2007 Christmas violence in Kandhamal

Anti-Christian violence in Orissa April 2020 2007 Christmas violence in Kandhamal 24–27 December 2007 (4 days) Kandhamal District, Odisha Hate speech, Religious nationalism, Ethnic nationalism, Ethnic tensions Arson, murder, looting estimates range between 3 and 50 *100+ Churches burnt down, demolished or vandalized 100+ Christian institutions burnt down or vandalized 837+ families left homeless 700-730 houses (120 belonging to Hindus) were burnt or damaged Damages Casualties and Damages The 2007 Christmas violence in Kandhamal violence refers to the violence committed against Indian Christians that occurred during the Christmas of 2007 between the groups led by RSS together with the Sangh-affiliated Kui Samaj.Das Sib Kumar https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/kandhamal-rises-above-violent-past-on-christmas/article30398875.ece Kandhamal rises above violent past on Christmas 2019-12-26 The Hindu 2020-04-16 en-IN 0971-751Xhttps://www.sabrang.com/cc/archive/2008/jan08/cover2.html Kandhamal: Hindutva's terror Charting the history of sangh parivar violence in Orissa CHATTERJI ANGANA January 2008 Communalism Combat 2020-04-16https://www.hrw.org/news/2007/12/29/india-stop-hindu-christian-violence-orissa India: Stop Hindu-Christian Violence in Orissa Human Rights Watch 2007-12-29 Human Rights Watch en 2020-04-16 The violence started on 24 December and ended on 27 December 2007. Violence first broke out on 24 December between Hindus and Christians over Christmas celebrations, where a mob of 500 to 3,000 members of various Sangh Parivar organizations desecrated several Christmas decorations and injured many Christians. On the same day an alleged attack on VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati and his driver by some Christians after some of his bodyguards allegedly vandalized church equipment. Clashes between the Kui Samaj which protested the tribal status to the Christians together with groups led by Vishva Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamswvak Sangh, Bajrang Dal and the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram against the Christians erupted after these incidents, where more than 100 churches and church institutions, 700 houses were burnt down, vandalized or damaged. During the final day of the riots there was also a Christian retaliation in which mobs burnt down about 120 houses of Hindus at different places in the district. The official death toll suggested three Christians were killed but other reports put the death toll at nearly 50. Background Kandha–Pana tensions The Kandhamal district is home more than 100,000 Christians where 60% of them converted from the Scheduled Castes (SC) and are locally called as the Pana Christians. They were Dalits and they speak Kui language like tribal Kandhas. The district has been ethnically divided for decades between the tribal Kui-speaking Kandha tribals and lower caste Kui-speaking Christian Panas. The Kui Samaj, a Hindutva-affiliated tribal organization claimed to represent all the Kandha tribals who were nearly 52% of the population in the district.JPDC 2008 29 According to the Constitution, the reservation benefits are removed from the SCs after conversion but the Pana Christians demanded the Scheduled Tribe (ST) status after the Presidential Order of 2002 which mentioned the Kui tribes in the ST category since the Pana Christians also speak the kui language. This was opposed by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Kui Samaj and other political leaders who depend on Hindu tribals to support their vote bank in the area. These tensions soon transformed into communal.https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-18808 Ethnic Violence and Communal Polarisation in Orissa's Kandhamal District 2008-01-12 The Daily Star en 2020-04-13https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/quota-fuel-to-communal-fire/story-EbGKLcCsHYwcGIVVSpNaZL.html Quota fuel to communal fire 2008-12-31 Hindustan Times en 2020-04-13Robinson 2010 271–274https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/tribals-hold-key-to-peace/story-mqHbpz5mquA5dHGQZfiAcM.html Tribals hold key to peace 2008-12-19 Hindustan Times en 2020-04-13 The Communalism Combat blamed the Sangh Parivar for orchestrating rivalries between Kandhas and the Christian Panas in Kandhamal through Hinduization and polarizing the Kandhas ties with the panas and instigating the Kandhas against the latter's campaign for a scheduled status as a tribe. Christmas tensions During the last days of the 2007 Christmas, the Dalit Pana Christians were constructing a cloth-draped pandala temporary decorative scaffolding for the Christmas celebrations, over-topping a main-street in the town of Brahmanigaon after receiving permission for the construction from the authorities. The pandal which had been constructed on the same spot for number of years was warned to be removed this year by some local Hindus because it was located in the same area where a recent Durga Puja celebrations took place. The activists of the Sangh-affiliated Kui Samaj who had a strained relationship with the Pana Christians called for a Statewide bandhshutdown on 24 and 25 December 2007 to protest against granting of the ST caste status to the SC Pana Christians with the support of the groups affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The call was first made by Laxmananda Saraswati's commemoration committee. Christians were also warned not to put-up Christmas decorations due to the fact that some Hindus also celebrated Christmas along with them. Due to these tensions several Christian groups asked for extra police protection for their Christmas celebrations.Robinson 2010 265 Despite the Kui Samaj's call for the Statewide bandh, the police opened the local market on 24 December at about 7a.m. in Brahmanigoan after recommendation by some Christian groups for their Christmas preparations. About two hours late a large group allegedly led by a local RSS leader, Bikram Rout, arrived in the market and attempted to forcefully shut it down but the police kept it open. Later scuffles started between the Hindu and the Christian merchants after the group led by the RSS leader allegedly roughed up with some Christians in the market and the market was eventually closed down.Robinson 2010 265 Lakshmanananda Saraswati On 24 December, at about 10:45am, Lakshmanananda Saraswati, while travelling to the town of Brahmanigaon for a Yajna ritual in his car was forced to stop after a bus broke down in front of his vehicle. Hearing Christmas music coming from a nearby church, he sent his bodyguards to ask it to be turned down. His body guards allegedly roughed up on some Christians and vandalized the Church equipments. Saraswati claimed that a group of Christians injured him and his driver and damaged his car, while eye-witnesses and doctor's statements said that he did not appear seriously hurt.JPDC 2008 25 Yet, pictures of him, lying in a hospital bed were circulated widely in the internet and in the news reports. The RSS, Bajrang Dal, VHP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called for a 4-hour bandh on the Christmas Day following the incident.Robinson 2010 266 This led to the communal tensions in the area.Bauman 2015 53https://scroll.in/article/892641/in-photos-damaged-churches-broken-homes-are-the-lingering-scars-of-the-2008-kandhamal-riots In photos: Damaged churches, broken homes are the lingering scars of the 2008 Kandhamal riots Scroll.in 5 September 2018 en-US 2020-04-16http://ncds.nic.in/sites/default/files/WorkingandOccasionalPapers/WP64NCDS.pdf Dialogue, Sacrifice and Reconciliation:A Study of Kandhamal Violence, Odisha Patnaik Arun K Bag Rajesh January 2016 Nabakrushna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies, Bhubaneswar Other incidents leading up to the riots On 23 December, Hindutva-associated tribal organisations reportedly organized a rally with slogans of 'Stop Christianity, Kill Christians' with the support of Sangh Parivar groups. That same day, Hindutva activists organized a ritual to convert Pastor Digal from the Kutikia Gram panchayat along with 12 members of the Christian community. He was beaten, brutally tortured and paraded naked as he refused to renounce Christianity.JPDC 2008 23-25 Riots Violent clashes occurred from 24 to 27 December 2007 between people led by the Sangh Parivar groups, the Sangh-affiliated Kui Samaj and the Christians. Around 10a.m. on 24 December, a mob of around 500 people led again by the RSS leader, Bikram Rout ransacked the pandal and set it on fire in front of the onlooking police. The mob then went on to destroy Christian shops and attack Christians. Gun-shots were fired, a boy was severely wounded, many Christians fled to the near-by jungles out of fear.Robinson 2010 266 While other reports suggest more than 3000 people belonging to Vishwa Hindu Parishad, RSS, Bajrang Dal and the Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram started to vandalize Christian symbols and two young boys suffered gun injuries. The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes was destroyed. This occurred before Laksmananda was attacked.JPDC 2008 25 On 25 December, six churches were set ablaze after the Christians were chased out. The violence continued as the members of each community clashed with each other.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/in-india-churches-torched-on-christmas/ In India, Churches Torched On Christmas www.cbsnews.com 26 December 2007 en-US 2020-04-15 On 26 December, clashes continued all over the district, multiple houses were attacked and many were left injured, a police station in Phiringia was set on fire. Police was found it difficult to reach the violence hit areas in the villages as protesters obstructed roads by blocking it with trees. Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik held two rounds of meetings with senior officials to review the situation.https://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/26orissa.htm Orissa: Fresh violence in curfew-bound areas www.rediff.com 2020-04-15https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/AdvisoryCom/PostDisaster/OdishaForumForActionReport.pdf#page=2 An Assessment of Damage and Loss of Private Property during the Anti-Christian Violence in Kandhamal, India Centre for the Sustainable Use of Natural and Social Resources On 27 December, dozens of churches were ransacked and razed in the areas of Nuagaon, G Udaygiri Phulbani Sadar and Brahmanigoan. A Congress parliamentarian's house was also attacked by the Saffron activists and the Kui tribals, opposing tribal status for the Pana Christians.https://www.rediff.com/news/2007/dec/27church.htm Twelve more churches razed in Orissa www.rediff.com 2020-04-15 A Christian reprisal also took place as a Christian mob entered the Hindu quarter of Brahmanigaon and set fire to about hundred homes. Similarly, a Christian mob set fire to an additional twenty homes near Gadapur. On the same day the rioting had stopped.Robinson 2010 267 Total casualties and damages Initial governmental reports suggested that more than 100 churches and church institutions, including hostels, convents and about 700 houses and other structures were burnt in the riots and three persons killed (all Christians).https://www.orissapost.com/3706-acquitted-in-kandhamal-riots/ 3,706 acquitted in Kandhamal riots - OrissaPOST 2020-01-24 orissapost.com en-US 2020-04-16 More than 837 families were left homeless.https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/flashback-kandhamal-targeted-violence-against-christians-9-years-later A Flashback to Kandhamal Targeted Violence against Christians, 9 Years Later 2017-08-24 SabrangIndia en 2020-04-16 A report by the National Commission for Minorities, suggested more than 730 houses were destroyed and 95 churches were burnt.Robinson 2010 267 The Communalism combat reported 85-95 churches and 94-96 Christian institutions were burnt down, vandalized or damaged; homes were also looted of jewellery and other valuables. The All India Christian Council (AICC) study team stated that in December 2007, Hindu nationalists murdered a total of 50 Christians, destroyed 730 housing units and 95 churches. In the numerous relief camps set up by State government, hundreds of displaced Christians were made to stay.https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2008/02-February/newsarticle_5210.html/ Maoists Said to Recruit Victims of Violence dead https://web.archive.org/web/20151124132712/https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2008/02-February/newsarticle_5210.html/ 24 November 2015 2015-08-27 www.worldwatchmonitor.org dmy-all The general secretary of the Kandhamal district's Christian Endeavour Union, suggested that 100 houses belonging to Christians were burnt in Godapur, Brahmanigoan, Barakhama, and some other villages on 26–27 December 2007. He also visited Godapur and Brahmanigaon villages to take a look of the situation, and suspected that these houses were burnt sown by sections of "Hinditva Activists" who may have been incited by the Maoists.India: Maoists Said to Recruit Victims of Violencehttp://www.ndtv.com/video/player/news/ngo-maoist-link-in-kandhamal/21988 NGO-Maoist link in Kandhamal 2015-08-27 Ndtv.com Investigations Many members of the Hindu community have claimed that Christian show of religiosity, and the financial privilege that enabled such an exhibition, contributed to the rioting. While some Hindu organisations suggested that disturbances were the result of ethnic tensions in the area, mainly between the Dalit Pana community and the Adivasi Kandhas. Independent experts found that in terms of the violence and planning it across the mountainous areas, the violence was orchestrated and the police had prior information about the Hindutva organisations planning to riot. The celebration of Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik's party's 10th anniversary coincided with the turmoil. The celebration demanded that a significant number of the state police forces be relocated from districts to Bhubaneswar, the state capital. The police found it challenging to react to the developing situation in Kandhamal between 24 and 25 December. Hindutva organizations claimed the violent uprising of Hindus stemmed from Christian conversions and the actions of Maoist organizations, resulting in the 2007 Kandhamal riots. See also 2008 Kandhamal nun gang rape case References Bibliography Robinson Rowena https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/8794295 Margins of faith : Dalit and tribal Christianity in India Sage Publications Joseph Marianus Kujur 2010 978-81-321-0604-3 New Delhi, India 671529854 ((Justice, Peace and Development Commission (JPDC) (Bhubaneswar, India) )) Faith under fire Media House 2008 978-81-7495-320-9 Delhi 294883231 JPDC 2008 Bauman Chad M. Pentecostals, proselytization, and anti-Christian violence in contemporary India Oxford University Press, 2015 2015 978-0-19-020210-1 New York, NY 888554934 Category:Anti-Christian riots in India Category:December 2007 in India Category:Hate crimes in India Category:Church arson in India Category:Looting in India Category:Persecution of Christians by Hindus Category:Hinduism-motivated violence in India Category:2007 murders in India Category:Kandhamal district Category:2000s in Orissa Category:Murder in Odisha Category:December 2007 crimes in Asia Category:Residential building arson attacks in India Category:Arson in 2007 Category:2007 fires in Asia Category:2007 in Christianity Category:2007 mass murders Category:Attacks on buildings and structures in 2007 Category:21st-century mass murders in India Category:Marketplace attacks in India Category:2007 riots Category:Attacks during Christmas celebrations Category:Riots and civil disorder in Odisha