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Orissa is witnessing unprecedented violence against the tiny Christian minority. On August 23, 2008, Swami Laxmananand along with his four followers was killed, probably by a group of Maoists. Immediately, anti-Christian violence began on big scale. The way it began it seemed as if preparations for it were well afoot. It was systematic and widespread. It sounded as if preparation was already there, just the pretext was being waited for. So far many innocent Christians have been killed, wounded and rendered homeless apart from many Churches having been torched. The RSS combine, VHP-Adivasi Kalyan Ashram-Bajarang Dal, allege that Swami was killed by Christians, or there is collusion between Maoists and Christians. It is unlikely that there is any such alliance between the two. Any way, what is important is that the crime of murder of Swami must be properly investigated and guilty must be punished as per the law of the land.
Just to recall anti Christian tirade was also launched in December 2007, around Christmas time. That time also the pretext was that Christians have beaten up Swami and so this ‘revenge’. For RSS combine launching such bouts of violence by now is becoming a child’s play. Search for a pretext, launch your well oiled machinery for the communal agenda, communalize the society along religious lines and strengthen your political base seems to be its trajectory. The similar phenomenon was observed in Gujarat, after the burning of Sabarmati coach S 6 at Godhra. Modi announced that it has been done by local Muslims. There was no need to wait for the proper investigation, no need to follow the norm of railway board that every such event must be investigated, and tirade was launched with full vigor, and split in the society along religious lines was brought in ensuring BJP coming back to power. This victory of BJP was despite the decline of popularity of BJP. Anti incumbency was nullified and Modi returned to power to further his agenda. Power of polarizing the society by communal violence was at display at its worst.
This, by now is the standard technique, spread canards, myths, biases against minorities, look for pretext and go for the kill under the tolerating eyes of communalized state apparatus. If BJP is in power or is an ally in the seat of power, the job is easier. Anti Christian violence went on higher gear in the same year in which BJP came to power in the Center in 1996. The pretext was that Christian missionaries are converting the gullible Adivasis by force, fraud and allurement. This incitement was skillfully utilized by Adivasis Kalyan Ashram, VHP and Bajrang dal, and the violence started going up in intensity over the years. The most ghastly of this was seen in the burning alive of Pastor Graham Stains along with his two innocent sons, aged 11 and 7 years. This was immediately followed by the murder of Fr. Arul Das. Also Sheikh Rahman was killed on the charges of trading in cows for slaughter. Anti Christian atmosphere was built up and as this was more in the remote places where Adivasis do not have easy access to law, police etc, anyway there efficacy in helping minorities from the onslaught of RSS combine is also doubtful by now, the process has been going on and on. The violence kept on simmering and kept taking intense forms around the Christmas times. In a way a new Christmas ritual of burning churches and beating up Christians around Christmas time became a sort of annual event. It is immaterial that the number of Christians is miniscule in Indian society, it is immaterial that Christian missionaries are working in India from first century A.D. itself, it is immaterial that the despite the allegations from RSS combine, the population of Christians as per the census figures has been declining constantly. In the face of these facts the argument proffered was that since the converts to Christianity don’t want to loose their privileges that don’t declare their true religion and are crypto Christians. The simple point is that Adivasis, where the missionary work is maximum, don’t loose such privileges after conversion. Gobbles must be turning in his grave with his followers surpassing him many times over!
In it not a mere coincidence that maximum violence in Adivasi areas has been seen in the poorest regions. Dangs in Gujarat is the poorest district of Gujarat, and Orissa is amongst the poorest states of the country. The main reason for violence against Christians is to ensure that the welfare, educational services offered by them do not reach the Adivasis and that they remain poor and illiterate, that the status quo in these areas prevails so that the democratic space for these wretched of the society is blocked by the religiosity cultivated through Swamis. We saw two processes of co-option and one political process of intimidation in these regions. Through Swamis, Laxmananad (Orissa), Assemanand (Dangs) and followers of Asaram bapu in Jhabua area, they did the cooption work, Gharvapasi, conversion in to Hinduism. Through mega processes like Shabri Kumbh in Dangs, Hindu Sangams in other Adivasi areas, an intimidating atmosphere has been created to draw them to RSS fold. The other process is the political one. This is the building up of mechanism where by Dara Singh’s, and his clones are ready waiting for pretexts to pounce upon the social fabric of unity. The violence is made to look as spontaneous and is a part of a process of revenge. It is neither, it is well planned un-folding of RSS agenda. Even Wadhva Commission, pointed out that there was no conversion activity by Pastor Stains. The civic rights groups have pointed out that the violence has political foundations and has nothing to do with religion or conversion. A Peoples tribunal headed by retired Justice Usha also warned about the preparedness of the communal organizations for violence,
The case of Orissa was specifically investigated by India Peoples Tribunal, led by Justice K.K.Usha (retired) of Kerala High court in 2006 (Communalism in Orissa). This tribunal forewarns about the shape of things to come. ” The tribunal assessed the spread of communal organizations in Orissa, which has been accompanied by a series of small and large events and some riots…such violations are utilized to generate the threat and reality of greater violence, and build an infrastructure of fear and intimidation.” It further notes that minorities are being grossly ill treated; there is gross inaction of the state Govt to take action. Outlining the mechanism of the communalization, it points out, “The report also describes in considerable detail how the cadre of majoritarian communal organizations is indoctrinated in hatred and violence against other communities it holds to be inherently inferior. If such communalization is undertaken in Orissa, it is indicative of the future of the nation… the signs are truly ominous for India’s democratic future.” (p 70)
In all the Adivasis areas, a dangerous situation, and occasionally an apparent calm prevail. While swami Laxmananand’s killers deserve the punishment, Swami’s followers are spreading hate in these areas and vitiating the atmosphere. One can also see the communalization of state apparatus and BJP protecting its marauding mobs either by pulling the strings from the seats of power or by spreading the canards against the weaker sections of society. Interestingly as pointed out above, the December 2007 violence was launched on the pretext that Christians have beaten up the Swami! We do need to look back and check the activities of those spreading hate in the name of religion. While the Christian sects are dime a dozen, all are not in the business of proselytization. Few of them must be indulging in wrong practices, but surely law of the land can take care of those not following it. Permitting violence by the state machinery tantamount to violation of the oath taken by those in power, and they should to be suspended form the seats of power. And if they are not able to protect the innocent citizens of their state, why should they continue to rule? The question is which political force is above suspicion and honest enough to abide by the laws of Indian constitution? The question also arises, is the state bureaucracy and police honest enough to protect the minorities? Time to introspect and set the things right at deeper level of governance and politics.
Photo: St Thomas Kottakkavu Church, Kerala
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Milind, and how do you guarantee that any work of art will never hurt anyone’s feelings? That’s an impossible as well as ridiculous task. So what do we do – ban all art, because someone, somewhere will get his feelings hurt? Ridiculous, no?
Better to have freedom of expression, and if someone is hurt, they can respond with their own opinion as to why they were hurt and have a public debate. Or have the freedom to protest peacefully – without resorting to violence. No one is stopping you from feeling hurt or finding something offensive – it’s a valid response. I personally find many movies offensive to my taste, so I do my best to avoid them, instead of calling for a curb on their free run.
I mean, if some passages of Quran are hurtful to non-Muslims, would you call for a ban on such passages? I hope not. If I find certain statements of Ram and Yogi related to shivling worship hurtful, would you call for a ban on their writings? I certainly don’t want them to stop writing, and I tell them my objections and reasons for taking offense through comments – hope they read those comments and give some thought to what I wrote. If they still continue to write those same statements, that’s their choice.
What if someone finds the sculpture at Khajuraho temple hurtful and offensive to his feelings? Should we cover up the temple or destroy it? It’s more practical that the person who finds it hurtful stays away and doesn’t visit Khajuraho temple, and allow others who want to visit the temple to do so.
Indians need to grow up and adopt a mature approach towards freedom of expression, art, books, movies, instead of banning them at the slightest provocation of “feelings getting hurt.”
@Amit,
There are laws that govern everything. How do you, for instance differentiate between opinion and libel ? How do you distinguish between dressing that is bold and dressing that constitutes indecent exposure?
We live in a society where sensitivities have to be looked at holistically. The analogy of Khajuraho is not correct, it is something already done long back. We are looking at acts being currently performed.
And don’t go to extremes, there are 99 numbers between 0 to 100
Milind, my response is in context of your statement that Miyan Hussein and Taslima Nasreen should not be given a free run. Every society and country of course, decides where to draw the line, that is, freedom of expression is not an absolute freedom. But in case of India, it’s clear that we need to grow up as a society and stop banning books, movies and works of art, and stop resorting to violence.
Milind:
Libel is inherently false, opinion is not.
When you start putting conditions on Freedom of Expression then you are on a slippery slope. If you don’t like a form of dressing, look away. If you don’t like MF Hussain’s paintings, don’t see them. If you think Tasleema Nasreen writes trash, don’t read. Or better still, write a better book.
We need to move beyond this vicious cycle of competitive intolerance.
@Mohib and Amit,
IMHO, we are being a tad elitist when we say that we need to mature and evolve much more as a society.
Do the masses have the spiritual and educational level that we have? PERSONALLY, it makes no difference to me what Taslima or M.F. Hussain do.
However, we need to look at society as a whole. I do not disagree with either of you, but I am not looking at it from an individual point of view.
Milind, I think you are ignoring the fact that the people who whip up passions over such issues, for the most part, have not even bothered to read/watch the book or the movie, let alone those people who are easily whipped up into anger. So, no, I do not think that I’m being elitist. And it’s not the society, but one or two individuals who decide what is good for the society. It’s not as if the leaders take a poll of their society and then decide that a movie/book is offensive or not. I see no reason that a society should get angry over a film or a book when they haven’t even read it. We need to set the bar higher instead of lowering it to the least common denominator. That’s exactly what has been happening in India since independence, and the results are for all of us to see. It’s time to take a firm stance against this stupidity and resultant violence.
As for the society, shouldn’t they be more offended by lack of education and basic amenities? I think you yourself have made statements along similar lines.
All the more reason for the masses to focus on bread and butter issues. Besides, shouldn’t we be educating such people? Let the so-called intellectuals battle it out through their words whether a movie/book is offensive or not.
There’s several ways to put an end to this. First, all mass conversion ceremonies, to and from any religion, MUST be banned. Second, the individual’s right to any religion he or she chooses, MUST be upheld.
First and Second above are both necessary, because a person’s right to choose their religion is absolutely necessary to their freedom of conscience – to believe what they determine is correct after evaluating the facts. That freedom of conscience is the basis of our democracy and if we don’t start upholding it then we are done for. Both mass conversion, and bans on individual conversion, go against our basic democractic principles. Mass conversion of entire tribes, or towns, is a standard Christian missionary tactic. It dates back to the colonial era, when a brilliant missionary-cum-anthropologist noted that conversion happens mostly via groups, not individuals. In a society like India (or any society for that matter) mass conversion will ALWAYS involve coercion by some individuals, over other individuals, within the same group. And therefore it is undemocratic, a violation of human rights, and needs to be stopped. But if an individual decides to change their religion, that is their human right, and anyone who takes up violence against them, is a criminal, and should be treated tht way.
THIRD, as soon as possible, end this quota system based on tribe, caste, religion, etc. It’s destroying us. That’ the root cause of all of this.
FOURTH, Hindus need to start giving money in subtantial amounts to Hindu missionary organizations. No more half-baked contributions to organizations only if they claim to be secular, and withholding money from them if they are explicitly Hindu. When the playing field is more even, the resentment and violence will be less. And if you really want to get under the mssionary’s skin, hit them on their home turf. Arya Samaj ceremonies for small towns in Europe? Dunno if we want to go there on a big scale – eye for an eye will leave us all blind – but just a few pinpricks like that might get the needed attention to this volatile issue.
FIFTH, ban the Bajrang Dal already. These guys make me ashamed of my religion and country.
Amit,
I agree that we need to focus on the bread and butter issues more. However, the people who orchestrate riots, offer bread and butter to people in exchange for their rioting services.
We need to be able to tell these people that we will make them CAPABLE OF EARNING THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER ON A SUSTAINABLE BASIS instead of those who will only provide it as a temporary sop, and that too, at a price.
Chirag,
I find you have raised some interesting points, which I will address, God willing, in my next post.
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