Greetings to you all in our Savior's name. We have been receiving tragic news about the persecution of Christians by militant Hindus in the State of Orissa, India. It all started on Christmas Eve, and has continued beyond Christmas, causing widespread damage, destruction, and death. I am enclosing once again a report on the damage and destruction to churches, Christian institutions, and homes belonging to Christians.
We would like to invite you to share in caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted and who are in need of our prayerful support. We would like to send some monetary support to Orissa that could help rebuild churches and homes. Please consider prayerfully participating in caring and sharing. If you are led by the Lord to participate in this ministry of sharing, caring, and rebuilding, you can send any amount. Make your checks payable to the Union Center UMC, Memo - Orissa Project.
You can send your checks to: Union Center Unite Methodist Church.
128 Maple Drive
Endicott, NY 13760
From
Bishop B.N. Nayak
Vill:- Kumbharkupa
P/o:- Mallikapodi
Via:- G.Udayagiri
Dist:- Kandhamal, ORISSA , INDIA, 762100
Sub:- Prayer request for recent persecution in Kandhamal District.
Dear Prayer partners,
Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who came to save us. With great burden and heavy heart and tears I am writing this letter. When whole world was planning to celebrate Christmas. We were in Kandhamal also planned to celebrate birth of our Lord. But on 24 December 2007 thousand of forces of evil came to our Church and burnt, damaged Church Buildings, broken the crosses, burnt chair, pulpits, sound equipment, computer, motorcycles and beaten the people and two people are killed, some pastors evangelists are terrorized and saved their heads and asked them deny Jesus or face death at the point of sword and gun point they have burnt the houses. Christian have left their houses and hiding in jungles with one single clothe on their bodies. Man and women, children with out food, shelter spend Christmas in bitter cold. I personal visited the villages and found the Churches were set on fire completely destroyed and we are living in state of fear. I can not afride to type and send this email in now Christian people facilities. We donot feel safe to travel hiring vehicle of non-Christian people. I cannot describe our state mind. Please pray for us. Prayer can change persons, change things. If you have moved with compassion, prayerfully you can help us.
Our needs-
1- 50 Churches are damaged- to be rebuilt.
2- Nearly 5000 people have lost their houses, need clothing,cooking, utensils, warm clothes. Adopt some families
3- Computer to send email to different places.
4- Vehicle for transporting relief materials.
First and last prayer, prayer and prayer.
With loving Christian greetings
Bishop B.N. Nayak
Churches Continue to Burn in Orissa
Churches continue to burn in Orissa inspite of curfew being imposed in different places, we receive many phone calls about the violence which is given below:
• Situation in Barkhama village of Baliguda block is alarming. The fundamentalist group ransacked the village, broke two churches and looted the properties of the poor villagers and torched the houses of the new believers. The force was so tremendous that all the villages including women and children had to flee from the village to save their lives and now hiding themselves in the forest. Latest information received from the Bishop of Phulbani reveals that three dead bodies of Christians are lying un-attended. This has not been carried in any of the newspapers so far.
• Many Christian NGOs, Institutions including the homes and hostels have been attacked and looted. Mostly these institutions are Catholic run institutions. Due to blockage of road by the activists, neither the media person, nor the Church leaders are able to reach at the spot. There could be much more information from rural churches, which has not reached us so far, due to communication obstructions.
• So far 23 churches have been damaged as per the report received till 12 Noon. The damage caused on 26 th December' 07 are to the following 9 churches:
A) Barkhuma Area of Baliguda Block – 2 Churches
B) Rutungia Area of Baliguda Block - 4 Churches
C) Dolgaon Area of Baliguda Block – 1 Church
D) Irpiguda Area of Baliguda Block – 1 Church
E) Kalinga Area of Udayagiri Block – 1 Church
The Arch Bishop of Catholic Dioceses of Orissa, Bishop of Diocese of Cuttack, and all other Church leaders have been trying frantically to take an appointment from the Chief Minister to discuss about the situation. However the CM's office have deliberately failed so far to fix up a date and time with the CM for a discussion of Orissa Church leaders.
However the situation in Udaygiri is coming towards normalcy.
All Church leaders of Orissa, had a meeting in the office of the Arch Bishop of Catholic Dioceses of Orissa at Bhubaneswar, today at 10:00 a.m. It has been decided that steps be taken to meet the C.M to ventilate the grievances. A fresh memorandum has been drafted with the following demands:
A) Initiation of a C.B.I enquiry into the incident.
B) Central Police Forces must be deployed immediately as the local police has failed to prevent the communal riot inspite of getting early information.
C) Proper assessments be made for the loss of property and lives of the victims of the Christian community in the affected area and proper compensation be paid to them as early as possible.
D) Exemplary action to be taken against the Government officials, for their lapses, negligence and in action to prevent and control such situation.
E) A fact finding committee consisting of Church leaders will visit the violence sites in order to bring peace in the locality and also to take a stack of the situation.
We request all of you to uphold the situation in your prayer and especially for the women and children, who are taking shelter in Jungles without food.
In Delhi a Peace Dharna is organised from 4 to 6 p.m at Orissa Bhavan.
Please pray for Orissa and intervene to bring normalcy.
Please write or fax to the below mentioned addresses to express your concern:
HON'BLE PRESIDENT OF INDIA
SMT. PRATIBHA DEVISINGH PATIL
President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan,
New Delhi - 110 004
Fax : +91-011-23017290/ 011-23017824
Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minister of India
Room No 152, South Block,
New Delhi - 110 001
Ph: +91-011-23012312/ 011-23013149/ 011-23019545
Fax: +91-011-23018939
Shri Navin Patnaik
Chief Minister of Orissa
Naveen Nivas, Aerodrome Road,
P.O. Bhubaneswar
Distt. Khurda, Pin - 751 001 (Orissa)
E-mail cmo@ori.nic.in
Office Phone 0674-2531100/2535100/2531500
Office Fax: 0674-2400100
Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India
New Delhi, India
Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
EFI Press Release
Memorandum Submitted to the Chief Minister of Orissa
Shri Naveen Patnaik
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Orissa
Bhubaneswar
Dear Sir,
We, the leaders and representatives of different Churches of Orissa would like to bring to your kind notice, the atrocities committed against the Christians in Kandhamal District and other places of the state of Orissa.
The trouble began on 24th December at 8.00 a.m. at Bamunigam village, close to the police station under Daringibadi Block of Kandhamal District. Some Hindu Fundamentalists forcefully removed the Christmas decoration, which the Ambedkar Baniko Sangho comprising the local Christian entrepreneurs, had put up as a preparation for Christmas, with the due permission of the administration. This was followed by exchange of hot words between two groups, as the Fundamentalists insisted to stop Christmas celebrations. Within a few minutes a group of people who were stationed close by pounced on the members of Ambedkar Baniko Sangho with sticks, knives and other lethal weapons like guns.
Seeing the crowd coming to attack the people dispersed out of fear. The Fundamentalists began to destroy the shops of Christians. About fifteen shops have been destroyed and looted. They also shot at by guns Christian community badly injuring two of them. They also destroyed about fifteen shops belonging to the Christians and looted the property available. Six seven members of Ambedkar Boniko Sango were beaten up by the mob.
On the second day, 25th December, the crowd came back and destroyed the Churches in Bamunigam area. Then they entered the Christian villages and burnt their houses and property. They were also threatened to leave their places.
The parish church and the Christians are under threat without any police security.
Attack on Balliguda Parish
On the same day, 24th December evening much larger crowd (400to 500) marched into Balliguda town parish and damaged and ransacked the Church building, residence of priest, convents and institutions and looted the property. By 10.00 p.m. the following institutions were destroyed and burned (some fully, others partly). The large parish church, presbytery, convent, computer room, dispensary plus +2 student’s hostel, etc.
The same crowd moved into the town and completely burned down the church belonged to the Baptist Christians. They also attacked another church belonging to the Pentecostal Christians.
On 25th December they were moving around menacingly threatening the priests and Christians so that they were not even able to file an FIR. The situation is desperate and there is total fear and anxiety among Christians.
Two constables asked the priests of Phulbani parish to have no celebration otherwise there will be more troubles. On 25th December, the convent in Phulbani was also attacked by a group of Fundamentalists. They destroyed everything possible from outside of the convent (door, window glasses, etc.) They also destroyed a new school bus.
On 25th December the priests and sisters in Pobingia parish were advised to move out to a safer place which they did. And thereafter at 12.00 noon a group of Bajrandal people attacked the church of Pobingia parish and destroyed it. There after they destroyed the priest’s residence in the afternoon. All these happened in the presence of police with impunity. More than half of 24 parishes in Kandhamal District could not celebrate Christmas mass because of fear of attack
In Bhubaneswar
During midnight Mass on 24th December, someone threw a bomb on Archbishop’s House, Bhubaneswar. Though it exploded fortunately no damage took place.
Our Fears
1. Even though the Government have been assuring us all protection the fundamentalists are moving about with lethal weapons threatening the Christians.
2. The fundamentalists go on their destructive activities even in the presence of the police force who often say that they are not enough to face such a crowd. The destruction goes on unabated.
3. The Christians who are already attacked and those who are in great fear of being attacked feel with sufficient reason that they are left to the mercy of the fundamentalists.
4. We don’t see any where sufficient number of police force, the senior police officers who deputed to the Kandhamal District for maintenance of law and order have expressed their inability to contain the situation in absence of adequate force.
5. The Fundamentalists are forcing the Christians to leave their homes and take refuge in the forest.
INSTITUTIONS ATTACKED SO FAR
PARISH CHURCH VILLAGE CHURCHES
Balliguda Bodagan-Balliguda
Balliguda town
Kamapada – Balliuda
Pobingia Mandipanka- Godapur
Baminigam Jhinjirguda- Bamunigam
Ulipadaro – Bamunigam
Goborkutty-Kattingia
Kulpakia- Nuagam
Dohapanga-Balliguda
4 village Churches - Nuagam
3 more village church
Bakingia ( Raikia )
Boriguda ( Padangi )
CONVENTS PRESBYTERY
Balliguda Balliguda
Pobingia Pobingia
Phulbani Bamunigam
Sankharkhole Padangi
Bamunigam
HOSTELS
Pobingia 2
Balliguda 2
Bamunigam 2
Minor Seminary (Balliguda)
Vocational Training Centre (Balliguda)
Sarshnanda (Pobingia)
Barakhama, 400 houses are gutted, five people murdered, property looted, one tractor burnt. Sirtiguda ( Balliguda) 7 Churches, 4 Churches in Phiringia, Phulbani Block 7 Churches, Ruthungia 4 Churches, Kallingia 3 chruches, Dalagam one church, Irpiguda one, Tikabali two IA Churches.
Kui Janakalyan Samiti
This organization had declared bandh on 25th and 26th December 2007 in order to press for their alleged demands. But it was only a ploy to prevent the celebration and attack the Christians and their churches and institutions. But their real purpose was to:
a) Disturb their Christmas celebration, the important feast of Christians; it is even a National holiday.
b) Instead of conducting bandh they have unleashed a reign of terror, destroying institutions, intimidating Christians and forcing them to go out of their homes.
c) Their entire attention is on driving away Christians from the region. It is evident from the slogan they are shouting at Christians.
Most of the priests, pastors and religious sisters in Kandhamal District have taken shelter in the forest. In fact the fundamentalists are in search of finding their hide-outs.
All these happened during last three days. We are in receipt of information from various churches and institutions that the miscreants are still active and the destruction of property is still going on and Christians are under attack. On the other hand the innocent Christians are apprehended and Christian officials are victimized in order to appease the Fundamentalists.
In view of the facts stated above we demand the followings:
1. That a CBI inquiry may be ordered for proper and impartial investigation for justice.
2. That Central Para Military forces be deployed in adequate strength at all the affected and sensitive places to prevent any further recurrences as the local police has not been able to control the situation.
3. That impartial and proper assessment of the property damaged, caused to various Churches, Christian institutions and other establishments may be made and adequate compensation be provided as early as possible to restore confidence of the people in the administration.
4. That proper compensation be given to the deceased family and injured persons.
5. That the culprits responsible for creating communal disharmony and caused damage to people and properties should be severely dealt with and the Govt. officials be given exemplary punishments for their gross negligence, inaction, apathy amounting to connivance with the perpetrators
6. A Fact Finding Committee consisting of various Church leaders and representatives proposed to visit various affected sites and personnel of the Kandhamal District and other affected places of the state to take stock of the situation and to console the victims and families. Therefore, we request to provide police protection to the team during their visit.
Yours sincerely,
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath,
SVD Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak
Bishop Samsan Das
Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India
New Delhi, India
Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical Alliance, an accredited NGO with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
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