NEW DELHI: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has found the Orissa government wanting in its response to the violence targeting Christians and their institutions across four districts of the State around Christmas.

Describing the attacks as “organised and pre-planned,” the Commission on Thursday said the compensation announced was “meagre” and asked the Orissa government to bring it on a par with the amount given to victims of similar violence in other States.

According to the two-member NCM team which visited the affected areas between January 6 and 8, the Christian organisations had approached the administration expressing fear of attacks on their institutions around Christmas but no attention was paid to the complaints. And, after the attacks, the road blockades were used as an “excuse” by the administration for the delay in police response.

Briefing mediapersons here, the members – Dileep Padgaonkar and Zoya Hasan – said what happened in Phulbani, Daringbadi, Bamunigaon and Baliguda was an “organised, pre-planned” attack on the Christian community and its institutions.

Asked who was behind these attacks, Prof. Hasan said: “What we gathered from the people we met is that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad was involved in vitiating the political atmosphere of the area.” Mr. Padgaonkar pointed out that in a matter of a couple of hours in the dead of night, huge trees were felled and roads blocked. “This is an indication of organisation on a massive scale. Besides, how could there be simultaneous attacks across the districts soon after Swami Lakshmananda of the VHP was attacked.”

Stating that the situation in Orissa was “far more complex and serious than it is made out to be,” the members said they got the impression that the State wanted to see it as an ethnic conflict between two social groups and not a communal issue.

While conceding the existence of a “long simmering” Koi-Pana conflict over extending Scheduled Tribe status to the Christian Pana community, the NCM team said an equally important component of “the communal disturbance was the anti-conversion campaign conducted by the VHP and Sangh Parivar organisations for the last few years.”

Of the view that the administration could have taken more effective steps to prevent the two bandh calls given by different groups or ensure peace during the protest action, the NCM also questioned the anti-conversion movement carried out by Swami Lakshmananda .

Pointing out that Orissa has had a stringent anti-conversion law since 1969, they said the administration had not received a single complaint of conversion by inducement or force.

To improve the situation in the area, the Commission has suggested that the government examine the entire issue of classification of people and inclusion/exclusion of disadvantaged groups from official categories of Scheduled Castes and STs.