Need two more years to blame anyone: Kandhamal probe panel

Nine months after it was set up to inquire into the 2008 Kandhamal riots and the circumstances leading...

Nine months after it was set up to inquire into the 2008 Kandhamal riots and the circumstances leading to the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati,the Sarat Chandra Mohapatra judicial commission has made little headway,with the report stopping short of blaming anyone.

Though Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was quick to snap political ties with the BJP this year,accusing the Sangh Parivar of fomenting the violence in Kandhamal,the judicial commission,which submitted its interim report to the state Home Department on June 30,did not make any such allegations. Instead,it rather tamely suggested that the government take remedial measures on issues of land dispute,fake caste certificates and religious conversion urgently.

I have not blamed any person or organisation in the report. To blame anyone,I need to give them an opportunity to record their statements under section 8(b) of the Commission of Enquiry Act. To blame anyone,I need to take another two years, said Mohapatra.

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He admitted that he is trying to get a copy of reports prepared by the National Committee for Minorities (NCM) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHCM) on the Kandhamal riots. To get an ounce of gold,you need to wait for three years. The process of investigation in the Kandhamal riots is more complex than that, he said.

The 78-year-old former judge,is yet to send mandatory notices to various political leaders,for their statements.

I am yet to analyse the circumstances behind the riot in totality. In last nine months,I was trying to obtain Hindu and Christian literature to get an idea about the incident. I got books like Faith under Fire and booklets like Truth behind Laxmanananda Saraswatis Murder recently. I am also trying to find out more about the background of the RSS. I am trying to find an independent view on Kandhamal, he said.

Mohapatra said he is yet to trace the genesis of the Hindu-Christian conflict in Kandhamal. He says he needs to go deeper into Laxmanananda Saraswatis background and why Maoists targeted him. From the literature that is available with me I can say that the clashes between Hindus and Christians started in the 1980s when the first attack on a church happened in March 1986 in Raikia block.

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The commission has so far examined 100 witnesses,received 300 affidavits,but held only six sittings.