Christmas in Kandhamal .... Bosco Informatio Services

Christmas in Kandhamal

By Thomas Pallithanam

Hyderabad, Dec. 28. It was not Silent Night after all!! A Thousand Halleluiahs rent the air in the stillness of the night at K. Nuagam Camp. Tensions had been mounting given the call for a Shut Down by the Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati Shrandhanjali Samidhi (SLSSS). With SLSSS calling off the Shut Down hope dawned for a Christmas albeit under heavy security cover. And starting from evening of 24th into the night of 25th it was Christmas celebrations all over Kandhamal with every relief camp having midnight services!!

The opening shot of ``Kandhamal in Tears`` a Documentary on Kandhamal produced in first week of the communal riot has this old woman`s forlorn and tear stained face.

 

On 20th December Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati Shrandhanjali Samidhi (SLSSS), set up after the murder of Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati SLSSS called off the Orissa Shut Down much to relief of all people of good will.  SLSSS had earlier declared that no one would be allowed to celebrate Christmas anywhere in Orissa as a mark of protest against the inability of the government to arrest the murderers of the Swami. Tensions had been mounting. Civil society organisations across India called upon the SLSSS to call of their ill-conceived threat. They also brought on immense pressure on the Orissa government to declare the shut call illegal and take all measures to ensure a peaceful Christmas. With SLSSS calling off the Shut Down hope dawned for a Christmas albeit under heavy security cover. And starting from evening of 24th into the night of 25th it was Christmas celebrations all over Kandhamal with every relief camp having midnight services!!

 

K.Nuagam will always be the name that comes to ones mind when the horrors of Kandhamal are recalled. It was here Sr. Meena was bestially raped and later along with Fr. Thomas Chellan led along the public road in a re-inaction of the Way of the Cross as the custodians of law stood by watching gleefully the diabolic dehumanisation of humanity. Mercifully Sr. Meena and Fr. Chellan were spared from death.

 

With the government determined to be seen as not succumbing to fundamentalist forces in the state and civil society -though deafeningly silent during the last year`s carnage - this time around demanding firm action against the SLSSS  in one voice, the Samidhi called off its shut down call.

 

At Tikabali camp Christmas celebrations had already begun by the time we reached the camp. At the time was 15.00 hrs. The inmates had colourfully decorated the temporary prayer hall with the help of the CRPF personnel assigned to guard the camp. The camp was home to around 1800 refugees. Unmindful of both the tragedy that had befallen them and the less than hospitable environment children sang with hearts content, their enthusiasm making the elders to forget their gnawing fears for a while. For despite the presence of the security personnel there were real fears the fundamentalist fringe would try to disrupt the celebrations.

 

By evening both the camps in G.Udayagiri  - another block seriously affected by the riot - was celebrating Christmas. When we reached Raikia, the parish had just concluded the services. As precautionary measure celebrations outside the camps were held before night fall.

 

The top district administration - Mr.Krishan Kumar the Collector, Mr.Praveen Kumar, the Superintendant of Police - were out on patrol all through the night, joining in the services for a while at different parishes and camps. Their presence added a sense of security driving away whatever apprehensions there were in the minds of the terrorised refugees.

 

The midnight celebrations were most poignant at K. Nuagam. As mentioned earlier this place will always be etched in the collective consciousness of the Christian community in India and will always reflect the suffering face of Christ this time on the veil of Sr.Meena.

 

The short documentary ``Kandhamal in Tears`` prepared in the first week of the break out of communal violence opened with the close up of an old woman in tears. And at the camp I saw the same woman dancing with abandon joy. Was it the promise of a  New Tomorrow, of a the New Kingdom ``where one will not be judged and condemned by the name of ones religion, or the colour of ones  skin, or the sound of ones speech, but will be loved unconditionally because that is indeed the message of the Little Babe of Bethlehem?!

 

As I wind up this posting I have a  regret. Time did not permit me to search out the other baby, Lily of the Forest, born in the wilderness like Baby Jesus. Did she have her first Christmas in the comfort of her mothers arms listening to melodious Christmas carols sung by other children despite their suffering and pain?

 

That of course becomes the challenge before us - to become sure signs that HE will be Immanuel? That HIS Birth, Death and Triumph over bigotry, hate and death will not be in vain? That all those who gave up their lives in Kandhamal have not made their sacrifice in vain?