10 years on, victims of
India’s anti-Christian violence still denied justice
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| The Jan.12 meeting in Raikia, Odisha, India. |
About 3,000 survivors of India’s anti-Christian riots of
more than 10 years ago joined Church authorities, lay leaders and rights
activists on Jan 12 in Raikia, Odisha state’s Kandhamal district, to assess the
state of justice.
By Robin Gomes
The Catholic Church of eastern India’s Odisha state
organized a meeting on Saturday to assess the state of justice and compensation
with regard to the victims and survivors of the terrible anti-Christian
violence in the state more than 10 years ago.
About 3,000 survivors of the violence of Christmas
2007 and August 2008 and thereafter, together with Catholic Church
authorities, lay leaders and rights activists gathered on Jan. 12 in Raikia town
of Odisha’s Kandhamal district that was the epicentre of the outrage.
Hell broke loose on the Christians of Kandhamal on August
25, 2008, after Hindu extremists blamed Christians for the August 23 murder of
Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, even though Maoist rebels
claimed the assassination.
The Justice, Peace and Development Commission of the
Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar under whose jurisdiction comes
Kandhamal district, organized the Raikia meeting. It was attended, among
others, by local Archbishop John Barwa, senior Supreme Court advocate Colin
Gonsalves, Thomas Minze, president of the "All India Catholic Odisha"
association and several lawyers, priests, activists and lay leaders.
Those present reiterated their approach to peace, justice
and human dignity, noting the urgency of compensation for those whose homes
were completely damaged by the wave of violence.
Father Ajaya Kumar Singh is the secretary
of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Odisha Bishops’ Regional Council
(OBRC). The priest of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar Archdiocese who was at the
Raikia meeting spoke to Vatican News about it.
Justice denied
Fr. Singh said that ten years after the violence, the
victims, their families and survivors still await justice. In
addition, 7 Adivasi Dalit (indigenous of low cast origin) Christians
who were falsely accused of the murder of Lakshmanananda, are behind bars for
the last 10 years under life imprisonment. On the contrary, not a single
person who committed “heinous crimes” such as murder, gang rape, arson,
looting and destruction of churches and homes, is behind bars.
Besides, Fr. Singh said, there is also a huge amount of intimidation and
threat against justice and the Christians.
A 2016 ruling by the Supreme Court of India
had ordered compensation to the victims and survivors of the violence but Fr.
Singh said it is not going the way they are expecting. Those who have
been denied or not enlisted for compensation are running from office to office
without any result.
Another major Supreme Court verdict ordered the re-opening
of 315 cases of violence and injustice against the
Christians of Kandhamal. The priest lamented that not a single case has
been re-opened so far. This shows the apathy, indifference and mockery of
the country’s apex court by both the state and union governments.
Death and damages
Fr. Singh pointed out that the 2007 and 2008 violence on
Christians was the worst in past 300 years in India. Hundreds of innocent
people were killed or injured in the violence, nearly 7000 homes were reduced
to ashes and 395 churches were demolished. This went on for 6 to 7 months
but what Fr. Singh regrets most is that 10 years after the violence, people
still haven’t been able to return to their homes and villages.
Some hope
The priest drew some hope from last month’s Supreme
Court life sentence to a man for crimes in the notorious 1984
anti-Sikh violence that erupted following the assassination of then
Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, by her two Sikh bodyguards.
Fr. Singh said that the sentence after 34 years gives hope to the
survivors of Kandhamal violence, and they gathered in Raikia on Jan. 12 to see
how they can obtain justice.
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