Arati said “My husband’s family had become Christians about 20 years ago…but then we returned to the Hindu fold about 6-7 years back”! We did not believe her...she hardly looked 40! But then, two women helped us to calculate. Arati got married at the age of 15! She already has sons in their twenties. We therefore better believe what she was saying. We were in Depaketa village. It was situated in the worst affected Blocks during the 2008 Hindu-Christian riots in Kandhamal district of Orissa.
In the tribal dominated areas of Orissa, villages are mere conglomeration of many hamlets situated far away from each other. They are separated by forests and hills. As many as 10 such villages and 20 such hamlets make one Gram Panchayat. Sirtiguda Gram Panchayat in K. Nuagaon Block was no exception. Depaketa was one of the 17 hamlets of Sirtiguda. It is unique as the number of Christian families is almost equal to number of Hindu families. When the riot broke out, all the poor Hindus and all Christian families ran into the forests in the first sight of fire. In their absence the Christian dwellings were burnt down to ashes but, all the Hindu houses stood, unharmed. The Hindus returned after the pogrom. The Christian families knew they did not have that option. They stayed in government run relief camps for more than 4 months. This village which has every developmental problems that one can think of including lack of drinking water, motor-able road, no health care, lack of access to government schemes, no schools and not even basic minimum housing... now faces another problem. The seething anger against members of the "ther" community that is regularly stoked by both Hindu and Christian religious groups and community leaders. It is in this village that Arati stays with her now "re-converted to Hinduism" family and it is also where her Brother in Law is still a Christian. Arati considers his Brother in Law's children, her own. He has borne the burnt of remaining in the fold. Both the co-sisters ran with their children to the forest when they saw fire in villages at a distance. When they tried to sneak back into the village, the older brother’s house stood and the younger brother’s house was burnt along with all its belongings.
Arati’s eyes still gets misty to describe how they used to walk miles just to meet the children in the relief camps. How the conditions of the camp would not let her sleep in her own house when she returned. She cried every day just looking at the half deserted village and did not cook for days altogether!
Even when the Christians came back to the villages the so called Hindu leaders would shout how they taught a lesson to the Christians by burning their houses down! The Christian leaders in turn went around proudly proclaiming how they have sent these Hindus to jail. Church told the Christians to not to talk to Hindus. Hindu priests told the Hindus to not to keep any social relation with Christians. Arati was however, in no position to accept any such diktat. Her Christian children were more than welcome in her home. She was too relieved to have them back in the village and did not want anything to come in between.
Now her only wish is to have better understanding between both the communities. She considers it crucial for her and her family’s survival. She pleaded we do everything to bring lasting peace in the villages. That was top-most in her mind. It came to her mind even before talking about the problem of water in the soon approaching long summer months...
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