RSSA federal minister´s apology for last year´s anti-Christian violence has been dismissed by Church people as too slow in coming and pointless unless it is followed up with justice for victims.
Home Minister P.C. Chidambaram visited Orissa´s Kandhamal district on June 26, the epicenter of anti-Christian riots that killed about 90 people and displaced 50,000.
Chidambaram visited four relief camps in the district and urged the victims of violence there to return to their villages. He promised them security and gave his contact numbers to call if the state administration failed to protect them.
He told the survivors that the sectarian violence was unfortunate and regrettable, and promised to punish the perpetrators.
However, Father Mrutyunjay Digal, treasurer of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese that covers Kandhamal, dismissed Chidambaram´s visit as a “mockery,” since it took place more than 10 months after Christians were attacked.
The violence began on Aug. 24, a day after Maoists gunned down a Hindu religious leader in Kandhamal district. Hindu radicals blamed Christians for the murder and destroyed houses, churches, convents and killed people who refused to become Hindus.
Father Digal told UCA News June 28 that the minister´s comments had not impressed the survivors. The government must take additional action to re-house the people or the statements would be dismissed as mere talk, he said.
Father Bijay Kumar Pradhan, secretary of a peace-building forum in Kandhamal, said the minister´s assurance of security was not practical.
“On the one hand, he gives solemn advice to people to go back to their villages, but on the other hand he is withdrawing the central forces” from some areas where the situation is still volatile, he said.
J. Parichha, a human rights activist in Kandhamal, says Christians want impartial justice that will allow them to live with dignity, not the minister´s apology or sympathy.
Father Joseph Kalathil, the archdiocese´s public relations officer and vicar general, said he saw “no use” in Chidambaram´s assurances unless local officials seriously took “concrete action” to bring justice to survivors. He wants the administration to focus on areas where Christians still face threats.
Father Kalathil said that the federal government has limited its action to mere expressions of sympathy and had taken no real steps to help those affected by the violence. At least, Chidambaram “could have announced some relief packages for the victims,” he added.
Hitesh Kumar Nayak, a lawyer working for the victims, noted that nearly 95 percent of those accused of attacking Christians now freely move around villages and intimidate survivors. “Saying sorry is not enough, justice should accompany such gestures,” he stressed.
Jakarias Digal, a survivor in Kandhamal, says the local administration is helpless in confronting Hindu radicals. He said a middle-ranking officer had recently forced the residents of a relief camp to return to their village in a hired vehicle. Hindu radicals, however, prevented them from staying there. The Hindus surrounded the officials and overpowered policemen who accompanied the group, he said.
“Finally, we had to return to the refugee camp. We do not expect much from the minister´s visit unless the culprits are arrested,” he added.
Rabindra Kumar Parichha, a social worker in Kandhamal, said that during the minister´s visit the survivors presented him with a memorandum stating that they seek adequate protection from their attackers, compensation for damaged property and proper maintenance of relief camps.
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