Five days after ethnic clashes broke out in Odisha’s Malkangiri district, the state government on Thursday sent deputy chief minister K.V. Singh Deo and animal resources development minister Gokulananda Mallik to the violence-hit region to assess the situation and appeal for calm.
The district has been tense since tribals attacked Bengali settlers following the murder of a 52-year-old tribal woman, Lake Podiami. The tribals accused members of the Bengali community of murdering her. The administration on Thursday extended the suspension of internet services for another 12 hours to prevent the spread of rumours and escalation of violence.
After arriving in Malkangiri, Singh Deo held a review meeting with district officials before meeting representatives of both communities — the local tribals led by the Adivasi Samaj Mahasangh and the Bengali settlers led by the Malkangiri Bengali Samaj. “Our aim is to ensure that peace returns to the area and that people from both sides live in harmony,” Singh Deo said after the meeting.
Violence first erupted in Rakhelguda and MV-26 villages after Podiami went missing on December 1. Her headless body was recovered on December 4 and her severed head was later found in a nearby river on Wednesday. Following the arrest of one accused, Subharanjan Mandal, a Bengali settler, tribals launched retaliatory attacks on December 7 and 8, torching over 160 houses belonging to Bengali settlers in MV-26 village. The murder, police said, reportedly stemmed from a land dispute.
Bengali community leader Gouranga Karmakar told The Telegraph that the community sought government assurance of safety. “Even after a peace committee was formed, people from tribal communities continue to threaten us. We fled to save our lives and now we are afraid to return. The way houses were burnt, there is evidence that dynamite and gelatin were used in the attack, which suggests possible Maoist involvement,” he said.
Another resident added: “We came here from Bangladesh in the 1960s under a rehabilitation pact. Malkangiri is our home. Where will we go now? The government has not given anything to us except blankets.”
Tribal leader Bandhu Muduli, meanwhile, warned the administration against arresting tribal villagers indiscriminately. “Before arresting tribals, they should arrest me. We want eviction of unauthorised Bengali settlers who grabbed tribal land through unfair means,” Muduli said.
He added that the tribals would soon meet chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi and governor Haribabu Kambhampati to press their demands for land rights for the deceased woman’s family and the return of land allegedly purchased illegally by Bengali settlers.
Meanwhile, the Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has constituted a seven-member fact-finding team to visit the affected areas and submit a detailed report to party president Naveen Patnaik.
