By Matters India Reporter
Bhubaneswar: Time is running to resist organized hate machinery and save the democracy, said Apoorvanand Jha, a professor at the University of Delhi.
“Unfolding of the fascism in India and the spreading of hatred goes unabated,” he said.
He was speaking at the international webinar on the theme “Defending Freedom and Religious Minority Rights” on August 30, organized to mark the Kandhamal memorial of 2008 anti-Christian persecution.
“What happened in Kandhamal is the result of a very long campaign of anti-Christian,” said Jha, a writer, and activist.
Fascist organizations are continuously carrying out hate campaigns against religious minorities, he said.
“Now the constant and continuous attacks go on physical and virtual on Muslims. Our law and order support for it. The police authority is silent then they see Muslim women being auctioned online. Media and others don’t talk about it,” said Jha.
According to him, the anti-conversion law in Jharkhand and other places got popular support from majority religious groups, because of the jealously created by educational institutions run by minorities.
“When we remember Kandhamal and the injustice done to Kandhamal when the perpetrators rooming freely, no compensation and no structural sympathy is shown, the same can we say about Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Indore that have faced attacks on minorities,” Jha said.
He urged participants to get united to resist organized hate machines. “Join hands with other minorities, international communities to defend democracy,” he added.
Speaking on “Voicing and Directions for the minorities, Noorjehan Safia Niaz, co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, an NGO, said all the political parties in India have politicized religions. Some have done in the name of the majority of religion or others in the name of the minority.
Even after 70 decades of independence, Muslims in India remain backward socioeconomic sectors, she said.
Speaking on the topic, “marginalized community and rights and dignity,” Viriginius Xaxa, a visiting professor at Institute for Human Development, New Delhi, said, “We are talking about defending freedom and religious minority. In India minority is used for religious minority although there are other minorities. In the case of a religious minority, there are other minorities.”
“They experience double marginalization. So when you talk about minorities primarily it is several populations. Of course, the number is important in a democratic process,” said Xaxa.
According to hi, the minorities are denied and excluded from certain kinds of rights and privileges. This denial makes them marginalized. Every society founds the need for income, power and respect. In the case of India, it is not inherent in the culture. It is also an outcome of a historical process, explained Xaxa, former professor at Delhi School of Economics and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Guwahati.
“We know that in the course of history they have been vulnerable, even though India got independence in 1947. Adoption of the Indian constitution makes difference,” he added.
There is a need for assertion. There are a large number of people paying the price. “We need to introspect and move towards the dimension of assertion for the rights of the land, employment and rights, which are to be addressed,” said Xaxa.
Civil society groups, religious leaders and others need to educate religious minorities on constitutional and legal rights, he added.
“If we are genuinely interested in their struggle, freedom and rights, we need to introspect and find if possible to move into a new arena of collaboration,” Xaxa said.
In his talk, Bishop Niranjan Sual Singh of Sambalpur said, “We need to defend the religious freedom of every community especially of the minorities without fear.”
Minorities are to become stronger to raise their voice, organize themselves, fight together, and united together for their religious and human freedom, he said.
Addressing Issues of mass conflict around the world, Budi Tjahjono, a human rights activist and a member of the Asia Pacific coordinator with Franciscans International, said India has is a signatory to several international agreements and the United Nations treaties on religious freedom.
“India should be accountable for its international obligation on the perpetrators of violence, protect minority rights and prevent discrimination on any form,” he added.
Teresa Blumenstein, the New York Coordinator of the Justice Coalition of Religious, spoke on the collaboration among congregations of Religious to enhance their capacity and opportunities to advocate for justice and peace at the grassroots and the United Nations.
Another speaker, Jesuit Father Joseph Xavier, director of Indian Social Institute, Bengaluru, spoke on the pathway to a collaborative approach with religions in India
He said, “We need to create our agenda for the future and work towards it. We cannot be a slave for working for the agenda of others. We need to work together.”
Speaking on the occasion, Anto Akkara, a Bengaluru-based journalist and human rights activist while crusading for truth and justice for Kandhamal, called for ‘bearing witness to the truth as Christ has taught us.”
“Democracy and truth go hand in hand. Democracy needs truth to survive. Public intellectuals must expose lies of State,” Akkara quoted Supreme Court’s Justice DY Chandrachud’s Aug 28 lecture in New Delhi.
The Truth of Kandhamal – that Christians did not kill the swami – is essential for Justice for Kandhamal, Akkara pointed out.
“The community has not raised enough voice against the Kandhamal fraud despite seven innocent Christian beings behind bars for 11 years”, said the journalist who has been running a social media campaign for them with www.release7innocents.com
Though the Supreme Court with its August 2, 2016 verdict on Kandhamal described the compensation paid as “inadequate” and doubled compensation of Rs 300,000 (for dependents of those killed), Rs 30,000 for those “seriously injured”, Rs 50,000 more for “fully damaged” houses and Rs 10,000 more for “partially” damaged houses.
“Following the complaint from widows, Odisha government deposited 21 Crore in Kandhamal the Collector’s account. But this money has not reached the people who are entitled to it? We must have a structure to help the people to get this compensation,” he said.
“The church lives in firefighting mode and wakes up only when things go wrong. We must be prepared to study and document and read the signs. The 2007 Christmas violence was a rehearsal for the 2008 bloodshed,” pointed out Akkara who has made 31 trips to Kandhamal.
“The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance. Unless we are alert and vocal, we will be buried,” the journalist-author cautioned.
The Survivors of Kandhamal Association, priests and nuns working in Odisha, and the Justice Coalition of Religious North & East India, organized the webinar to show solidarity for those who have been targeted for their faith.
The purpose of the webinar was to understand the violations against the freedom of religious minorities in the Indian context and to develop a deeper and critical understanding of the issues and policies connected to it.
It provided a forum to share and learn the struggle for justice of those who have been targeted for their faiths; and join hands to build peace, justice and harmony in the world, said Sister Justine Gitanjali Senapati, convener of the webinar.
More than 100 participants across India and abroad attended the event.
(Sujata Jena and Augustine Singh contributed to the story).