Christians targeted in fresh Orissa violence

HUNDREDS of churches have been destroyed and thousands of Christians are in hiding as violence in Orissa soared this week.  More than 4,000 Christians are reported to have fled to the jungle as Hindu fundamentalists continued their widespread attacks against the Christian community in North East India.

The fresh violence erupted following the murder of influential Hindu fundamentalist leader Swami Lakhmananda Saraswati on Saturday in Kandhmal.  Saraswati's murder is widely believed to have been committed by the Naxalites - a rival fundamentalist faction.  However religious fundamentalists, thought to be extremist Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) - of which Saraswati was a well-known figurehead - have responded with alleged murders, rape and widespread attacks on Christians.

Dr Satyananda Patra, general secretary of the Orissa Baptist Evangelistic Crusade, said that leaders were 'struggling to save our Christians in Orissa'.   Describing events as 'a never before violence', he added that the Kandhmal district appeared to have been the worst hit, with reports of eight Christian deaths and almost all Christian homes demolished.

'We have witnessed our schools ransacked, more than 600 churches (400 Baptist) gutted, and all Christian villages empty in Kandhmal as Christians, old and young, sick and pregnant, hide in forests exposed to the non-stop monsoon rains without food.'   Special troops have been deployed in Kandhmal, but reports indicate that the violence is continuing throughout Orissa.

Saraswati and his followers were widely implicated in the anti-Christian attacks in Kandhamal in late 2007. Violence in the state - which saw around 700 people flee their homes to refuge camps or nearby forests - ignited last Christmas. Tensions had been heightened as Saraswati was in the area. Violence broke out following allegations of an attack upon the leader.

In January this year, The Baptist Times reported how 20,000 Christians in the state demonstrated against the burning of their churches by Hindu extremists, and what they dubbed the inadequate response from the authorities.

Dr Patra continued that - in light of the renewed violence this week - church leaders representing all denominations had met Orissa's governor and urged the central government to deploy troops to the area, 'because the State force failed to protect the Christians for reasons best known to the State authorities'.

'While government clearly declared the senseless murder being committed by the Naxalites, the religious fundamentalists pasted the crime on the Christians and began the attacks on churches, prayer rooms, institutions and Christians. This, a never before violence, as State administration fails to subside the terrors and crimes which is punishing the innocent Christians.'   He added, 'Now we have no request except prayer from our Baptist world as we do not know as how to face tomorrow. At this hour, I have reports of fresh attacks.'   Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has condemned the 'horrific' anti-Christian violence.

It confirmed that some estimates suggested material damage caused over the weekend had already exceeded that which took place over Christmas 2007, in which more than 800 properties were damaged or destroyed.   Churches are reported to have been attacked in at least twelve of Orissa's thirty districts.  CSW advocacy director, Tina Lambert, said, 'These incidents send a tragic signal that large parts of Orissa are not under the rule of the law but under mob justice.   'Ultimately, this will leave the minority Christian community even more vulnerable.'

She urged the Indian government and Orissa State government to bring a decisive end to the violence 'by restoring order and protecting the vulnerable Christian communities who have become scapegoats'.

'The current violence must be urgently brought to an end, and then we will look to the Orissa government to deliver prosecutions of the perpetrators, to compensate the victims properly, and to demonstrate to the world that the rule of law does still apply in India.'

By courtesy of the Baptist Times