* * * Jharkhand News * ** ** **
** * * ** ** ** Attacks against christians in Orissa and Jharkhand *Dr. Sajan's blog @ GCIC- Global Council of Indian Christians* The monsoons are setting in Kandhamal,Orissa, and still up to four hundred families are without a roof over their head.. The grant for totally destroyed houses is fifty thousand rupees, and half or less for partially destroyed houses. But half burnt houses cannot be rebuilt. They have to be first razed to the ground and then rebuilt, and the government does not recognize this. Anyway, even the fifty thousand rupees is not enough. With the steel and asbestos, sheets,cement and bricks and a bit of wood, the total comes to eighty-five thousand. This means that unless the compensation is raised, the riot victims will have half built houses when the rains come. Anyway, it is not houses but homes that are destroyed. It takes more than mere money to rebuild a life in a new house. In addition, half a year of labour has been lost for the christians; there is no means of livelihood. These Dalits, Kui-speaking `Domangs' and Kondhs, who have lost everything they ever had. Most of them actually had not enough land to sustain a family in these highlands where the monsoons are the only source of irrigation, and manual labour on government projects the solitary source of income. But there is no answer from the government. There is no scheme on the anvil. It is becoming increasingly clear to the people that justice can come only from united action and prayers. The people may also have to approach the Supreme Court because Christians are being discriminated against in rehabilitation and resettlement. Even now, many girls cannot go to school for fear of molestation after threats have been received from local goons and radicals. An application is being filed with the National and State Women's Commissions on this. The economic violence, ostracisation, and alienation question is equally important. Christians who had started making a life for themselves through running shops and self employment were particular targets. This was confirmed during the second visit of the national Minorities Commission in April. The Christians are still facing a sort of social and economic boycott. For the poor who were working as labour in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme [NREG] and Prime Minister's Rural Roads programmes, jobs are either not available because work has stopped, or hard to come by. There is also discernible partisanship in employment, we are told by the victims. The State government seems not to have noticed this at all. This calls for an urgent enquiry by concerned central authorities as government of India's funding is involved. The police remain perversely bigoted. In Brahminigaon and Kandhamal police stations, they are actively trying to manufacture and prove a link between the Naxalite and the Christians; they are also actively progressing on the cases relating to the burning of the few houses of Hindus in Brahminigon. But there is no progress reported at all in catching the culprits who burned the churches and the Christian homes. The people have repeatedly called for probity, equality, and an absolute secular approach by the administration on issues of justice and the enforcement of law and order. Church unity remains of essence, particularly in areas of mobilising defence of Christians arrested or implicated on fabricated charges. Many reports still remain to be filed in the police stations for want of legal adequate legal aid. The path to peace and reconciliation, not surprisingly, has been shown by the brave women of Kandhamal who have sunk all ethnic differences to come together to challenge Hindu radicals. A meeting led by the women collected as many as six thousand people in Balliguda a few days ago. The sub collector and the police tried to dissuade them, banning speeches and posters and slogans, but the woman marshalled the people brilliantly. One after the other, speakers many of them Hindu and several of them women, said they were determined to challenge and defeat the forces of religious bigotry exemplified by the groups of the Sangh Parivar. Meanwhile, it is learned that the Sangh Parivar is preparing for more violence in another area of Orissa and Jharhand http://www.persecution.in/node/2842 ** <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/contact.htm> . * News TV <http://www.indian-tv.blogspot.com/> Blog <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/blog> Photo <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/photo> Music <http://www.jharkhandi.org/music.htm> Video <http://www.jharkhandi.org/video.htm> Live Chat <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/live> Directory <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/directory> Testimonials <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/directory> Forum <http://yahoogroups.com/group/jharkhand> Contact <http://www.jharkhand.org.in/contact.htm> . * -- Jharkhand News [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jharkhand Online Network www.jharkhand.org.in/news
