Executive summary
During the week following 24 December 2007, the Kandhamal district of Orissa state was the scene of widespread violence, targeted primarily at Christians in Dalit and tribal communities. The All India Christian Council (aicc) estimated the damage at 95 churches or Christian institutions and 730 properties damaged or destroyed alongside an unknown number of deaths, and judged this to constitute 'the largest attack on the Christian community in the history of democratic India'. Within the context of this material devastation, a number of properties belonging to 'lower'-caste Hindus were among those destroyed in at least two locations, although culpability for this is yet to be clearly established.
The roots of the violence lay predominantly in a lengthy process of incitement of anti- Christian feeling by Hindutva1 organisations, particularly the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which has been associated with the local Hindutva figurehead, Swami Lakhmananda Saraswati,2 and which was highlighted in a report into the violence by the government's National Commission for Minorities (NCM).3 This process involved the 'Hinduisation' of tribals and the exacerbation of tribal tensions, the vilification of religious conversions in a region in which a relatively large number had adopted Christian faith over a lengthy period of time, and the consequent fuelling of communal tensions.
Once catalysed in Brahminigaon village, the violence quickly spread to target Christians irrespective of tribal or caste status, including the Oriya, Kui and Pana communities. This led NGOs, media commentators and the NCM to conclude that this was a pre-meditated and organised set of attacks, deliberately targeted at the Christian community. In light of the long process of Hinduisation in the area, fears exist about the potential for further violence.
During and immediately after the outbreaks of violence, which affected large parts of Kandhamal district and other locations in Orissa state, many police officers were negligent or, in the worst cases, complicit in the attacks on Christian targets. The state government has also been heavily criticised for failing to give adequate recognition to the religious dimension of the violence, for its unsatisfactory relief and compensation provisions, and for failing to permit NGOs to undertake relief work, albeit with the alleged exception of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and VHP, who have been accused of supplying aid to Hindus only.
The Christian community and secular NGOs led widespread protests against the outbreak of violence. In the following days, a number of NGO fact-finding teams visited the area, including one led by All India Catholic Union president, Dr John Dayal, a delegation representing the aicc and another from the National Campaign for Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR). The government's National Commission for Minorities (NCM) visited the area from 6-8 January and subsequently released a report.
Representatives of the Christian community held meetings with the highest levels of Indian government and with the Orissa chief minister, and large-scale protest rallies were held at numerous locations, including Delhi on 27 December and Bhubaneswar on 10 January. The requests of the Christian community as articulated at these meetings and events have informed the recommendations of this report
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