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Christian children salvage their belongings from a hostel damaged by supporters of VHP in Orissa. Photo Courtesy: AP
Christian groups demand special probe into violence
Thu-Oct 16, 2008
Bhubaneswar / Indo-Asian News Service
Estimating that 100 Christians may have died and 100,000 displaced since August 24, two global Christian organisations have asked the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to institute a special probe into the killing of a Hindu leader in Orissa and the communal violence it triggered in several states.
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) and the Federation of Indian Christian Organisations of North America (FIACONA) have submitted a memorandum to the NHRC stating their demand.
"There seems to be a larger conspiracy behind the attack on Christians and that needs to be investigated," said GCIC president Sajan K George.
"All Christian organisations have condemned the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in Orissa's Kandhamal district but we are totally dismayed at the ongoing attacks on Christians, their houses and institutions that continue unabated in Orissa and other parts of the country," George told IANS.
He said at least 100 have been killed, more than 50,000 displaced and 100,000 Christians affected by the violence that followed the August 23 killing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader.
"We have requested the NHRC chairperson Justice S Rajendra Babu to form a special investigation team to probe all these incidents of violence."
While Orissa was the worst hit, other states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand also witnessed violence, George added.
The Bangalore based GCIC president, who visited several relief camps here, said 83 people were killed in Orissa. "We have documented 57 of them."
In their calculation, he said, 95 cases of violence against Christians took place this year in Karnataka; of these, 72 incidents occurred after the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government assumed power in June.
Officially, the Orissa government says 36 people have been killed since August 23.
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) and the Federation of Indian Christian Organisations of North America (FIACONA) have submitted a memorandum to the NHRC stating their demand.
"There seems to be a larger conspiracy behind the attack on Christians and that needs to be investigated," said GCIC president Sajan K George.
"All Christian organisations have condemned the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in Orissa's Kandhamal district but we are totally dismayed at the ongoing attacks on Christians, their houses and institutions that continue unabated in Orissa and other parts of the country," George told IANS.
He said at least 100 have been killed, more than 50,000 displaced and 100,000 Christians affected by the violence that followed the August 23 killing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader.
"We have requested the NHRC chairperson Justice S Rajendra Babu to form a special investigation team to probe all these incidents of violence."
While Orissa was the worst hit, other states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, New Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand also witnessed violence, George added.
The Bangalore based GCIC president, who visited several relief camps here, said 83 people were killed in Orissa. "We have documented 57 of them."
In their calculation, he said, 95 cases of violence against Christians took place this year in Karnataka; of these, 72 incidents occurred after the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government assumed power in June.
Officially, the Orissa government says 36 people have been killed since August 23.
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Comments For This Post
the christen insurgents/terrorist are killing indians (non christens)in the name of GOD,in nagaland,tripura,mizoram,where christen are more than 50%.non christens not safe in nagaland,mizoram,magalaya.
these christen insugents wants indenendance from INDIA.they are getting arms,ammunation,traing from pakistan and china.
we must condemn all types of killing in name GOD.
church or christen never condemn these killing,WHY.
The International Media provocation must stop to restore peace in Kandhmal.No missionary or religious group seems to have sympathy on thousands affected by recent natural calamity in the state.The unpleasant truth of revealing Swamiji's killer will simply add fuel to the fire at this moment.It's all best known to both the religious commanders.Can we ban all missioneries in the country if the kingpin found to be a Christian?Why should we debate on banning any organisation?Why should we identify the miscreants by their religions?Does the nation need international community's interference on its internal affairs?The false propaganda of Christians or Muslims being unsafe in India is made deliberate by media and petty politicians only for vested interests.Poor pawns are always made first victims of any game plan may it be national or international conspiracy.
Kandhmal does n't need relief/rescue operation but economic development.Who'll think? Because it does n't help any religious group nor the Govt. for making poor pawns reach.Who wants to end the game?No ruler can survive once the pawns understand the game and start full fledged revolt.Who had anticipation about 9-11?Can we ensure NO 9-11 in future?
May God bless them all involved and affected in such unfortunate crisis.
Yes, a true and thourough probe is required into all the violent and related incidents in Orissa, starting from the gruesome murder of Swami Lakshmananda Saraswathi and others. But, the probe should be really true, and its fate should not be decided by the media's gloatings.
First, the true culprits behind Swamiji's murder should be caught and punished without any delay. The culprits should not be just the ones who 'claim' that they did it, and 'for the said reasons'. Even indeed if they were the culprits, a detailed probe should go into matters like who are the ones who plotted the murders, the ones who funded it, and the reasons behind such a planned murder.
Also, probe should be done and details brought out in public as to how many people were actually killed, and who were they. Although religion should not be the basis of criminal investigations, the religion of who killed and whom in absolutely necessary since almost all the media reports say 'Christians are being targeted'. So, the general public ought to know the unbiased truth.
Finally, the situation and reasons for such tensions and violence should also be probed and means to curb them worked out, again without any religious bias.
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