10-17-2008, 05:42 PM
<b>Split Kandhamal district: Christians</b>
http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct172...08101795679.asp
From S T Beuria, DH News Service, Tikabali (Kandhamal):
The recent chain of incidents in Kandhamal has forced local Christians to put forward a demand for division of the tribal dominated district and creation of two districts out of it - one for them and another for the Hindus.
They have already submitted a proposal in this regard to the state government. The authorities, however, are yet to react on the demand.
âWe want a separate district for us so that we can live happily and peacefully. We have already submitted a memorandum in this regard to the governor during his recent visit to Kandhamalâ, said Lal Mohan Digal, an inmate of the Tikabali relief camp set up by the Kandhamal district administration for Christian riot victims.
Several other Christian villagers sheltered in the Tikabali relief camp have also expressed similar sentiments and said they will prefer a separate district as they realise that it may not be possible for them to go back to their respective villages with Hindu co-villagers. They added that hardline Hindu groups have threatened them not to return to their homes as they (the Hindus) want a âChristian-freeâ Kandhamal.
âThe government is not doing anything to settle the matter. Therefore, the best option will be to divide Kandhamal and create two separate districts of Hindus and Christiansâ, said Julian Digal, another inmate of Tikabali camp.
<b>No normalcy</b>
The Christian villagers in the relief camps rejected the Orissa governmentâs claim that normalcy was returning fast to the riot-hit villages and many victims had already gone back to their respective homes.
According to Kandhamal district administration, earlier there were thirty thousand riot victims in different relief camps.
The number has now reduced to a little over ten thousand.
The camp inmates admitted that many riot victims had left the relief shelters. âHowever, they have not returned to their homes. They have fled to more safer places like Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Many of them have also fled to other statesâ, said Subash Digal, who was working as a pastor in a Church.
<b>Rejected</b>
Meanwhile, the Orissa government has rejected the Kui Samaj co-ordination committeeâs demand to withdraw the CRPF from Kandhamal.
Another demand of the Kui Samaj, a powerful organisation of the tribals in the troubled district, to transfer the recently appointed Chief administrator for Kandhamal, senior IAS officer Madhusudan Padhi, has also been rejected by the state government.
http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct172...08101795679.asp
From S T Beuria, DH News Service, Tikabali (Kandhamal):
The recent chain of incidents in Kandhamal has forced local Christians to put forward a demand for division of the tribal dominated district and creation of two districts out of it - one for them and another for the Hindus.
They have already submitted a proposal in this regard to the state government. The authorities, however, are yet to react on the demand.
âWe want a separate district for us so that we can live happily and peacefully. We have already submitted a memorandum in this regard to the governor during his recent visit to Kandhamalâ, said Lal Mohan Digal, an inmate of the Tikabali relief camp set up by the Kandhamal district administration for Christian riot victims.
Several other Christian villagers sheltered in the Tikabali relief camp have also expressed similar sentiments and said they will prefer a separate district as they realise that it may not be possible for them to go back to their respective villages with Hindu co-villagers. They added that hardline Hindu groups have threatened them not to return to their homes as they (the Hindus) want a âChristian-freeâ Kandhamal.
âThe government is not doing anything to settle the matter. Therefore, the best option will be to divide Kandhamal and create two separate districts of Hindus and Christiansâ, said Julian Digal, another inmate of Tikabali camp.
<b>No normalcy</b>
The Christian villagers in the relief camps rejected the Orissa governmentâs claim that normalcy was returning fast to the riot-hit villages and many victims had already gone back to their respective homes.
According to Kandhamal district administration, earlier there were thirty thousand riot victims in different relief camps.
The number has now reduced to a little over ten thousand.
The camp inmates admitted that many riot victims had left the relief shelters. âHowever, they have not returned to their homes. They have fled to more safer places like Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Many of them have also fled to other statesâ, said Subash Digal, who was working as a pastor in a Church.
<b>Rejected</b>
Meanwhile, the Orissa government has rejected the Kui Samaj co-ordination committeeâs demand to withdraw the CRPF from Kandhamal.
Another demand of the Kui Samaj, a powerful organisation of the tribals in the troubled district, to transfer the recently appointed Chief administrator for Kandhamal, senior IAS officer Madhusudan Padhi, has also been rejected by the state government.