Guest guest Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 " Orissa in the Crossfire-Kandhamal Burning' provides many vital details related to the Hindu-Christian violence that has swept Orissa's Kandhamal district. The book also highlights the history of Orissa and its tribes. While many have familiarized themselves with the propaganda that has fictionalized the events surrounding the Kandhamal crisis, few have had access to the facts. The true history of Kandhamal and the struggles of its people deserve a fair hearing in the court of public opinion. Is the Kandha religion sinister or sacred? Are they bloodthirsty savages or a people of a noble and ancient heritage? Can the tribes people of Kandhamal rise up out of their undeserved shame and be seen for who they really are? Long labeled as `a cruel human sacrificing tribe of ruthless savages' it is time the truth be revealed. It is time for the world to learn about the Kandha `God of Light' and their Culture of Life. Paperback, 452 pages http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/orissa-in-the-crossfire-kandhamal-bur\ ning/7879596 The book is available in hardcopy and as a download as well. PREFACE I arrived in India in early September 2008. It had been over four years since my last visit. During my previous trips to India, I had travelled throughout the Northeast part of the country. In Arunchal Pradesh, Assam and Nagaland I had met with many tribal people and was fortunate to gain first hand experience of the culture and conditions prevalent in that part of the country. Northeast India is abundant and verdant. Its people represent an amazing diversity of languages, traditons and lifestyles. Unfortunately, despite the beauty and innocence of the region it is plagued by political violence and economic disparity. In early September 2008 I found myself in Northeast India. This time I was in Hojai, Assam. Located near the Bangladeshi border it is an area of some tension and like many towns of NE India, it is a frequent target for bomb blasts and machine gun killings. I had been invited by the tribal organization VKA (Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram) to participate in their Tribal Leadership Conference. During this meeting I met with thousands of Indian people and with the representatives of nearly every tribe of the Northeast including delegates from Sikkhim. The diversity expressed by these various people emphasized the ideal of `Unity in Diversity.' Here I met with the Buddhists of Tawang and Sikkhim, the Hindu Tribals of Tripura and Manipura and the tribal followers of Danyi Polo. I also met with various other representatives of the diverse tribal faiths of NE India as well. Though Northeast India is home to many Indian tribes it is actually a State to the south of India that is home to a majority of India's tribespeople. This state is called Orissa or Odisha. Coincidently, a mere two weeks before my arrival in India the tribes of Orissa had gone on the warpath. According to media reports, countless Christian churches were being burnt and worst of all Christians were allegedly being hunted down and killed. The violence had erupted after an 82 year old Hindu Monk dedicated to the upliftment of Orissa's tribespeople had been assassinated in a most brutal manner. The day chosen for his assassination was also seen as an intentional provocation. The day was Janmashtami, the birthday of Lord Krishna; a holiday celebtrated across India. The location of the assassination also caused great anguish to the tribespeople. A group of somewhere between 18 to 36 armed men had descended upon a local girls school, lobbing grenades and firing machine guns into the air. The headmistress of the school was gunned down as she attempted to shield the life of her mentor, the 82 year old monk and founder of the school, Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati. A visiting parent along with two junior monks were also viciously slaughtered as the young students fled for their lives. Orissa was stunned by the violence and the entire State went into mourning. Hindus throughout the world were outraged. Yet worst was to come. As a stunned people began to confront the fact that the authorities had failed to protect its citizens, the media began a campaign of calumny. Ignoring the brutal assassination of a beloved spiritual leader as the root of the crisis the media began to depict the response to the massacre as the story. Report after report flooded the world media depicting the outraged tribal response as the actions of blood-thirsty criminals and marketers of hate. Ignoring the hundreds of years of anguish and the long simmering disputes between the local Kandha tribespeople and the Christian converted Pana, the media and political left created an artificial template lambasting the Hindus as the sole perpetrators of the violence. It was in the midst of this crisis that I arrived in Orissa to investigate the circumstances surrounding the violence. I arrived in Bhuvaneshwar, the capital of Orissa, on September 15, 2008. The monsoon season was in full swing. The worst floods in nearly 70 years washed over the land. The state highway was washed out several times and thousands of people were left homeless. Amazingly life went on as usual with very little interruption. I had a couple miraculous escapes as we drove around Orissa crossing bridges only hours before they were swamped by the swollen rivers of the region. During my 5 weeks in Orissa I met with many people on all sides of the issue. Most people were forthright and clear about the issues plaguing the people. Many of the people, in fact, most of the people I met with had excellent solutions to the problems at hand. However the violence and disparity experienced by the people of Orissa and India at large has created a kind of chaos and instability. Thus India moves from one crisis to the other. The greatest obstacle in the way of India's progress is the state of denial that is endemic to country. Without understanding the true foundation of the problem it is almost impossible to provide any solution. The truth is most often buried and manipulated by vested interests. Any effort to reveal the truth is highlighted as a `communal' or `prejudiced' effort. Victims are ignored and culprits are emboldened as the various political players entrench themselves in the suffering of the people. India's people are categorized and cataloged and thus divided againt themselves by language, religion, ethnicity, caste and clan. Government benefits are given out and fought over. Many take advantage of government largesse based upon their greed as the truly needy are left on the way side. India's tribal people have been left far behind as some of India's non-tribal citizens expertly and criminally manipulate the system. In this way tribal lands and rights are being accessed by non-tribals to the disadvantage of the tribals. Long embittered, India's tribes are only now attempting to regain lost ground. Their struggle has been a long one and is ongoing. In this report I have attempted to present the facts as they happened. I have referenced many experts in both the history of the region and personally interviewed the leading investigating journalists and other informed parties in regard to Orissa's tribal crisis. I was also quite fortunate to have met with and interviewed the world's leading experts on India's tribal condition. I am grateful to the faculty, staff and students of North Orissa University's Tribal studies program. It is the only one of its kind in the world and is located in the heart of Orissa's tribal country. In particular Professor Laxman Sahu of NOU's Tribal studies program and his students were very enlightening. I also gathered much information from Orissa's Tribal Museum experts and was delighted to see the many artifacts from Orissa's living cultures. The experts from the Governments Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes (ST-SC) Dept were also generous with their time and I am grateful to them for their help. These many expert views on Orissa's tribal condition are irreplaceable and crucial towards gaining an accurate understanding of Orissa's socio-political conditions. I am also grateful to Janmejay Sahu and Sanjay Jena for their hospitality, assistance and guidance during my stay in Orissa. The information in this report is primarily based upon the testimony of the leading academics of Orissa, authoritative and verifiable news reports and my personal observations obtained during interviews and during my interactive visits to various locations during my fact-finding mission to the region. " Orissa in the Crossfire' not only provides many of the vital missing details related to the Hindu-Christian violence that swept the Kandhamal district of Orissa in 2008, it highlights the history of Orissa and its tribes. Forgotten by most is the fact that Orissa was once a great naval power. Its ships plied the ancient seas from Japan to Rome. However today, Orissa is one of India's poorest regions. Ironically it was once one of the wealthiest kingdoms of the ancient world. Its city of Puri has long been a place of great significance and it remains as an epicenter of devotion and faith for countless millions. While many have familiarized themselves with the propaganda that has fictionalized the events surrounding the Kandhamal crisis few have had access to the facts as they are. It is my hope that the these truths and facts can now be accessed. The true history of Kandhamal and the struggles of its people deserve a fair hearing in the court of public opinion. Let us not add to their anguish by ignoring, negating and vilifying their cause and their cries for justice. Let the tribes people of Kandhamal rise up out of their undeserved shame. Long labeled as `a cruel human sacrificing tribe of ruthless savages' it is time the truth be revealed. It is time for the world to learn about the Kandha `God of Light' and their Culture of Life. Brannon Parker November 7, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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