"Seven Christians were killed [Wednesday] December 27 alone in the eastern Indian state," including five who died when "Hindu radicals attacked houses in Barakhama [village] in [Orissa’s] Kandhamal district" and a seminary in the village, said the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News), an official news agency of Catholic churches.
Two more Christians were reportedly killed when police opened fire at a protesting crowd, but there was no immediate independent verification. With two earlier deaths, at least nine Christians have lost their lives in the violence that started on Monday, December 24, according to church estimates.
"Where is the rule of law?" key Christian leaders asked in an appeal to authorities obtained by BosNewsLife. The regional Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, John Dayal, a member of the National Integration Council advising India’s government and Reverend P R Paricha of advocacy group All India Christian Council (AICC), who signed the appeal, suggested that beside the killings some "50 churches and institutions" were known to have been "destroyed or desecrated."
DEEP APPREHENSION
"There is deep apprehension that the State government and the police, despite their lip-service to restore peace and remove the fears of the people, have not shown the alacrity and diligence required in the face of the spreading hate campaign against Christians, coercive and threatening speeches and the violence," Friday’s appeal of Christian leaders said.
"It is strange that both the Central and State governments are pleading that police forces cannot enter the deep forest areas because hoodlums have cut trees to block roads. Surely the police have the manpower and machinery to remove such roadblocks and restore the rule of law," they said, adding that India’s Central Bureau of Investigation should make arrests and "restore peace" while officials should also give "compensation to all victims."
Regional Catholic Archbishop Raphael Cheenath said earlier in comments published by BosNewsLife this week that the bloodshed began early Monday, December 24, in the small town of Bamunigam, about 336 kilometers (210 miles) southwest of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. "Hindu fundamentalists forcefully removed the Christmas decorations which a local business association had put up [across the town] as a preparation for Christmas." After "some quarrels" a group of people attacked the Christians "with sticks, knives and other lethal weapons," he said, adding that the violence soon spread.
On Friday, December 28, Hindu extremists reportedly continued to attack Christians with swords, wooden sticks and iron bars. Eyewitnesses said that in several places attackers set fire to vehicles, homes and churches, as well as documents and furniture gathered from Christian institutions. Catholic church officials said priests, nuns and laypeople including children and women fled their villages into jungle areas to escape the violence. The whereabouts and fate of some priests remained unknown Friday, December 28. Christian missionaries were also targeted, but there were no reports of injuries, BosNewsLife established.
ESCALATING VIOLENCE
Amid the escalating violence, Christians across the country have held demonstrations, including in front of Orissa Nivas, the Orissa state government’s guest house in New Delhi,
where UCA News estimated that some 400 Christians, Catholics among them, gathered with lighted candles. Christian leaders also met India’s Federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil
this week to seek his intervention. Patil reportedly promised to help end the violence.
Elsewhere in Bhopal, capital of the central state of Madhya Pradesh, Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal on December 27 joined about 250 priests and nuns in praying for the return of peace and normalcy in Orissa, UCA News said. The archbishop expressed "deep sorrow" over the victimization of Christians there.
Father Anand Muttungal, spokesperson or the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh said in published remarks that the violence in Orissa should be seen "as a political game" of the Hindu-led Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] or Indian People’s Party. Other groups behind the violence include the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or ‘World Hindu Council’ which opposes the spread of Christianity and what it calls "forced conversions."
Analysts say Orissa is a stronghold of Hindu nationalism. An anti-conversion law has been in place since 1968 in an attempt to block missionary activities by Christians. In 1967 the state adopted the Freedom of Religion Act, which started the process that has led to what human rights groups and churches describe as "repressive" anti-conversion laws. (Stay with BosNewsLife for continues coverage on the crisis in Orissa.) Also read:
NEWS ALERT: Fourteen Churches Burned In Deadly Violence In India |
BREAKING NEWS: Hindu Militants Attack Christmas Service In India |
