Jagannath Temple at Puri

Churches, houses are burned in anti-Christian violence

It was a horrendous Christmas for some Christians in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, India, reports James Varghese, special to ASSIST News Service.

UCA News reported that there violence against Christians continued for the third day, with one person reported killed and many churches, Church institutions, and Christian houses and shops burned.

Police imposed a curfew in four towns of tribal-dominated Kandhamal district, where most of the incidents were reported. Reports say one Christian was killed in Barakhamba village. They also say 11 churches were attacked and Christians were fleeing from villages to the jungle.

According to UCA News, the violence began on Dec. 24, when about 500 men attacked a tent displaying the nativity scene that Christians of various denominations jointly put up in Bamunigam, a small town in the district, 335 kilometers southwest of the state capital of Bhubaneswar. The Orissa capital is 1,745 kilometers southeast of New Delhi.

UCA News reported that following the incident, Christians reportedly blocked Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a Hindu religious leader who was traveling to Bamunigam.

A Catholic priest told UCA News on Dec. 26 that the Hindu leader was stopped lest he spread more hatred and violence.

He said that the swami has a history of delivering inflammatory speeches that incite violence against religious minorities. “Therefore Christians hoped stopping him would clam down the situation,” explained the priest, who spoke on condition of anonymity. However, Hindu activists spread rumors that Christians had attacked the Hindu leader, and the violence spread to other places.

UCA News reported that in light of the continuing tension, most churches cancelled midnight and morning Christmas services. But that did not stop the violence.

Hindu extremists attacked three Catholic and eight Baptist churches. Bamunigam's Our Lady of Lourdes Church, which came under attack until late at night on Christmas day, suffered the worst damage. Attackers broke its windows and doors, and set it on fire.

UCA News reported that all Catholic institutions in the area, including a convent and seminary, were attacked. Two Church-run hostels and high schools were not spared either, and rioters also targeted a few shops managed by Christians in Bamunigam and six Catholic houses in a nearby village.

In Balliguda village, a church, the priest's office, a minor seminary, a convent and the Church-run computer institution were attacked.

On Dec. 25 morning, UCA News reported, vandals torched Pobingia parish church and its presbytery, after breaking their doors and windows.

At least eight Baptist churches were also attacked in Kandhamal district.

UCA News reported that Christian leaders in Orissa complain their people face ongoing attacks. The state is now ruled by a coalition of a regional party and the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian people's party). The BJP is considered the political wing of groups that try to make India a Hindu theocratic state.

According to UCA’s report, during the last decade in Orissa, Christian houses and churches have been set on fire, tribal Christians have been harassed and boycotted, and pastors and other Christians have been killed.

And in 1999, UCA News reported, right-wing Hindu activists burned to death Australian Protestant missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two sons. The killing of a Catholic priest, Father Arul Doss of Balasore diocese, also occurred the same year.

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[01/03/2008]

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