New Delhi: The survivors of Kandhamal violence and their supporters have demanded reopening of all cases related to the worst attacks on Christians in India’s recent history.
“No justice has been done to the victims even after seven years. There was utter failure of the criminal justice system in the country,” Brinda Karat, a member of the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) who recently visited Kandhamal, told a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Kandhamal, a district in Odisha state in eastern India, had in August 2008 witnessed unprecedented violence that killed more than 95 people, mostly Christians, and rendered some 56,000 others homeless.
Karat was part of a nine-member delegation that met President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday to seek his intervention to get justice and fair compensation.
The delegation also included senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, Kavita Krishnan of the Communist Party and Father Ajay Kumar Singh of the Kandhamal Committee for Peace and Justice, and Fr Dibakar Parchha, a lawyer who is coordinating the cases on behalf of the victims.
The delegation demanded the reopening of the cases alleging that shoddy investigation and intimidation of witnesses had led to all accused going scot free. “It is as if there was no violence in Kandhamal,” Karat regretted.
Although more than 95 people were killed during the riots, none has been punished for the crimes. “The only persons behind the bar are seven innocent people who are convicted for murdering” Swami Laxmananda Saraswati, a Hindu religious leader, and his four associates.
The seer’s assassination on the night of August 23, 2008, at his ashram in Kandhamal allegedly by Maoists, had triggered the violence that lasted for months.
Father Singh bemoaned that justice has eluded the victims for years. “After knocking on every door within the state government, we found no one willing to come forward to secure justice for the victims of Kandhamal.”
Fr Singh said the president “gave us a patient hearing and said that he will bring the issues before the government to see what could be done.”
The delegation also demanded the federal and state governments should reassess the compensation package for the Kandhamal victims and announce a lump sum amount as an interim arrangement.
The government paid only 50,000 rupees for a damaged house and 10,000 rupees for a partially damaged one. Most villages are in interior places and transportation of building materials would cost much more than the compensation amount, Karat noted.
“Unfortunately, after seven years declining livelihood and declining living standards are enormous in Kandhamal, she added.
Karat said a nationwide campaign would be launched against the alleged injustice meted out to the survivors.
The delegation said that the police registered only 827 out of 3,232 complaints. The court dismissed 273 of these cases citing a lack of evidence as witnesses were scared to come forward and no protection was afforded to them.
Only 33 cases have reached a judgment and most of those convicted for crimes such as murder are out on bail, it added.
The Kandhamal committee found that over 6,500 homes and 395 churches and places of worship were looted, gutted and razed to the ground.
As a result, 56,000 poor tribal and low-caste Christians lost their homes and livelihoods and were displaced. Some 10,000 people have still not returned to their villages fearing revenge attacks, say campaigners.
Government officials deny charges of neglecting Christian victims or being influenced by powerful Hindu groups.