Violence and Communal Polarisation in Orissa's Kandhamal District

The Daily Star
12 Januaary 2007

Ethnic Violence and Communal Polarisation in Orissa's Kandhamal District

by Maitreya Buddha Samantaray

The ongoing communal tension in the sensitive Kandhamal district of eastern Orissa is yet to die down, and night curfew still continues in the affected areas of Phulbani, Baliguda, Brahmanigaon and Daringbadi. Police officials have arrested 93 persons for their complicity in the turmoil until now.

Christian groups claim that nine people were killed, at least 90 churches burnt, and nearly 600 houses torched. An estimated 5,000 people have been affected in the violence that erupted on Christmas Eve, when a group of Christmas revellers were confronted by members of another community. The situation worsened when a group of Christians targeted the leader of a radical Hindu outfit, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), was who was in the forefront of the anti-conversion movement in the region for over three decades and has succeeded in restricting the conversion of both the Scheduled Caste (SC) Pana and the Scheduled Tribe (ST) Kandh members to Christianity.

Out of the roughly 600,000 Christians in the state, some 450,000 belong to the Kandha, and most of the others are from the Pana, over 95 percent of whom are converted Christians. The district has been ethnically divided for decades between the tribal Kui-speaking Kandha, and lower caste Kui-speaking Panas, who occupy a dominant position in their society. Kandhs have been vociferously opposed to the demand by a section of the lower caste Panas to be identified as Kui tribals in official records on the basis of them speaking the Kui language, and following some tribal rituals. The recent tension started due to the activities of an NGO named Phulbani Kui Jankalyan Sangh of Bhubaneswar which has approached the Orissa High Court with the demand that Panas of Kandhamal be treated as tribals. Subsequent communal polarization of the two communities by Hindu activists and Christian missionaries has aggravated the situation in the region.

The political geography of Orissa depicts a deeper division between the coastal non-tribal areas and the inland tribal-inhabited areas. In the inland region there is a further divide between the tribals and non-tribals. The interaction between the non-tribals and tribals has often led to frictions, conciliation and synthesis. Orissa had never experienced any large-scale conversion to Christianity. The first mission was set up in Orissa in 1822, but it took six years to convert the first native. Initially, each convert had to be won over individually. Contrary to conventional wisdom, most of the early converts were from the upper castes, and their motive was not material gain. Subsequently, the missionaries gained some converts through their schools and orphanages. In the later stages, they moved into the tribal areas where they had better success. And, here, unlike in the early stages of the evangelical movement, the decision to convert was based on several motivations, including the material.

In Orissa, the tribal issue has neither acquired the character of a movement for self-determination like the Jharkhand movement in Bihar nor has it moved in the direction of a revolutionary agrarian struggle like the Telangana movement in southern Andhra Pradesh, The political situation in the state, tribal destitution and the politics of underdevelopment have systematically informed the tribal upsurge. There is no evidence of any major political organization championing the rights of the tribals. In order to garner tribal support, the state and central leadership have been busy nurturing a few tribal leaders as their junior colleagues, thereby perpetuating their dependency on the non-tribals. Tribals are hardly able to assert their rights to form an autonomous support base

In its most transparent meaning as a change of religion, conversion is arguably one of the most unsettling political events in the life of a society. This is irrespective of whether conversion involves a single individual or an entire community, whether it is forced or voluntary, or whether it is the result of proselytizing or inner spiritual illumination. The incidents of continuing violence have been rationalized by those against conversion as a legitimate reaction to the persisting proselytizing efforts of the Christian missionaries in the region. However, in essence, the conversion debate misses the basic issues that plague tribal society, which are their capability-deprivation and the stunted growth of human capital. The real identity of the tribals and others marginalized will be enhanced by improving their human capital and capabilities, rather than pondering over their religious affiliations.