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Despite the spectre of anti-Christian violence, the zeal burns bright

Archana Masih and Syed Firdaus Ashraf

The 34-year-old Krishnachandrapur nun, who claimed to have been raped by men disguised as women, had been shifted to Berhampur. The Keralite father of her parish said the other nuns of the convent were also not meeting people, especially the press. That week, local papers were already carrying daily reports about the 'nun rape case' which was emerging as a dubious one -- some even called it a hoax.

"Even when they came to lodge a complaint, her facts seemed stilted. In fact, she seemed reluctant to talk; it was the people from the church who were accompanying her that were more aggressive," recalls a senior government official in Baripada.

The officer reveals that though the incident had several loose ends, there was no way a complaint couldn't be registered. "After the Stains's killings, the situation was delicate. They could have gone to higher officials saying the district administration refused to record their plea."

The premise that the nun would skip waiting for a bus and accept a lift from unknown persons in a car; that she was naïve enough not to let even a hint of suspicion cross her mind on seeing the 'rare' sight of a 'woman' driver in Baripada; that she could not look through the sari-clad men, and their manly faces, ensured a wobbly beginning to the case.

District officials admit it could have been difficult to memorise the car number, but say her inability to identify even the vehicle's colour was difficult to acknowledge. Moreover, she had burnt her habit and underclothes, which left no evidence of the incident.

Yet, the incident proved to be a potent flash in Orissa's political pan. It piggybacked on the Christian sympathy wave in the wake of Stains's murder and saw the ouster of Chief Minister J B Patnaik.

But by the time deliberations began to appoint a new chief minister, forensic reports from the SCB Medical College in Cuttack had revealed that the "injury could have been caused by self-infliction". The BJP, meanwhile, wanted the church to apologise and Aira Kharavela Swain, MP from Balasore, was even pressing for the nun's arrest.

But the Catholic Church stands by the nun's story. "We believe what she is saying," says Father Roy of the Krishnachandrapur parish. "We only have her word for it. We can't go into her heart to see what lies there." The Father, however, does not rule out political intervention in doctoring a medical report to falsify the rape.

True or false, the incident has made the nuns in the area insecure. Most nuns said if it could happen to one, it could happen to any of them. Twenty-four-year-old Sister Rita of the Vijaya Tribal Girls Hostel in Baghmara, near Baripada, says she is petrified. A BA student at Betnoti College, she says she has stopped cycling to college after the incident. In fact, it was after two weeks that she attended classes.

"These days we make some children sleep in our room. If something happens, at least they can make a noise," says Sister Marie of the same convent. She explains how a few days back three men had come to the convent and were inquiring about the number of inmates there.

Sitting in the sparsely done reception area, Sr Rita says her fears are not unfounded. Recalling a trip to Anandpur, in the neighbouring district, in December 1997, she says their vehicle wasn't allowed into the village.

"There were two fathers, two sisters, four novices, three hostel girls and one boy. Before we could enter the village some people stopped us and asked us many questions about our work. They then made us say 'Jai Shri Ram'. Since they carried that instrument used during karate, I thought they would strike us with that. We were told that if we returned to the village, we would be killed."

She says there are only two or three Christian houses in the village.

The group did not lodge a police complaint.

Sr Marie recounts another incident -- again in Mangalpur area -- where two fathers visiting some Catholic families were locked up in a house for two days. "Most of the time such incidents are not notified to the police. We think since most of the senior officers are Hindu they will not be interested," she says.

Although in keeping with the district magistrate's order, security personnel have been deputed at all churches and institutions, the Home Guard at the hostel gate offers no solace to Sister Rita. Stopping midway at the garden, she says she is too frightened to walk up to the gate.

Father Jose Thundayil of the boys' tribal hostel next door is not flustered by any such reported hostilities. Agreeing that his old parents in Kottayam were quite worried about his well-being after the Stains incident, he says he doubts any harm will come to him. "I did hear rumours that my hostel could be the next target. Now that the police are here, it seems a distant possibility," says the Father, in charge of the Baghmara parish since August 1998.

He reveals that neither the Bajrang Dal nor any arm of the Sangh Parivar is present in the area. Moreover, he has very good relations with the panchayat (village council). "I have even asked the panchayat secretary to call me when they have the next meeting."

On the assumption that most differences are caused by a lack of communication, Fr Jose believes it is important for him to dispel wrong notions about Christianity held by other communities. "Some even think the wine we have along with bread for our Holy Communion is cow's blood!"

Talking about another such incident, he says that once when he stopped people from collecting money for a puja from poor tribal children, some locals felt he was obstructing the rituals. "In times like these people often forget that I myself have raised Rs26,000 for a Hanuman temple," he smiles.

But there was one incident most Catholic fathers between Bhubaneswar and Keonjhar have heard of. Locals in Mayurbhanj district were also aware of it, and a police complaint had also been registered. In 1994, Fr Joseph Kureekal, posted in Mangalpur near Balasore, was beaten on accusations of conversions. His vehicle was burnt and, according to Fr Jose, the church was also attacked.

"Yes, there was a complaint about the Mangalpur incident, but since then there has been no such reported tension in the area," says Mahesh Sarve, assistant to the thana (police station) in-charge of Remuna Golai near Balasore.

Another incident doing the rounds of Catholic institutions a week after the nun's alleged rape was the story of a schoolboy from Karanjia in Mayurbhanj district. The head boy of Vikas Convent School was stopped by some college students in an Ambassador. They asked the boy to go and tell the sisters to close the school or else it would be burnt down. He was asked to return with a reply in the evening. Since he couldn't meet the nuns, the boy went back on his own -- where the young men tattooed the alphabets DA on his hand. "DA... which could have meant Dara Singh," says Fr Jose. Since then, additional security staff have been deputed at the convent.

But a senior government officer, who questioned the school students, says the incident bears no communal connotations. "It was a classroom conflict which could have had a staggering bandwidth -- from local to international -- if we hadn't checked it," he says.

He says the students confessed it was a classroom rivalry between the present head boy and the previous head boy, who had been removed from office for his rude behaviour with the teachers. "Interestingly, both boys were Muslims, and the ousted head boy wanted to score points over the present head boy. We were shocked to see what kind of resources school children could muster, but after all kids will be kids -- a little bit of sternness and they blurted everything out," he says.

Fr Bimal Joseph Singh of the Baripada seminary says the church has also heard of instances of resistance from Ghutiduba village at the border of the Simlipal forest, where the church runs a dispensary for tribals. "In October '97 some tribals in the area were infected by pox," says Fr Singh. "The people then started saying the goddess of pox had visited them because of the Christian father. They even asked him to pay a fine of Rs35,000. The police were informed, but I don't remember any other hostility in the area."

In distant Mitrapur, near Balasore, the Church did away with the procession commemorating Our Lady's Feast in February as a precautionary measure in view of the Stains's killings. Brother Tom of the 25-year-old Mitrapur parish says there was also some tension last year when the Feast happened to coincide with Saraswati Puja.

"The electricity had been cut for a long time on Feast Day. It was rumoured that it was done by RSS people," says Brother Tom. Continuing, he relates a recent incident where Christians were blamed for severing the head of a Ganesh statue. "Later it was found that the mischief was done by people from their own community."

But the assistant sub-inspector at the local police chowky said he couldn't recall any major problem during the Feast last year. "If you see, police protection is always given wherever two communities have a festival on the same day. It is routine," says ASI Babacharan Mohanty.

Though many in the Catholic Church feel insecure after the Stains's murders, there is no palpable fear among them. Most reveal they were unaware of any Sangh Parivar groups in their areas that could be possible threats. In fact, Fr Jose of Baghmara and Br Tom of Mitrapur say they have very good relations with the Hindus in the area. "It is wrong to think that Christians are under attack from Hindus," says Fr Jose.

This view is supported by R Balakrishnan, district magistrate, Mayurbhanj district. "Baripada has been wronged. This is such a peaceful district, we've never had a history of communal tension here," he says.

Bimal Das, BJP state executive member and a long-time Baripada resident, also feels the Christians have no reason to feel threatened. "One can't deny they are doing good work, so why should they fear?" he says.

But the nuns are certainly shaken. Even after it was established that the nun's rape might never have happened, most nuns say they try to get back to their convents before dark. "We feel a wee bit insecure, that's why we're a little cautious," says Sr Mariam of the Marillac Seva Sadan of Balgopalpur.

Yet, all is not well by Fr Roy of Krishnachadrapur. His parish has had to contend with a lot of attention, since the nun who was allegedly raped lived there, and the priest seems sure attempts are being made to disrupt missionary work. "Like the Chinese or the Japanese, Hindu fundamentalists have long-term plans. We may not have seen a direct confrontation, but I do feel slight undercurrents of a movement that could build up in future."

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