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The Real Kandhamal Story ...
News Type: Event — Seeded on Sat Nov 1, 2008 11:26 AM EDT
Article Source: livemint.comadvertisement
In Kandhamal, kings see power shift to landless - Home - livemint.com
In 1991, there were 70,000 Christians in Kandhamal. By 2001, the number had exploded 66% to 117,950.
Under the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, all conversions have to be reported to the district magistrate and collector.
"Once the collector makes sure that the conversion is not being done under any pressure, the person is free to convert," says Krishnan Kumar, the collector of Kandhamal. But this is almost never actually practised.
When the number of Christians grew by almost 47,950, "only two were done with the mandatory approval of the collector", Kumar said.
One reason conversions are not reported is because to do so means Panos would lose scheduled caste status—and lose their allotment of reservations in government jobs.
"Panos convert to Christianity without telling the government to get benefits from missionaries. Then they use their SC certificate to get government jobs as well..." says sub-collector Pradipta Kumar.
Some government officials say that the Kandhas, who make up 52% of the population, own less than 10% of the district land. Others contest the figure and say it is as high as 60%, but the exact data was unavailable.
Blatant Proselytization
A web dictionary defines proselytization as " To induce someone to convert to one's own religious faith." This above quoted article details two interesting aspects of the Kandhamal uproar.
- There has been a large scale demographic change in this area. Today, Christians in this area exceed 100,000 - and up from 60,000 to more than 100,000 in the last few years.
- The bigger issue - is the misrepresentation of caste and religious denomination for obtaining undue benefits. Benefits for backward Hindus were being claimed by the Christians while declaring themselves as Backward Hindus.
- The 3rd is land. Traditional landowners have been dispossessed of their land - and the new converts have become the new 'rentier' land owners.
Thus what is being given a communal and religious colour is more a case of dispensation and cornering of benefits.
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{"commentId":3818915,"authorDomain":"2ndlook"}
Religious colorization of an economic and social issues ... the way it looks now ...
{"commentId":3818915,"threadId":"406099","contentId":"2062250","authorDomain":"2ndlook"}
- 2 votes
#1 - Sat Nov 1, 2008 11:31 AM EDT{"commentId":3820785,"authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}
The comment thread in the article has some interesting views.
the age old and silence dominance of the Panos over Kandhas and no doubt the missionaries are in the forefront in conversion by luring the innocent tribals. The church with its hidden agenda are behind the attacks and fueled the growing hatred between the two communities. Now,its time the govt must realise the game plan of missionaries and provide the kandhos their due by imparting education,home,land and job.
India needs to understand that external forces, especially fundamental religious groups, are infiltrating these areas to push a hidden agenda. Christian missionaries in India have done a lot of good over the centuries. But equally, and especially in these times of fundamental religious fervour, there appear to be some groups who are using the situation in Orissa to serve an agenda.
This article shows how the so called anti-Minority riots are actually due to rivalry between 2 castes. It is a shame that any violence took place, but blaming Hindus just without knowing the true situation is absolutely wrong. It could very well be that the Maoists or the evangelists are purposely stirring issues up to gain political clout. Same violence happened when Gujjars wanted a quota and also in Assam where Bangladeshis are swarming the Bodo country. Then there is the hullaballoo in Mumbai over UP-Bihar people coming in droves. These issues are complex and cannot be solved by one person yelling out abuses and other counter abusing. It will take a very competent negotiator like Sardar Patel to calm down emotions and strike deals with communities. Unfortunately the ruling party in Center has neither the will nor able leadership to tackle any issue other than pleasing outgoing Prez Dubya !
It is easy to sensationalize, talk about broken churches and homes. And tomorrow, when everyone gets bored with the conflict and media circus ends, where will these two groups be? How will they live together again? How will they learn to trust each other again? If you can stand up as a human being and look beyond the blood and gore to find out how to solve this problem, you will see that this information might just help peace makers understand a part of the problem.
These communities have been largely ignored by India for too long. This horror was a sleeping monster for decades. Peace makers need to be given teeth to help resolve it. Not politicians or organised religions, each with their own selfish goals and missions to use as a weapon.
{"commentId":3820785,"threadId":"406099","contentId":"2062250","authorDomain":"raatkiraani"}
- 2 votes
#2 - Sat Nov 1, 2008 1:34 PM EDT{"commentId":3830689,"authorDomain":"2ndlook"}
One thing is clear ... there are clear attempts by 'external' forces to change demographics for ulterior motives.
Christian missionaries in India have done a lot of good over the centuries
'The Christian Missionaries doing good' is false syllogism. The White (neo) Colonialists looted - and then the White Missionaries (some times in the garb of a 'non-religious' Salvation Army too) came to apply the salve.
How much more can we become shortsighted to this game?
This entire model of 'superior' and 'advanced' societies giving 'aid' to 'backward', 'poor'
societies is a falsity. The poor dont need anything - but an end to violence against them and the opportunity to come up by their hard work.
{"commentId":3830689,"threadId":"406099","contentId":"2062250","authorDomain":"2ndlook"}
- 2 votes
#3 - Sun Nov 2, 2008 1:16 AM EST{"canLink":false,"threadId":"406099","isPrivate":false}
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