IPT demands CBI inquiry into VHP,RSS activities in Orissa

Bhubaneswar, Sep 29 (UNI) The Indian peoples Tribunal(IPT) today demanded a CBI inquiry into the activities of the VHP, RSS and Bajarang Dal in Orissa under the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act.

In a report entitled '' Communalism in Orissa'' released by former Lok Sabha Speaker Rabi Ray,the IPT said the Orissa government in consultation with the NHRC, the National Minorities Commission and other independent bodies must establish a review panel to identify and investigate the action of these communal organisations.

The report which dealt on the role of the majoritarian communal groups in perpetrating communal violence, criminal activity and human rights violation across the state,demanded the repeal of the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act 1967, stating that it had been used by the communal groups to target and prohibit voluntary conversion within the minority community.

The Centre and the Orissa government, it said, safeguard the rights of the individuals who convert voluntarily to practise their religion, adding the police and the courts should act immediately and authoritatively to stop communalists from forcibly converting or reconverting individuals to Hinduism.

The report recommended that the Orissa Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act 1960 which has been used against the minorities and economically disenfranchised in the cattle trade be reviewed and the Trishul (trident) be categorised as a weapon and its mass distribution be prohibited under the Arms Act, 1959.

The report edited by Dr Anjana Chatarjee and Advocate Mihir Desai described how the cadre of majoritarian communal organisations was recruited and indoctrinated hatred and violence against the other communities and promote Hindu supremacy and hegemony.

Former Chief Justice of Kerla High Court K K Usha, who was associated with the report, alleged that there had been a deep rooted violation of human rights among the minority communities in Orissa and regretted how a public hearing on human rights violation was sabotaged by the communal groups in Bhubaneswar in the past.

UNI DP SJC RN1853