Thursday, March 18, 2010

BJP hits out at Naveen for refusing entry for Togadia in Kandhamal

Bhubaneswar (Orissa) : The BJP in Orissa has strongly criticized Naveen Patnaik led Government for refusing to grant permission to VHP International general secretary Prabin Togadia to visit Kandhamal district.
BJP State president Jual Oram said the State Government had allowed a European Union delegates to Kandhamal who met the local Christian clerics indulging in indiscriminate conversion of Hindu Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe people in the district.
The police who are framing false cases against them at the instigation by the local churches and foreign delegates representing EU countries subjects the tribal people to untold atrocities, he alleged.
The denial of permission to Togadia is unconstitutional, unreasonable, arbitrary and a deliberate affront against Hindus, said Oram, adding that the Chief Minister would remain squarely responsible for any untoward incident that might erupt due to this blatantly discriminatory treatment which is extremely challenging.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Nine get jail, one acquitted in Kandhamal riots case

Bhubaneswar: Nine people were convicted and sentenced to four years in jail by a trial court on Tuesday for their role in the riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district in 2008. One man was acquitted due to lack of evidence.

'Nine people were convicted and sentenced to a four-year jail term and fined Rs.5,500 each in a case of arson during Kandhamal riots. One man named Hrushi Pradhan has been acquitted in the absence of evidence,' P.K. Patra, the public prosecutor, said.

The Fast Track Court-II Judge C.R. Das convicted the nine people of Salesaru village for torching the house of Balusan Digal and other villagers on Aug 25, 2008.

Kandhamal district, about 200 km from here, witnessed widespread violence after the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram on Aug 23, 2008.

More than 25,000 Christians were forced to flee after their houses were attacked by rampaging mobs that held Christians responsible for Saraswati's killing, although the police blamed the Maoists.

The government has set up two fast track courts to try cases related to the communal violence.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Raped nun fails to get notice for ID parade

Police have failed to notify a Catholic nun, raped during the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Orissa, of an identity parade including a new suspect in the case.

“Unofficially we knew … that the court fixed March 8″ for the identification lineup, Lansingh Lu Rongmei, one of a team of lawyers dealing with the nun’s case told UCA News today.

“But until she gets the summons, how can she attend?” the lawyer asked.

The nun, 29, also feared going to Kandhamal and she planned to request that the court move the police lineup outside the district.

On two previous occasions, the court had allowed the lineup to be moved to Cuttack, the state’s ancient capital, as the nun did not feel safe in Kandhamal.

Kandhamal was the epicenter of the seven-week long riot where she was raped on Aug. 25.

“The district is not yet safe for the nun. And, we also do not think the police would act in a fair manner,” the lawyer said.

She accused police of standing by while the nun was paraded half naked after she had been raped.

Rongmei said the investigating officer had applied to the court in Balliguda, Kandhamal, last month for an identity parade featuring the new suspect.

Father Thomas Chellan, who was also attacked on the same day, was also due to attend but he did not receive notification either, she said.

The last time the nun attended a lineup was on June 23, 2009, conducted inside Choudwar Circle Jail in Cuttack. Police lined up about 80 people, mixing prisoners with eight suspects, and asked the nun to identify those who attacked her.

A similar exercise was conducted on Dec. 5, 2008. On that day, she identified two people — one who slapped her and another who was in the crowd that attacked her.

Sister Mary Pulickal, superior of the nun, told UCA News today that the nuns “will not go to Kandhamal; we cannot go there because we do not feel safe.” Press Trust of India, quoting official sources, said 19 people have been arrested in the case so far. The state police’s Crime Branch was in search of two others, they said.

The news agency said Crime Branch officials also failed to turn up for yesterday’s lineup.

Click here for source

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

If one is not Hindu he could not be Indian: Bhagwat

Bhopal, Feb 28 (PTI) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat today said that those who were Indians were Hindus and if one was not a Hindu he could not be an Indian.
"For us the word Hindu did not mean any religion but a way of life," he said at an annual function of the RSS and the Hindu Samagam here.
The Union Finance Minister had in his budget speech quoted from Chanakaya but this was totally out of context, Bhagwat said, adding that what Chanakaya had said was valid for his times and not the present-day India.
The RSS chief hit out equally at America and China for trying to undermine India in a number of ways.
Bhagwat said that while America dumped rejected and cheap drugs in India, China was making attempts to make sure that it alone was the most powerful power in South Asia.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/541930_If-one-is-not-Hindu-he-could-not-be-Indian--BhagwatClick here for source