Saluga Pradhan (65), a tribal Protestant Christian from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), will serve as deputy speaker from Kandhamal district in Odisha, India, on November 21, 2023.
According to the Indian constitution, the speaker is the presiding officer of the state legislative house and is responsible for acting impartially and independently as its "independent and impartial representative."
The worst anti-Christian violence recorded in the state's Kandhamal district in 2008 claimed the lives of more than 100 Christians in Pradhan's Udayagiri constituency.
Pradhan described his unopposed election as a "moment of glory for the state's tribal community."
He won two elections as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the Ghumusar Udayagiri Assembly seat in Kandhamal, representing the Kondh tribal community.
The priest of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese, Father Dibakar Parichha, expressed gratitude to the state government for "appointing a tribal Christian to a higher post.”
"Tribal Christians may not be able to benefit much from him, and as a politician, he must abide by his party's stand," Parichha told UCA News.
Father Parichha added that the majority of politicians have their hands tied by their respective parties and that everyone must "wait and see" how Pradhan can "help us."
The outlawed Maoists assassinated Hindu Swami Lakshmanand Saraswati in August 2008, resulting in an anti-Christian riot in the Kandhamal district.
Hindu groups alleged a "Christian conspiracy" behind the murder, resulting in the damage of over 300 churches and the displacement of 56,000 people.
After 15 years, the court has not resolved several of the 518 referred cases.
The Vatican's Dicastery for Saints allowed the beatification of Kantheswar Digal, a servant of God and a martyr of Kandhamal, in October.
More than 62 tribal groups live in Odisha, forming nearly 23 percent of the population of 41 million and speaking 21 tribal languages.
The high-altitude zone of the state's Eastern Ghat concentrates most of the tribal people.
The BJD government has given ministerial berths to Jagannath Saraka, Sudam Marndi, and Basanti Hembram in order to woo tribal voters ahead of the 2024 twin elections for the Indian parliament and state assembly.
Droupadi Murmu's visit to her native district of Mayurbhanj, where she was elected the nation's first tribal president, occurs concurrently with Pradhan's election in Odisha.
For the upcoming elections, where Narendra Modi is seeking a third consecutive term, his pro-Hindu party has nominated Murmu for the presidency in an effort to win over tribal voters.
India is home to a Christian population of 27 million individuals, of which 60 percent are tribal or Dalit (previously untouchable).
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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