10-2-08

Amnesty International calls Govt. to halt violence against Christian minorities in Orissa
India should match its words with its actions and ensure that members of the Christian minority community in the eastern state of Orissa are protected against renewed communal violence, Amnesty International said today. Despite the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement in Paris yesterday, 30 September, that the violence was a “national shame” and that his Government had taken a “firm stand” to halt it, violence against the Christian minorities has continued. The last two days have witnessed renewed attacks by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, against the Christian minorities and their places of worship in Kandhamal district in Orissa, leaving three people dead, more than 15 people injured, including some policemen, and hundreds homeless. The month-long violence against the Christian minorities, which began on 24 August after the murder of a prominent Hindu nationalist leader, now appears to have resumed after a brief lull. Amnesty International has spoken to people who have confirmed that an atmosphere of insecurity prevails in the district in the wake of the most recent attacks despite the presence of central paramilitary reserve police deployed by the Central government at the request of the state government forces. The number of Christians who have taken shelter in 25 relief camps run by the state authorities has gone up from 12,000 to 20,000 during the last month and is still increasing. Amnesty International fears that most of them are unable to return home. According to camp residents, they face threats of violence and, in some cases, an ultimatum from supporters of these Hindu nationalist organizations to convert to Hinduism if they want to return home. Amnesty International urges the Government of India and the Government of Orissa to: * immediately halt the violence against the Christian minorities in Kandhamal district * provide adequate security for the relief camps set up for those displaced due to the violence and ensure peaceful return to their homes * conduct prompt and impartial investigation into the attacks by competent authority, publish the results and bring those responsible to justice * ensure protection of the religious rights of the minorities. More than 28 people have died during the communal violence in Orissa since 24 August, eight of these shot by police. Hundreds have been injured in the violence targeting the Christian minorities in Kandhamal district in Orissa. The district had been tense for some time before 24 August. In December 2007, at least 11 people died in communal violence in the district, four of them shot by police.
A number of Christian institutions were attacked by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations. A judicial inquiry into this 2007 violence, announced by the state government, is still in progress. During the last month, a number of places of worship belonging to the Christian minorities in the southern state of Karnataka have been targeted by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal.
© 2008 mynews.in
The Editorial: The Economic Times
.Orissa may be a fit case for Article 3562 Oct, 2008, 0339 hrs IST, ET Bureau
Does Naveen Patnaik have it in him to ensure that the capacities of his government are consonant with his image of a suave westernised liberal? T
hat, given the recent spurt in sustained anti-Christian terrorism in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, is not only a legitimate question but one that the CM must immediately answer. The absence of an affirmative response should be reason enough for the Centre to step in. There is sufficient ground now to issue a fresh advisory under Article 355 to the Orissa government. The Centre must, in fact, consider imposing President’s rule under Article 356 if the Biju Janata Dal-BJP government fails to take full cognisance of such an advisory and respond positively to it. Any dithering on that score would thoroughly undermine India’s concerted enterprise to emerge as one of the front-runners of globalisation. The protests over anti-Christian violence that Manmohan Singh’s delegation encountered during the PM’s recent tour of Europe bears that out. That the state government has been found to be lacking in secular-democratic will is hardly surprising. Communal polarisation that outfits such as the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have effected has, clearly, helped the BJP, and its alliance with the BJD, electorally. Reports that Bajrang Dal and VHP goons have been intimidating Christians of Kandhamal to “convert back” to Hinduism by threatening them with economic cleansing and worse is sufficient condition for stringent constitutional measures. The Orissa government must immediately ban both the organisations, which have communalised a local conflict between largely non-Christian Kondh tribals and Dalit Christians over distribution of the social pie. Evangelical activity has grown in the tribal areas of Orissa as locals, rendered hapless by a dysfunctional state delivery mechanism, have had none to turn to save the missionaries. Sangh parivar outfits have seized that opportunity to render traditional social contradictions communally volatile. Christian religious radicalism could well be its natural consequence. That would then allow the BJP to ‘legitimately’ push the Hindutva agenda in the name of defending the sovereignty of the Indian nation-state.