Kandhamal Cauldron

The encounter killings in Gumudumaha village in Kandhamal, Odisha on 17 July have put the focus on the acute poverty in that area, the emergence of Maoists and the repressive role of the state.

By and large, the district has witnessed three major problems: first, land encroachment by outsiders, petty traders, moneylenders and contractors which has reduced the original landowners to sharecroppers; second, sectarian role of religious leaders; and third, caste conflict.