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Anti-Christian Violence in Orissa, India Going Strong Again
By Julie | September 3, 2008
Shortly after Christmas last year we posted about anti-Christian violence in Orissa, India that began on Christmas Eve, and continued for another week. Since then I have not been able to find a lot of information to follow up on the situation. That is, until last week, when a new wave of violence began. Please pray for peace, and healing for our Christian brothers and sisters in Orissa. They have been through a terrible ordeal. Below are several links to different articles, and highlights to explain the news of India’s recent tragedies.
August 24th, 2008: Orissa tense: Christians blamed for Swami’s murder
The communally sensitive Kandhamal district in Orissa remains tense after Hindu groups have blamed Christians for killing an 80-year-old Hindu leader and his four followers on Saturday night.
A group of some 30 armed and masked men attacked Vishwa Hindu Parishad Leader Swami Laxmanananda Sarswati’s Ashram. They indiscriminately shot at the gathering on the eve of Krishna Jayanti, the birthday of Krishna, killing the aged leader and his four followers.
A Maoist group named, the People’s Liberation Revolutionary Group, has claimed responsibility for the killings. Its leader, identified as Azad, called up a newspaper office and said they killed the Swami because he mixed “religion with politics…”
August 25, 2008: Orissa: violence and destruction against Christians accused of killing radical Hindu leader
Bubaneshwar (AsiaNews) - Shouting “Kill Christians and destroy their institutions,” thousands of Hindus from the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) stormed the Pastoral Centre of the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, laying it waste. The same fate was visited upon a social centre in K. Nuagam, a church and parish residence in Kandhamal, and a chapel in Sundergarh. A van owned by the Sisters of Mother Teresa was attacked as it made its way to Bhavanipatni whilst another that belonged to the Daughters of the most Precious Blood was burnt in Udayagir.
India’s Christians condemn killing of radical Hindu leader
Dr Sam Paul, All India Christian Council (aicc) National Secretary of Public Affairs, said, “The Christian community in India abhors violence, condemns all acts of terrorism, and opposes groups of people taking the law into their own hands.
“We have had major differences with Mr Saraswati, the deceased VHP leader. It was the hate campaigns of the Sangh Parivar which led to untold misery for Christians - including the unprecedented violence last Christmas in Orissa. But we wish peace to everyone and urge everyone to follow the rule of law.”
NEWS ALERT: Homes, Churches Torched In New Anti-Christian Attacks In India State
Suspected Hindu militants set fire to several houses in India’s eastern state of Orissa Monday, September 1, where church groups said recent attacks against Christians left at least 36 people dead.
September 3, 2008: Christians flee to remote jungle to escape attacks by Hindu mobs
THOUSANDS of Christians are hiding in jungles in the impoverished Indian state of Orissa to escape anti-Christian violence.
Christian groups claim 400 churches and other buildings have been damaged or destroyed and about 1200 homes torched by Hindu mobs supporting the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or World Hindu Council.
Officials say 20 people, mostly Christians, have been killed in 10 days of sectarian violence, although the New Delhi human rights group the Asian Centre for Human Rights puts the number at 50.
Sajan George, the convenor of the Global Council of the Indian Christians, and Richard Howell, general secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India, said at least 50,000 Christians have fled into the relative safety of remote jungle areas. At least 10,000 more have moved into guarded refugee camps.
September 3, 2008: Today’s news: India court demands report on anti-Christian violence
India’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered eastern Orissa state to report on steps taken to stop a wave of anti-Christian rioting that has claimed at least 16 lives, a court official said.
Some 200 people have been arrested in connection with the riots that have left 13,000 people, mostly Christians, sheltering under police guard in seven camps in Orissa’s Kandhamal district.
Thousands of others have fled to the jungles after their homes, churches and prayer halls were torched.
“The court wanted to know what the state government was doing to protect the lives of people belonging to the Christian community,” the court official said.
Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil meanwhile visited Orissa and asked the government to help the riot victims.
“The state government must come out with proper plans to rehabilitate those who have suffered,” Patil told reporters in the state capital Bhubaneswar.
“Violence has stopped but I would not say the situation is exactly normal,” he added.
New Delhi has promised financial aid to the victims of the anti-Christian clashes, India’s deadliest in recent years.
The last link is promising, I pray the government will step in and help these people. Many are suffering, mourning the loss of others, and trying to deal with what they have experienced or seen themselves. But in order to this violence to truly stop, both sides need to be willing to listen to the other, and hopefully see something redeeming. Please, join us in praying for this entire region. Hopefully, soon, we’ll hear God has preformed a miracle among these people.
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