A 17-minute video titled “Innocents Imprisoned”, which purported to expose the alleged fraud behind the orchestrated attacks on Christians in Kandhamal jungles of Odisha in 2008, was shown to media persons and others at Press Point, Supermarket here Tuesday.
The video, produced by journalist author Anto Akkara, who authored a nationally acclaimed book titled “Who Killed Swami Laxmananda?”, is part of a Social Media campaign for truth and justice for Kandhamal victims where seven innocent Christians including a mentally challenged illiterate who continue to languish in jail for over 10 years due to a travesty of justice.
Anto said the documentary “is a unique social media campaign to prick the conscience of the nation to the travesty of justice in Kandhamal.” It was first shown in New Delhi in August 2018 to mark 10th anniversary of the Kandhamal plot. Anto blamed what he termed as Hindu nationalist fraud that was responsible for the killing of 81-year old Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Janmashtami night of August 23, 2008. He said the conspiracy to frame the innocent Christians was confirmed by videos, graphics and documents.
According to Anto, the conspiracy was hatched by the Sangh Parivar to kill the Swami and then blame Christians for it. He said as part of the plot, the body of the Swami was taken in procession across the district where communal passions got inflamed to incite illiterate Hindus to take revenge on Christians.
He said Christians were given ultimatum to forsake their faith and those who refused, were burnt alive and chopped into pieces. In unabated violence that gripped Kandhamal for weeks, he said nearly 100 Christians were killed, 300 churches and 6,000 Christian houses were plundered and torched rendering 56,000 homeless.
“The conspiracy was sprouted by Swami Laxmanananda’s boastful claim that Europe, US, Pope and Sonia Gandhi wanted to eliminate him. Armed with Swami’s allegation, top Sangh Parivar leadership hatched the Kandhamal conspiracy,” said Akkara.
Further, he pointed out that the video (showing Swami’s shocking ‘boast’) was used to spread the ‘Christian conspiracy’ theory hatched in a DVD titled ‘The Agony of Kandhamal” produced by the India Foundation.
“Kandhamal was a massive political conspiracy –a ploy to trap Sonia Gandhi, of Italian Catholic origin and then ruling UPA chairperson, to dismiss the Odisha government in which the BJP was a coalition partner at the time. The seven innocents including a mentally challenged are in jail by the subversion of the judicial system to perpetrate the Sangh Parivar conspiracy,” said Anto.
The documentary names even Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and VHP leader Praveen Togadia as key conspirators behind Kandhamal. He said the plot was proved by clinching documents including the slain Swami’s boastful claim.
Within hours of Swami’s murder, Akkara said four Christians including a 13-year old illiterate boy were picked up by Saffron henchmen, thrashed and dumped in police stations. It was VHP leader Togadia who announced the names of ‘Swami’s killers’ and not the police. That is how the nation was fooled about the ‘Christian conspiracy’ behind Swami’s murder, he stated.
When the police could not fix the ‘first batch of killers’ who had been detained for 40 days, they were let off with an affidavit: “Due to fear, we had taken shelter in police station.”
The investigation team arrested the ‘second batch of killers’ – seven Christians – six of them illiterates from remote jungles in two batches. During four years of trial of the accused in the Fast Tract Court, hardly any worthwhile evidence was brought before the two judges, he said.
Biranchi N Mishra, the Fast Track Court judge who had presided over the final two years of the trial and questioned the prosecution claim, was transferred in 2013 before delivering the verdict.
The verdict that convicted the seven accused Christians – Bhaskar Sunamajhi, Bijay Kumar Sanseth, Budhadeb Nayak, Durjo Sunamajhi, Gornath Chalanseth, Munda Badamajhi (mentally challenged) and Sanatan Badamajhi – to life imprisonment was delivered in haste by a newly appointed third judge in October 2013. Their bail plea has been bluntly dismissed by the Odisha High Court while the appeal has been dragging on in the same court for five years.
Akkara said he initiated the online signature campaign www.release7innocents.com which generates four instant emails to the Chief Justice of India, President of India, National Human Rights Commission and Chief Justice of Odisha High Court. “It’s shame for Indian democracy and a blot on the judicial system of the country that seven innocents are languishing in jail for a decade while the master conspirators masquerade as custodians of the nation,” Akkara added.
‘Innocents Imprisoned’ is the visual presentation of the Kandhamal fraud and travesty of justice, exposed in Akkra’s nationally acclaimed book ‘Who Killed Swami Laxmanananda?’.
All the four versions of the documentary (English, Odia, Hindi and Malayalam) can be viewed at www.release7innocents.com – the website for the online signature campaign for the release of the innocents, anchored by the journalist who has made 28 trips to Kandhamal.
How to sign the online petition:
Go to www.release7innocents.com
Click on ‘sign petition’
Type your name and email id
Click on ‘sign’ again
On signing the petition, petitioners would immediately get an email from change.org confirming they have signed the online petition demanding the release of the seven Innocents of Kandhamal.