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Tag Archives: District Collector
Spate of Attacks on Christians Erupts in Orissa, India
Christian leaders fear large-scale violence like that of Kandhamal in 2008.
NEW DELHI, March 4 (CDN) — Hindu extremists have attacked Koya tribal Christians in villages in a remote area of Orissa state at least 15 times since Dec. 8, 2010, Christian leaders said.
In the latest incident in Murliguda, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Malkangiri town, about 60 assailants from the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Feb. 23 damaged the eardrums of Bhadan Hontal and beat another Christian, Markari Soma, until he fell unconscious, according to a report by the Malkangiri District Christian Manch (MDCM, with Manch meaning "Forum").
Christian women, some pregnant, as well as children were among those injured in the attacks on churches, reported Pastor Vijay Purusu of Bethel Church and president of the MDCM. The spate of attacks began on Dec. 8 in Katanpali village, when about 35 Hindu extremists stormed the house of Pastor Mark Markani and beat him.
"Police action was delayed, so it resulted in more attacks against the Christians," Pastor Purusu told Compass.
On Dec. 25, some 200 extremists barged into a Christmas Day celebration at a church in Koyi Konda village, beat the worshippers and destroyed furniture. Some church members received serious injuries on their hands, head and chest. About 10 houses belonging to Christians and their crops were destroyed, according to the MDCM.
The Christians filed a police complaint, but no action was taken, the forum reported.
"Persecution against the Christians has become a daily occurrence in the area," Pastor Purusu said.
Christians have suffered midnight raids on prayer meetings in which they have been beaten, he said, resulting in some Christians fleeing their homes and going into hiding. At least four families have left their village and not returned due to extremist warnings, reported the MDCM.
"There is great fear among the people because of the threats they received from the extremists," Pastor Purusu said.
At the same time, Hindu extremists have forced about 25 people to convert into Hinduism in the Mottu area, the forum reported.
Church leaders said increased attacks on Christians are a symptom of fear and envy among Hindu extremists, who perceive that Christianity is spreading in many areas and who mistake Christian social and educational ministries as illegally "luring" people to convert.
The MDCM last month met with the district collector and superintendent of police, and Christian leaders had submitted a memorandum to the state chief minister on Jan. 27.
"Delayed action of the police, and less police force on duty aggravated the matter," the Rev. Rendang Remo Paul stated in the MDCM report. He led a team consisting of representatives of the National Council of Churches in India, Church of South India and the Indian Missionaries Society that met with district collector on Feb. 3.
"We told the district collector that the situation must not become another Kandhamal [where large-scale violence broke out in Orissa in 2008], and the district administrator is responsible to curb the situation," Pastor Paul stated. "To our plea he said, 'Let's see, because it has just started.'"
The local Christian community has met with various district authorities to address the situation, including the chief minister, said Tehmina Arora, advocacy director of the Evangelical Fellowship of India.
"However, the situation in Malkangiri is very tense, and the police do not have control over large portions of the district due to Naxalites [Communist militants]," she said. "This is the biggest hurdle in controlling the situation."
Yesterday (March 3) area Christian leaders again met with the area district collector, who assured them that immediate action would be taken. Meantime, village Christians received rice and some essential items from the administration.
Area Christians fear that Malkangiri may see the same kind of eruption of violence that killed at least 100 people in Kandhamal district, as the same officials – R. Vineel Khrishna, district collector; Anurudh Kumar Singh, superintendent of police; a second officer of Mottu police station identified only as Jaal; and a project director, Gobinda Dansena – have been transferred from Kandhamal to Malkangiri district, Pastor Paul reported.
Posted in Christianity, Communism, Hinduism, India | Tagged 2008, action, Advocacy Director, Anurudh Kumar Singh, area, assailants, attacked, attacks, beat, beaten, Bethel Church, Bhadan Hontal, biggest, celebration, chest, Chief Minister, children, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Christmas Day, church, Church of South India, churches, Communism, communist, communists, controlling, convert, crops, daily, damaged, delayed, destroyed, District Collector, eardrums, educational, erupts, Evangelical Fellowship of India, extremists, families, fear, fell, fleeing, forum, furniture, Gobinda Dansena, hands, head, hiding, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, house, houses, hurdle, illegally, incident, India, Indian Missionaries Society, injured, Jaal, Kandhamal, Katanpali, Koya, large-scale, latest, leaders, luring, Malkangiri, Malkangiri District Christian Manch, Manch, Mark Markani, Markari Soma, MDCM, meaning, members, memorandum, midnight, militants, ministries, Mottu, Murliguda, National Council of Churches in India, Naxalites, New Delhi, occurrence, officer, officials, Orissa, Pastor, people, Persecution, police, police station, prayer meetings, pregnant, President, project director, R. Vineel Khrishna, raids, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, received, remote, Rendang Remo Paul, report, representatives, resulted, Rev, RSS, serious, situation, social, spate, spreading, state, stormed, submitted, suffered, superintendent of police, Tehmina Arora, town, tribal, unconscious, Vijay Purusu, villages, violence, warnings, women, worshippers | Leave a comment
Court in India Convicts Legislator in Second Murder Case
Posted on September 12, 2010 by particularkev
Manoj Pradhan arrested; three more cases pending against Hindu nationalist.
NEW DELHI, September 10 (CDN) — A Hindu nationalist legislator was arrested yesterday after a court pronounced him guilty of playing a major role in the murder of a Christian during anti-Christian carnage in Orissa state's Kandhamal district in August 2008.
The Fast Track Court II in Kandhamal convicted Manoj Pradhan of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the murder of a 30-year-old Christian, Bikram Nayak, who succumbed to head injuries two days after an attack by a mob in the Raikia area of Budedi village on Aug. 25, 2008.
Judge Chitta Ranjan Das sentenced Pradhan to six years of rigorous imprisonment for "culpable homicide not amounting to murder" under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code and imposed a fine of 15,500 rupees (US$335) for setting houses ablaze.
Pradhan, who contested and won the April 2009 state assembly election from jail representing Kandhamal's G. Udayagiri constituency, was not initially accused in the police complaint in Nayak's murder, but his role emerged during the investigation, according to The Hindu.
One of the primary suspects in violence that followed the assassination of Hindu nationalist leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23, 2008, Pradhan was initially arrested in Berhampur city in neighboring Ganjam district in December 2008. The violence began a day after Saraswati's killing when Hindu nationalist groups blamed Christians for his murder, although Maoists (extreme Marxists) claimed responsibility for it.
In spite of this week's conviction, the Orissa state unit of the BJP said the case against Pradhan was weak.
"The case is not strong," Orissa BJP President Jual Oram told Compass by telephone. "Pradhan was merely present at the scene of crime."
Pradhan was named in at least 12 police complaints concerning murder and arson. But after he won the election, he was released on bail.
This is the 36-year-old Pradhan's second conviction. On June 29, Kandhamal's Fast Track Court I sentenced him to seven years in jail in a case concerning the murder of another Christian, Parikhita Nayak, also from Budedi village, who was killed on Aug. 27, 2008. Though not convicted of murder, Pradhan was found guilty of rioting and causing grievous hurt in the Parikhita Nayak case.
The June 29 judgment led to his arrest, but the Orissa High Court granted him bail eight days later.
The BJP will challenge the convictions in a higher court, Oram said.
Last month Kanaka Rekha Nayak, widow of Parikhita Nayak, complained that despite the conviction of Pradhan and an accomplice, they were immediately given bail and continued to roam the area, often intimidating her.
Rekha Nayak was among 43 survivors who on Aug. 22-24 testified in Delhi before the National People's Tribunal (NPT), a private hearing of victims of the Kandhamal violence organized by the National Solidarity Forum, a confederation of 60 non-profit groups and people's movements.
Nayak said local politicians, including Pradhan, hit her husband with an axe. Her husband's body was later chopped into pieces, she recalled as she sobbed during testimony at the tribunal, headed by Justice A.P. Shah, former chief justice of Delhi High Court.
The fast track courts set up especially to hear cases related to the anti-Christian violence have acquitted Pradhan in seven cases for lack of evidence. Three more cases are pending against him.
The state BJP's Oram said Christians had created "hype" about the cases against Pradhan to "trouble us." He added, "The state government is not doing anything to arrest and try the killers of the Swami."
The NPT tribunal asserted that between August and December 2008, about 2,000 people were "forced to repudiate their Christian faith."
The tribunal cited government figures asserting that during the violence from August to December 2008, more than 600 villages were ransacked, 5,600 houses were looted and burned, 54,000 people were left homeless, and 38 people were murdered in Kandhamal alone. It also noted that human rights groups estimated that over 100 people were killed, including women, disabled and aged persons and children, and "an un-estimated number suffered severe physical injuries and mental trauma."
While there were reports of four women being gang-raped, many more victims of sexual assault were believed to have been intimidated into silence, the tribunal concluded.
As many as 295 church buildings and other places of worship, big and small, were destroyed, and 13 schools, colleges, and offices of five non-profit organizations damaged, it said, adding that about 30,000 people were uprooted and living in relief camps, with many of them still displaced.
"More than 10,000 children had their education severely disrupted due to displacement and fear," it reported. "Today, after two years, the situation has not improved, although the administration time and again claims it is peaceful and has returned to normalcy."
The Christian community was deliberately targeted by Hindu nationalist groups such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), the Bajrang Dal and the active members of Bharatiya Janata Party," the tribunal concluded.
The jury also observed that cries against religious conversions were used as for political mobilization and "to incite horrific forms of violence and discrimination against the Christians" of Dalit (formerly "untouchables" according the caste hierarchy in Hinduism) origin.
"The object is to dominate them and ensure that they never rise above their low caste status and remain subservient to the upper castes," it added.
The jury accused police of complicity, which "was not an aberration of a few individual police men, but evidence of an institutional bias against the targeted Christian community."
"The jury is constrained to observe that public officials have colluded in the destruction of evidence, and there is testimony directly implicating the District Collector [the administrative head of a district] in this misdemeanor."
The jury expressed concern over the lack of mechanisms to protect victims "who have dared to lodge complaints and witnesses who have courageously given evidence in court," as they "are unable to return to their homes."
"There is no guarantee of safe passage to and from the courts. They are living in other cities and villages, many of them in hiding, as they apprehend danger to their lives."
It also noted mental trauma in children.
"There has been no trauma counselling for the affected children and adolescents in Kandhamal. Even today they have nightmares of running in the jungle, with the killers in pursuit, are scared of any loud sound and are afraid of people walking in groups or talking loudly."
Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar, who was part of the tribunal, said that incidents such as the Kandhamal carnage against religious minorities continued to happen with "alarming frequency" in India.
"As citizens of this democracy, we should hang our heads in shame," he said.
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Recent Incidents of Persecution
Posted on March 6, 2010 by particularkev
Punjab, India, March 1 (CDN) — Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena on Feb. 20 beat Christians and vandalized two churches in Batala after a protest against an objectionable picture of Christ. Christians had noticed the picture posted as part of a composite poster for an upcoming Hindu festival, Ram Naumi. The poster contained pictures of other religious deities as they normally appear, while Jesus was portrayed with a cigarette and a beer, reported the Evangelical Fellowship of India. In response to the Christian protest, the Hindu extremists went on a rampage, beating the pastor of the Church of North India and a Salvation Army officer and burning and looting the two churches. With church leaders' pressure, police registered a case against Hindu extremists Pratap Singh and Raj Kumar, who were said to have put up the picture of Jesus, for a "malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings of others" and "punishment of criminal conspiracy."
Orissa – Police on Feb. 20 arrested the Rev. Anant Prasad Samantray after Hindu extremists filed a complaint against him of making derogatory remarks against Hinduism in Bhabanipatna, Kalahandi district. Having obtained written permission from local police, Samantray, a former Hindu priest, spoke at a revival meeting of his journey to becoming a Christian pastor, remarking that "Jesus is the only way, the truth and the life," a local source told Compass. After hearing his speech, some Hindu hardliners dragged him to a police station and filed a complaint against him of speaking ill against Hinduism. Officers arrested the Christian for "malicious acts to outrage religious feelings of others" and "uttering words to wounds religious feelings."
Karnataka – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Feb. 15 attacked Christians in Gokalam, Mysore. A source told Compass that Hindu extremists attacked church members of Shekinah Assembly of God Church because of their faith. Running from one house to another, the extremists beat the Christians in their homes, took Bibles and Christian literature and burned them. A Christian identified only as Shivmurthy sustained serious head injuries, lost four teeth and underwent an operation on his right ear. Jaylaxmi Puram police refused to register a complaint filed by the Christians, who left the area out of fear of further attacks; at press time 22 families had taken refuge among Christians in a neighboring area.
Karnataka – Hindu extremists on Feb. 14 stopped the inaugural service of Native Village Vision Church's new building and accused Christians of forceful conversion in Mysore. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that at about 5 p.m. a mob of intolerant Hindu radicals barged into the inaugural service of the new church building, verbally abused the Christians and accused them of forceful conversion. The extremists filed a complaint against the Christians of forceful conversion at the Beechanahalli police station. Officers told the Christians to cease future worship, though GCIC reported that Pastor N.S. Suresh had obtained permission from the village head to construct a church building and had produced required legal documents. Nevertheless, revenue officials locked up the church building on Feb. 15. At press time area Christian leaders were meeting with authorities to resolve the matter.
Karnataka – Hindu extremists from the Rakshana Vedike, affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, on Feb. 8 attacked a pastor identified only as Timothy G. and two Bible students in Bangalore. An Evangelical Fellowship of India representative reported that the extremists attacked the Christians, who belong to Lord Living Hope Church, as they made their way home after visiting a sick Christian in the area. The extremists verbally insulted them and manhandled them, shoving them and threatening to do more harm if they continued Christian activity in the area. The Christians reported the matter to the police and continued to conduct worship meetings in the area.
Orissa – Hindu extremists on Feb. 7 attempted to rape a refugee at Mondakai Camp and threatened to harm Christians there if they filed a police complaint against them in Phulbani, Raikia P.S. area. A Christian Legal Association (CLA) representative reported that one unidentified man from the Hindu extremist community followed Afasari Nayak, who had fled her home during 2008 anti-Christian violence, as she went to take bath in a river near the camp after work. Nayak shouted for help as the man started attacking her, and people rushed to rescue her. At about 7 p.m. the suspect along with four other extremists went to the camp and threatened to hurt the Christians if they filed a complaint, saying also that the refugee Christians should not return to the village unless they convert to Hinduism, the CLA source said.
Orissa – Police arrested 11 Christians after Hindu extremists filed a complaint against them of assault on Feb. 3 in Badimunda, Kandhamal. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that Hindu extremists verbally abused two Christians and threatened harm unless they stopped worshipping Jesus; when the two Christians asserted their right to worship Christ, the extremists began beating them. People of both faiths amassed, and the two Christians managed to escape further attack. At about 7:30 p.m. the next day, five extremists showed up at the same place searching for the two Christians. Forcefully entering the house of Dibyakand Nayak, a Christian, one of the extremists hurt his own forehead, according to EFI. Upon seeing this, the extremists started beating Nayak. They damaged household goods and dragged him to the police station. Police arrested 11 Christians for allegedly causing hurt, causing hurt by dangerous weapons and obscene acts and songs. All except Nayak were released on bail.
Orissa – Two Fast-Track Courts on Jan. 30 convicted 15 people and acquitted 39 others in cases related to anti-Christian violence in August 2008. Judge Sobhan Kumar Das sentenced 13 people to five years imprisonment and fined them 2,500 rupees (US$54) each for torching houses in the Sarangarh area, Kandhamal district, between August 2008 and October 2008. The court, however, acquitted 17 people for "lack of evidence" in the same case. In a separate case related to arson at Ranjabadi village of Kandhamal district, the court sentenced two persons to five years of prison and imposed a fine of 2,000 rupees (US$43) on each of them. Judge C.R. Das of Fast-Track Court II acquitted four people who were accused of violence in Baliguda block, while 18 people were acquitted in another case of arson that took place in Phiringia block, Kandhamal. The district was rocked by anti-Christian violence that lasted more than three months after the Aug. 23, 2008 death of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, who was assassinated allegedly by Maoists.
Andhra Pradesh – About 50 Hindu extremists on Jan. 29 accused a pastor of forceful conversion and forced him to eat food offered to Hindu idols in Secunderabad. The All India Christian Council reported that the extremists stopped Pastor Satyam Yellasiri of Good Shepherd Community Church at about 9:30 p.m. as he was returning from a birthday celebration and accused him of forceful conversion. The extremists forced him to eat the food offered to Hindu idols and threatened to beat him when he refused. Police, alerted by the extremists, arrived and took the pastor to the police station, where they detained him for two hours. Officers initially refused to register his complaint against his assailants. The next day, though, with area Christian leaders intervening, police accepted the complaint. Officers claimed they detained the pastor as a safety measure and assured the Christians that immediate action would be taken against the attackers.
Karnataka – On Jan. 24 in Bidarikere, Chitradurga, Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsavak Sangh broke into the worship meeting of Indian Evangelical Mission and assaulted a Christian worker. The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that at about 10:30 a.m. the extremists barged into the meeting shouting slogans and started beating H. Raju, who was leading the meeting, and accused him of forceful conversion. They also burned Bibles and Christian literature and dragged him out to the streets, forcing him to identify Christians' homes in the area, according to EFI. Entering three Christian houses, the Hindu hardliners threatened to harm Christians if they did not stop worshipping Jesus. Local Christian leaders on Jan. 27 filed a police complaint with Jagalur police, and the next day police arrested three extremists.
Karnataka – Hindu extremists accompanied by local police stopped the worship service of Calvary Gospel Church (CGC) on Jan. 24 in Dudda, Hassan. Two local police stopped the Sunday worship in the rented house of Sekhar Chandra and his wife, Kala Chandra, and chased the Christian worshippers out of the house. Hindu extremists had filed a complaint against the couple, whose rented home was being used for the worship service. After the Jan. 24 disruption, Hindu extremists announced to all villagers they were not to allow any house be used for Christian worship. Subsequently, the landlord along with an agitated mob threw the couple out of their rented house, along with their household goods. The Christian workers are now renting the house of another Christian in the same area and are continuing their ministry.
Madhya Pradesh – Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal accompanied by Madhya Pradesh police stopped the worship meeting of Central India Christian Mission's (CICM) Shahdol Christian church on Jan. 23 and forced church members to falsely testify against Pastor S.K. Ashawan in Shahdol. A source reported that the extremists barged into the prayer meeting attended by about 35 Christians, verbally abused them and dragged them to Shahdol police station. Amassing at the police station, the angry extremists beat, punched and kicked the Christians, forcing them to testify falsely against the pastor by saying he offered each of them 5,000 rupees (US$108) to convert them to Christianity and also forced them to eat beef. Under pressure, the Christians gave a written statement with these accusations. Police summoned the pastor, detaining and questioning him for two hours. The town inspector told Pastor Ashawan that 35 Christians had testified against him, and he threatened to beat and arrest the pastor if he did not give him 100,000 rupees (US$2,168). "It was midnight, and I was under pressure with the police threatening to beat and put me in jail if I did not submit the money," Pastor Ashawan told Compass. The pastor started calling area Christians for help. That night, a source said, 100,000 rupees arrived into the inspector's hands. Ajay Lal, Director of the CICM, took the matter to administrative authorities, but state Chief Minister Shivraj C. Chauhan advised the area district collector to close the case immediately. Christian leaders planned take the matter to a higher court.
Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists on Jan. 10 stormed a house church, disrupting worship and beating a pastor in Jillelguda L.B. Nagar, Hyderabad. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that at 9 a.m. nearly 50 area extremists belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh barged into Heavens Glory Church, shouting Hindu devotional chants. Repeatedly slapping Pastor Benhur Johnson, they falsely accused him of forcible conversion and warned him against conducting Christian services in the area. The extremists also beat some who came forward to help the pastor. A GCIC regional coordinator told Compass that Christians telephoned police, who rushed to the church and stopped the attack. Pastor Johnson along with other Christians went to police to register a complaint, but an official mediated an agreement between them and the extremists. The pastor told Compass that no worship was held on Jan. 17 or 24 out of fear of another attack.
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EU Visit to Orissa, India Triggers Barrage of Accusations
Hindu nationalists protest delegation as Christians cite injustices.
NEW DELHI, February 8 (CDN) — A delegation from the European Union concluded a "fruitful" trip to India's violence-torn Orissa state on Friday (Feb. 5) amid a swirl of protests by Hindu nationalist groups and cries of injustice by Christians.
The delegation was able to hold "open and frank" discussions with Kandhamal officials on the visit, said Gabriele Annis of the Embassy of Italy.
"We had a very good meeting with the Kandhamal district administration," Annis told reporters. "It is fruitful. We had open and frank discussion. It helped us in understanding the situation and understanding happenings over the past 15 months."
The delegation was led by Christophe Manet, head of Political Affairs of the European Commission delegation to India and consisted of members from Spain, Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Finland and Sweden. A delegation from five European countries had visited Orissa earlier in November 2009, but the government of Orissa denied them permission to visit Kandhamal district, where Christians say they continue to be threatened and destitute.
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath said on Saturday (Feb. 6) that despite the claims of the state and district administrations, life for the Christian victims of violence in August-September 2008 remains far from normal: thousands still live in makeshift shanties along roadsides and in forests, he said, and local officials and police harass them daily.
"The block officers have been playing with the facts, indulging in corrupt practices and cosmetic exercises whenever political and other dignitaries come to visit or inspect," the archbishop said in a statement. "Innocent people are coerced into giving a false picture. The chief minister must investigate the role and functioning of the entire district administration . . . It is strange that officers in whose presence the violence took place and thousands of houses were burnt are still in office and are declaring that there is peace in the district."
Following attacks in the area after Hindu extremists stirred up mobs by falsely accusing Christians of killing Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23, 2008, more than 10,000 families were displaced from their homes by the violence. Since then, Cheenath said, an estimated 1,200 families have left the area. Between 200 and 300 families reside in private displacement camps in the district, and more than 4,400 families still live in tents, makeshift shelters or the remnants of their damaged houses, he said.
The number of attack victims who have received financial assistance from the government, churches or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) is unknown, but is estimated at 1,100 families, Cheenath added.
He criticized Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Chief Minister of Orissa Naveen Patnaik saying, "Both of them had promised to provide adequate compensation for the damages caused during the 2008 communal violence. But the victims have not been adequately compensated."
Cheenath said the state government had decided not to compensate any riot-affected religious institutions even though India's Supreme Court had directed the government to compensate them for all damages.
"This is a national calamity and demands a special package for the affected people, which should include land, income generation, education and healthcare," the archbishop said.
Extremist Makeover
Prior to the visit, Christian leaders expressed their shock at Kandhamal district authorities attempting a cosmetic makeover by evacuating nearly 100 Christians from G. Udayagiri.
In letters to the EU delegation, the state government and national human rights and minorities commissions, Dr. John Dayal of the All India Christian Council narrated the plight of the 91 members of 21 families from 11 villages who were living under plastic sheets along a road in the marketplace area of G. Udayagiri.
Dayal said the group included 11 married women, three widows, an elderly man with a fractured hip and thigh, and two infants born in the camp. They had faced almost daily threats, he said, as they had not been allowed to return to their villages unless they renounced their faith and became Hindus.
Soon after the decision to allow the EU delegation, the water supply to the makeshift site was cut off and police and civil officers drove away the residents, who had only plastic sheets to protect them from the cold, he said. The refugees said officers later gave them permission to come back at night but to keep the area clear.
"The families are in G. Udayagiri, they have moved in front of the road, and they are in a very bad state," the Rev. Samant Nayak of G. Udayagiri told Compass. "They are literally on the road."
He said that approximately 55 families were living in G. Udayagiri, where they had been given land, and a Christian NGO was helping to construct houses for them.
The Press Trust of India reported that Orissa officials were nervous about last week's delegation visiting Kandhamal but finally gave permission under pressure from the central government. State officials finally allowed the visit with the pre-condition that the delegation would be allowed only to interact with people and not engage in fact-finding, according to a senior official in Orissa's home department.
The Kandhamal district collector, Krishna Kumar, told Compass that all went well and "no untoward incidents took place," but sources reported at least one minor disturbance in Bodimunda village. On Wednesday (Feb. 3), one house was reportedly damaged there in a scuffle that also resulted in two arrests by the local police.
During their Kandhamal visit, the EU delegation was reportedly forced to cancel a meeting with judges of Fast Track courts established in Phulbani, in Kandhamal district, to prosecute hundreds of those accused in the 2008 violence, due to protests from the local lawyers' association.
Kumar, however, pointed out that the lawyers' protest was secondary to the lack of clearance from the High court for the meeting with the judges. "The same was not informed to us prior to the visit," he added.
The anti-Christian violence in August-September 2008 killed over 100 people and burned 4,640 houses, 252 churches and 13 educational institutions. Archbishop Cheenath said justice is critical to long term peace.
"The two Fast Track courts, and the court premises, have seen a travesty of justice," he said in the Feb. 6 statement. "Witnesses are being coerced, threatened, cajoled and sought to be bribed by murderers and arsonists facing trial. The court premises are full of top activists of fundamentalist organizations. The witnesses are also threatened in their homes with elimination, and even their distant relatives are being coerced specially in the murder and arson cases against Member of Legislative Assembly [MLA] Manoj Pradhan."
Though some witnesses have testified on Pradhan's alleged involvement in crimes in depositions, he has been acquitted in case after case, the archbishop added.
"We are demanding a special investigation team to investigate every case of murder and arson," he said. "Similarly, there is also need for transferring the cases against politically powerful persons such as Pradhan to outside Kandhamal, preferably to Cuttack or Bhubaneswar."
Cheenath said victims have filed 3,232 complaints at Kandhamal police stations, but officers registered only 832 cases. As many as 341 cases were in the G. Udayagiri area alone, 98 in Tikabali and 90 in Raikia, he said.
"Even out of this small number [in G. Udayagiri], only 123 cases were transferred to the two Fast Track courts," he said. "So far, 71 cases have been tried in the two courts, and 63 cases have been disposed of. Of these, conviction occurred only in 25 cases, and even that is partial as most of the accused have not been arrested or brought to trial."
Only 89 persons have been convicted so far in Orissa state, while 251 have been acquitted, supposedly for lack of witnesses against them, he said.
"Among them is Manoj Pradhan," Cheenath said. "It is strange that in the case of 10 deaths by murder, nine cases have been closed without anybody being convicted, while there has been partial conviction in the case of one death. Who will bring justice in the case of the nine murder cases?"
The archbishop demanded that independent lawyers be allowed to assist overworked special public prosecutors.
Hindu Nationalist Protests
Protesting the delegation visit was the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other Hindu nationalist organizations. VHP State General Secretary Gouri Prasad Brahma had lamented on Jan. 31 that the visit would trigger tension and demanded their immediate withdrawal.
"There is no business of the outsiders in the internal matter of the state," he said.
The delegation also faced the ire of the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal on the day of its arrival in Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa, on Tuesday (Feb. 2). Hundreds of its cadres met the delegation at the airport shouting loudly, "EU team, go back."
Five Bajrang Dal members were detained for creating trouble, Deputy Commissioner of Police H.K. Lal told media on Wednesday (Feb. 3).
After the delegation had left, the Orissa Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) heavily criticized the central and the state governments, with BJP state President, Jual Oram telling a press conference that the state had allowed the visit to "divide people on communal lines." He said that the delegation had not met any Hindu leader during their visit to Kandhamal, which "exposed their communal agenda."
Oram accused the delegation of violating protocol in trying to meet the judges of fast-track courts in Kandhamal, saying this "amounted to interference into internal affairs of a sovereign independent member state under the U.N."
At the same press conference, BJP MLA Karendra Majhi said that allowing the visit was an attempt by the chief minister to win back the confidence of minority Christians. He alleged that the delegation had held secret meetings in a Catholic church at Phulbani with church leaders and select NGOs to facilitate conversions to Christianity.
"I have every reason to believe that the promised assistance of 15 million euros to Kandhamal by the EU delegation will be utilized for conversion activities," Majhi said.
Posted in Christianity, Finland, Hinduism, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands/Holland, Poland, Roman Catholicism, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United Nations | Tagged 2008, 2009, accusations, accused, accusing, acquitted, activists, activities, adequate, administration, affected, agenda, airport, All India Christian Council, alleged, allow, allowed, along, amounted, anti-Christian, Archbishop, area, arrival, arson, arsonists, assist, assistance, association, attack, attacks, attempt, attempting, authorities, away, back, bad, Bajrang Dal, barrage, believe, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhubaneswar, BJP, Block, Bodimunda, born, bribed, brought, burned, burnt, business, cadres, cajoled, calamity, camp, camps, cancel, capital, cases, caused, central, Chief Minister, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Christophe Manet, churches, cite, civil, claims, clear, clearance, closed, coerced, cold, commissions, communal, compensated, compensation, complaints, concluded, confidence, consisted, construct, continue, conversions, convicted, conviction, corrupt, cosmetic, countries, Courts, creating, cries, crimes, critical, criticized, Cuttack, daily, damaged, damages, deaths, decided, decision, declaring, delegation, demands, denied, department, depositions, Deputy Commissioner of Police, despite, destitute, dignitaries, directed, discussions, displaced, displacement, distant, district, District Collector, disturbance, divide, Dr, drove, education, elderly, elimination, Embassy of Italy, engage, entire, established, EU, European, European Union, euros, evacuating, exercises, exposed, expressed, extremists, faced, facilitate, facing, fact-finding, facts, faith, false, falsely, families, far, fast-track, filed, financial, Finland, following, forced, forests, fractured, frank, front, fruitful, full, functioning, fundamentalist, G. Udayagiri, Gabriele Annis, generation, given, giving, go, good, Gouri Prasad Brahma, government, groups, H.K. Lal, happenings, harass, head, healthcare, heavily, helped, helping, high court, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, hip, hold, homes, houses, human rights, Hungary, immediate, incidents, income, independent, India, indulging, infants, informed, injustices, innocent, inspect, institutions, interact, interference, internal, investigate, involvement, ire, Ireland, Italy, John Dayal, Jual Oram, judges, justice, Kandhamal, Karendra Majhi, killed, killing, Krishna Kumar, lack, lamented, land, lawyers, leader, led, letters, lines, literally, live, living, local, long, loudly, makeover, makeshift, man, Manmohan Singh, Manoj Pradhan, marketplace, married, matter, media, meeting, Member of Legislative Assembly, members, minor, minorities, minority, MLA, mobs, moved, murder, murderers, narrated, national, nationalists, Naveen Patnaik, need, nervous, Netherlands, New Delhi, NGOs, night, Non-Governmental Organizations, normal, number, office, officers, officials, open, organizations, Orissa, outside, outsiders, overworked, package, partial, peace, people, permission, Persecution, persons, Phulbani, picture, plastic, playing, plight, Poland, police, police stations, Political Affairs of the European Commission, politically, powerful, practices, pre-condition, premises, presence, President, press conference, Press Trust of India, pressure, Prime Minister, prior, private, promised, prosecute, prosecutors, protest, protests, protocol, provide, public, Raikia, Raphael Cheenath, reason, received, refugees, registered, relatives, religious, remains, remnants, renounced, reside, residents, resulted, Rev, riot, road, roadsides, role, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, Samant Nayak, scuffle, secondary, secret, senior, shanties, sheets, shelters, shock, shouting, site, situation, small, sovereign, Spain, special, state, state general secretary, statement, stirred, strange, supply, supposedly, supreme court, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, Sweden, swirl, telling, tension, tents, term, testified, thigh, threatened, threats, Tikabali, toen, top, transferring, travesty, trial, tried, trigger, triggers, trip, trouble, UN, understanding, United Kingdom, United Nations, unknown, untoward, utiulized, VHP, victims, villages, violating, violence, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, visit, visited, water, widows, win, withdrawal, witnesses, women | Leave a comment
Posted on November 4, 2009 by particularkev
UTTARAKHAND, India, November 3 (CDN) — Hindu extremists from the Bajrang Dal on Oct. 25 disrupted the Sunday worship of a Ministry of the Gospel service in Rudrapur and accused the pastor of forceful conversion. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that the extremists barged into the worship service led by Pastor Victor Massey, tore Bibles and took all Christian literature. They threatened to attack anew if the congregation continued to meet for worship, adding that they would force Hindu rituals on them. Ministry of the Gospel leader S.K. Puri told Compass that church officials reported the matter to the district collector and superintendent of police, but when Hindu nationalists heard about the complaint they accosted Pastor Massey on Oct. 30 and again threatened to force Hindu rituals on the congregation. Christian leaders have asked local authorities to provide police protection.
Karnataka – A mob of about 50 Hindu extremists attacked a church on Oct. 25 in old Hubli, burning Bibles and Christian literature. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported that at about 11 a.m. the Hindu hardliners barged into the prayer meeting of Assembly of God Church and dragged out Pastor David Raj. The attack reportedly began after an unidentified man in attendance repeatedly went in and out of the church building; he was requested to remain sitting so as not to disturb the sermon. The man left and returned with 50 extremists, led by area Bajrang Dal leader Jayathirtha Kati. After the Hindu extremists verbally abused the church members, set fire to the Christian literature and dragged the pastor out to the street, local police arrived and, as is customary in India, detained the victims. They took the pastor, his wife and two church members to the police station and only with local Christian leaders' intervention were the Christians released at about 5 p.m.
Assam – Hindu extremists and the head of Dayung village called a meeting on Oct. 23 to oppose a Christian ministry after a young woman who became a Christian refused to renounce her faith, a source told Compass. Tara Sabha's family beat and disowned her after she told the village council that she would not leave Christianity at any cost, the source said. Sabha had received Christ earlier in October. The source told Compass that Hindu extremists held Enosh Lepcha of First Evangelical Church Association of India (FECAI) responsible for the conversion, and on Oct. 23 they and the village head called a public meeting in which they threatened a social boycott if the ministry continued its activities. FECAI's Abbay Pradhan told Compass that due to extremist pressure, the ministry has stopped many activities.
Andhra Pradesh – Suspected Hindu extremists set fire to India Mission Society Church in Warrangal on Oct. 22, damaging more than half of the building. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that unidentified people set the church building ablaze at about 2 a.m. Pastor P. Kumarswamy contacted the fire department, which arrived after more than half of the building had been destroyed. Police registered a First Information Report, and an investigation is underway.
Karnataka – Hindu nationalists forced an evangelist and other Christians to go to a police station on false charges of forcible conversion on Oct. 21 after barging into the church leader's home and demanding money for a Hindu festival in Undedasarahalli, Chikamaglur district. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that Hindu radicals leveled the charges after evangelist Kumar Nayak of the Assemblies of God refused to give a donation for the Diwali festival. Nayak and his family were about to leave home for the last of a three-day prayer meeting when nearly 30 extremists led by Prakash Nayak forcibly entered their house and tried to force them to give money for the Hindu rite. The intolerant Hindus verbally abused them, warning that they would not be allowed to stay in the village, and forced Nayak, his wife Bembitha, 52-year-old widow Lalitha Bai and her three children to go to the Banavara police station and filed a complaint. With GCIC intervention, all but Kumar Nayak were released at 11:30 p.m., with the evangelist detained until midnight on condition of reporting to the police station at 9 a.m. the next morning. After extensive questioning the next day, Nayak was released at 4 p.m. without being charged.
Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists on Oct. 18 attacked a worship service in Hyderabad, beating a pregnant woman and her child and seriously injuring a pastor's ear. The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that about 15 people from the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh barged into the service led by Pastor Siluvai Kumar and two others pastors, verbally abused the Christians and accused them of forceful conversion. The intolerant Hindus tore and threw Bibles and damaged the church facility, including musical instruments. The Hindu extremists later dragged a pastor identified only as Timothy to Kukatpally police station and filed a false charge of urinating on nearby temple idols. With the intervention of the local Christian leaders, police summoned the attackers to the police station, where the parties reached an agreement in which the extremists apologized to the Christians and pledged not to attack them.
Uttar Pradesh – On Oct. 15 Hindu extremists from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) in Pratap Garh accused Pastor Sunil Singh of the Full Gospel Church of fraudulent conversion and threatened to kill him if his church continues its worship services. A source told Compass that the extremists went to the pastor's house to deliver the threat. The Hindu hardliners filed a police complaint against the pastor of offering money to people to convert to Christianity. Police summoned the pastor to the police station for questioning, and an investigation was underway.
Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists on Oct. 13 stopped construction of a Methodist church building and verbally abused Pastor M. Gabriel in Nizamabad. The All India Christian Council (AICC) reported that the Hindu extremists along with the village head, Vital Reddy, were responsible for the hostilities. The pastor filed a police complaint charging harassment and contacted the district collector and superintendent of police, but no action had been taken at press time. An AICC representative told Compass that the pastor has stopped church construction to avoid further disturbances.
Karnataka – State police on Oct. 10 arrested Christians on false charges of forcible conversion in Gowdigere village, Hubli, Dharwad district. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that at 9 a.m. about 30 local Hindu nationalists barged into the house of a Christian woman identified only as Venkatamma just after the end of a prayer service. The extremists falsely accused Friends Missionary Prayer Band Mission Pastor Murthy Nayak Ganesh and evangelist Chandrakanth Gopanna Lambani of fraudulently luring people to Christianity. Later the extremists forced the Christians to the village temple, and then telephoned Kundugol police who came to the temple and took the Christians to the station, charging them "punishment of criminal conspiracy," among others. With GCIC intervention, the pastors were released on Oct. 12, but it was not clear at press time whether charges were still pending.
Punjab – Hindu extremists in Samral Chowk, Ludhiana on Oct. 6 severely beat and stabbed a Christian worker, according to the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI). At About 7:30 a.m. Vijay Kumar, an Indian Pentecostal Church worker and a former student of Punjab Bible College, was distributing gospel tracts when five Hindu extremists arrived in a vehicle with a non-numbered license plate and forced him into it. Beating and stabbing him with a knife in his chest and leg while taking him to different sites, they questioned him about how much money he had received to become a Christian and asked with which Christian groups he was associated, EFI reported. They later took him to a jungle and continued torturing him. A Christian search team began looking for Kumar at 7:30 p.m., and at 2 a.m. that night they received a phone call from him saying the assailants had taken him back to his village and thrown him from the running vehicle. He was taken to Christian Medical College with severe injuries but was recovering well. A complaint was filed at Shingaar police station, but no arrests had been made at press time.
Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists attacked a pastor and his family and later accused them of forced conversion and other false charges in Jyotipur village, Bilaspur district. Pastor Markus Das of the Assembly of God Church on Oct. 4 went to visit a family in Sadwani village along with his wife and children. On their way back their van had a flat tire, and as his friend Atul Arthur gave them a ride home, a group of people from the Rathore community – closely aligned with the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal – attacked them. They accused Pastor Das of forcible conversion and tried to drag him and others out of the vehicle, causing minor injuries. They damaged the vehicle, smashing the windows. Pastor Das and his family managed to escape, but the next morning when he went back to pick up his van, he was told that the forest department had confiscated his vehicle after allegedly finding illegal wood in it. Pastor Das said the Rathore community set a trap. "They broke the front windshield of my car and planted the wood in my car when I was away," he said. A First Information Report has been filed against Pastor Das indicting him for forced conversion and carrying illegal wood, and the pastor has filed an FIR against members of the Rathore Community in the Gorala police station.
Chhattisgarh – Hindu extremists in Raipur on Oct. 3 tried to pressure a Christian family into giving up their faith. The extremists also threatened to publicly dishonor Pastor Kamlakar Roa Bokade by filing charges of forcible conversion against him if he did not stop visiting the family of Modichandan Sahu, a convert who has regularly attended worship services for the past 15 years. Modichandan Sahu's two daughters had married non-Christians under social pressure, and one of her sons-in-law, Bhuwan Sahu, a member of the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party, cut off relations with his in-laws several years ago because of his opposition to Christianity. Hindu extremists led by Bhuwan Sahu on Oct. 3 stormed Motichandan's house, pressured her to give up her faith and tried to force her into Hindu ceremonies and ritual. The next day he began threatening Pastor Bokade, telling him by cell phone that they would frame him for forceful conversion. The Chhattisgarh Christian Forum has notified police of the harassment.
Kerala – Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party newspaper The Janmabhumi Daily forced sub-editor Sredevi Nair to resign from her job on Oct. 1 after management learned that she had received Jesus Christ. Nair resigned two days before her baptism, reported The Indian Catholic. The managing editor of the Janmabhumi daily, Kummanam Rajasekharan, reportedly called her during work hours and said it was not possible for a convert to continue with the newspaper. The Indian Catholic reported that Rajasekharan urged Nair to convert her Christian husband to Hinduism and have a marriage ceremony at a Hindu temple. The Indian Express quoted Janmabhumi Editor Leela Menon as saying that that she was against conversion, and that Nair was trying to malign the newspaper after her resignation.
Madhya Pradesh – Members of the Hindu extremist Abhinav Bharat on Sept. 28 stormed into a house church in Adhartal, on the outskirts of Jabalpur. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that at 12:30 p.m. about 15 of the intolerant Hindus arrived on motorcycles and broke into the house church meeting shouting "Jai Sri Ram [Hail to Lord Ram)" and vandalized the property, including damaging the cross at the entrance. The Hindu extremists threatened 51-year-old Pastor Peter Johnson with further attacks. Pastor Johnson filed a complaint with Adhartal police station in Jabalpur, and police have reportedly forwarded it to the City Superintendent of Police and Collector. GCIC reported that police assured a speedy investigation. The Abhinav Bharat is already under the government scanner for anti-Muslim bomb blasts, and some of their leaders holding government posts are in custody and on trial.
Madhya Pradesh – For the third time, radicals from the minority Jains religion on Sept. 27 attacked and threatened the church of Pastor Mukesh Pal of Rajgarh, Dhar district. About a dozen of the Jains, all members of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, interrupted a worship service of some 500 mainly tribal people and cursed, criticized and accused Christians of fraudulent conversion, eating cow meat and mixing harmful chemicals into anointing oil used for prayers for the sick. The Jains religion advocates non-violence and vegetarianism. After those attending the church service argued with the radicals, the extremists left but returned with five policemen. A doctor was called on the spot to test the prayer oil, and he certified it as chemical-free. Nevertheless, police arrested Pastor Mukesh Pal and Ganpat Goyal, and many from the church followed and stood outside the police station demanding the release of the two Christians. After calls from Christian friends, high-ranking officers ensured that police release the two Christians. Pastor Pal told Compass that the radicals attacked their prayer hall in June 2006, badly damaging it. They arrived again in August 2006, warning the Christians not to hold more services and accusing them of forcible conversion, although they did no physical harm.
Andhra Pradesh – Hindu extremists led by Venkat Reddy attacked a Christian identified only as Abhishek, from Hebron Church, and accused him of forceful conversion on Sept. 25 in Ranga Reddy. The All Indian Christian Council (AICC) reported that the extremists attacked the Christian while he was conducting a Bible school class at Hamamguda, mercilessly beating him and accusing him of organizing the study program to forcibly convert children to Christianity. Abhishek received treatment at Apollo Santoshnagar Hospital, reported AICC. The extremists filed a police complaint against the Christian, but later forced the Christian to agree to stop the Bible program.
Posted in Assemblies of God, Christianity, Full Gospel Church, Hinduism, India, Islam, Pentecostalism | Tagged Abbay Pradhan, Abhinav Bharat, ablaze, accosted, accused, action, activities, Adhartal, advocates, agree, agreement, AICC, aligned, All India Christian Council, allegedly, allowed, Andhra Pradesh, anointing oil, anti-Muslim, Apollo Santoshnagar Hospital, apologized, argued, arrested, arrests, assailants, Assam, Assembly of God, associated, assured, attack, attackers, attendance, attending, Atul Arthur, authorities, Bajrang Dal, Banavara, baptism, barged, beat, beating, Bembitha Nayak, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhuwan Sahu, Bible School, Bibles, Bilaspur, BJP, blasts, bomb, boycott, building, burning, call, called, car, carrying, cell, ceremonies, certified, Chandrakanth Gopanna Lambani, chemical-free, chemicals, chest, Chhattisgarh, Chhattisgarh Christian Forum, Chikamaglur, child, Christ, Christian, Christian Medical College, Christianity, Christians, church, class, closely, community, complaint, condition, conducting, confiscated, congregation, conspiracy, construction, contacted, continued, conversion, cost, council, cow, criminal, criticized, cross, cursed, custody, customary, daily, damaging, daughters, David Raj, Dayung, deliver, demanding, department, destroyed, detained, Dhar, Dharwad, different, dishonor, disowned, disrupted, distributing, district, District Collector, disturb, disturbances, Diwali, doctor, donation, ear, eating, editor, EFI, end, Enosh Lepcha, ensured, entered, entrance, escape, Evangelical Fellowship of India, evangelist, extensive, extremists, facility, faith, false, family, FECAI, festival, filed, finding, FIR, fire, First Evangelical Church Association of India, First Information Report, flat, force, forceful, forcible, forest, former, forwarded speedy, frame, fraudulent, friend, Friends Missionary Prayer Band Mission, front, Full Gospel Church, Ganpat Goyal, GCIC, Global Council of Indian Christians, gospel, government, Gowdigere, groups, hail, half, Hamamguda, harassment, hardliners, harm, harmful, head, heard, Hebron Church, high-ranking, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, holding, home, hostilities, house, house church, Hubli, husband, Hyderabad, idols, illegal, in-laws, incidents, including, India, India Mission Society, Indian Pentecostal Church, injuries, injuring, instruments, intervention, intolerant, investigation, Islam, Jabalpur, Jai Sri Ram, Jains, Jayathirtha Kati, Jesus Christ, job, jungle, Jyotipur, Kamlakar Roa Bokade, Karnataka, Kerala, kill, knife, Kukatpally, Kumar Nayak, Kummanam Rajasekharan, Kundugol, Lalitha Bai, leader, leaders, learned, leave, led, Leela Menon, leg, leveled, license, literature, local, Lord Ram, Ludhiana, luring, M. Gabriel, Madhya Pradesh, malign, man, managed, management, Markus Das, marriage, married, matter, meat, meet, meeting, members, mercilessly, Methodist, Ministry of the Gospel, minitsry, minor, minority, mixing, mob, Modichandan Sahu, money, motorcycles, Mukesh Pal, Murthy Nayak Ganesh, musical, Muslim, muslims, nationalists, nearby, newspaper, Nizamabad, non-Christians, non-numbered, non-violence, notified, offering, officers, officials, oil, oppose, opposition, organizing, outskirts, P. Kumarswamy, parties, Pastor, pending, people, Persecution, Peter Johnson, phone, physical, planted, plate, pledged, police, police station, policemen, possible, posts, Prakash Nayak, Pratap Garh, prayer hall, prayer meeting, prayers, pregnant, press time, pressure, program, property, protection, provide, public, publicly, punishment, Punjab, Punjab Bible College, questioning, quoted, radicals, Rajgarh, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Rathore, received, recent, recovering, refused, registered, regularly, relations, released, religion, remain, renounce, representative, resign, resignation, resigned, responsible, ride, rite, rituals, RSS, Rudrapur, running, S.K. Puri, Sadwani, Samral Chowk, scanner, search, seriously, sermon, service, severe, Shingaar, shouting, sick, Siluvai Kumar, sites, sitting, smashing, social, sons-in-law, spot, Sredevi Nair, stabbed, state, stop, stopped, stormed, street, student, study, sub-editor, summoned, Sunday, Sunil Singh, superintendent of police, suspected, Tara Sabha, team, telephoned, temple, test, The Indian Catholic, The Indian Express, The Janmabhumi Daily, threat, threatened, threw, thrown, Timothy, tire, tore, torturing, tracts, trap, treatment, trial, tribal, Undedasarahalli, underway, unidentified, urinating, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, van, vandalized, vegetariansism, vehicle, Venkatamma, verbally, VHP, victims, Victor Massey, Vijay Kumar, village, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, visiting, Vital Reddy, warning, Warrangal, widow, wife, windows, windshield, woman, wood, work, worker, World Hindu Council, worship, young | Leave a comment
Wheels of Justice Begin Turning in Orissa Violence
Six sentenced for anti-Christian rampage; tensions persist.
NEW DELHI, September 10 (CDN) — A fast-track court in Orissa state on Monday (Sept. 7) sentenced six people to four years of "rigorous imprisonment" and a fine of 2,000 rupees (US$41) each for their role in anti-Christian violence in the state's Kandhamal district a year ago.
The court in Phulbani ordered them to remain in prison another three months if they are unable to pay the fine. Additional Sessions Judge Shobhan Kumar Das announced they were convicted of setting Christian houses on fire and engaging in unlawful assembly by defying curfew.
Following the assassination of a Hindu leader on Aug. 23, 2008, Kandhamal district was the epicenter of nearly three months of violence by Hindu extremists that killed at least 100 people and burned more than 4,500 houses and over 250 churches and 13 educational institutions; 50,000 people were displaced. Although Maoists took responsibility for the assassination, Hindu extremists blamed Christians in order to ignite large-scale violence on the minority community.
Sentenced on Monday were Kiringa Kanhar, Lasia Kanhar, Gananath Kanhar, Lankeswar Kanhar, Naresh Kanhar and Gorekh Pradhan. Police had charged 11 people, all residents of Tambasuga village, for burning the houses of Ladada Kanhar and his two sons in the same village in August of last year. The court acquitted five of them for lack of evidence.
The government has set up two fast-track courts at Phulbani, Kandhamal district to bring justice to the victims of violence. A total of 831 cases of violence have reportedly been filed.
"The police have dropped around 300 First Investigation Reports out of the 800-odd cases due to various reasons like lack of evidence," Orissa High Court attorney Bibhu Dutta Das told Compass.
On June 30, Fast Track Court-II had convicted and sentenced Chakra Mallick of Gochhapada for his involvement in the violence. Mallick was sentenced to four years in prison and a fine of 4,000 rupees (US$82). At the same time, 15 others were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
In addition, Fast Track Court-I had sentenced five people – Bisra Kanhar, Durbasha Kanhar, Rabi Kanhar, Gupteswar Kanhar and Naresh Kanhar of Salaguda village – to six years of prison and a fine of 6,000 rupees (US$123) each.
With the conviction of the six people on Sept. 7, the total number of convictions for the violence increased to 12, while at least 42 others have been acquitted.
Police reportedly arrested 680 persons for their alleged involvement in the violence, and 10,000 people were named in 827 cases registered during the anti-Christian rampage last August. Charge sheets have been filed in 437 cases, with investigations underway in another 354 incidents including the rape of a nun, Director General of Police Manmohan Praharaj told media.
The two Fast Track courts are expected to deliver more verdicts soon. But attorney Das told Compass that the two judges assigned to the Fast Track courts are capable of taking on more cases than they have so far; he predicted they would see an increase soon.
"We will request the [Orissa] High Court to intervene in this situation so that police can speed up investigations," Das said.
Kandhamal District Collector Krishan Kumar said investigations had already concluded in two-thirds of all cases submitted to police, and that charge sheets had been filed.
"Ten to 12 people have already been convicted in the span of one year," he said. "This shows that the Orissa government is very serious about justice."
Fearful Witnesses Attorney Das told Compass that the distance between the Phulbani court and the villages of witnesses is 70 to 80 kilometers (nearly 50 miles), and that they refuse to attend hearings because they have not been provided security.
"Only after a warrant is issued by the court to the witness do they appear before the court," he said, "for in that case the police usually accompany them to the court since it is a warrant."
District Collector Kumar told Compass that no witnesses had filed First Information Reports asking for police protection.
"If anybody asks for protection, it will be given to them," he said.
The state government has shut down the last of the relief camps for victims of the violence that began after the assassination of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his disciples at his Jalespata ashram (religious hermitage) in Kandhamal district on Aug. 23, 2008.
The last two camps at Tiangia and Mandakia had housed some 700 refugees from the violence. The government had set up 14 relief camps in Kandhamal alone to accommodate the thousands of people who came in searching for shelter; the violence eventually spread to 14 of Orissa's 30 districts.
A relief camp in Tikabali in Kandhamal district was shut down on July 27, and when 35 families from there finally returned to their village of Bodimunda on Aug. 29, Hindu extremists attacked them at night. They damaged their tents, and fighting erupted as Christians tried to defend themselves.
"The superintendent of police of that area was informed, and the police intervened on time," District Collector Kumar told Compass. "There were no casualties, and no one was hurt."
Posted in Christianity, Hinduism, India, Roman Catholicism | Tagged accommodate, accompany, acquitted, Additional Sessions, alleged, announced, anti-Christian, appear, area, assassination, assembly, assigned, attacked, attend, attorney, begin, Bibhu Dutta, Bisra Kanhar, blamed, Bodimunda, burned, camps, capable, cases, casualties, Chakra Mallick, charge sheets, charged, Christian, Christianity, Christians, churches, community, concluded, convicted, convictions, court, curfew, damaged, defend, defying, deliver, Director General of Police, disciples, displaced, distance, district, District Collector, dropped, Durbasha Kanhar, educational, engaging, epicenter, erupted, evidence, extremists, families, Fast Track Court-I, Fast Track Court-II, fast-track, fearful, fighting, filed, fine, FIR, fire, First Investigation Reports, following, Gananath Kanhar, Gochhapada, Gorekh Pradhan, government, Gupteswar Kanhar, hearings, hermitage, high court, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, housed, houses, hurt, ignite, imprisonment, incidents, including, increase, India, informed, institutions, intervene, intervened, investigations, involvement, issued, Jalespata ashram, judge, justice, Kandhamal, killed, Kiringa Kanhar, Krishan Kumar, lack, Ladada Kanhar, Lankesway Kanhar, large-scale, Lasia Kanhar, last, leader, Mandakia, Manmohan Praharaj, Maoists, media, minority, named, Naresh Kanhar, New Delhi, nun, ordered, Orissa, pay, people, Persecution, persist, Phulbani, police, predicted, prison, protection, provided, Rabi Kanhar, rampage, rape, reasons, refugees, registered, relief camps, religious, remain, reportedly, request, residents, responsibility, returned, rigorous, role, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, rupees, Salaguda, searching, security, sentenced, serious, setting, shelter, Shobhan Kumar Das, situation, sons, speed, spread, state, submitted, superintendent of police, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, Tambasuga, tensions, tents, Tiangia, Tikabali, tried, turning, unable, underway, unlawful, various, verdicts, VHP, victims, village, violence, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, warrant, wheels, witness, witnesses, World Hindu Council | Leave a comment
INDIA: ONE YEAR LATER, CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA TO PRAY FOR PEACE
State witnessed country's 'bloodiest anti-Christian attack last year.'
NEW DELHI, August 22 (Compass Direct News) – One year after India's worst-ever attack on Christians, which began after the killing of a Hindu leader on Aug. 23 in Orissa state last year, churches across the country will fast and pray for a peace that remains elusive.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) has appealed to all the Catholic dioceses in the country to "pray for peace and harmony and a spirit of reconciliation" by fasting tomorrow, one year to the day that Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati was killed by non-Christian Maoists last year.
"This appeal is made in a special context to what happened to the Christians in Orissa after the murder of Saraswati in Kandhamal [district] on Aug. 23, 2008," CBCI Secretary General Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes said in a statement.
Archbishop Fernandes urged the Christian community to "adhere to the Christian principle of forgiveness and move forward so as to build a strong and integrated civil society."
On Monday (Aug. 24), an inter-denominational meeting to pray for peace, healing and reconciliation will be held at The Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi to mark "National Kandhamal Day."
Leaders of all major denominations and church groups, including the CBCI, the National Council of Churches, the Evangelical Fellowship of India and the All India Christian Council (AICC), as well as government officials, are expected to attend the meeting.
A Distant Peace
Christians believe it may take a long time for peace and reconciliation to become a reality in Kandhamal, where violence in August and September 2008 killed more than 100 people and burned more than 4,500 houses, over 250 churches and 13 educational institutions.
"The road to peace is not easily available to the Christian community," Dr. Sam Paul, spokesman for the AICC, told Compass.
The Hindu extremists who inflicted the violence last year have warned those who have returned from refugee camps for displaced Christians to withdraw the cases filed against them, Paul said.
"At some places they were threatened to convert to Hinduism," he said. "At a few places, to maintain the peace, the local Christians had to deny their faith."
Attorney Robin Ratnakar David, president of the Christian Legal Association, emphasized that without justice there can be no peace.
"Unless the administration is able to work together with the victims to ensure that the attackers are brought to justice, there will never be peace in Kandhamal," he said. "On the part of the Christians who have been displaced, there is a need to courageously give testimonies against the accused to ensure that minorities everywhere are able to live in peace."
David said it will take at least a year for the more than 827 criminal cases filed to be settled.
Dr. Krishan Kumar, Kandhamal district collector (administrative head), denied that peace had not returned to the district.
"There has been no incident of violence for more than seven months," he claimed.
Asked why a majority of the displaced Christians had not returned to their villages yet, he told Compass, "I have no knowledge about it." He added that he and other officials have been meeting regularly with religious leaders of various communities.
Dr. Sajan K. George of the Global Council of Indian Christians said Kandhamal did not need "mere moments of peace, but an era of peace."
AICC's Paul warned that if the attackers were not brought to justice, the impunity would further embolden them.
Kandhamal Today
A New Delhi-based non-profit group, the Indo Global Social Service Society, has spearheaded a campaign to gain signatures for a memorandum highlighting the true condition of Kandhamal and hopes to present it to the president of India tomorrow (Aug. 23).
The memorandum states that although more than 11,000 persons were named in police complaints, only 679 had been arrested.
It also points out that a total of 50,000 persons were displaced as a result of the destruction of their houses, arson and looting, but that less than half of them have returned to their homes.
"A number of those who have returned have been denied access to water, firewood, and even to shops to buy daily necessities," the memorandum states.
Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), a private news agency, spoke to victims of the Kandhamal violence on the eve of the one-year commemoration.
"It was the darkest night of my life," recalled 45-year-old Ravinder Nath Pradhan, who a year ago saw his house and paralyzed brother doused with gas and set afire by a fanatical mob. Since then, Pradhan told IANS, justice is "nowhere near." On Aug. 24, 2008, some 500 people attacked his village and destroyed his house.
"Within moments they flung petrol on my wheelchair-bound younger brother and torched him," Pradhan, a retired soldier from Gadragaon village, told IANS. "We fled for our lives."
After the violence, his family and a group of 120 Christians were forced to flee their homes to a relief camp in the state capital, Bhubaneswar.
"We went back once in December to reap our crop," he told IANS. "Tension still loomed large. We [minority and Hindu families] used to share all our joys and sorrows. Now they say a passing hello and inquire where you are headed, and that's it. We live underneath trees where we once had our own home."
Seeds of Destruction
The region had been tense since the 2007 Christmas season, when alleged extremists of the VHP carried out attacks on Christians, killing at least four persons, burning 730 houses and 95 churches and rendering thousands homeless.
The spark that ignited the violence was a minor conflict between VHP supporters and local Christians over the pitching of a tent for Christmas celebrations in Brahmanigaon village. Christians were beaten, and their shops were destroyed as they went ahead with their celebration plans. In the melee, VHP leader Saraswati, who was believed to be behind the assault, came under attack and "retributive" action followed. (See "Four Die in Christmas Rampage by Hindu Extremists," Dec. 28, 2007.)
Eight months later, with hundreds of displaced victims still living in relief camps, Maoists assassinated VHP leader Saraswati and four of his disciples on the evening of Aug. 23. The VHP wrongly blamed Christians for the murders in order to ignite large-scale violence on the minority community.
VHP leaders made public statements blaming the killing of their leader on local Christians, claiming it was to avenge the December 2007 violence. Fearing tensions, the administration of Kandhamal imposed a curfew. The VHP, too, imposed a "closure" across the state to protest Saraswati's death, requiring a society-wide shutdown.
Defying the curfew imposed by the administration, the VHP mobilized hundreds of supporters and organized a funeral procession carrying Saraswati's body from his ashram (religious hermitage) in Jalespata area to another site in Chakapada area – using a circuitous route that took it more than 100 kilometers (66 miles) to provoke greater conflict, according to The Hindu. As the VHP's funeral procession continued on Aug. 24 with police escort, reports of violence began to flood newsrooms across the country.
Local police were apparently under political pressure not to take action against the organizers of the procession (see "Police Do Little to Protect Christians in Orissa," Sept. 4, 2008). The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, which has close links with the VHP, was still part of the ruling state government, in partnership with the regional Biju Janata Dal party.
The state government excused itself by blaming its inability to prevent arson, rape and murder on the "difficult" hilly terrain of Kandhamal, according to The Indian Express, and the federal government ruled by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) offered nothing more than token expressions of concern.
The UPA issued an official warning to Orissa under Article 355 of the constitution, which empowers the federal government to proclaim an emergency. But the warning came three weeks too late – by then the worst was over.
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INDIA: WITNESSES RECEIVE DEATH THREATS IN ORISSA TRIALS
Posted on August 6, 2009 by particularkev
State blames 2008 Kandhamal district violence on conversions, 'reconversions.'
NEW DELHI, July 14 (Compass Direct News) – Nearly 11 months after an unprecedented wave of anti-Christian attacks shook the eastern state of Orissa, a reign of terror continues in the area as the former rioters issue death threats to witnesses.
Of the more than 750 cases filed in various police stations in Kandhamal district and neighboring Gajapati district, only one has resulted in conviction. Some trials are underway amid reports of armed extremists threatening to kill witnesses.
The Rev. Dibya Paricha of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Catholic Archdiocese said several witnesses are shrinking away to save their lives. On Thursday (July 9), a witness in Salapsahi village, in the Kasinpadar area under the Phiringia police station, refused to testify in a murder case.
"During the trial, the complainant, the younger brother of the victim, said he did not know anything about the case," Paricha, coordinator of the Christian Legal Association's (CLA) legal cell in Kandhamal, told Compass. "The previous day, he had said that he would tell the truth so that the culprits would be punished … From a reliable source we came to know that he was threatened with death."
On June 30, three men carrying pistols – Sanjeeb Pradhan, Bikram Pradhan and Pratap Pradhan – threatened witnesses in the Gondaguda area of the Chenchedi Gram Panchayat administrative area, under the jurisdiction of the Sarangarh police station in Kandhamal, Paricha said.
The three men have been issuing death threats to witnesses through the area villages, he said.
"I know them [the three gunmen] personally," Paricha said. "They were living hand-to-mouth until recently, and now they are riding a motor vehicle and threatening the survivors."
Information on the threats has been provided to the sub-collector (an administrative officer in charge of a sub-district), the sub-divisional police officer and the district collector (administrative head), he said, and a First Information Report has been registered at the Sarangarh police station.
Another witness and complainant in a riot-related case, 55-year-old Batia Digal, was threatened on June 17, said Paricha. Gobida Chandra Pradhan from Piserama village and Shricharnan Mohan Pradhan from Dodaingia village in Raikia area tried to pressure Digal to withdraw the case, in which a local legislator from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Manoj Pradhan, is one of the accused.
The Raikia police station is investigating the case.
On July 4, Christians saw a ray of hope when a fast-track court in Phulbani, Kandhamal district convicted a tribal leader of arson – the first conviction in a 2008 violence case. The court sentenced a 58-year-old Chakradhar Mallick to two years of prison and a fine of 1,000 rupees (US$20). Mallick had burned the house of a Christian, Loknath Digal, and threatened to kill him in August 2008.
But the granting of bail to one of the prime suspects in numerous anti-Christian riot cases – local BJP legislator Pradhan of the G. Udayagiri assembly constituency – on July 6 dampened the spirits of the Christians. Bail was granted for 15 days so that Pradhan could take oath as a member of the new assembly, reported Indo-Asian News Service. Pradhan was arrested in October 2008 on various charges including murder, rioting and arson.
The spate of violence that erupted in Kandhamal in August-September 2008 killed more than 100 people and resulted in the incineration of 4,640 houses, 252 churches and 13 educational institutions. The violence began following the assassination of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu council or VHP) leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, by a Maoist (extreme Marxist) group. Hindu nationalist groups blamed Christians for the assassination.
Although more than 100 people were killed in the attacks, only 26 murder cases have been registered under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. According to CLA statistics, 13 cases were registered in the Raikia police station alone. Five complaints were filed in Tikabali, two each in G. Udayagiri, Sarangada, and Balliguda, and one each in Gocchapada and Phiringia.
At least nine cases were registered for attempted murder: four in Balliguda, two in G. Udayagiri, and one each in Tumudibandha, Phulbani, and Sarangada. Two rape cases were registered, one each in the Phulbani and Balliguda.
Over 550 cases have been filed for arson and looting: 323 in G. Udayagiri alone, 59 in Tikabali, 32 in Raikia, 31 in Gocchapada, 26 in Phulbani, 23 each in Phiringia and Balliguda, 18 in Daringbadi, 10 in Sarangada, four each in Tumudibandha and Kotagarh, and three in Khajuripada.
Around 680 people were arrested in the numerous cases, but some have managed to get bail from courts, according to The Deccan Herald newspaper.
The CLA and a non-profit group, the Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), are providing free legal services to the victims and their relatives in Kandhamal. In neighboring Gajapati district, which also faced numerous anti-Christian attacks in August-September 2008 as fallout of Saraswati's murder, the All India Christian Council (AICC), in partnership with the HRLN, is providing free legal aid to victims of the violence.
"At least 337 families lost homes or businesses [in Gajapati district]," Dr. Sam Paul, AICC spokesman, told Compass. "[However,] most rehabilitation as well as public attention has focused on Kandhamal district."
Commenting on the need for legal help in Gajapati, Paul added, "On one single day [in June], the lawyers counselled and drafted petitions for 30 persons."
The AICC and HRLN are also helping the victims in Gajapati to receive compensation and recover lost identity cards and other documents.
Silence of Inquiry Panel
At the same time, a judicial commission headed by Justice S.C. Mohapatra to probe the August-September 2008 violence submitted a 28-page interim report to the state government on July 1 without blaming any group or organization for the violence.
"Sources of the violence were deeply rooted in land disputes, conversion and re-conversion and fake certificate issues … Suspicion among the scheduled tribe and scheduled caste inhabitants of Kandhamal is the main cause of riots, with the tribals suspecting that Pana Dalits were capturing their land through fraudulent means," Mohapatra said, according to The Hindu.
Those belonging to the Kui tribe in Kandhamal are mostly Hindu. Christians make up an estimated 16 percent of the 650,000 people in the district, with more than 60 percent of them belonging to the Pana community and classified as "Scheduled Castes," better known as Dalits (formerly "untouchables").
The Pana community has been demanding recognition as a tribal community, as Dalits lose their right to government's affirmative action after they convert to Christianity. The Kui people, however, oppose the demand, as it would increase the number of candidates eligible for government-reserved jobs. Sections of the Kui people believe that Pana Dalits make fake certificates to get the land that can belong only to tribal people.
"I know it will take at least two years to complete inquiry, but the interim report will help the government to make immediate intervention," added Mohapatra.
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Catholic Archdiocese told private channel Zee News, "Justice Mohapatra had given remarks on other matters without touching the subject for which the commission was set up, to investigate culpability in the series of attacks on Christians." Cheenath said that conversion was "not at all" a factor behind the Kandhamal violence.
The National Commission for Minorities in October 2008 had accused the then-ruling state government, a coalition of a regional party, the Biju Janata Dal (NJD) and the BJP, of not controlling the violence. It said that despite knowing that public reaction to the murder of a prominent religious leader like Laxmanananda would be extreme, there was little evidence of action by political and administrative higher-ups in Bhubaneswar, reported The Indian Express daily on Oct. 30, 2008.
In March 2009, the BJD broke its 11-year-old alliance with the BJP, saying it did not want to partner with a "communal" party. The BJD fought and won the April-May state assembly election alone. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held the BJP and groups linked with it, such as the Hindu extremist VHP and its youth wing Bajrang Dal, responsible for the violence, according to private news channel CNN-IBN.
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INDIA: HARD-LINE HINDUS STILL FORCING CONVERSIONS IN ORISSA
'Convert or die' threats prevent Christian families from returning to home villages.
NEW DELHI, February 18 (Compass Direct News) – In the wake of anti-Christian violence in Orissa state last year, hard-line Hindus in Kandhamal district have forced nearly half of 40 Christian families in one village to convert under threat of death, area Christians said.
Bareka village resident Goliath Digal, 58, told Compass that the Hindu hardliners have taken 18 Roman Catholic families to a Hindu temple and performed Hindu rituals on them, forcing them to sign statements that they had converted of their own will.
"During the riots, all our belongings had been taken away and we were left with nothing," Digal said. "Now they are threatening to murder us if we do not become Hindus."
Of the 22 other families in Bareka, 16 have returned to the village from relief camps but are living in fear, Digal said, and the rest have fled to Berampur, Jharsuguda and to nearby villages with no plans to return. He added that he and others with farmland near the village have not been able to cultivate crops out of fear and opposition.
Fear of Return
In G. Udayagiri refugee camp, 55-year-old Vipin Nayak of Tiangia Budaripura village said that all 400 Christian families from the hamlet have remained in the camp except for five families who were allowed to return after being forced to become Hindus.
"We cannot enter the village until we become Hindus – if we do return, we risk our lives," said Nayak, whose brother, Vikram Nayak, was killed in the anti-Christian violence that lasted for more than two months.
The Hindu hardliners have ordered the Christians to enter the village carrying Hindu scripture, the Bhagwat Geeta, in their hands if they want to return to the village, he said. Many Christians have tried to sneak into the village and were kidnapped and had their heads tonsured, Nayak said.
In Tikabali relief camp, 20-year-old Geetanjali Digal told Compass that Hindu extremists are telling villagers, "Once again we will attack, and riots will take place. We burned your houses, this time we will kill you all. Nobody will be left alive."
Another source told Compass that one of the most dangerous hamlets is Badimunda. "Christians cannot step into the village at all," said the source.
Prabhasini Nayak, a 20-year-old Christian resident of Kakamaha village, Panganaju, who remains in G. Udayagiri relief camp, said Hindus have threatened to impose monetary punishment on her Hindu uncle and his family if they make contact with her and Christian members of her family.
"The fundamentalists have threatened my uncle's family to have no ties with us," she said. "If they are found doing so, they will have to pay a fine of 5,000 rupees [US$100] to the fundamentalists."
Peace Committees Fail
The district collector of Kandhamal, Dr. Krishna Kumar, said his office has received 68 to 70 complaints of forcible conversion of Christians to Hinduism, "and in all such cases police complaints have been registered and action is being taken."
Christian leaders from Kandhamal said the government has set up meetings of "Peace Committees" to aid refugee camp dwellers to return to their home villages, but in many places the presiding officials failed to show up.
Kumar, however, told Compass that reconciliation has begun in various places. "Peace Committees have been very successful," he said.
Area Christian leaders maintained that the Peace Committees will help little as there is almost no willingness by hard-line Hindus to tolerate Christian presence.
"'Only Hindus and no Christians' is the new slogan of Hindu fundamentalists in the area," said one pastor on condition of anonymity. "Christians have to become Hindus or leave."
Last month, India's Supreme Court ordered the Orissa state government, led by an alliance that includes the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, to ensure protection for the state's Christian minority.
The violence last year resulted from Hindu extremist organizations blaming Christians for the murder of Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23. Police, however, have charged Maoist extremists for the killings. A Communist Party fact-finding team estimated at least 500 people were murdered. More than 50,000 people were left homeless as some 5,000 houses were burned or destroyed, and 252 churches were destroyed.
Dr. Kumar said that smaller, transitional relief camps have been established in various blocks of the district, closer to villages, so that in time residents might be emboldened to venture freely back to their homes.
Asserting that only 1,500 people are left in refugee camps, Dr. Kumar said that 75 percent of those who fled have returned to their villages.
But Christian leaders from the district said that people who have left relief camps have not returned to their villages but migrated to safer places, especially the larger cities of Berhampur, Cuttack and Bhubaneshwar. They estimated that most are working as day-laborers and are not earning enough to survive.
Geetanjali Digal of the Tikabali relief camp told Compass that the camp still provides a key source of food.
"They have burnt our house," Digal said. "All that we had is burnt. We have put a small tent in the place of our house that was burnt, but for food we go to the camp. My father is unable to get any work."
Prabhasini Nayak of G. Udayagiri refugee camp said many people in the camps are eagerly awaiting government compensation to rebuild their homes so that they can start life anew.
"We are one of them," she said.
Posted in Christianity, Hinduism, India, Roman Catholicism | Tagged action, alive, alliance, anonymity, anti-Christian, awaiting, Badimunda, Bareka, belongings, Berampur, Berhampur, Bhagwat Geeta, Bharatiya Janata Party, Bhubaneshwar, BJP, blaming, blocks, brother, burned, burnt, camp, charged, Christian, Christianity, Christians, churches, cities, committees, communist party, compensation, complaints, condition, contact, conversions, convert, converted, crops, cultivate, Cuttack, dangerous, day-laborers, death, destroyed, die, district, District Collector, Dr, dwellers, earning, emboldened, ensure, enter, established, estimated, extremists, fact-finding, fail, failed, families, family, farmland, Father, fear, fine, fled, food, forced, forcible, forcing, found, freely, fundamentalists, G. Udayagiri, Geetanjali Digal, Goliath Digal, government, hamlet, hands, hardline, hardliners, heads, Hindu, Hinduism, Hindus, home, homeless, houses, impose, includes, India, Jharsuguda, Kakamaha, Kandhamal, key, Kidnapped, kill, killed, killings, Krishna Kumar, larger, Lazmanananda Saraswati, leaders, leave, life, little, lives, maintained, Maoist, meetings, members, migrated, minority, monetary, murder, murdered, nationalist, nearby, New Delhi, nothing, office, officials, opposition, ordered, organizations, Orissa, Panganaju, pay, peace, performed, Persecution, places, plans, police, Prabhasini Nayak, presence, presiding, prevent, protection, provides, punishment, rebuild, received, reconciliation, refugee, registered, relief camps, remained, resident, return, returning, riots, risk, rituals, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholics, rupees, safer, Scripture, sign, slogan, small, smaller, sneak, source, start, state, statements, successful, supreme court, survive, team, temple, tent, threat, threatening, threats, Tiangia Budaripura, ties, Tikabali, tolerate, tonsured, transitional, uncle, various, venture, Vikram Nayak, villagers, villages, violence, Vipin Nayak, will, willingness, work | Leave a comment
INDIA: CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA FEAR VIOLENT CHRISTMAS
Posted on December 9, 2008 by particularkev
Hindu extremists move to stop yuletide celebrations as suffering in Kandhamal continues.
NEW DELHI, December 3 (Compass Direct News) – Christians in Orissa state are anticipating Christmas with fear as Hindu extremists have called for a state-wide bandh, or forced shut-down on all sectors of society, on Dec. 25 – a move that could provide Hindu extremists the pretext for attacking anyone publicly celebrating the birth of Christ.
Last year one of the area's worst spates of violence came during the Christmas season.
The state's chief minister has said there should be no such shut-down but stopped short of prohibiting the Hindu extremists' plan. The federal government has expressed its disapproval of the proposal, but the Hindu extremist umbrella organization Sangh Parivar has vowed to press ahead with the shut-down, reported newspaper Outlook India on Nov. 20.
Though such shut-downs were declared illegal by India's Supreme Court in 1998, the president of the Laxmanananda Saraswati Condolence Society (SLSSS) sent a threatening notice to the Orissa government on Nov. 15, warning that the Hindu extremist group would impose a bandh on Christmas unless the state government arrested those who murdered Hindu leader Laxmanananda Sararawati on Aug. 23.
A Maoist group on Sept. 1 admitted killing Saraswati and four of his aides, and police on Oct. 6 confirmed that Maoists killed them, but the Hindu extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) has continued to blame local Christians for the assassinations, stoking anti-Christian sentiment that led to a wave of violent attacks for more than two months. At least 500 people, mostly Christians, were estimated to have been killed, according to a report by a Communist Party fact-finding team, and at least 4,500 houses and churches in Orissa's Kandhamal district were destroyed.
Ratnakar Chaini, president of the SLSSS, has demanded the release of Hindu leaders arrested in connection with the killing of Christians in the violence following the assassination of Saraswati.
In a massive rally in Delhi on Nov. 15, Chaini called for the shut-down in order to ensure "a completely peaceful Christmas."
The general secretary of the Christian Legal Association (CLA) took the Hindu extremist's comment as sarcasm.
"How can they have a peaceful Christmas if there is a bandh?" Tehmina Arora told Compass. "There can be no celebration, no going out the house also. So there can be no question of peace."
Inflammatory speeches at the rally by Chaini and other Hindu extremists against Christianity and its leaders in India led Christians to believe the shut-down would serve as the pretext for another spate of violence against those publicly celebrating the holiday.
The Hindu extremists' rally also included pledges that all Christian converts would be "re-converted" to Hinduism.
"If Hindus decided to take on anyone to protect our religion and culture, then nothing can stop us," Chaini said. "Unchecked conversions by churches would be opposed with tooth and nail."
The Sangh Parivar, including the state unit of the VHP, said in a press statement that the government has been shielding those guilty of murdering Saraswati.
Prohibition Demanded
Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Raphael Cheenath told Compass that the intention of the Hindu nationalists in calling the shut-down was malicious and done for political advantage – a way of garnering tribal peoples' support for Hindu nationalist candidates by setting up Christians as disobedient trouble-makers.
"If the government allows the bandh to take place on Christmas Day, it will mean that they are allowing more attacks and violence against the Christians," said Archbishop Cheenath.
Violence has broken out against Christians on previous shut-downs in Kandhamal district.
"There is a great deal of apprehension, because it was on previous bandhs that there have been attacks against the Christian community," said Arora of the CLA. "The district collector informed us that they were taking strong steps to ensure that the bandh would not be taking place. Unless the district collector and state administrator take serious steps to see that it is not enforced, it would again be a violent attack against the Christian community."
Orissa church authorities headed by Archbishop Cheenath met a team of visiting government ministers on Nov. 19. Subsequently Christian leaders delivered a memorandum demanding the proposed shut-down be prohibited as illegal. The memorandum demanded the state punish the people and organizations involved in such activities.
The team of central government ministers visiting riot-hit areas on Nov. 19 advised the state chief minister to ensure that there be no shut-down on Christmas Day. Finding the Kandhamal situation tense and Christians fearful, the team leader, Union Agriculture Minister Sharah Pawar, said they requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to see that the shut-down on Christmas Day does not take place.
"We don't understand why Christmas was chosen for calling the bandh," Pawar told Outlook India. "Agitation should not be allowed on major festival days like Diwali [a Hindu festival], Christmas and Chhath [a Muslim festival]."
Stating that the minority community is under tremendous pressure because of such a threat, Pawar reportedly said the need of the hour is to restore normalcy in the riot-affected areas.
"We have requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to make efforts to stop such a bandh on Dec. 25, a major festival day," Pawar told reporters after meeting with Patnaik.
Patnaik later said, "There should not be a bandh on Dec. 25," but he made no appeal to the Sangh Parivar to refrain from the Christmas Day shut-down.
Church leaders also requested the ministers pressure the state government to put a halt to Hindu extremists forcing Christians, under threat of death, to convert to Hinduism. Christians are allowed to live in the district only if they became Hindu, they said.
Deaths Continue in Orissa
A Christian woman who had fled Hindu extremist violence was killed on Nov. 25 after leaving a relief camp to harvest her paddy.
Lalita Digal, 45, was murdered in Dobali village, Kandhamal district, where she was staying with a friend, reported the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI). She had returned to the village on Nov. 21. On Nov. 25 she was allegedly dragged from the house and murdered. No arrest had been made at press time, according to EFI.
The state administration has forced people to leave relief camps even though they have no homes to return to, according to a local Christian body. Representatives of the Kandhamal Christian Jankalyan Samaj (KCJS) said at a press conference this week that threats continue from Hindu nationalists demanding that frightened Christians "re-convert" to Hinduism.
Conditions at the camps remain poor. At Daringbadi camp, Leunsio Digal died on Nov. 24 due to lack of proper medication, EFI reported. He had been suffering a fever for a week without access to medications to alleviate it. Digal had served as catechist for 25 years at Simonbadi parish, in the archdiocese of Cuttack- Bhubaneswar.
On Nov. 22, Orissa police fired at two Christians in Kandhamal's border village of Kutunniganda, killing one and severely injuring another, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC).
Junesh Badaraita died on the spot. The injured Karnel Badaraita later told a television station that they were searching for lost cattle with a flashlight when police fired at them.
Police were combing the area in their hunt for a Naxalite (Maoists or Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries) Training Camp. Under Inspector-in-Charge Narbada Kiro, they reportedly fired at the two Christians from a distance of 350 meters.
Police claimed that the two Christians were Naxalites, though villagers refuted this assertion. In protest, the agitated villagers blocked a public road and kept government officials from arriving at their offices in the area.
At press time, the district administrator promised compensation to the family of the deceased and suspended the squad in charge, said the GCIC.
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