VZCZCXRO4573
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHLH RUEHPW
DE RUEHCI #0002/01 0041003
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 041003Z JAN 08
FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1818
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0066
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2222

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000002 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI ASEC IN
SUBJECT: VIOLENCE SUBSIDES IN ORISSA BUT TENSIONS ABOUT RESERVATIONS 
REMAIN 
 
REF: KOLKATA 385, KOLKATA 388 
 
KOLKATA 00000002  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary: On January 2, Federal Home Minister Shivraj 
Patil visited Orissa's riot-hit Kandhamal district and assured 
the victims of last week's violence of government protection and 
security.  Patil also visited a Baptist church and some houses 
that were torched during the riots.   On December 31, the Orissa 
Government announced that all the families whose houses had been 
burnt down or damaged during the riots would be given houses 
under the national "Indira Awas Yojana" housing scheme.  Orissa 
Home Secretary T. K. Mishra told Post that the security 
situation was under control and that the Orissa government has 
deployed 1500 state policemen to the area while the federal 
government authorized the use of twenty platoons (about 600) of 
the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).  Reports from Christian 
community organizations put the death toll at ten people killed, 
but Mishra put the number of total dead at three.  Although the 
situation has stabilized, the question of reservations in the 
workplace for Christian Dalits makes religion and religious 
conversion in Orissa a continuing issue.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On January 2, Federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil 
visited Orissa's riot-hit Kandhamal district and assured the 
victims of government protection and security.  The violence 
between Hindus and Christian last week left at least three 
people dead and numerous others injured and displaced.  The 
Orissa government has so far arrested eighty persons for their 
alleged involvement in the violence and rioting.  Home Minister 
Patil visited a rehabilitation camp set up in Barakhama village 
where over 700 people had taken shelter after their houses were 
burned down by rioters.  Barakhama, about 200 kilometers south 
of Phulbani, was the worst hit village in the predominantly 
tribal Kandhamal district.  Kandhamal has a total population of 
600,000, with a 62 percent tribal population and a close to 30 
percent Christian population, and is considered one of the most 
communally sensitive regions in Orissa. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Patil also visited a Baptist church and some houses 
that were torched during the riots.  Earlier, Patil met with 
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Governor M.C. Bhandare 
who briefed him on the steps being taken to provide relief and 
rehabilitation for riot victims.  On December 31 the Orissa 
Government announced that all the families whose houses had been 
burnt down or damaged would be given houses under the "Indira 
Awas Yojana" (Indira Housing Scheme), used primarily to help 
construct homes for members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled 
Tribes, freed bonded laborers, and non-Scheduled Caste/Scheduled 
Tribe rural poor who live below the poverty line.  The scheme 
was launched in 1985-86 during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure as Prime 
Minister.  The government also said Rs. 100,000 (USD 2500) each 
would be paid to the next of kin of the three victims whose 
bodies were found.  In case of the families whose houses had 
been partially damaged, the government would pay compensation of 
Rs 10,000 (USD 250) each. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Orissa government's Home Secretary T.K. Mishra told 
Post that the situation in the state is now under control with 
1500 state policemen deployed in the affected area and the 
federal government providing twenty platoons (about 600 
personnel) from the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).  Mishra 
added that authorities had so far found three dead in connection 
with the riots, including one Hindu and one Christian.  Mishra 
said that the third body had not been identified so far, and 
suggested that the victim may have belonged to a Maoist cadre. 
(Note: there had been some news reports that Maoists had played 
a role in instigating the violence, but these were not 
substantiated.  End note.)  Mishra said that about 500 houses 
and an unspecified number of churches had been destroyed. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata 
Party (BJP) leaders say that only three to four persons were 
killed in the district and dozens injured in the sectarian 
clashes, while Christian community leaders claim that at least 
ten persons were killed in the attacks.  President of the All 
India Christian Council (Orissa Chapter) Reverend P.R. Parichha 
informed Post that, although the tension simmers, the situation 
has eased as the government is now more responsive to the 
immediate concerns about law and order.  Parichha added that his 
sources believe that at least ten persons were killed but the 
state government believes that only three were killed because 
only three bodies have been found. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Chairman of the State Civil Supplies Corporation in 
Orissa government and former general secretary of the BJP 
Sudipto Ray had a different take on Home Minister Patil's visit, 
claiming that Patil arrived to "pacify the Christians" and to 
ensure that Congress' Christian vote-bank was intact.  Ray 
 
KOLKATA 00000002  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
expected no more help from the federal government citing that 
law and order is a state subject. Ray added that the religious 
tensions will continue to simmer because the basic issue of 
reservations (Reftels) for tribals and the schedule castes has 
yet to be solved by the GOI.  He added that those tribals who 
have converted to Christianity are not eligible for reservations 
in government jobs as the federal government does not allow 
reservation on the basis of religion. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  With the deployment of large numbers of 
security personnel, the situation in Orissa has calmed 
significantly.  As mentioned in reftels, however, a tense 
atmosphere remains due to the reservations issue.  Some in the 
Christian community in Orissa who have been demanding 
reservations in government jobs believe that this could be their 
best chance to convince the GOI that tribal Dalit Christians 
need reservations in government jobs. 
MILLER