The questions remain

The government has done the right thing in making public the report of the Wadhwa Commission, which went into the killing of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two minor children in Orissa this year. Any delay on this score would have raised suspicions, particularly because of the alleged involvement of some Hindutva organisations in it. The report clearly blames a criminal, Dara Singh, for instigating some tribals against the missionary and thereby masterminding the gruesome murder. It did not find any evidence to link him with any Hindu organisation. This should satisfy the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, whose involvement was suspected. All this should have set at rest the controversy over the murder. But this is unlikely as the report also raises some vital questions. Most religious and political organisations in this country are not properly structured and the links their adherents have with them are, in most cases, emotional and not necessarily documented. Thus it is almostimpossible to prove a person8217;s affiliation to a politico-religious body unless he holds a proper membership in it or is an office-bearer. It only shows how difficult it would have been for the commission to verify Dara Singh8217;s links, particularly when he is still at large.

No responsible organisation had at that time or later contended that the killing was the handiwork of any particular organisation. Far from that, they blamed the circumstances created by certain organisations which emboldened Dara Singh to strike at the missionary and his children. Thus it was the vitiated atmosphere that facilitated the killing. It is also pertinent to recall that it was the campaign unleashed against the Christian community in the Dangs district of Gujarat that provided the backdrop for the murder. Rumours were spread that Christian missionaries were converting tribals by the thousands and unless it was stopped Hinduism was in danger of extinction. Needless to say, it was this calumny that helped Singh in organising abunch of hoodlums against the Staines and setting them aflame. But for a judicial commission looking for concrete evidence, these are conjectures which may not stand judicial scrutiny. Even so it is worth noting that Justice D.P. Wadhwa found the charges against Staines of converting tribals utterly false, although it is no crime under the law to do so unless it is through fraudulent means or coercion. So what was the provocation for his murder? His humanitarian work among the leprosy patients? It has left this question unanswered.

The commission has picked holes in the line of investigation followed by the Orissa police. For instance, it found to its horror that most of the people who were rounded up by the police initially had nothing to do with the killing. Obviously when the police were under pressure to prove their credentials, they did what they are known to do 8212; arrest those whom they can arrest and cook up evidence against them. If this is indeed what had happened at Manoharpur, it calls fordeterrent action against the concerned police officers. In any case the clumsy manner in which the police have investigated the case is borne out by the fact that despite the supposedly massive manhunt against Dara Singh which, incidentally, did not prevent him from giving a television interview, he is still enjoying his freedom. The commission has a remedy: order an inquiry into the police8217;s conduct. But even as these charades called inquiries go on, the killers and their instigators have the last laugh. A sad thought indeed.