Increasing Violence and Death as Hindus and Christians Clash in India
At least 18 people are confirmed dead in 92 incidents of violence against Christians since suspected Maoists murdered Hindu leader Swamiji Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others on Saturday, August 23rd in Orissa state, says Compass News Direct (CND).
With Hindu extremists inciting hatred by heated accusations that Christians killed Saraswati, the national newspaper Hindu reported yesterday that nine people had been killed in Orissa violence, and a CND source near the state capital of Bhubaneswar confirmed an additional nine people slain.
The figure of 92 incidents thus far comes from the Global Council of Indian Christians.
Additionally, the Compass source said that Hindu extremists killed Pastor Samuel Naik of the Bakingia Seventh-Day Adventist Church at Kandhamal. Pastor Mukunda Bardhan from Mukundapur, Gajapati was burned to death earlier this week.
Three other people whose names have not yet been verified, said the source, were killed in Katingia village of G. Udaygiri, along with a pastor belonging to Operation Mobilization from the same area. In Badimunda, about seven miles from G. Udaygiri, nearly 25 Christian homes were burned down.
CND says there were many reports of Christians being pulled from their homes and killed or beaten, with many homes of Christians torched in Baliguda. According to reports by the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI), the East India office of Compassion International in Bhubaneswar was ransacked.
“Some people have called the violence ‘Hindu-Christian clashes,’" said Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the All India Christian Council (aicc). "But this is not accurate. Innocent Christians – mostly of Dalit origin – continue to be attacked by communal organizations which are mocking the rule of law. Governance in Orissa state appears to have disintegrated.”
From December 24, 2007 through January 2, 2008, attacks in Kandhamal district killed at least four Christians and destroyed more than 100 churches and 730 Christian homes. Several dozen women were sexually harassed and assaulted, and more than 40 shops belonging to Christians were looted and destroyed. Most of the victims were Dalits, formerly known as untouchables.
The current crisis appears to be a continuation and expansion of this violence, sparked by the murder of Swami Saraswati.
According to CND, Saraswati and four others were killed by suspected Maoists in the swami's ashram, or religious center, in the Jalespata area of Kandhamal district's Tumudiband Block in Orissa state. A warning letter found at the Saraswati religious center and use of expensive arms suggested Maoists were behind the attack.
CND also says Orissa Police Chief Gopal Chandra Nanda downplayed the violence, telling Reuters that incidents were only "sporadic" and that "some prayer houses have been attacked and vehicles have been burnt." Likewise, local authorities and media have painted the shutdown as "peaceful," denying that organized attacks took place. The state is ruled by a coalition of the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal party.
At the same time, CND says that Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists have continued to incite hatred against Christians and criticized the local government. VHP Secretary General Pravin Tagodia accused the state government of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of acting like a "eunuch" and demanded his apology for the killing of Saraswati and his companions.
"Christians murdered Swamiji, but the government is lying and giving it a Maoist color," Tagodia said. "Naveen as an individual and police, in particular, are responsible for this attack orchestrated by the church on Hindu dharma.''
Sources from Kandhamal district told CND that hundreds of Christians along with their families have fled to the nearby forests to save their lives in the rainy climate and are without shelter, food and clothing.
"Three adults and one child were reportedly killed in fresh violence in Barakhama, Kandhamal," EFI News reported.
Michael Ireland of Assist News Service reports that a delegation of Christian leaders in New Delhi met with Home Minister Shivraj Patil to brief him of the situation and to register their concern. Patil assured the Christian delegation, including the Rev. Dr. Richard Howell, general secretary of EFI, and Father Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India of the central government's support in curbing violence against Christians in the state.
The VHP and its allies had called for a 12-hour shutdown to protest the killing of the swami, and Christian leaders expected Hindu mobs would use it to mobilize strikes at the Christian community.
"But what has taken place has even surpassed what we expected," said one pastor who wished to remain anonymous.
According to the CND report, Hindu extremists paraded the body of Saraswati throughout nearby villages, whipping up anger and mobilizing crowds against Christians, in uncontested defiance of a Kandhamal district administration prohibition against the gathering of four or more people. Among the slogans shouted was, "Kill Christians and destroy their institutions."
More from CBN's Christian World News
More from Spiritual Life
More from CBN News
More from ChurchWatch
More from Craig von Buseck