By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: National Solidarity Forum (NSF), comprising more than 70 human rights organization, has set up two awards to honor victims and survivors of the 2008 mass violence in Odisha state’s Kandhamal district.
The forum plans to hold a virtual national webinar on August 25 to observe the Kandhamal Day and to express solidarity with all victims of hate and violence in India.
“Kandhamal violence is a unique case of multiple violations of basic human rights and dignity of the most vulnerable groups. Justice is yet to be done and rights to be restored,” says a statement from the forum.
The day will remember victims of targeted violence against Christian Adivasis and Dalits in the Kandhamal and several other districts of Odisha in eastern India, and Karnataka, in the south, during August-September 2008, explains the August 12 press release.
The forum has invited Justice A P Shah, former chairman of the National aw Commission and Chief Justice of Delhi High court, S Y Qureshi, former Chief Election Commissioner, and Javed Akhtar, a noted film and literature personality, as the chief guests and lead speakers.
The theme for this year’s Kandhamal Day observation is “In Defense of Human Rights and Democratic Freedoms.”
The forum has instituted two annual awards. The award to an individual carries a cash component and a plaque. The award for non-governmental organizations and groups recognizes long and sustained work on issues of human rights and civil liberties, development, harmony and peace building, forum convener Ram Puniyani said. The awardees will be announced soon, he added.
The NSF came together in the wake of the 2008 violence, and worked on various issues relating to trauma, counselling, rehabilitation and advocacy for justice.
The forum has commemorates Kandhamal Day on August 25 every year with mass meetings in Kandhamal, Bhubaneswar, New Delhi and other places.
In 2020, the meeting was in a virtual mode because of Covid, but the three-hour program featured human right activists and noted civil society personalities discussing the challenges faced by marginalized communities with particular emphasis on the right to life, livelihood and the freedom of religion and belief.
“The malevolent violence in the Kandhamal and adjoining districts of Odisha in 2007 and 2008 stands out for its organised attack on an entire population of Dalits, Adivasis Christians, women and children among them, whose life, liberty and human dignity were violated with impunity,” the NSF statement bemoaned. In the violence, more than 100 Christians were killed, several of them from the clergy, and over 75,000 displaced, it added.
More than 5,600 homes were destroyed, apart from 360 churches and other places of worship, and public institutions including schools, social services and health institutions were looted and destroyed. More than 40 women were raped, molested and humiliated. Several cases of forced conversion to Hinduism were reported. The education of 12,000 children was disrupted.
Many continue to suffer psychologically from the trauma of the violence they suffered, the forum pointed out.
A study conducted by Supreme Court advocate Vrinda Grover and law professor Saumya Uma, found the conviction rate to be as low as 5.13 percent of the cases brought to court. It was a mere 1 percent of the reports made to the police by the victims and survivors. The struggle for relief, rehabilitation and justice continues in courts and government forums.