In the early hours of 22 January 1999, Graham Staines and his two young sons Timothy and Philip were burned alive inside their jeep at Manoharpur village in the Indian State of Orissa. According to police, Staines and his sons had no way of escaping death when a mob of 30 people descended upon the village, poured petrol on the station wagon and set it alight. The mob was reportedly chanting slogans of the Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu fundamentalist organization that had been terrorizing Christian and Muslim minorities in the area for months. Following the Staines killings, the Government of India established a Judicial Commission of Inquiry chaired by Supreme Court Justice D.P. Wadhwa. On 5 August 1999, the Government published the Commissions report, the contents of which indicate a continuation of the status quo. The report ignores the systematic nature of attacks on religious minorities and evades the question of governmental responsibility in encouraging such offences. The reports failings are especially troubling in light of the upcoming national elections. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) promises religious toleration and respect for minority rights but its practices while in power have promoted a different agenda. The Staines Commission report does nothing to alter, and perhaps even perpetuates, this situation. Contrary to the Commissions report, the Staines killings can best be understood by taking into account the wider context: growing Hindu fundamentalism and systematic attacks on religious minorities. Immediately following the Staines murders, Hindu fundamentalist organizations sought to justify the killings by alleging that Graham Staines had been converting Adivasis (tribals) in the local district to Christianity--a charge that has been used to excuse a plethora of crimes against Christians in the past year. As public opinion, both national and international, expressed its outrage, the Government of India condemned the killings and declared them an aberration in a "land of toleration." Yet in 1998, more Christians were attacked in communal incidents than in all fifty-one years since Independence. On 24 February 1999, Home Minister L K Advani admitted to the Rajya Sabha, the Indian Upper House, that a total of 116 attacks against Christians had occurred in 1998 (Press Trust of India, New Delhi, 24 February 1999). While the Government has attempted to portray the attacks as sporadic, the calculated and systematic nature of the campaign reveals a more organized agenda. Behind these attacks are various Hindu fundamentalist organizations, which are collectively known as the Sangh Parivar (the Hindu Fundamentalist Family of Organizations). In simple terms, Sangh Parivar ideology holds that to be Indian is to be Hindu. While Hindu fundamentalism has been a feature of Indian politics since the 1930s, in recent years its ideology has moved from the fringe of political and social discourse into the mainstream. Since the BJP formed the national government in March 1998, Hindu fundamentalist organizationssuch as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) along with militant organizationssuch as Bajrang Dalhave been empowered in Indian public life. With the likely election of another BJP-led coalition in the September 1999 elections, the ascent of grassroots Hindu fundamentalism seems destined to continue. While the BJP is the most moderate organ of the Sangh Parivar, its rule has provided encouragement and legitimacy to fundamentalist ideology. The BJP has found itself incapable of taking decisive action against those members of its ideological fraternity that are inciting and perpetrating violence against Christians. Hindu fundamentalists do not have a monopoly on religious intolerance in India, nor are such hate crimes new. In 1984, following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, over 4,000 Sikhs were systematically murdered, as the Congress (I) Party Government turned a blind eye; the resulting Mishra Commission was toothless. Eight years later, in Hindu revivalist fervor, the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya was destroyed leading to rioting and the murder of hundreds of Muslims. While little has been done by any Indian Government to ease communal tensions, the BJP Government has tacitly condoned the attacks by granting impunity to offenders and by encouraging public support for the cause of religious militants. This complicity was clearly evident in the Prime Ministers call for a debate on conversions as a response to the anti-Christian violenceeven though, with no evidence of forced conversions, the Prime Minister on 3 February 1999 recoiled from the debate. The short-lived conversion debate provided the Sangh Parivar a platform for its anti-Christian invectives. It also diverted attention from the Governments inaction and the impunity with which Hindu militants perpetrate their crimes. Following the Staines murders, Home Minister L. K. Advani defended Hindu fundamentalists organizations such as Bajrang Dal stating that he "know[s] these organizations and there are no criminals." Not only did this statement reveal the Home Ministers apologist position towards fundamentalist militancyas well as disregard the pending court cases implicating Bajrang Dal in serious human rights abuses against Muslims in 1992but it also undermined the possibility of a thorough and independent investigation into the crime. The BJP Government has officially condemned the Staines killings--although not those members of the Sangh Parivar who publicly excused and justified the killings--and established a Judicial Commission of Inquiry. The Commissions terms of reference were very narrow, however, providing only for an investigation into the Staines killings and the charges of conversions in the region. They did not extend to Sangh Parivar activity and the related communal violence in the region that had precipitated the attack on the Staines family. On 21 June 1999, the Commission presented its report to the Government of India, which released the report several weeks later. The report blamed the killings on a single individual, Dara Singh, who remains at large (although journalists have been able to interview him). The report claims that Dara Singh manipulated "disgruntled elements" into carrying out the murders pursuant to his personal agenda against Christians. The Commission found that no organization had been involved in the crime, thereby absolving the Sangh Parivar of any responsibility. However, in vindicating the Sangh Parivar the Commission disregarded the fact that Bajrang Dal is not an organization with strong central leadership nor does it maintain membership registers, and thus it may defy the Commissions assumptions about organizational behavior or organizational involvement in the crime. Furthermore, if, as it was widely thought, Dara Singh was involved in the Bajrang Dal, there would be no record of his membership. Finally, the Commission did not review the crimes place in the context of rising anti-minority sentiment in the district, courtesy of the Bajrang Dal. These anti-minority sentiments were, however, indirectly recognized by the Commission. In examining allegations of conversions, the Commission found that as a preacher Graham Staines was not indulging in conversions and was doing a "good job." It noted that Staines did not realize there was an "undercurrent" against him. The Commissions terms of reference did not allow it to investigate the cause or wider consequence of this undercurrent. It is well known, however, that in the months leading up to the Staines murders, Bajrang Dal activists had been rousing anti-Christian feeling and violence by alleging the conversion of Adivasis. Muslims in the region had also been targeted in the organizations communal activities. These factors were not examined by the Commission, because its mandate extended to the role of conversions, not the role of communalism, in relation to the crime. Importantly, India has comprehensive legislation to deal with crimes based on religion and incitement to violence against religious minorities. The Constitution of India, the Indian Penal Code 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 provide model safeguards for religious freedom. Moreover, India ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, binding it to the protection of minorities. Yet there is insufficient political will within the Government of India to silence those who incite violence against minorities or to ensure the prosecution of perpetrators. The half-hearted response of the Government of India to the Staines murders has revealed a Government torn between its ideological affiliations and good governance. The Wadhwa Commission report is simply another sign of a Government eager to be perceived as doing something, while in reality limiting the effectiveness of meaningful investigations and efforts at obtaining accountability. In its failure to protect the rights of Christians, the authorities have compromised the human rights of all minorities. In order to secure the confidence of minorities and civil society, the Government of India must begin vigorously pursuing and prosecuting those who incite and engage in these crimes. Until the Government takes such action, the killing of Graham, Philip and Timothy Staines will remain not an aberration, but a brutal symptom of the diminution of space for minorities in India.
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