cool down tensions between Hindu militants and Christians in the tense state over conversions. Temperatures that remained well in the 40’s decrees Celsius (over 100 Fahrenheit), added to heated debates, threats and violence against Christian converts, BosNewsLife Orissa Bureau established. In Hradanul village, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the capital Bhubaneswar, three Christian families were reportedly pressured to give up their new found faith in Christ.
Angry Hindu villagers also blocked access to Christian missionaries who earlier preached the Gospel in that rural region, BosNewsLife learned. In a statement, converts Janda Mallick, Kallia Mallick and Nanda Mallick said they and their families are forced to give up their faith at an upcoming Hindu ceremony, after the chief of 11 villages summoned them to a community court.
DISTRIBUTING WEAPONS
The developments come after Hindu militant groups began distributing weapons this week among supporters and threatened to kill Christian missionaries in an attempt to stop what they see as "forced conversions" of Hindu’s. Orissa’s government has so far refused to intervene in the dispute.
Despite the threats, 18 members of Hindu tribes in Ghasipura, Hatadihi, Anandapur and Harichandanpur in Orissa joined the converted families in their determination to become Christians.
They announced their faith in Jesus Christ during special ceremonies on May 20 and May 22. Among those attending the ceremony was a pastor from an Orissa area where Australian missionary missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burned to death in 1999.
Bajrang Dal, the paramilitary wing of Hindu fundamentalists has told media it will not rest and "take action against missionary workers" in these and other villages. It comes as both Hindu and Christian residents of villages that have no air conditioning are suffering in a heat wave.
OVER 100 DEATHS
"We have received reports of 137 deaths by sunstroke from different sources. However, only 30 have been confirmed by the district administrations concerned," reportedly said Subash Chandra Biswal, officer on special duty in the revenue control room.
He told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) that the death toll was the highest in Sambalpur district with six deaths reported in the last month. This was followed by Jagatsinghpur with five deaths. A heat wave in the state in May 1998 killed over 2,000 people and subsequent annual heat waves have claimed hundreds of lives, IANS said.
There was some respite likely, however, with the weather department forecasting the possibility of rain and thundershowers in southern and northern Orissa, the news agency reported.(Stefan J. Bos at BosNewsLife News Center contributed to this story. Satya Sundar Mishrais BosNewsLife India Reporter based in Orissa. Mishra, 26, is a Development Journalist of Orissa working on social and religious issues that are not yet on the radar screen of media and politicians. He has been working for a variety of key publications and is currently also active as Sub-editor and Senior Reporter with Odisha Bhaskar, a regional daily newspaper. He can be reached via e-mail satya_mishra11@rediffmail.com ).
