Kandhamal riot victims look into their charred house. File picture

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 17: Justice Sarat Chandra Mohapatra has asked political parties to throw light on the Kandhamal riots in 2008.

Justice Mohapatra is inquiring into the riots that wreaked havoc in the district following the killing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s octogenarian leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his disciples on August 23, 2008.

Suresh Pujari, lawyer of Kui Samaj, a local organisation working for the uplift of Kui tribes in Kandhamal, said: “The commission has also asked political parties to file an affidavit about the situation in Kandhamal before the killing of Swami Saraswati and the situation in the aftermath of the murder.

The commission has also sought the opinions of individuals and organisations that are interested in the Kandhamal issue,” said Pujari, who is a former Orissa BJP president.

The vice-president of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Sibananda Ray, said his party “is preparing a detailed report. We will submit our report to the commission very soon. If the commission needs someone to depose before it, we are ready to present ourselves before the commission”.

After the killing of the Swami, the Orissa government had appointed Justice Mohapatra on August 24, 2008, to inquire into the incidents that led to the riots.

So far, 65 government officials, including the then home secretary T.K. Mishra, senior police officials and 25 non-government officials, had deposed before the commission.

In its interim report, the commission has reportedly said that “ongoing religious conversions and infringement of tribal rights” were the main “reasons for the conflict” between local residents. Though the report in its entirety is yet to be made public, the commission had made the reasons public.

While 38 people had lost their lives in riots, eight people died because of terrorist violence (those killed by unknown assailants and Maoists), three deaths were caused by police firing and one died in an incident of stone pelting.

At least 4,818 houses were damaged in the riots. While Rs 50,000 was given as assistance to persons whose houses had been damaged beyond repair, Rs 20,000 was given to those with partially damaged houses. About 119 business establishments were damaged. The government has taken steps to restore normality in Kandhamal since the riots.