29 Dec 2008, 0224 hrs IST, Sandeep Mishra, TNN
PHULBANI (Kandhmal): Holding trial for the accused in the recent communal riots in Kandhmal district of Orissa could turn out to be an onerous
and long drawn process as over a lakh people have been accused of their involvement in the violence.
The police, based on 698 FIRs filed in connection with the carnage that happened mostly in August and September in the southern Orissa district, have found that 11,348 people are named accused, while over 89,424 people have been categorized as others in the complaints. "The number would go further up as 75 more cases have been lodged since we made the assessment a few days ago,'' a senior police officer said.
Conducting investigation, arresting the accused and organizing trial for such a huge number of accused is being viewed as a "big challenge'' for the state administration, admitted officials. "This is an unprecedented situation in Orissa. We have never dealt with a law and order situation of this magnitude,'' pointed out a top cop. Officially, 39 people were killed in the religious mayhem. Police have so far arrested around 700 people in connection with the murders, arson and other violence that took place in Kandhmal. Even incarcerating those arrested has been a major headache as the states prisons are overcrowded. The jails in Kandhmal district could not accommodate such large number forcing us to shift a good person of the under trials to jails in Ganjam and other places, official sources said.
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Showing posts with label Kandhamal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kandhamal. Show all posts
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
12,000 people missing from refugee camps in Orissa
» 10/09/2008 14:56
INDIA
Orissa: Christian villages burned, 12,000 people missing from refugee camps
by Nirmala Carvalho
Christians feel unsafe even under government protection, and are leaving the refugee camps to escape to other areas of India. In Kandhamal, the destruction has continued for more than a month.
Bhubaneshwar (AsiaNews) - About 12,000 people have disappeared from the refugee camps set up by the government of Orissa to accommodate the Christians fleeing from the violence of Hindu radicals and from their destroyed villages. Meanwhile, a dozen more houses have been burned, while the government of the state assures that it is doing everything possible to maintain security.
Since August 24, a campaign of attacks against Christians and their institutions has been underway in the district of Kandhamal, killing 60 people and forcing 50,000 more to flee. Of these, at least 15,000 have been accommodated in refugee camps overseen by the government. But the Christians do not feel safe; in recent days, attacks have been conducted by Hindu fundamentalist groups against Christians in the camps, with threats and attempts to reconvert them to Hinduism. No Christians from the outside are permitted to enter the camps, and even volunteers and medical personnel from nongovernmental organizations are closely monitored, under the suspicion of wanting to favor conversions to Christianity.
Meanwhile, news of more burned villages is coming from the diocese of Bhubaneshwar. Yesterday, in the village of Balligada, 25 homes belonging to Christians were first ransacked and then set on fire. On October 7 in Phiringia and Sujeli (G. Udayagiri), six homes were attacked and destroyed.
The increasingly tense situation is in contrast with the assurances from the government of Orissa, which claims it is able to maintain security. According to the government, the Christians who leave the refugee camps are returning to their villages. In reality, according to sources in the diocese, Christians are leaving Orissa in search of more secure areas. source
INDIA
Orissa: Christian villages burned, 12,000 people missing from refugee camps
by Nirmala Carvalho
Christians feel unsafe even under government protection, and are leaving the refugee camps to escape to other areas of India. In Kandhamal, the destruction has continued for more than a month.
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Bhubaneshwar (AsiaNews) - About 12,000 people have disappeared from the refugee camps set up by the government of Orissa to accommodate the Christians fleeing from the violence of Hindu radicals and from their destroyed villages. Meanwhile, a dozen more houses have been burned, while the government of the state assures that it is doing everything possible to maintain security.
Since August 24, a campaign of attacks against Christians and their institutions has been underway in the district of Kandhamal, killing 60 people and forcing 50,000 more to flee. Of these, at least 15,000 have been accommodated in refugee camps overseen by the government. But the Christians do not feel safe; in recent days, attacks have been conducted by Hindu fundamentalist groups against Christians in the camps, with threats and attempts to reconvert them to Hinduism. No Christians from the outside are permitted to enter the camps, and even volunteers and medical personnel from nongovernmental organizations are closely monitored, under the suspicion of wanting to favor conversions to Christianity.
Meanwhile, news of more burned villages is coming from the diocese of Bhubaneshwar. Yesterday, in the village of Balligada, 25 homes belonging to Christians were first ransacked and then set on fire. On October 7 in Phiringia and Sujeli (G. Udayagiri), six homes were attacked and destroyed.
The increasingly tense situation is in contrast with the assurances from the government of Orissa, which claims it is able to maintain security. According to the government, the Christians who leave the refugee camps are returning to their villages. In reality, according to sources in the diocese, Christians are leaving Orissa in search of more secure areas. source
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Blunting this sharp divide by Sitaram Yechury
Hindustan Times October 08, 2008
In Kandhamal, there are two major tribes — the Kandhas and the Dalit Panas. Over the years, sections of the former embraced Hinduism while sections of the latter embraced Christianity. It is the latter that the RSS and its tentacles target in order to consolidate their ‘Hindu vote-bank’.
Unable to defend such atrocities unleashed by his ‘parivar’, L.K. Advani claimed that he has a soft corner for Christians as he studied in a missionary school in Karachi. In the same breath, he repeated his favourite pastime of calling for a ‘national debate’ on religious conversions. This is a perfidious argument. If animist tribals embrace Hinduism, then it is not ‘conversion’. However, if they embrace Christianity or any other religion, then it is ‘religious conversion’.
Moreover, Advani has also called for an ‘inter-religious dialogue’ to strengthen ‘Indian-ness’.
However, his RSS and BJP have all along maintained that Hinduism alone qualifies as a religion while all others are only sects. This is amplified in their demand to replace ‘dharma nirpekshata’ in our Constitution with ‘panth nirpekshata’. Will Advani seek an inter-religious dialogue where all religions are treated on a par? more
BJP looking to ease anti-Christian sentiments
By Iftikhar Gilani NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani on Wednesday met the archbishops of Delhi and Orissa in a bid to defuse the unending anti-Christian violence. The two-hour long dialogue came just hours before the Union Cabinet considered banning Bajrang Dal, a frontline organisation of Hindu nationalist BJP, allegedly involved in attacks on Christians. The meeting concluded with a call for restoration of peace and dialogue in a unanimous joint statement signed by Advani, the Christian leaders, and Swami Chidanand Saraswati of Rishikesh, who had taken initiative for the meeting. more
Action should be taken against perpetrators: Vijayakant
Chennai (PTI): Tamil film actor-turned politician Vijayakant on Thursday said strict action should be taken against perpetrators of attacks on places of worship in Tamil Nadu and such incidents should be nipped in the bud in the state.
"Stray incidents which went unchecked snowballed into major violence against Christians in Orissa and Karnataka and the same should not be repeated in Tamil Nadu," Vijaykant, who heads the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), said in a statement here.
"Votebank" politics should not come in the way of ensuring action against such crimes, he said adding the police should act tough.
"Police is aware of communally sensitive areas in the state but did not initiate preventive steps by stepping up security," he said. read
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Kandhamal refugees go on hunger strike
Mon, 22/09/2008 - 5:29pmRefugees in Kandhamal relief camp on hunger strike
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