Why Australian Envoy’s Post On Murder Of Missionary Graham Staines 25 Years Ago Has Triggered A Controversy

A post on X (formerly Twitter) by Australian High Commissioner to India, Philip Green, remembering the brutal murder of Christian evangelist Graham Staines and his two minor sons at Manoharpur in Odisha’s Kendujhar district 25 years ago on 23 January 1999, has evoked strong reactions. 

Green’s post read: “This week marks the 25th anniversary of the deaths of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons in east India in 1999. We remember Graham’s selfless work with leprosy patients there.”

That evoked strong reactions from many social media users who felt that the Australian envoy was dredging up the past to embarrass India. 

The murder of Staines and his two children — Philip (aged 10) and Timothy (6) — was, admittedly, horrific. The three were burnt alive while they were asleep inside a station wagon on a cold winter night 25 years ago. 

Staines, along with his wife Gladys, were members of the Evangelical Missionary Society of Mayurbhanj which used to work among leprosy patients in the remote tribal areas of Odisha. 

But the work for leprosy-affected people was only a cover to carry on aggressive evangelism. Thousands of poor and gullible tribals were lured by the Staines couple and fellow evangelists to convert to Christianity. 

Their evangelism generated anger among many since it created chasms among the tribals. The converted tribals renounced their age-old cultures and traditions and adopted a militant stand against Hindus. 

Staines was also accused of denigrating tribal culture and Hindu beliefs and rituals while preaching Christianity. Graham and Gladys Staines were said to be spewing venom against Hinduism and turning tribals against each other. 

Flush with funds, the evangelists in the tribal areas were luring poor tribals with offers of considerable sums of money and material benefits, as well as healthcare and education in missionary-run institutions. 

This generated a lot of resentment against Graham Staines and his wife, as well as other Christian proselytisers active in Odisha’s tribal belt. 

The Christian missionaries were also believed to have been trying to turn the tribals against Hindu right wing organisations and institutions like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliate Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. 

Angry over their denigration of Hinduism and their aggressive proselytisation, many Hindu organisations and activists issued warnings to them. But the missionaries not only ignored the warnings, they also stepped up their evangelical work. 

The bad blood that was generated by the missionaries ultimately resulted in Staines and his two sons being killed in a gruesome manner. The three had gone to a tribal village to attend an annual congregation of Christian converts and had decided to spend the night inside their vehicle. 

A mob of about 50 people led by one Dara Singh, who was earlier associated with a Hindu organisation, allegedly attacked the vehicle and set it on fire. Staines and his sons were charred to death. 

The incident generated shockwaves across the country and the then Union government led by prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee ordered a probe by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). 

Singh and 50 others were arrested. Based on the CBI chargesheet, a sessions court handed out various sentences ranging from death and life terms to many years of incarceration in 2003. Singh was sentenced to death. 

The Orissa High Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment in 2005, and also acquitted 11 of the 14 accused. In 2008, a minor who was convicted was acquitted. The Supreme Court upheld the High Court’s decision to commute the death sentences to life imprisonment in January 2011. 

But the apex court, in its order, noted that Staines was involved in proselytising tribals and made strong observations against conversions by Christian missionaries. This generated a lot of outrage among left-liberals, forcing the apex court bench of Justice P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan to expunge its own comments on conversions. 

Dara Singh and co-accused Mahendra Hembram are currently serving their life sentences in Keonjhar prison.

Gladys Staines continued to work in Odisha till 2004. In 2005, Gladys Staines was awarded the Padma Shri by the then United Progressive Alliance government headed by Manmohan Singh and controlled by Sonia Gandhi. The move generated a lot of criticism throughout the country.

The Australian envoy’s post on X on Tuesday (23 January) afternoon has reopened a controversial chapter. Many posted critical comments  on his timeline.

Some social media users reminded him that while the murder was gruesome, Staines was also guilty of ‘harvesting souls’ and luring tribals with offers of cash and material benefits to convert to Christianity. 

Right wing groups often point out that a similarly gruesome murder of a Hindu monk, Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati, and four of his disciples in August 2008 by Christian hardliners and Maoists at Odisha’s Kandhamal district did not evoke much condemnation. 

Saraswati, who was doing a lot of good work among the tribals, was targeted by Christians because he was successful in preventing proselytisation by Christian missionaries. Through his selfless work, he could counter the missionaries and foil their plans to harvest souls. 

Saraswati was murdered on Janmashtami day in 2008 while he was visiting a Kanya Ashram (a residential school for tribal girls) at Tumudibandha village in Kandhamal district. One of the four disciples who was killed in the gunfire was a minor boy. 

The absence of any outrage over the killing of the monk and his disciples in the mainstream media as well as by the left who are quick to condemn violence against minorities had generated a lot of resentment among Hindus and right-wing circles. 

And that is why the Aussie envoy’s post has rankled so many.