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Tribal-Christian tension explodes again in Gajapati

Bibhuti Mishra in Bhubaneswar

The simmering hostility between the Pana Christians and the local tribals in Gajapati district in Orissa exploded yet again yesterday when many houses belonging to the converted Christians in two villages were torched by irate tribals.

The attack was the third in a series of skirmishes between the Panas and the tribals this week. The attack took place despite the deployment of a large contingent of police force in the area following a clash between cops and tribals last week in Majhiguda village that left eight dead.

Incidentally, Majhiguda and the two villages where the houses of the Pana Christians were torched yesterday - - Mankadapanka and Amarpur - come under the Adaba police station. The miscreants are yet to be identified and the situation is so tense that many Panas of the nearby villages are abandoning their houses fearing more attacks.

This hostility between the tribals and the converted Christian community belonging to the Pana caste is more than 22 years old.

Panas came to live in Mandrabaju in Gajapati district way back in 1975. Initially, they lived with the tribals taking care of their land and cattle. A few years down the line Panas converted to Christianity and were thus rejected by the tribals who allowed them to live in the adjacent village of Majhiguda. The tribals also left about 50 acres of land for the Panas to live in and cultivate.

However, during the subsequent land settlement the crafty Panas got the land transferred in their name earning the ire of the tribals.

When the tribals demanded the return of their land, the Panas did not oblige. Armed with land records they forcibly occupied the land and also spread to nearby villages.

Though the administration was aware of these clashes and deployed police forces in the area, there was no attempt made to settle the land dispute.

Now observers say that due to the paucity of agricultural land in this area, the clashes might turn even more violent in the coming years.

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