In 1991, there were 70,000 Christians in Kandhamal. By 2001, the number had exploded 66% to 117,950.
Under the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act, all conversions have to be reported to the district magistrate and collector.
“Once the collector makes sure that the conversion is not being done under any pressure, the person is free to convert,” says Krishnan Kumar, the collector of Kandhamal. But this is almost never actually practised.
When the number of Christians grew by almost 47,950, “only two were done with the mandatory approval of the collector”, Kumar said.
One reason conversions are not reported is because to do so means Panos would lose scheduled caste status—and lose their allotment of reservations in government jobs.
“Panos convert to Christianity without telling the government to get benefits from missionaries. Then they use their SC certificate to get government jobs as well...” says sub-collector Pradipta Kumar.
B. Kanhar, an illiterate Kandha farmer who grows turmeric on his land near Phulbani, says what the collector cannot: “Every Pano who works in the government with a scheduled caste certificate makes you think: Is he a Christian?”
Lost lands
Some government officials say that the Kandhas, who make up 52% of the population, own less than 10% of the district land. Others contest the figure and say it is as high as 60%, but the exact data was unavailable.
Here, law allows “a tribal to sell land only to another tribal. Not even to another SC. Earlier the law allowed sale of land from a tribal to a non-tribal in special circumstances, but now...there is a complete ban on such sale,” says collector Kumar.
Some Panos have found loopholes to buy land from Kandhas. Sub-collector, Pradipta—who is investigating land record fraud—gave an example how this is done: A Pano convinces a Kandha to sell land. Both come to the land registrar’s office to record the sale and get a sale deed. The Pano enters his caste as “Kandha” in the paper. Since the registrar’s job is only to collect the stamp duty for the sale, he has no reason to doubt or investigate such a claim.
“Once the sale deed is completed, the Pano owns land in the state and state land records reflect his caste as a Kandha,” says Kumar. “Then, this Pano goes to the tehsildar and says ‘I am a Kandha. Look, I own land here and the sale deed has noted me as a Kandha.’”
The tehsildar gives the Pano a tribal certificate. And thus, the SC Pano becomes a scheduled tribe Kandha. He is now free to convert to Christianity without losing reservation rights to land and government jobs.
“The amity that once existed between these two communities has gone,” says Bhagaban Mohanty, a lawyer and Bharatiya Janata Party worker in Kandhamal.
For their part, Panos say they were making an honest living and that nothing can excuse what they have endured.
In a relief camp at Tikkabli, Diggal has found new friends, but says she would like to go back home. Her family hesitates. They tell her: “Those people might come again.”
Next: The emerging Maoist threat in Kandhamal.