XENOPHOBES XEROXED
Angana Chatterji

I narrate an incident with the Indian People?s Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights (IPT) as it sought to investigate Hindu majoritarianism in Orissa. Hindu nationalism?s campaign in the state, I have learned, is premised on one principle mythology: the demise of Hinduism-?Hindustan?, legitimating violence. Hindutva (Hindu extremism) operates against the backdrop of Hindu cultural dominance. Christian conversions are rumoured as profuse, coercive, debilitating the majority status of Hindus in India. Adivasis (tribals) and dalits (erstwhile ?untouchable? castes) are presented as ?raw material? for conversion to Hindu extremism. Muslims of Orissa are fabricated as colluding with Muslims elsewhere in dangerous pan-Islamic alliance. In the aftermath of the Gujarat genocide, as I focused on mapping communalism?s landscape in Orissa, I encountered impenetrable silences on part of most in the majority community, and a plea for r..... The targeting in that room on 14 June (2005), were it an isolated incident, would have different meanings. The repeated human rights violations and crimes perpetrated on marginal and minority groups in Orissa, and the silence of the state and nation, expanded the scope and potency of the Sangh Parivar's actions.... As the Orissa Tribunal prepares to release its report in 2006, the incident of 14 June, what precedes and follows, continues to compromise the security of citizens, endangering law and order, injuring freedom of speech and movement, assembly and inquiry, evincing the breakdown of ethical governance. Can the state be held accountable for safeguarding human rights and ameliorating conditions that enable crimes against humanity?