Bhubaneswar—In a rememberance to mark the seven year anniversary of Kandhamal violence of 2008, The Solidarity Youth Movement Kerala, an arm of National Solidarity Forum (NSF), held a three-day event from August 23-25, 2015.
According to Dhirendra Panda, an NSF coordinator, the events are being held simultaneously at Trissur, Kottayam and Kozhikode in Kerala. He further said that the focus is to create awareness on Kandhamal violence and preserve justice, peace and harmony, and protect Indian Constitution.
Addressing the meet are Father Ajay Kumar Singh, director of the Odisha Forum for Social Action, Dr. K. Gapinath, film maker K.P. Sasi, Pro. Vigi Thamby, Najmalabu, I. Gapinath, Anvar Ali, Jay Kaitharath, Advocate R.K. Asha, among others.
The violence in Kandhamal, Orissa in December 2007 and August 2008 targeted Dalit and Adivasi Christians and is considered the biggest communal violence after Gujarat-2002. The aftermath of violence left more than 56,000 people displaced. Some 350 churches destroyed, around 6,500 houses were gutted and over 90 people killed while several Christian run institutions were destroyed and ransacked.
The tentacles of the organized attack spread to other parts of Orissa in the course of time to follow. Seizing the opportunity some Hindu radical groups organized the forced conversion in the name of 'Ghar Wapasi' (Homecoming), a forced deliberation to convert Christian Adivasi's to Hindu fold.
On 28 March 2009, a group of victims approached through KFPJ the Odisha Human Rights Commission formally with a prayer for immediate intervention and action for safety of the victims and human rights defenders involved in the process. The case was registered vide No. 472/2009. But no action was taken. During violence in Kandhamal district of Orissa, out of the 3,232 complaints filed by victims, only 832 were actually registered by the police. Between 75 and 123 people were killed in the violence, yet only 26 murder cases were registered by the police as of February 2010.
