 2008.
Such is the state of indecent bias of persons holding exalted positions in the Indian judiciary. Justice Shah whined at not being elevated to the Supreme Court after his judgment de-criminalising homosexuality in India, and was supported by jurists who ran for cover after the Bhopal Gas Tragedy verdict exposed their role in India’s worst industrial crime. With the evidence of Justice Shah’s unwarranted and one-sided activism on Kandhamal before us – the organisers and jury of the illicit tribunal consistently refused to let tribal activist Hillary Singh to present his case before the gathering despite receiving detailed documentary evidence of his sufferings at the hands of the Christian fundamentalists – we can only say it is a blessing that this vicious anti-Hindu was not elevated to the apex court. Vijayvaani presents the usually purged side of the story – Editor]
Real victims speak up
On Aug. 23, over hundred tribals from Kandhamal district gathered at Jantar Mantar in the capital to protest against the unrelenting religious aggression, violent attacks, land grab, forced conversions, forged caste certificates, destruction of places of worship, eviction from houses, and arrests of innocent tribals on false charges.
The tribals expressed outrage that the murderers of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati remain at liberty, with investigations rendered stagnant by official apathy. Worse, hundreds of innocent tribals were falsely implicated in 1043 cases registered following the high tension that followed the murders. Tribals from neighbouring villages allege they were implicated from the voter list! In the Baliguda SDJM GR case no. 203/08, the FIR consists of 213 names from 13 villages and 2000 others. The names in the FIR follow a pattern that tallies with the voter lists of the concerned villages. This certainly discredits the nature of the investigation.
At the Jantar Mantar meeting, Hillary Singh from Alanjori village told the gathering that his was the lone tribal family left in a village completely converted to Christianity. Thereafter, he was constantly induced and in 2005 threatened to convert to Christianity, or face ‘serious’ consequences. When the family refused to submit, it had to face a social boycott. Finally, fearing death at the hands of their neighbours, the family was forced to leave the village on 27 December 2007, leaving all their belongings behind. Hillary’s life savings and belongings were looted and he had to start life afresh in Brahmanigaon village. The authorities have turned a deaf ear to his pleas… Similar stories were narrated throughout the dharna.
The demonstrators lamented the systematic manipulation of revenue records in favour of SCs who are misrepresented as tribals, primarily Kondh tribal, as they speak the Kui language. This damages the tribal people who have no recorded land rights. The missionaries facilitate SCs in manipulating land records and availing financial incentives – the majority of Pana (SC community) are Christian.
Orissa government reports show that the 52% Kondhs (Kandhas) own less than 10% of the land in Kandhamal district. The tribals say the sub-collector admitted that land records have been skewed. The official investigating land record frauds explained the process by which Christian Panas gain control of tribal lands and also gain official recognition as a tribal:
- A Pana convinces a Kondh tribal to sell the land. Both come to the Registrar’s office to recordthe sale and get a copy of the land sale deed. In order to circumvent the total ban on sale of tribal lands to non-tribals, fraudulent means are employed. The Pana enters his caste as ‘Kondh’ on the document, and as the Registrar’s job is only to collect the stamp duty for the sale, he has no reason to doubt or investigate such a claim.
- Once the sale deed is completed, the Pana owns the land and the land records reflect his caste identity as Kondh. Then the Pana goes to the Tehsildar and obtains a Tribal certificate and is thus legally identified as a Scheduled Tribe Kondh.
- In this sly and criminally manipulative manner, Christian Panas have stripped the tribal Kandhas of their lands, their legally entitled Government jobs, and their tribal identity.
- The Panas have the support of institutional agencies and NGOs and imperil the very life and existence of the Kondhs and their faith and culture. This violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution, which envisages protection of faith and culture and upholds secularism.
Eating cake
In this manner, the Christian Panas are keeping their cake and eating it too. As Scheduled Castes they are entitled to benefits within the Hindu fold. As Christians, the foreign largesse provided by the Church raises their social status above the Kandhas, who resent it. So, when the Christian Panas began their drive to usurp the very identities of the Kandhas through land fraud, illegal tribal certification and finally by manipulating the Constitution and legal system, the Kandhas responded.
To add to the turmoil, the Christian Panas began in 1981 a movement for official recognition as a Scheduled Tribe, specifically, as Kui tribe, though Kui is the native language of the Kandhas and not a tribe! This disturbed the Kondhs who saw it as yet another attack upon their identity and rights. They strongly opposed the Tribes Advisory Council for combining “Kandha” with “Kui” in the tribal list in Orissa. Kandhamal District Kui Samaj Coordination Committee leader Lambodar Kanhar said ‘Kandha’ and ‘Kui’ are synonymous as ‘Kui’ means Kandha.
Following allegations of flourishing fake tribal certificates, the Orissa government asked the Tribes Advisory Council to delete ‘Kui’ from the list of tribes as several Kui-speaking non-tribals, especially Panas, obtained ST certificates. At Jantar Mantar, the tribal leaders presented a list of 145 Panas who have obtained government jobs on the basis of illegal tribal certificates.
In 1997, the Christian Panas made a major political effort to create a language-based identity. As Kui is a tribal language, they proposed that all Kui speakers be identified as tribals. In the President of India’s Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 2002, the name Kui was added [Act of Parliament, No.10 of 2003; President’s assent on Jan. 7, 2003].
But the efforts by Panas to be notified as Kui-speaking Tribals were strongly resented by the Kandha tribals; their frenzied legal and social confrontation prevented the Christian Panas from getting legal status as tribals.