Living on THE EDGE
| "We are not afraid of death, We are frightened by life."
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Day after day, they continue living on the edge...hoping against hope that is miles and miles away...
| by Sunny Joseph
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The story of these innocents goes unseen and unheard even after two months after they were taken away from their homes and schools... These are the words of a young girl who spoke after having seen what she has seen in the recent atrocities by the Hindu arsonalists on the Christians in Kandhmal District of Orissa. While different agencies, institutions and organisations are seeking justice, working out the relief details, investigating what, who, why and how of the total attacks, very less or nothing is considered about the pathetic and gory condition of the innocent little victims.Consider these tribal kids for whom Christmas that comes with all the rarest of rarities. Poor and backward as they are, their expectations are never more than the ordinary. In some homes it is almost minimal are absent. The luxury of expectation is nothing more than a pair of clothes bought in second hand shops, or those collected in charity from some philanthropic organisation. Talk about Christmas gifts and toys in colorfully wrapped boxes? Forget it. That is only in greetings cards and magazines they see. Their only definition of Christmas is singing, Nativity dramas, Christmas clothes, Christmas tree in the church, a star and a plenty of home made eats distributed in the Churches. What more can these poverty stricken tribals ask of their parents whose dwelling is nothing more than a mud house living on daily or weekly wages. This is their annual joy awaited with much eagerness for almost an year.
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All of this has come down like a sand castle blown by the wild wind and the water. Life will not be the same for most of these kid victims who have seen their precious reason of joy during this season cut down, slit through with gory acts of inhuman brutality. Imagine thousands of kids fleeing with their parents with bare clothes some in the day light and in some other villages in the thick of the night into the darkness and hiding in the forest. No water, no food, nothing to sleep and cover themselves with through the winter nights. The temperature is usually very cold in here as Kandhmal stands approximately 3,000 feet above sea level. December 25th 2007. In Barakhama, it was a perfect Christmas day. All the villagers returned home after the Christmas service. They came home to have their Christmas lunch in their homes and were preparing for a collective Christmas service in the evening. Suddenly the villagers were attacked by a mob of nearly 3,000 to 4,000 armed men with tridents, swords, axes, guns, kerosene bombs, javelins and every possible weapon and attacked every one found. The frightened villagers fled to the nearby forest stayed through the night in the jungle. Old Govind Naik 60, was unable to run and so was stuck in his home hiding. When he realised the attackers were searching for people and burning the houses, he tried to sneak out. When they spotted him escaping, he was chased and hit by an axe. When he did not die by the axe, they threw a stone on his head and killed him. His dead body was lying until the day next as the villagers dreaded rioiters who were camping in the village. This was being watched by many from the far off mountain hideouts, including a few children. Hundreds of their houses were seen set on fire. Dr. John Dayal records, “This is the biggest case of such allege number of Christian houses burnt...” The dreadful nightmare continued for the next four days.
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Among the many children who were emotionally and mentally disturbed, there were many little ones who actually took the brunt of the whole brutality. Vijay Senapathi of Brahmangaon, studying 6th Grade was hit hard with a sword that caused a deep cut on his head, Avinash Naik studying 8th Grade, and Sumanth Naik 9th Grade received bullet shots. When trying to escape, Estha Digal age 12 was thrown into a well 12 feet deep. Each child has an experience to share which probably will not be heard outside Kandhmal, instead will be hushed and silenced. Let us remember that none of these vivid stories of real life drama will ever be erased from their minds but will mutely throw longer and darker shadows in them for the rest of their lives.
Today the government and the NGOs will do their part, fully or partly, but who will restore them a past and a memory full of stained blood, scars and tears. I bet no amount of rehabilitation can ever erase what is etched, for whatever is etched is etched for lifetime. None can bring back the dead back to life. Their houses may be rebuilt, but who will give them back their homes?
None of these children have gone back to school since Christmas. Many have not gone back to their homes and none could change to clean or decent clothes since. They are living in the government provided relief camps with improper and inhuman facilities. Children and parents live in a state of no hope for a normal and regular life. It is said that this is the first time since Independence that may be 3,000 men, women and children are forced to live in refugee camps, eating boiled rice not fit for human consumption because of the sand and grit, living in the cold with no toilets, no medical care, no warm clothing.
A nation will stand accountable for the folly of a few fundamentalists, and must answer the cries of thousands of these innocent little victims who had no role to play and for no crime committed. Today's victims are tomorrow's rebels. Unless the government wakes up to take immediate and strategic measures to rehabilitate and provide for these young victims, we shall be breeding tomorrow's insurgents and the country's outlaws. We have already reaped the harvest out of what we have sown. Unless we learn lessons from history we like wise shall perish in the rise of another unstoppable rebel army.
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