Institute NIA inquiry, says Digvijaya Singh on Kandhamal 5th anniversary

NEW DELHI –  The AICC general secretary and senior Congress party leader, Digvijaya Singh has called for an inquiry by NIA (National Investigation Agency) into the widespread anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal while releasing an investigative book on the fifth anniversary of the Kandhamal violence.

“Communalism in the name of any religion should not be tolerated. Kandhamal is a fit case for NIA inquiry,” pointed out Singh at the release of the book titled ‘Kandhamal craves for Justice’ authored by senior journalist Anto Akkara.

Singh congratulated the author of the investigative book for ‘pursuing the case of carnage in Orissa single-handedly’ and said that it has brought out shocking information about what had happened in Kandhamal. “I know, more than all of you, the level of infiltration that fascist forces have made into the military, police, judiciary and legislative bodies,” Singh added.

“What has happened in Kandhamal is travesty of justice. Yet, the NHRC and the government has not even responded to the report the People’s Tribunal,” pointed out Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and chairman of National People’s Tribunal on Kandhamal, after releasing the book and handing over the first copy to Digvijaya Singh.

Following the murder of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008, the massive funeral procession across Kandhamal district turned it into an inferno. In weeks of unabated violence, more than 100 Christians perished while 300 churches and 6,000 Christian houses were looted and torched, rendering 56,000 Christians refugees.

“It is shocking to read that an MLA, accused in seven murders, was sitting outside the Fast Track Court with his men – questioning everyone who goes inside,” noted Justice Shah drawing attention to ‘shocking facts’ brought out in the book published by Veritas India Books.

“Kandhamal’s story of five years is a travesty of justice. Of the 3,232 complaints, there has been a mere 75 convictions despite two Fast Track Courts being set up. Among the 27 murder trial verdicts, the Fast Track Court has found the accused guilty only in two cases. Is this justice?” asked the journalist who made 17 trips to Kandhamal ‘to investigate the mountain of injustice’. “The stoic silence of the NHRC on Kandhamal is shocking. It has not even made a press release on Kandhamal so far,” pointed out the author.

Further, Akkara noted that Kandhamal has “exposed the ugly face of Hindutva”. “Apart from hounding the Christians, the self declared protectors of Hinduism, gang-raped and burnt alive even an orphan Hindu college student looking 22 Hindu boys at a Christian centre. Is this Hinduism?” pointed out the author.

“A silent, obliging media also plays a role. Only a handful of fearless journalists like Anto Akkara have doggedly reported on the atrocities in Kandhamal. We need to applaud their work. Because, truth alone will prevail. Truth alone will save us,” remarked Swami Agnivesh, outspoken eminent social activist and reformist Arya Samaj leader.

“Without the connivance of the Chief Minister of a state, communal violence cannot happen. Even if it happens, it cannot drag on for more than 24 hours,” noted Swami Agnivesh. He also decried the silence of the NHRC to the massive injustice in Kandhamal.

Vrinda Grover, senior lawyer and human rights activist said that the injustices after the riots against Sikh in Delhi in 1984, Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 and Christians in Kandhamal calls for a stringent legislation ‘to curb the impunity behind communal violence’.

For more info Contact: antoakkara@gmail.com
+91.9958602840, 9448383350

‘Kandhamal Craves for Justice’

NEW DELHI — A new book entitled ‘Kandhamal Craves for Justice’ authored by journalist Anto Akkara packed with real-life stories, telling photos and incisive research inputs is due for release, 23^rd August 2013.

Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice A P Shah released the explosive investigative book on Kandhamal and gave the first copy to AICC General Secretary Mr. Digvijaya Singh at Speaker’s Hall, Constitution Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi.

The book by award-winning journalist Anto Akkara raises uncomfortable questions on the justice delivery system and throws up vital leads about the murder shrouded in mystery that triggered the mayhem.

Five years into the orgy of violence and deprivation, the journalist author calls for national attention into the travesty of justice in Kandhamal demanding answers to unanswered questions like:
Was there a bigger conspiracy behind the murder in the jungle?
How did the mighty arms of the Secular Democratic Republic of India respond to the challenge?
Did the judicial system falter in delivering justice?
Why did the national human rights watchdog remain silent on the blatant human right abuses in Kandhamal?

Earlier Akkara stirred the national conscience with his investigative book ‘Kandhamal – a blot on Indian Secularism’. Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayyar described it as ‘a must-read book’ at its launch in New Delhi in April 2009. Justice M F Saldana commented at the release in Bangalore that given the objectivity of the book, it should be treated as an ‘official report’ on the Kandhamal violence and urged the government to act on it.
Late K G Kannabiran, president of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties, hailed the book as ‘a charge-sheet on Kandhamal’ during the launch in Hyderabad.
Home Minister P Chidambaram who visited Kandhamal soon after receiving the book from the author told the Parliament on July 15, 2009 that what had happened in Kandhamal was ‘a blot on the face of Orissa’ – quoting the title of the book.
Armed with post graduate diploma in journalism and LL.B from Delhi University, Anto Akkara has been a journalist with international media for over two decades. The author has reported extensively from hotspots in South Asia on human rights, religious issues and social problems, winning a dozen national and international media awards in the process.
Contact:
antoakkara@gmail.com
veritasindiabooks@gmail.com
www.veritasindiabooks.org
91.9958602840, 9448383350, 9343501214

Kandhamal victims move NHRC, demand Task Force for compensation, rehabilitation, development

NEW DELHI, 13 September 2012 —  The victims of the anti Christian violence in Kandhamal in December 2007 and August-October 2008 have asked the National human Rights Commission to direct the State government to set up a Task Force which will ensure comprehensive compensation, rehabilitation, education and employment  for the people.

Initiative for Justice, peace and Human Rights secretary Advocate Fr Dibya Parichha and Dr John Dayal, Member of the National Integration Council and Secretary General, All India Christian Council, met NHRC chairman Justice K G Balakrishnan and National Minorities Commission Mr Wajahat Habibullah in New Delhi and submitted a detailed memorandum listing the shortcomings in compensation, rehabilitation, employment and justice delivery.

They pointed out that four years after the violence, the victims suffer from miscarriage of justice, inadequate compensation and almost no regard to rehabilitation and employment. Even the Central government’s Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is not properly implemented for the Christian poor. Children are the worst victim – official apathy and continuing poverty of their parents as the main reason.

An inclusive Task Force was therefore required for comprehensive action to help the victims who are yet to get out of the trauma of the violence.  It may be recalled that over 5,000 victims had staged a demonstration in the district capital Phulbani on 25 August to voice their protest at the state of affairs.

The memorandum pointed out the district administration’s  perfidy even in the matter of counting the dead.  There were outbreaks of cholera, dysentery, and malaria in the relief camps. As many as 27 persons, mostly aged or very young died because of this or of injuries sustained in the attacks. Their names are not included in the official list of deaths for compensation. Similarly  5 persons who were maimed by the attackers have also not got relief.

Widows are also in distress. 27 widows and many more whose husbands’ murders have not been recorded by the police and the administration and their aged parents are in dire need of assistance such as pension and employment.

The survey list of Orissa Government for compensation for homes damaged during the communal violence 2008 is not accurate. Hundreds of families who lost their homes were not registered. The compensation of Rs. 50, 000/- for fully damaged homes and Rs. 25, 000/- for partially damaged homes is far below the actual loss and damaged suffered and inadequate for rebuilding the structure. The compensation granted by the state towards rebuilding 230 churches and prayer halls is grossly inadequate.

Similarly, as many as 11 public institution and NGOs which were looted and destroyed during the violence by the Mob are not considered for compensation by the State Government despite the fact that Criminal complaints were registered and representations submitted to the administration for compensation. The list of 11 institutions with details is given in Annexure- 7, p. 57

Another serious issue is of the rehabilitation of Christians involved in small businesses which were totally destroyed in targeted violence. On the other hand, of the 101 shop-owners, 11 have been served notice of recovery by the banks under PMRY loan scheme (Prime Minister’s Rozagar Yozna).

It is estimated that approximately 10,000 victims are still living outside their respective villages in other districts of Orissa and migrated to states like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat etc. unable to return due to threat to lives, social and economic boycott, conditions to withdraw criminal complaints and convert to Hinduism and forcible conversion. The total number of people requires official verification

A survey by the internationally reputed “HAQ: Centre for Child Rights”, in Kandhamal during 2010-2011 revealed the nature of the severe impact of the violence on education of the affected Dalit and Tribal children. All children lost an academic year.  Those in secondary school missed the Board Examinations and many dropped out of school as they were unable to pay the fees. Hundreds of children left Kandhamal for other states like Gujarat, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh looking for work. Some were trafficked. Government has not taken any action so far.

[For more details, Please Contact Fr Dibya or Dr John Dayal 9811021072]

5,000 Kandhamal Victims Gather To Demand Justice

KANDHAMAL, 31 August, (Dan Wooding)– Around 5,000 victims and survivors of the 2008 communal violence in Kandhamal district, Orissa, attended a public rally yesterday to mark the fourth anniversary of the violence and call for justice, peace and harmony. Local authorities only granted permission on the evening before the rally, and organizers claimed they had deliberately obstructed it for as long as possible.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Bishop Sarat Nayak, Catholic Bishop of Berhampur, addressed the rally, saying, “Peace can come only when there is truth and justice.”

The Christians, some of whom covered their mouths with black ribbons, displayed banners with slogans including, “We want justice, justice, justice,” “Stop politics in the name of religion,” and “We demand brotherhood in Kandhamal.”

The rally also included a song written by Sharada Charan, a survivor of the violence, which captured some of the collective sentiment of the victims. The lyrics are translated as, “We are the people of Kandhamal / We are searching for our lost friends / We lived blinded by unfaith / We forgot love and affection in the shadow of discrimination / There are only sorrowful tears / Smiles of happiness have faded / the sons of the land are leaving / They are thrown away on the road of progress / So let’s forget the past and move forward / Singing songs of love.”

Fr. Ajay Singh, an Orissa-based human rights activist involved in facilitating the Kandhamal rally, said, “This rally was to pay homage to the dead, and to call for justice, security and livelihood for the victims. It was to draw the attention of the government and other stakeholders to these needs, and to encourage the victims and build up solidarity among them.”

“Despite the government giving permission only at the very last moment, the people came from far-flung, remote areas serviced with little public transport, braving the rain and possible threats and intimidation from the Sangh Parivar [extremist Hindu nationalist organisations] and government officials,” said a CSW spokesperson.

“That indicates their thirst for justice, which you could see written on their faces, and when they left, they had a feeling that justice would be done sooner or later. We need to see progress towards that.”

CSW said that also on August 30, the Himachal Pradesh High Court delivered a judgment in a case challenging the anti-conversion law in the state, striking down two provisions but holding the other aspects of the law to be constitutional. The court ruled against section 4 of the law, which makes it mandatory for a person seeking to convert to give prior notice to the district administration (except in the case of those re-converting to their earlier religion, which typically refers to a conversion to Hinduism), and rules 3 and 5, which mandate the state to inquire into every conversion. The Evangelical Fellowship of India, a principal petitioner in the case, welcomed the striking down of two clauses but said it was “regrettable” that the rest of the law was upheld, and noted that this “inadvertently played into the hands of communal forces.”

David Griffiths, South Asia Team Leader for CSW, said, “As Bishop Sarat noted at the Kandhamal rally, justice is a prerequisite for peace. It is important to remember that the 2008 violence in Orissa came only eight months after an earlier wave of violence, for which there was mass impunity. With extremists still perpetuating communal tensions and the victims remaining deeply disenfranchised, the only way to guard against further violence and to promote true peace is to secure justice. That is why the cry of the victims must be heard.

“In Himachal Pradesh, the ruling striking down two aspects of the anti-conversion law was welcome, but it is disappointing that the other provisions of the law were upheld. The very concept of anti-conversion laws has been strongly criticized both by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and during India’s recent Universal Periodic Review at the UN, and we fully concur with the view that these laws are in violation of India’s obligations under international law.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a Christian organisation working for religious freedom through advocacy and human rights, in the pursuit of justice.

Indian Christian Martyrs Day Celebrations on 26th August

BHOPAL, (Anand Muttungal) —  We would like to bring to your kind attention that the Isai Mahasagh (Madhya Pradesh) had initiated a programme four years back to remember the yeomen sacrifice made by our Christian brethren all over India. St. Thomas, the Apostle of India is the first martyr of India, from then on there are many Christians who sacrificed their lives for the sake of faith.

We keep remembering them but the greatest sacrifice made by the Christians of Odisha, particularly the believers of Khandmal district is ever to be remembered. The number of people embraced death for the sake of faith is over fifty, so we decided to commemorate this event on the last Sunday of August. It is in the month of August 2008 most number of believers faced death and suffering. Every Sunday Christians gather all over the world for prayer so it will be fitting to remember and pray for those Christians.

We must also remember those Christians who are living like a monument of faith facing all the sufferings. It is the case of Christians in different some parts of this Country. So the Indian Christian martyrs day is not just to remember and pray for the believers who embraced death but also those Christians who are facing suffering and threat due to their faith in Lord Jesus Christ.

We can remember all those believers from the time of St. Thomas till date. We can offer Holy Eucharist for them or special services also can be organized for them. We also request you all to organize blood donation camps to remember sacrifice of the Christian martyrs. We want to send a message to people that the blood of Christian believers can give life to many. We, the Isai Mahasangh members will be organizing special prayer services for the Indian Christian Martyrs in Madhya Pradesh.

We believe that each person forwarding this appeal and encouraging peoples and organizations to pray for the Indian Christian Martyrs are joining the suffering Christian believers in India and you are becoming part of a chain of network that pray for Christians. We appeal to Churches and organizations to partake in this initiative. So kindly forward this E- mail to all Christians.

Fr. Anand Muttungal, Chief Coordinator
Sujit William , President
Jerry Paul, General Secretary
Isai Mahasangh, Madhya Pradesh
www.isaimahasangh.in

Head Office
Isai Mahasangh
38-Patrakar Colony
Link Road No.3, Bhopal-462003, M.P
0755-4093255
isaimahasangh@gmail.com
mp.christian@yahoo.com

‘Christian persecution an exaggeration’ says Kerala Archbishop

http://www.ucanindia.in/news/%e2%80%98christian-persecution-an-exaggeration%e2%80%99/17559/daily
By Philip Mathew, Bangalore

Major abp Cleemis

NEW DELHI, (Dr. John Dayal) – The Major Archbishop is right, of course, if he is referring to the Kerala experience. In Kerala there is no persecution other than Love Jihad.

The threats in Kerala, as exemplified by the Catholic Media and the heads of the churches in the recent past, are:

1. the communists

2. the Muslims who indulge in love jihad and entice Catholic girls

2. The Muslims who are rapidly increasing in numbers and will overtake, if not overwhelm, the Catholic and Christian population and to counter which the Catholics, specially, have to produce more children.

Muslims are also an issue in theKashmirvalley where the extremist groups are persecuting the Christian micro-minority.

Unfortunately, Christian persecution at the hands of the HIndutva extremists remains a problem in as many as 14 States where the so-called “sporadic violence” continues on a  daily basis. Even Kerala’s neighbor, Karnataka, registers hundreds of cases every year – far from sporadic.

People have to visit Kandhamal to realise what violence is and what terror means to the Faith.

And of course, there is state persecution, of which the Dalit Christians will tell you more. And  the so called Freedom of Religion Bills. A church really involved in evangelization, and in dialogue of life with the people of all faiths, will be able to speak of it more

By the way, the USA and many countries of Europe are deeply concerned at the erosion of Freedom of Faith by governments and fundamentalist groups inIndia. The US has once again put India on the Watch List.

It is no one’s case that every Hindu is a terrorist and persecutor.

And even the Kerala church will not say every Muslim is a love Jehadi.

The vast majority of Hindus, as the vast majority of Muslims, is a peaceful lot. It is the one per cent lunatic fringe, as a prime minister once said, which causes the bloodshed and terror. But the one per cent of a billion Hindus is a very large number. These lunatics have to be exposed, and controlled.

God bless us all.
John Dayal

Photo exhibition captures trauma of Kandhamal riot victims

Kandhamal accused. File photo

BHUBANESHWAR: A photograph of Tupuki Digal hanging by a narrow thread from a bamboo stick swayed to and fro without a restive mooring. The movement, however, was restricted to the thread’s limit of harmonic motion. Like her picture, Tupuki, whose son was allegedly lynched by a mob in 2008, wants to move on in life, but she can’t, as the fear in her mind refuses to abate.

In a creative tribute to the victims of the Kandhamal conflict, a combination of art work and photographs tried to recreate the state of mind of the riot victims in the southern district, four year after the mass killings.”The photographs tied to narrow strings and their restricted swing illustrate the strong desire of the people to live, but who are plagued by uncertainties in an environment of intimidation,” said Shabnam Hashmi, who conceived the one-day exhibition, titled Hamwatan, showcased in the city on Friday. Another part of the exhibition comprised pictures of the dead glued to inch-long sticks. At least 50 hapless faces of men, women and children in diverse age groups stared down accusingly from the walls. “This shows nobody was spared during the conflict,” said Hashmi.Tupuki, a resident of Barakama village in Baliguda block of Kandhamal, whose 22-year-old son Ajuban was killed in the riots, said, “It was in broad day light. They chased him and killed him just like they killed several others. I was so helpless then. I am so helpless now.” Like Tupuki, hundreds of the victims of the riots were in Bhubaneswar on Friday to narrate their tale of monumental losses from which they “could never really recover”.

Chanchala Nayak, whose husband Prafulla was beaten to death in 2008, said she is still suffering the aftermath of the tragic incident. “My elder son, who used to earn his living by working as a tailor, stopped stitching cloths because he can’t go to the market,” she said, adding life has not moved an inch for the likes of her after the carnage. Chanchala, however, draws some solace from the fact that her younger son works for Odisha police now and is posted at Paradip, a long distance away from home, attempting to start life afresh. Coinciding with the exhibition, a National People’s Tribunal (NPT) released its final report on Kandhamal here on Friday. The 197-page report of NPT, headed by Justice A P Shah, observed that criminal justice system has been rendered ineffective in protecting survivors and witnesses and ensuring accountability for the crimes perpetrated. The complicity of police and their collusion with the perpetrators indicate institutional bias against the victims, the report said. The report recommended settling long-standing landlessness and land alienation problems of dalits and tribals through land reforms and redistribution.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhubaneswar/Photo-exhibition-captures-trauma-of-Kandhamal-riot-victims/articleshow/10970814.cms

Tahasildar orders demolition of Kandhamal (Nandagiri) Church

file photo

NANDAGIRI, (Br K J Markose) – Nandagiri is a resettlement colony – after the Kandhmal communal violence of August 2008, when a number of Christian families were not allowed to return to their native villages. Such families were resettled at new colonies. One of them is Nandagiri in G Udayagiri Tahasil. There are 54 Catholic and 17 Pentecostal families in this resettlement colony. From June 2009, they have been worshipping at a plot of land close to their settlement. Slowly they started building a church.

[The Nandagiri settlers are relocated Christian people from Betticola, who refused to be Hindus while their Hindu relatives still remain in Betticola. The Hindu radicals want these Christians to return to Betticola village, but on condition that they come back as Hindus. The Christians refused to do so. Hence, the administration instead of ensuring the return of the Christians to their village went ahead to relocated them in Nandagiri as per Sangha Parivar wish.

Betticola village hit the headlines as there was a Catholic parish andparishChurch, which was razed to the ground with no sign of a church foundation, and hence the administration did not bother about it. It is in this background, after shifting rehabilitation camps 5 times that the administration settled them in this relocated camp called Nandagiri. The people call it Shanti Nagar. The administration claims to have provided all facilities [including place of worship] for the people to live like Christians.]

When families were settled at Nandagiri no land was allotted for places of worship. The then District Collector (Dr Krisdhan Kumar) had verbally told that the place where worship was being conducted, would be gradually allotted for a church. That was why people slowly, as and when they got some cash built their church. Building is yet to be completed due to lack of funds.

The leader of local Christian community (Mr. Krisant Mallick) had applied to the collector for settlement of land in the name of the church. To his shock he received a notice from the Tahasildar asking him to present himself on 17 Aug and show cause as why action should not be initiated against him.

Mr Krisant Mallick pleaded that they have no other place for church and that they have been worshipping on that plot of land since June 2008.

The Tahasildar gave an order as follows: “You are directed to leave the place and take away all things and demolish the chruch under construction within 30 days, or else all things and properties shall be seized and the church under construction shall be demolished.”

Mr Krisant Mallick says that he along with his community will resist it because it was due to his faith /worship only he had to leave his native village.

Mr Amiya Pradhan a social activist says that people’s fundamental right to worship is being infringed by the order of the Tahasildar.

Sangh Parivar Creates Panic Among Kandhamal Christians

Pamphlet circulated by Sangh Parivar

NEW DELHI, (John Dayal) – Member of the National Integration Council and Secretary General of All India Christian Council, Dr John Dayal wrote, 15^th August to Chairman, National Minorities Commission, New Delhi Mr.  Wajahat Habibullah uprasing him about the serious threat in Kandhamal from the Sangh Parivar agents.

“As your aware, 23^rd August marks the third anniversary of the killing of VHP leader Lakshmananda Saraswati in Kandhamal in Orissa by Maoists, and the subsequent pogrom against the Christian Dalit and Tribal community of that region. That had led to over 56,000 Christians homeless, almost 300 churches destroyed, more than 5,600 houses burnt. A Nun and two other women were raped and many molested. The memory that that violence has  scorched the psyche of our community,” he wrote.

Dr Dayal continued, “Now, the Sangh Parivar is saying it will observe the days as “Protecting the Faith”, and has distributed handbills across the district and the state.; I enclose a copy of the handbill for your perusal.”

He further expressed the fear of Christians in kandhmal district saying, “Our community apprehends there might be trouble and violence unless the State government takes the most stringent of measures in Kandhamal and other districts.”

“I am writing this to request you to call upon the State government to do its duty by the minority community and reassure them there will be no untoward incident,” he wrote.

The President of the All India Christian Council (Orissa Chapter) Rev. Dr. P. R. Parichha, DD has also submitted a similar  letter to the District Collector of Kandhamal to prevent and contain any untoward incidents.

PM and HM Urged: Extend Hindutva Terrror Probe to Orissa & Karnataka

“Saint” Pragya Thakur

MUMBAI – According to The CSF (Christian Secular Forum) Mumbai, the recent statement (23rd March 2011) by Sadhvi Pragya Thakur to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Mumbai’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) that Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit was involved in the anti-Christian violence that rocked Orissa and Karnataka is not to be seen in isolation. Rather it is to be read along with the earlier Indian Military (MI) report which reveals Lt.Col .Prasad Srikant Purohit’s own admission that he and his Abhinav Bharat militant outfit targeted Christians in several places including MP, Maharashtra, Kandhamal and Karnataka.
According to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur’s statement the 2008 Malegaon blast main accused Lt. Col Shrikant Purohit met her a week after the attack and he told her he was into big things like blasts etc. She also alleged, he told her that he had masterminded the Orissa and Karnataka “disturbances” i.e. Kandhamal riots and attacks on churches in Mangalore. She also reportedly said he had also showed her rail tickets to prove his claims. However, the NIA has proof of an SMS sent by Lt. Col. Purohit to all his associates after the Sadhvi’s arrest, which said “Singh has sung…” implying her involvement in the Malegaon blast also and being part of the larger picture.

“Villian” Lt. Col. Shrikant Purohit

The Army Intelligence report also mentions assistants of Lt. Col. Purohit like Sameer Kulkarni, a part of the military wing of Abhinav Bharat who is known to be involved in the IED blast in Ajmer in 2007. Police records confirm his involvement in anti-Christian riots in Pune, Jabalpur and Bhopal. Lt Col Purohit admitted that on behalf of Abhinav Bharat, Sameer killed two Christians in Orissa in August 2008. This act indicated that Lt Col Purohit wanted to establish an organisation with aggressive anti-Christian stance,” the MI report said.
The anti-Christian agenda of the extremist Hindutva outfits is clear from the Sadhvi’s statement and the MI report. Hence, it is imperative that the scope of the NIA investigations on Hindutva terror be widened to include the anti-Christian attacks in Orissa and Karnataka, where it has been on an unprecedented scale. The statements of Pragya Thakur and Lt. Col. Purohit also expose the Hindutva brigade’s role in other states too – Pune in Maharashtra, Jabalpur and Bhopal in MP – to name a few. The game plan aims at crippling Christian religious places, property and institutions, besides eliminating its nascent community leadership at the grass roots.
The Union Government must act before its too late. The CSF has sent a memorandum to the prime minister and federal home minister calling for handing over of the anti-Christian violence in Orissa and Karnataka to the NIA as its brief is to counter terrorism in the country. The Sangh Parivar terror suspects include militants such as Indresh, Aseemanand, Col. Purohit, Dr. Praveen Togadia and others, who have since long been spewing venom and conducting hate pogroms against the minorities. There seems to be a clear nexus and synergy between elements of the Hindutva brigade, state machinery, lower judiciary, bureaucracy, criminals, corrupt, etc. especially in the BJP ruled states, where attacks against Christians have seen a rapid upswing.
The 2008 violence spread across 13 other districts of Orissa. In Kandhamal alone, more than 6,600 homes were destroyed, 56,000 people rendered homeless, thousands injured, and about 100 men and women burnt alive or hacked to death. Among the women raped was a Catholic nun. A BJP MLA continues to be free despite being accused of many crimes including murder and who has had his bail plea rejected by the Supreme Court. In Karnataka it was hundreds of Churches that were descecrated, Christians brutally beaten up, over 350 false cases foisted on Christians, property held by the community taken over and no relief to date received. All of which has been brought out by Justice Michael Saldanha in his independent peoples‘ enquiry report to counter the sham official report.