By Purushottam Nayak
Bhubaneswar: The Catholic Church in Odisha has mourned the death of Paul Pradhan, who had worked women’s empowerment and the rights of Tribals and Dalits in the eastern Indian state.
Pradhan died of brain hemorrhage July 10 in Sunshine Hospital at Laxmisagar, a suburb in Bhubaneswar, the state capital. He was 72.The funeral was held July 11 in Bareguda, his village in Kandhamal district.
He is survived by his wife, two daughters and four sons.
“Pradhan’s death is a huge loss and vacuum for us,” says Father Ajaya Singh, who had worked with the activists from 2001.
According to Father Singh, former director of Jana Vikas, a social wing of Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, Pradhan had led from the front those on the margins.
“You would live forever. Your heart beat for Adivasi and Minorities. You had inspired many with your life,” Father Singh added.
Pradhan was born on July 1, 1949, at Bareguda under Sacred Heart Padangi parish of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archdiocese.
Its parish priest Vincentian Father Joseph Naik said Pradhan was “a great asset for the Church and in the region” as he was always willing to stand for the rights of the people. “He was regular for the liturgical service and parish activities,” the priest told Matters India.
Pradhan had launched a social service association that focused on health, education, women empowerment, and the rights of Dalit and Adivasi communities, especially after the 2008 anti-Christian violence battered Kandhamal district.
Chinmaya Kumar Singh, who had worked with Pradhan for 15 years, expressed sadness over the death of the activist, who he said was both a Tribal and Dalit leader. “He had always stressed tribal and Dalit issues as he stood for human rights,” said the 35-year-old former project manager of Dalit Adivasi Vikas Initiative.
Bjaya Parichha, childhood friend from Kandhamal’s Raikia, said Pradhan had shown keen interest to preserve Adivasi and Dalit cultures. “A courageous man who had lived for others,” he told Matters India.
Even people from outside Odisha mourned Pradhan’s death.
According to John Dayal, a New Delhi-based human rights activist, Pradhan was a brave leader of Kondh, an upwardly mobile tribe of Odisha. He had set up two institutions in his home district for the local youth, he added.
Dayal recalled that Pradhan became a marked for demanding protection and justice for Christians after they were targeted during the Christmas time in 2007.
“When violence began in August 2008 in Kandhamal, they came for him. He had a lucky escape, but the mob destroyed his life’s work, his institutions. The government has denied him compensation. The courts have not been helpful,” Dayal mourned.
Anto Akkara, a Bengaluru-based journalist who writes about Odisha for overseas publications, hailed Pradhan as “a committed human rights activist and a Catholic.”