CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat, who visited Kandhamal Monday and met the convicts of the Laxmananand Saraswati murder case, spoke to Sudarsan Maharana
You had visited Kandhamal. Did you have any specific objective?
This is the seventh anniversary of the 2008 violence against Christian community after the murder of Swami Laxmananand Saraswati. The victims of Kandhamal riot are still waiting for justice. I went there to meet the victims and find what the situation today is.
Orissa had no history of communal riots. Who would you blame for the riots? Locals or outsiders?
It is the BJP, VHP and Bajrang Dal. There is no doubt about it. Praveen Togadia was leading the march and there is nothing local about it. Togadia was responsible for the violence and we don’t see him in Jail.
What in your opinion was the reason behind this riot? Was it religious, political or economic?
It has nothing to do with religion. It was everything to do with communal organisations VHP and Bajrang Dal. Now, we don’t need to go back to the past. The question is today. Why justice is not being done yet. Why the survivors are yet to get justice? Why out of 38 cases only two are convicted? Doesn’t it mean that their lives have no value? Even today I saw that many families are not able to come back.
You are possibly the first to visit the jail even as you do not have any connection with those convicted in the Laxmanananda murder case. Do you think they are the culprits?
There is judicial double standard in the approach to the incident. Independent reports say 70 to 80 persons were murdered while government reports suggest 30 to 40, which is also a big figure and there has been conviction in only two cases. What about the other accused?
The persons who have been arrested and convicted for the Swami’s murder are four Adivasis and three Dalits who belong to very poor family. I feel they are innocent.
The Maoists have admitted that they have done this and these people have nothing to do with Maoists. However, they were convicted just because they were Christians. And I do feel that this is a case where the law has not taken the right course and here justice is travesty. It should be corrected.
