MEN BEHIND ORISSA RIOTS EXPOSED

Victims point finger at key RSS functionary and local BJP MLA

Rajesh Ramachandran reports from violence- torn Kandhamal
MAIL TODAY October 8, 2008


Masterminds of Orissa riots

RIOTS ARE seldom spontaneous. Here too, they were meticulously planned, organised and executed allegedly by the Sangh Parivar and helped in no small measure by local authorities who refused to raise a finger. On August 24, Parivar activists had a free run, leaving at least 27,000 homeless, 38 dead and forcing hundreds or even thousands to still live in fear in the jungles.

Every such strife needs a mastermind. Many victims here allege that Ajit Mahapatra, RSS joint organising secretary for Orissa, West Bengal and Sikkim, had camped at Kandhamal and apparently had a hand in planning and executing the waves of strikes on Dalit Christians. But unlike in many such attacks — where police quickly arrest the masterminds and name the organisations — here superintendent of police Praveen Kumar says he hasnt a clue to who the conspirators were. He insists he is in no position to name any person or organisation.

This, after one-and-a-half months of rioting and arson. Kumar pleads nobody has told him about the key conspirator. “I cant say who masterminded it. To establish a conspiracy, according to the law, we should know about the meetings that took place. But nobody has come forward to give any such evidence.”

Gauri Prasad Rath, VHPs general secretary, rubbished the allegation against Mahapatra. Speaking on behalf of Mahapatra, he said: “These charges dont hold water. The riots started immediately after Swami Lakshmananand Saraswatis murder. Mahapatra is in charge of such a vast area. How could he be involved,” Rath asked. Police say 500 locals, including the 100 Parivar activists, are in preventive detention. But some of the key conspirators have fled. “Karendra Majhi, the local BJP MLA, and Mahapatra are the real conspirators and the police are mute spectators,” claims a victim who was attacked by Sangh activists and fears reprisal for naming the central actors.

Majhi, though, protested his innocence. “I am a politician. What role can I have in these riots? The people have done all this.” Though most of the key planners have cleared out of the scene of crime, the conspirators have left behind enough footprints for the police — thats if theyre serious about getting to the bottom of the case. MAIL TODAY pieced together the victims accounts of a premeditated attack on the Dalits of Kandhamal.

Preparations for the riots began immediately after Maoistsgunned down senior VHP leader Lakshmananand Saraswati on August 23. The next few weeks saw systematic attempts to cleanse the district of its Dalits who had converted to Christianity. Trees were cut and boulders piled up on roads to block any police interference. Saffron flags were hoisted in many places like G Udaygiri and Raikia to identify Hindu homes and shops so that the mob knew where to strike and where not to.

The procession carrying the slain leaders body is said to have taken a route dotted with churches and Dalit pockets, leaving in its wake death and destruction. As the procession went past a particular point, the activists blocked access and descended on the Dalits with full force, eyewitnesses recall. “Even in Bhubaneswar, on August 25 — the day VHP gave a bandh call — the local Durga Vahini leader came with a list of prominent Christian institutions such as Xaviers Institute of Mangement and Loyola School. Somehow, no major harm was done to them. “I came here only on September 9, but I am told that the Parivar leaders kept the body of Lakshmananand in front of the churches exhorting their activists to destroy the shrine,” claims Tony Raj, a Jesuit priest attending to refugees in the largest relief camp of Raikia. Police were not very keen to stop the rioters. While all this was on, around 40 officials who were made executive magistrates to order police firing at the mobs, were safely ensconced in police stations.

The real kingpins stayed behind, remote controlling the Kandha tribals who indulged in arson, loot, rape, murder and forced re-conversion so that the longstanding ethnic conflict between the Kandha tribes and Pana Dalits subsumed the Sangh Parivars involvement. The traders association, among others, collected money to fund the campaign and feed the families of the arrested Parivar activists.

There couldnt be a better testimony to official apathy than the happenings at Phulbani, the district headquarters. Here, the Orissa Baptist Church was torched at 11 in the morning in the presence of 12 Orissa Special Armed Police personnel, alleges Aroop Jena, a local journalist and the district convener of the All-India Christian Council. “The executive magistrates werescared and didnt want to step out. The police could have stopped big incidents in Udayagiri, Raikia and Tikabali and many other places,” said Jena, whose house too was attacked.

The then SP was suspended and the new one joined some time after the riots. He reminds that there were three incidents of firing. But that wasnt enough to deter the Parivar activists determined to drive the Dalit Christians out of their homes. “Enough force was not available. Handling these riots is a challenging task because of the difficult terrain. The forests severely limit mobility,” Kumar said. But the CRPFs intensive patrolling has brought the situation under control now.

Police have cracked down on the Kandha tribal leadership as well. But the tribals deny a Sangh Parivar purge. For Lambodar Kanhar, the Kui Samaj Coordination Committee secretary, the riot was a simple ethnic conflict between his tribe and the Dalits who have been their exploiters.

rajesh.ramachandran @mailtoday.in