Kandhamal, Orissa: The Orissa government admits that six months after the Hindutva fury was let loose on a hapless Christian population of Kandhamal District, it is still not able to ensure the safety and security of thousands of Christians who cannot still return to their village homes.

“From an initial strength of 25000, the numbers in government refugee camps have come down to 4000. Of these 4000 we have taken 2500 people to transition relief camps near their respective villages. Currently only 1500 people are staying in block-level relief camps in Tikabali, K Nuagaon and Raikia,” Kandhamal district collector Krishan Kumar said. Behind the wordplay, it is obvious that there is no home still for these hapless people. The government has no count of people in private camps, some as far away as in Srikakulam in the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh and the thousands of others who have taken shelter with relatives in other towns and cities or are internally displaced persons in New Delhi and other cities and towns, seeking small jobs.

It is particularly distressing that many of the worst affected were families of priests and pastors, nuns and religious workers who were specially targeted by the mobs. These families find it almost impossible to return still. The State is also coming under stress because the Union government in New Delhi has more than halved the strength of the Central Reserve Police Force in the district, which has come down to about 3,000 from the height of 6,000.

The government is in a hurry to evacuate the refugee camps, possibly before elections due later in April by current indications. Christians say their attackers still roam free and have been granted bail, other than those arrested in the rape of Sister M, the Catholic born in Sambalpur, who was attacked in Nuagaon on 25 August last year.

The Criminal Investigation Department of the Orissa Police has filed the charge sheet before a judicial magistrate in the district. The nun had identified main accused Santosh Patnaik and Kartik Pradhan during the test identification parade held on January 5. The CID has submitted a set of another 50 names that were part of the mob that assaulted her, and has requested the court to issue non-bailable warrants against them. These 50 people are still at large. The case was handed over to the CID on October 3 after the Balliguda police sat on the case for about 40 days. The local police did not even pick up the report of the nun’s medical examination till the media reported it, weeks after the Church had protested.

Meanwhile, the police have also filed a charge sheet in the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Lakhmanananda Saraswati and his four in his ashram at Jalespeta. Maoists claimed to have carried out the assassination to punish the Hindutva leader for his activities in the region.

A brief recall of the figures at the height of the violence August-October 2008: ORISSA [Kandhamal and other affected districts’ data]: 14 (of 30) Districts hit; 315 villages destroyed; 4,640 houses burnt; 54,000 homeless initially; 120 murdered; 7 Priests/ Pastors killed; 10 Fathers/Pastors/Nuns injured; 2 rapes confirmed [One of Nun; two other rapes reported]; 252 Churches destroyed [estimated by State government]; 13 Schools, colleges destroyed.

This page is updated on February 21, 2009