High On The Hatelist

THE brutal public torture of a Jesuit priest accused of sodomising a tribal student in Dumka has snowballed into an unholy row between the state administration and Bihar's Christian minority. The incident that set off a spate of angry protests by irate community members saw the closure of all mission schools and colleges in the state for a day, protest marches by Christians in Patna's streets, followed by one in the Capital, and the beginnings of a marathon dharna in front of the commissioner's office in Dumka. "The Christians of Bihar are deeply hurt and, much worse, very insecure. We want an unconditional apology from the government for having had its officials look on as one of our helpless missionaries was put through agonisingly shameful torture," fulminates Father George Nedumattam of the Patna-based Manavadhikari Hanan Samiti which has vowed to right the 'wrongs' perpetrated on a missionary.

On September 2, Father Christudas, vice-principal of St Joseph school in the Santhal village Guriya Jori, was dragged out and taken to the district headquarters, Dumka, by about 200 tribal students. This was meant to be 'punishment' for the missionary's alleged sexual assault on a class VII student, Sakal Hansda. On the way, the already unruly mob met another bunch of tribal students in the Santhal Pargana College and the incensed lot decided to "teach the missionary a lesson". "They stripped, punched, kicked and hit him. There was blood. It was a pathetic sight. One student came in with a razor threatening to cut off the father's private parts," recalls Sunil Trivedi, a Dumka-based reporter with a Bihar daily who was witness to the ghastly event.

A terrified Father Christudas, the eyewitness claims, ran to a police vehicle nearby. "But things had gone out of hand. Face smeared with soot, a garland of slippers round his neck and absolutely naked, the Father was paraded and humiliated again." Later, at the police station, the priest was handed out some clothes. "All said and done, it was a slap on the face of democracy because the event had been witnessed by local officials, including deputy collector Abhas Jha, and not much was done in that instance to assist the screaming, screeching missionary," says Tiwari.

Jha has since been transferred to Chaibasa but a sense of shock still shrouds Dumka. With Father Christudas in jail over charges of sodomy and several students incarcerated because of the torture they wreaked upon the missionary, Dumka's newly appointed deputy collector, Hukum Singh Meena, is struggling to grapple with the tension in the town. "It took quite some effort on my part to stop the vethala—a Santhal court—that the tribals here were threatening to set up to pass a verdict against the priest, who the tribals think has erred gravely. That would have created further animosity between the Christians and the tribals here," says a harassed Meena. "As it is the Christians are staging an ongoing protest in front of my office."

 And the incident has caused tension at a state and national level. The Human Rights Commission and a joint inquiry committee comprising the Divisional Commissioner and the DIG (Santhal Pargana range) have swept into Dumka to investigate the incident. Chief minister Rabri Devi, meanwhile, has conceded to Union home minister Indrajit Gupta's demand that the Central Bureau of Investigation be allowed to probe the incident.

"But in all this fuss, has anyone been bothered about the torture an adolescent boy must have gone through? No. It's now become a minority versus state issue," complains Dumka-based lawyer Vasudev Mishra, who is representing the alleged sexual assault victim. "My client has been consistent with his plea that he was sodomised by this missionary, but no one cares."

 Mishra claims he has a recorded statement from the village mukhiya Sitaram Shah in which the latter has accused Father Christudas of several instances of sexual misconduct with his students. "Moreover, medical reports confirm sodomy. But why should the country be bothered about its inarticulate tribal populace when they have to deal with an educated minority community that has access to the media and can embarrass the state by staging protests in the streets of Delhi."

Father Nedumattam objects vehemently. The missionaries, he says, are bothered about the tribals and are there precisely because of this concern. "Charges have been falsely framed against Father Christudas because of his stringent views on maintaining discipline in the school," he maintains. "And what is most shocking is that administrative officials looked on as all this was happening."

 In a sense, they still are. Almost indifferent to the discomfiture of all, the minister for welfare of minorities in the Rabri cabinet, Lutfur Rahman, told Outlook: "Yes, yes, I know about that Christian fellow. It's some kind of conspiracy I am told. He didn't want some irregular admissions done. But nobody has complained about the incident to my department. Still I will investigate." High time. Because the minorities are upset. The Santhals and the Christians. And it will require very sensitive handling on the part of the administration to resolve these major complaints of the minorities.