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Urgent prayer needed as another Hindu leader is killed in Orissa

Suspected Maoist rebels murdered another Hindu leader of the fundamentalist organization, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), last week in Orissa, according to reports from Voice of the Martyrs Canada, reports MNN.

According to VOMC, a group of about 15 attacked 30-year-old Prabbhat Panigrahi in Orissa's Kandhamal district and shot him on Thursday, March 19. Panigrahi was recently released after being arrested in connection with anti-Christian riots; he was one of 14 local RSS leaders targeted on a hit-list released by Maoists.

The RSS is an all-male organization designed to foster nationalism in India's Hindus. To the RSS, Hinduism isn't simply a religion; it's a way of life. Maoists targeted local RSS leaders for their alleged anti-Christian activities during the riots.

As they have in the past, Hindus are accusing Christians of being involved with the Maoists. They accuse believers of working with Maoists to kill their enemies; some hold that Maoists aren't killers but the church's "paid goons."

In August 2008, fundamentalist groups blamed Christians for the murder of Hindu swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. A wave of anti-Christian attacks followed, resulting in hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries. VOMC asks you to join them in urgent prayer that this recent murder wouldn't result in another wave of persecution.

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TAGS: India Orissa violence anti-Christian violence Hindu leader persecution Laxmanananda Saraswati

[03/25/2009]

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