Title: Eight tribals
die in police firing unsung
Author: Imran Khan
Publication: The Weekend
Observer
Date: January 8, 2000
Gunning down of eight
tribals at Majhiguda village in Orissa last week, who were part of a group
trying to retrieve their land from Christians, by the police on December
30 has gone totally unnoticed and unsung.
The identity and land
of the besieged tribals have become the targets of Christian missionaries,
who are helped by mysteriously funded non-governmental organisations and
neo-converts to Christianity. The original inhabitants are a terrified
lot today. Forsaken by political parties, media and social groups, they
have turned to the naxalites for help.
The police, by firing
at the tribals and killing eight of them in the recent incident, have proved
that they are behaving in a politically correct manner. Had they
done otherwise, and taken action against the Christians or neo-converts,
they would have had to face the wrath of "secular fundamentalists" from
amongst the so-called secular political parties, minority organisations
and human rights groups.
The national and international
media have continued to ignore the plight of the tribals whose lands had
been forcibly occupied by Panas (scheduled caste converts to Christianity),
and all attempts by them to reclaim their original lands have failed to
evoke any sympathy from the influential classes.
One can well imagine
the furore in the media had eight Christians been shot dead instead.
In fact, disputes originating
from land ownership problems have escalated into full scale tensions between
the two communities, which has begun to assume communal tones, in which
the poor tribals are being picturised as villains of the piece, when in
reality the case is otherwise.
The Orissa state government's
abject failure to address the tensions between the tribals and the Panas,
arising out of land disputes, as a socio-economic problem is the root cause
of the problem. The resulting tension is now spreading across the
Southern Orissa region.
Moreover, the presence
of some NG0s, goading the recent neo-converts into violent activities to
retain the lands that they had forcibly began cultivating some time ago,
has added fuel to fire.
With no option but to
use force to reclaim their lands, the only means to make their living,
the tribals have enlisted the services of naxalite outfit Peoples' War
Group (PWG), active in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
Naxalite outfit, Kui
Laband Sangh, and its influence in the area has further added to the tension
and land disputes have now transformed into communal warfare.
However, the state government
continues to see it as a mere law and order problem.
The December 30 incident
at Majhiguda village of Gajapati district in Southern Orissa only underlines
the government's failure to view the problem in its proper perspective.
The tribals lost their
lives when they and their friends were trying to reclaim their lands from
the Panas, who had forcibly occupied them under instigation from the NGO
operating there.
Interestingly, the NGO's
funding remains a mystery, with rumours of foreign funds doing the rounds.
For want of confirmation from any source, it is difficult to know the truth
in such allegations.
If the state government
'IS aware of this aspect, there is not much evidence of any action to check
the misadventures of this NGO.
According to reports
reaching the state capital, an uneasy calm prevails at Majhiguda and surrounding
villages, which have witnessed similar clashes in the past. State
home department sources told this newspaper that yet another clash, third
in the series, had been reported from Mankadapanka village in Gajapati
district on January 3, 2000.
Sources maintained that
despite the increased presence of security forces, clashes were taking
place. Several houses belonging to the Panas were burnt at Mankadapanka
village by the irate tribals and the Panas had fled the village fearing
attacks.
The burning down of Panas
houses at Amarpur village is yet another warning signal that has alerted
the government. The clash between police and tribals at Majhiguda,
a village of about 75 houses, indicates one thing - armed tribals had attacked
the police and had warned the police against "siding with the Panas."
A stretch of 14 acres
of cultivable land has become the bone of contention between the tribals
and the Panas. As per government records and local villagers, the
piece of disputed land was owned by the tribals, three decades ago.
But later on, the Panas, after conversion, staked their claim. For
the past one decade, the tribals have been trying to get back their land
from the Panas. Last year, too, clashes over the disputed land had
forced the administration to post a strong posse of policemen in the area.
The NG0s in turn blame
the tribals. "In the garb of giving protection to the tribals, the
naxalite organisations have been egging on the tribals to reclaim their
lands," an NGO activist said, adding "for all this, the state government
is solely responsible as it had failed to resolve the tussle for a long
time."
What is worrying the
people at large is that even the media seems to have fallen prey to the
machinations of the influential, rich and resourceful NGOs and their foreign
connections rather than give the correct, unbiased and objective pictures.
