Conversion, law in Orissa

By Barendra Krushna Dhal



Orissa is burning. In one side communal violence and other side flood mayhem. So overall State is burning. Media in India focusing two issues prominently while foreign media only propagating attack on churches and Christians in Orissa. But the real story of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati murder has been gradullay vanishing from the scene.



No body is bother about the killers of Swamiji and his four disciples, who were shot dead at Jalespata Ashram in Kandhamal district on August 23. From Pope to other senior Church leaders only making propaganda by high lighting attack on Christians and trying to cover up the murder of a social reformer like Swamiji.



During last 20 years, the number of Christian religious preachers has gone up to 30% in Gajapati, 18% in Kandhamal and 16 % in Sundargarh.



On January 22, 1999, Graham Stains and his two sons were burnt to death at Manoharpur in Anadapur Sub-Division of Orissa’s Keonjhar district. Police arrested Dara Singh as key accused in the case. Dara first got death sentence and later it was relaxed to life sentence.



But real fact was shocking for us, Stains was running a hospital for leprosy patients, where he was forcing innocent Hindu tribals to convert into Christians. WHO had opened a hospital to deal with such issues but why Stains opend a hospital there, the question still remain unanswered?



On February 3, 1999, a Nun Jaklin Merry lodged a FIR with Baripada Police that some Hindu people raped her. When the Nun under went medical test, doctors found that she had physical relationship with others prior to the incident. Why the police not arrest the father and Nun, who had lodged a FIR.



Why church people think, Orissa as a best destination for conversion? In pre-independence days, Britishers were patronizing conversion while after independence, secular forces in the country, making all out effort to see more number of churches should come up and large number of Hindus to convert into Christianity.



In an attempt to check conversion, Orissa as a first State in the country, introduced Orissa Freedom of Religion Act in 1967. On December 13, 1967, the law came into force. Two former Orissa Chief Ministers including Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo and Harekrushna Mahatab were among those persons, who really mastermind behind the law to check conversion in the State. In January 1968, it was published in extraordinary gazette no-2.



Here are some lines of the Act.



Section-3 Prohibition of forcible conversion: No person shall convert or attempt to convert either directly or otherwise, any person, any person from one religious faith to another by the use of force or by inducement or by any fraudulent means nor shall any person abet any such conversion.



Punishment for contravention of the provisions of section-3: Any person contravening the provisions contained in section 3 shall, without prejudice to any civil liability, be punishable with imprisonment of either description, which may extend to one year or with fine, which may extended to Rs 5000 or with both.



Despite this stringent law, hundreds of Christian missionaries doing conversion activities in Kandhamal, the erstwhile Baudha and Phulabani, Ganjam, Parlakhemundi, Sundargarh, Sambalpur , Koraput and several other tribal dominated areas of the State.



They either forcibly or luring innocent tribals, continued their activities while defying law of the land. Both Catholic and Protestants engaged in conversion. Fathers of Catholic churches and Pastors of Protestants bodies patronizing them.



Due to lack of political will and other reasons, the law could not materialize even after 22 years of its enactment as the policy makers failed to put valid provisions in the law. When JB Patnaik was Chief Minister, he passed it on November 29, 1989 in the Orissa Assembly and it was published in gazette on February 23, 1990 under the name of The Orissa Freedom of Religion Rules of 1989. After the act, JB Patnaik lost his post while another Congress man Hemananda Biswal remained as Chief Minister of the State for a brief period, Biswal given a final node to it.



According to the new provisions, any person want to host conversion activity, should seek prior permission to concerned District Collectors. The law also asked Collectors to list out how many religious outfits are working in his jurisdiction. But no collector responded to the law while church people carry out their mission easily. In Orissa, official two persons have applied for conversion while rest have been done illegally and unconstitutionally.

The brutal killing of Swamiji and four of his disciples in Kandhamal could have been avoided if politicians, law makers and babus takes enough steps to check conversion in Orissa.