Bhubaneswar: More than 300 people belonging to different religions from all over Odisha on August 25 attended a seminar on democracy to mark the Kandhamal Day.
The National Solidarity Forum along with several civil society groups observed the “day by organizing a Citizens’ Convention on Present Situation and Challenges to Democracy at Bhubaneswar, the state capital.
The program recalled the anti-Christian violence that took place in 2008 in Kandhamal district, Odisha, eastern India. It was a blot on India’s secularism. Hindu radical who carried out the violence in Kandhamal pose a threat to meaningful and relevant democracy in the present day, the speakers said.
In order to mark the Kandhamal Day, it is fitting that civil society groups organized the seminar in Bhubaneswar, said Jugal Kishore Ranjit, an organizer and social activist based in Odisha.
Kandhamal, which is central part of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, was the epicenter of 2007 and 2008 anti-Christian violence that forced about 60,000 to flee to the forests after more than 6,000 houses were destroyed by the attackers. More than 100 men and women were killed, and many women, including Catholic nuns, were gang raped. This pogrom was the worst outbreak of anti-Christian violence in modern era.
“As we mark the eight anniversary of Kandhamal pogrom, the people of Kandhamal reiterated powerfully that there should be no repeating of the genocide of Kandhamal in the history in human society,” said Father Ajaya Kumar Singh, social activist.
Even after eight years, the survivors of the violence in Kandhamal eagerly wait for justice. People from all sections need to stand with them, Fr Singh added.
The first session of the program dealt with how dalit, Adivasi and minorities are being played into the hands of the communal forces example could be Kandhamal.
At the second session, Martin McWann, Dalit Human Right Activist; National Dalit Intellectual; only second Indian to get Robert Kennedy Human Rights Award, shared why and how dalit and Adivasi become victims. He blamed caste system as the root cause of all evils in India today
To help India progress, we must annihilate caste system, he said. He shared his Gujarat Dalit Uprising experiences.
The third one dealt with communalism versus democracy and the issues of present communal violence and Kandhamal issue.