Now, MP town denies permission for Christian convention under pressure from Hindutva brigade

After declaring a marriage between a Christian man and a Hindu girl invalid, the local administration in Jobat, Alirajpur, has refused permission to the minority community to hold an annual gathering on the ground that it was likely to “disturb peace”.

The four-day gathering organized by All India United Christian Front (AIUF) and Moksha Foundation (MF) was supposed to start from Monday at an agricultural field which is two kilometers away from Jobat town. 

The town earlier saw protests by right-wing organizations after a Christian man married a Hindu girl.

The police administration had declared as invalid the marriage between Joseph Pawar and Ayushi Wani, both major, who tied the knot at an Arya Samaj temple in Bhopal.

The 5th Massihi Atmik Jagruti Sabha had been planned in advance but the administration first cancelled the permission on September 30 after Hindu organizations threatened to begin an indefinite protest from October 1 till the couple was not traced and the woman restored to her parents.

While denying the permission, SDM (Jobat) Sharda Chouhan in a letter to Kapil Sharma, who is founder of MF and state head of AIUF said if the meet was held “Wani Samaj and Hindu Sangathan(s) could commit some cognizable offence.” The SDM quoted an input by the in-charge of the Jobat Police Station behind the refusal.

The couple was traced and brought to Jobat on October 1, the day Hindu organizations enforced a complete bandh but withdrew the call for indefinite protest. Ayushi told the administration that she loved Joseph and refused to go back to her parents. While she was sent to Nari Niketan in Ujjain, Joseph was escorted to Indore.

Thinking that the matter had been resolved, Sharma again wrote to the SDM seeking fresh permission for the meet. He said invites had been sent to followers weeks in advance and it would be difficult to stop them from coming to Jobat.

Sharma told The Indian Express that on Sunday he got a call from the SDM to convey the administration’s decision that the permission for the meet remained cancelled because the atmosphere was still charged.

Chouhan informed that the ‘mahaul’ was not conducive for the gathering of Christians and that the permission had been denied because it could have become a law and order issue. “What if something goes wrong? Then we will be blamed for having allowed the meet to take place” she said adding tempers were still running high. She said the venue (agriculture field) suggested the meet was planned at a larger scale.

Sharma said that he would challenge the denial of permission in a court of law because the minority community’s constitutional right was being violated.

Fr Anand Muttungal of Isai Mahasangh slammed the Alirajpur administration saying security concern was an excuse. “How could permission be refused for a peaceful meet that could have taken place inside a church,” he asked dubbing the cancellation as “deliberate”.

Refusing the allegation by right-wing organizations that people are converted during the annual meet, Sharma’s letter to the SDM said “no one has been converted in the last four meets and no one will be converted in future.”

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Police annuls marriage of a Christian boy and Hindu girl under pressure from Hindutva brigade

The campaign against alleged `love jihad’ conspiracy has taken its toll on a marriage involving a Christian boy and a Hindu girl in Jobat town of tribal-dominated Alirajpur district in Madhya Pradesh.
Joseph Pawar and Ayushi Wani who eloped and married in an Arya Samaj temple in Bhopal four days ago were traced by the police to Pawagarh in Gujarat after Hindu Jagaran Manch (HJM) and other right-wing organizations threatened to launch a massive agitation.
The town observed a complete bandh on Wednesday the day the superintendent of police met the two families separately in his office as hundreds of right-wing activists assembled in the premises.

Ayushi, 19, told Alirajpur SP Akhilesh Jha that she loved Josesh, a nursing college student and that she went with him on her own. She refused to return to her parents and was later sent to Nari Niketan in Ujjain.
The activists wanted Joseph booked for luring Ayushi into marriage but the police said no case could be made against him because she was a major and gave a statement that she loved him. Joseph was escorted to Indore under police protection after the police told him that he would not be safe given that tempers were running high.
The police declared the marriage invalid saying Joseph is not a Hindu and that he will have to convert to Hinduism by following the procedure laid in the Freedom of Religion Act, which says the potential convert and those presiding over the ceremony should notify the district magistrate a month in advance.
Jha told The Indian Express that he did what appeared best in the circumstances given that 300-400 activists had gheraoed his office and the threat of arson and damage to government property was looming large. “There are some plus and minus points when an administrator takes a decision in such matters.’’
Joseph tried to argue that the marriage in Arya Samaj temple was done following Hindu rituals.
Ayushi’s family had filed a complaint on September 26 when she did not return home from college. Hindu activists threatened to take to the streets when it was revealed that she had eloped with a Christian boy and gave the police time till September 30 to trace and bring the couple back to Jobat.
The police claimed they used their network to find that after the marriage on September 28 the couple went to Pavagarh from where the two were brought to Jobat on October 1.
The SP said situation had returned to normal on Thursday but that it was not safe for Joseph to return. “It’s possible that he could apply for converting his faith,’’ he said.

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Protests over 'tribal' Virgin Mary and baby Jesus in Jharkhand

From BBC News. See below for link.

A new statue which shows Virgin Mary and baby Jesus as tribals has been installed in a church in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, sparking off protests from non-Christian tribal groups.

Wearing a red-bordered white sari, red blouse, necklace and bangles and holding baby Jesus in a cloth sling, the statue has invited both anger and astonishment.

Unveiled by Cardinal Telesphor P Toppo on 26 May, the statue stands tall in the local church in Singhpur village, 15km (nine miles) from the state capital, Ranchi.

But ever since its installation, the statue has attracted the ire of some non-Christian tribal groups who are demanding its immediate removal.

Some of them even took out a protest march on 17 June in Ranchi in support of their demand.

"It is for the first time in the state that Mother Mary and baby Jesus have been portrayed as tribals. What was the need for it?" asks Bandhan Tigga, head priest of Sarna Society, which represents non-Christian tribal population of the state.

In Jharkhand, 27% of the population or 8.6 million people are tribals and only 3% of the tribal population is Christian.

"Showing Mother Mary as a tribal is a part of the larger design to make the tribal population believe that she was from their community and confuse them," says Mr Tigga.

"A 100 years from now, people here would start believing that Mother Mary was actually our tribal goddess. It's an attempt to convert Sarna tribals to Christianity."

'Nothing wrong'

Mr Tigga and his society leaders have asked the local Archbishop's House to remove the statue.

"If they do not remove it, a nationwide protest will be organised," he warns.

The Christian tribals, however, see nothing wrong with the statue - as residents of Jharkhand, they says they have "equal rights" over the red-bordered white sari and other tribal outfits.

"What's wrong in this? It's just like the Chinese, Japanese, Irish, German or even the African version of Mother Mary and baby Jesus," says Father Augustine Kerketta at the Archbishop House in Ranchi.

Some tribal groups have protested demanding the removal of the statue

"It happens everywhere as part of enculturation of the local tradition."

Cardinal Telesphor P Toppo is away in Rome and in his absence, Father Augustine has been nominated to negotiate with the non-Christian tribals over the controversial statue.

Father Augustine downplays the protests saying only a section of the non-Christian tribal population took part in them.

He says the charges levelled by the Sarna Society are "without any substance" and accuses some politicians of being behind the protests.

"General elections are due early next year and some people may wish to divide the Christian and non-Christian tribal populations for political gains," he says.

Nevertheless, he hopes to resolve the issue at their next meeting scheduled for 14 July.

But leaders of the Sarna Society say they do not expect much to come out of the meeting unless the statue is removed.

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Karnataka : Christians Attacked

Hindu extremists attack a Christian family, beat them up including two women, damaged their house and accused them of forceful conversion in Vyasmallapura Thanda, Bellary District, Karnataka.

According to reports from EFI, the extremists shouting and beating a Tahndora (drum) on May 28 blocked the believers, stopped them from going to the church and threatened them that there will be a village panchayat on Monday to pass judgment on Devendra Naik and his family for their faith in Christ.

On the same day, Naik reported the matter to the area Sub Inspector, Girish Naik, but the Inspector ignored his call, reported our correspondent.

Subsequently on the next day, a mob of about 50 extremists led by Umesh Naik broke the house of Davendra Naik, beat him up and his mother, sister and father and forcefully brought them to Sevalal temple.

Area Christian leaders intervened and the police summoned the extremists to the station and questioned them. The entire conversation was documented.

The extremists accused Devendra Naik of forcible conversion and claimed that they are ready to go to jail as well stand before the court as witnesses that Naik is involved in forceful conversion.

Thereafter, the police threatened to arrest the Christian’s family on charges of forcible conversion. However, Naik told the police that he was not involved in any kind of forceful conversion, reported our correspondent.

Area Christians leaders submitted a letter to the police officials on behalf of Naik that he was not involved in forceful conversion.

The police thereafter arranged a peace talk between the two parties and reached a compromise. Protection was given to Naik and his family and a constable was posted in the area to see the development in this issue.

In Hadagali Taluk there are about 6 Churches with 450 believers.

15,000 Christians Protest on Good Friday in India

Around 15,000 Christians walked, many barefoot, for six hours in the streets of Mumbai, India, on Good Friday enacting Jesus’ walk to the Cross and condemning growing attacks on the minority community.

This 24th Annual Lenten Walking Pilgrimage was held especially to give hope to and express solidarity with the persecuted Christians, the event’s chief organizer Joseph Dias told The Christian Post.

The gathering comprised of Christians from evangelical as well as mainline Protestant churches “apart from the Catholics, who formed the majority,” said Dias, who leads the organization behind the rally, Christian Revival Oriented Social Service.

“The mammoth serpentine procession of devotees wended its way through the city fasting and praying, some walking bare-foot and thereby embracing pain, to commemorate the first and final walk Jesus undertook over 2000 years ago,” said Fatima Corriea, the media assistant of CROSS.

Dias said around 10,000 Christians joined the march as it began from Sacred Heart Church in Khar in the suburb of Mumbai, India’s financial capital and the base of India’s film industry Bollywood, at 10.30 a.m. (local time). “Christians kept joining along the way and the numbers swelled to around 15,000 at the end.”

The Christians marched acting out the betrayal of Jesus by Judas, his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and finally His passion at the cross. “The likes of such a penance which normally happens in the Philippines or Latin America, came alive as the Passion Play of Christ was dramatized.”

“However, no one inflicted pain on their bodies; they just fasted and walked barefoot,” Dias clarified. The objective was to highlight the “increasing and continued attacks on Christians, including their organizations, institutions, property and businesses, and especially the plight of women and children who suffer more than the direct victims in the aftermath of persecution.”

Dias, who also heads the Catholic Secular Forum, a group which fights Christian persecution in India, pointed out that the incidence of anti-Christian violence was high mainly in the states of Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai.

In these states, Christians also face false charges under anti-conversion legislation and other laws, Dias complained. Freedom of religion acts, known as anti-conversion laws, are in force in five Indian states. Vaguely defined, some of these laws require prior permission from authorities for any religious conversion.

Christians, around 2.3 percent of the country’s population of over 1.2 billion, came under attack after the Rightwing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party won the 1998 general election. The attacks were part of a BJP’s strategy to compel the people to vote along communal lines and thereby gain an edge over the Grand Old Party, the Indian National Congress, which has traditionally seen religious minorities as their vote-bank.

Although the BJP lost the following elections in 2004 and 2009, Christians do not seem too happy with the Congress party either. The Good Friday rally was also to protest the ruling government’s “apathy” towards Dalit Christians, Dias said.

The Indian constitution gives affirmative action rights to the millions of people who are “low caste” as per the caste hierarchy in the Hindu society. However, if a Dalit converts to Christianity or Islam, she or he loses those rights.

India has over 17 million Dalit Christians and they have been demanding restoration of their rights, but the incumbent government led by the Congress party remains non-committal.

Dias also pointed out that a Dutch missionary, Father Jim Borst, had been asked to leave India, “after almost 50 years of selfless service” in Indian Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region. He added that southern and north-eastern parts of the country which had been peaceful vis-à-vis Christian persecution until recent years had also become hostile to the Christian minority.

Since 2008, India has witnessed between 100 and 200 attacks on Christians, including rape, arson, murders and mass killings, every year.

But the persecution needed to be fought prayerfully and peacefully in line with the spirit of the Lenten season, Dias stressed. “Our rally offers thousands of Christians, who partake in the procession, an opportunity to deny one’s self of daily comforts and do penance on an auspicious day.”

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Marxist-Leninist fact-finding report says 500 Christians killed in Orissa in August-September 2008 pogrom, cites government officer

[Marxism] MLIN [Nov.-Dec.08] ML International Newsletter, November-December 2008

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation international team

Liberation Magazine, November, 2008.

Websites: [mlint.wordpress.com] and [www.cpiml.org]

Emails: [cpiml_elo@yahoo.com] and [cpimllib@gmail.com]

Orissa Pogrom

Fact-Finding Report on Kandhamal Situation

A Communist Party of India [CPI (ML)] fact-finding team visited Orissa's Kandhamal District on 15-16 October, 2008. The team visited affected villages and relief camps, after facing interrogation by the Orissa Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The team also met District Magistrate (DM) and various police officials of Kandhamal district. Below is a report by team member J P Minz.

1. The District Magistrate's (DM) Statement: The DM told us that Kandhamal had been peaceful for the preceding ten days. Whereas there used to be fifteen relief camps, now only seven were operational, having 12,641 people. According to him, breakfast, meals, supplementary food meant for children, and iron and calcium tablets for pregnant women are available in these camps; a doctor is available round the clock; books are available for children and there are
regular reading sessions. Blankets, sarees, buckets and mugs and similar essentials have also been provided.

2. Conditions at the Relief Camps: Our team visited Phulbani, Tikabali, Ji Udaygiri and Rakiya relief camps and found that the inmates of the camp are living in extremely bad conditions. In the
name of breakfast they get only fifty grams of chura (beaten rice) and rice-dal for meals, which is not enough to satisfy the needs of hunger and nutrition. In the name of supplementary food, the children are occasionally given biscuits. Bathing soaps have been distributed just
once in the camps. The doctors do visit but patients are told that there is no medicine. There is no arrangement for pregnant women. The camp inmates sleep on plastic mats on the ground. They have to defecate in the open, which apart from being unhygienic also puts them
in danger. One inmate of Ji Udaygiri camp, we were told, was killed when he had gone to defecate.

3. Role of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal: The victims in all the relief camps unanimously told the fact finding team that it is the VHP and Bajrang Dal cadres who have sowed the seeds of communal division in the villages. They used to organize meetings of
the Kandha tribals and incite them to attack the Christian hamlets and also provided funds for doing this.

4. Role of the Police and Administration: The anti-Christian riots in Kandhamal started on the day of the bandh called by VHP after the murder of Swami Lakshmananad, and these riots continued for over a month. In the communal fire two hundred Christian villages and 127
Church and prayer halls were either destroyed or burnt. Apart from this, schools, hospitals, hostels and convents also have been damaged. The incidents of killings, rape and loot also were carried out in addition to former incidents. The shocking fact is that all these
incidents took place in full view of police and the police remained mute spectators.

The official figure for deaths has been reported to be 31, however, a senior government official on the condition of anonymity informed that he himself consigned two hundred dead bodies - found from the jungle - to flames after getting them collected in a tractor. As per his
estimates based on the intensity and pace of killings the number of those killed is over five hundred.

5. Atmosphere of Terror: The Christians continue to experience great terror. The Sangh outfits are campaigning for sending back the CRPF and the Nikhil Utkal Kui community is threatening to launch an armed movement. Riot-victims are frightened to go back to their villages
because they have been threatened that if they return they will be hacked into pieces. The rioters are also proclaiming that only Hindu converts will be allowed to return. On the other hand, those in charge of the relief camps are pressurizing the riot victims to return to
their villages saying that the life has returned to normalcy and peace has returned.

Conclusions:

1. This violence was a pre-planned anti-Christian communal assault, and in no way was it a 'clash' between adivasi (tribals) and dalits.

2. This violence which had full support from the Biju Janta Dal
Government was planned and executed by VHP and Bajrang Dal.

3. The Sangh's propaganda about 'indiscriminate religious conversion' is a far cry from facts, as the Christian population of Orissa is only 2.5 per cent of the total population. It is to be noted that Christian missionaries began working in Orissa 150 years back.

4. Dalits have far less proportion of land in comparison to the Kandha tribals. In Kandhamal 90 per cent land is government land, 5.5 percent belongs to tribals and rest 4.5 per cent belongs to Dalits, OBC and Oriya (businessmen). There is not much difference in the economic
conditions of the tribals and the dalits. The dalits are very slightly better off as they engage in small businesses.

Our Demands:

1. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal (BD) should be banned.

2. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik responsible for the violence should
tender his resignation immediately

3. The accused for the riots be immediately arrested.

4. The Orissa Govt. must reconstruct all houses, churches, schools, hostels, hospitals and other social-religious structures demolished during the violence and for other damages adequate compensation be granted after a proper survey

5. The relief camps be run for another six months and proper civic arrangements for food, medicine and sanitation be made in these camps.

6. Arrangements be made for registering First Information Reports (FIRs) related to the communal violence at all police stations.

7. Peace process be initiated and guarantees be made for reopening and running of schools, hospitals and other institutes run by the Christian missionaries.

Orissa Pogrom

United Protests: South Orissa Bandh by CPI (ML) and Other Parties Liberation, November, 2008.

On 13th October CPI (ML) Liberation along with four other parties – CPI (ML) New Democracy (ND), Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) [CPI (ML)], Socialist Unity Center of India (SUCI) and Samajwadi Jan Parishad held a successful bandh in five districts of South Orissa - Kandhamal, Rayagada, Gajapati, Koraput and Ganjam – against the carnage in Kandhamal, the complicity of the Navin Patnaik Government and the criminal inaction of the Congress-led UPA
Government at the Centre. The bandh was total in the five districts and marked by the spontaneous participation of people. Around 10, 000 people actively participated in Liberation's initiatives to make the bandh a success in Rayagada; 1200 in Gajapati.

Holding that the ruling BJD as well as Congress which is in power at the Centre too have blood on their hands because of their hands-off approach towards the Sangh Parivar mobs, the CPI (ML) had declined to join a joint protest announced by Communist Party of India (CPI) and
the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)] with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress party in the state.

In Bhubaneswar, trains were stopped and the National Highway blocked by 200 Liberation activists. Comrade Tirupati Gomango held a rally of around 8000 people at Gunupur. The bandh sent out a stern political message rejecting the communal violence against thousands of
Christians by the Sangh outfits and condemning the forces in power which are allowing the violence to take place unhindered.

CPI (ML) Liberation's Nation Wide Protests

On October 3, CPI (ML) held nation-wide protests demanding prosecution of Chief Ministers of Orissa and Karnataka for allowing saffron mobs to indulge in an anti-Christian pogrom; demanding a ban on the Sangh outfits guilty of communal violence and protesting against the UPA Government's refusal to take stern action against the communal
killers. A memorandum to the President of India was submitted from all over the country. The memorandum, raising all the above issues and demands, also noted that the Sangh's accusations of 'forced conversion' was actually serving to cover up their own acts of forcing
adivasis and Christians to convert to Hinduism. Conversion from Hinduism has largely been an act of rebellion by the oppressed castes against the caste-ridden Hindu fold, noted the memo, and "the current wave of violence is therefore also an attempt to terrorise the Dalits and other oppressed social groups for their rebellion – and is therefore acontinuation of social oppression in another form." The acts of humiliation of Christians that have come to light – raping,
parading naked, and forcing to eat excreta as 'purification' ritual – are all reminiscent of the atrocities against Dalits.

The party also noted the increasing incidents of communal violence in Dhule (Maharashtra) and Adilabad (Andhra Pradesh), in which the minority community bore the brunt of the attacks. Also, it condemned the Tarun Gogoi Government for allowing the Bodo-Muslim clashes to
take place, which had resulted in thousands of people being driven into refugee camps.

In Delhi, activists of CPI (ML) gathered at Parliament Street and burnt an effigy of Navin Patnaik and Yeddyurappa, and submitted a memorandum to the President.

In Karnataka, another major centre of the ongoing communal violence, protest demonstrations were held in various places in the state, and the memorandum to the President was sent through the tahsildars in the taluks. More than hundred people protested in front of taluk office at Harapanahalli. The demo evoked much expectation in the town as a
church near Harapanahalli was also attacked sometime back. Our comrades had helped in getting bail for the Christian priests, on whom false cases had been foisted in addition to the attack on their church. The demo at Gangavati was also impressive and demonstrators
shouted slogans against BJP that is coming out with its true colours after assuming power in the state. The demo at HD Kote near Mysore protestors included construction labourers and All India Central Coordination of Trade Unions (AICCTU) activists.

In Jharkhand, hundreds of people marched in the capital of Ranchi. The March against Communalism, in the Sainik Bazaar campus, was led by CPI (ML) General Secretary Comrade Dipankar. The March culminated in a mass meeting at Albert Ekka Chowk, addressed by many leaders. Protest processions, effigy burning, dharnas and mass meetings were also held
at various district headquarters (HQs) in Jharkhand; Bihar; Assam and Karbi Anglong; UP; W. Bengal, Tamilnadu, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Durg.

All India Progressive Womens Association (AIPWA) between 10-14 October, held protests and submitted a memorandum to the President of India demanding ban on the Sangh outfits Bajrang Dal and VHP responsible for assaults on Christians, and a Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape of a nun in Orissa.

Cong takes out peace rally in Kandhamal

Phulbani (PTI): In a bid to restore normalcy in Orissa's riot-hit Kandhamal district, Congress took out a peace rally here on Sunday.

A large number of Congress workers, including several prominent leaders, marched through the main roads of the town to spread the message of harmony among the people in the strife-torn district.

As the rally passed through the town, a large number of local residents belonging to different sections of society and communities joined the march seeking restoration of peace in the district, which had been witnessing violence since the killing of VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati on August 23.

They went around the town carrying placards and banners with messages for peace and harmony, as a 'rath' moved along amidst recitation of 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram'.

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MEMORANDUM TO THE GOVERNOR OF ORISSA

At the culmination of the Protest and Prayer Rally of the Christians of Delhi and National Capital Region at Orissa Bhawan on 29th August 2008, and the closure of all Christian institutions in the country in solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the State

To
His Excellency Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare
The Governor of Orissa
Bhubaneswar

Sir,

In deep anguish and pain, We, the Christian Community of the Delhi and National Capital Region, submit this memorandum to you, and not to the Chief Minister of Orissa, because we believe that by not stopping the
Ethnic Cleansing of Christians in Orissa in the last six days, he has abdicated his Constitutional duties to the Sangh Parivar and thereby has forfeited his right to be in Government.

We therefore approach you, as the Constitutional Head of the State of Orissa and protector of the rights of the State’s citizens irrespective of their religion, caste or ethnic status, to restore sanity, peace, and the Rule of Law in the State, protect the life, liberty and property of the Christian community, specially in Kandhamal and other affected districts.

As you know, in the last six days in the second wave of mass violence since Christmas 2007, almost a score of Christian men and women have been brutally killed in acts reminiscent of the massacre of the Sikhs in Delhi and other places in 1984, and of the Muslims in 1993 in
Mumbai and 2002 in Gujarat.

Nuns have been raped, pastors, Priests, religiousworkers injured in their hundreds. Over forty churches have been destroyed, many for the second time, apart from once again hundreds upon hundreds of houses burnt in towns, villages and forest settlements. Christians have been chased and hunted like animals. In case your intelligence apparatus has not briefed you properly, we attach herewith an incomplete list of the murder and mayhem in Orissa, as we gather data from the victims
and the kin of the dead.

There is no element of doubt as to who is the perpetrator of the violence. It is the Sangh Parivar, and its component elements, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Vanvasi Kalyan Sangh, and especially groups connected with the ashrams of the late VHP Vice president Lakshmanananda Saraswati.

VHP leaders, including Mr. Praveen Togadia have openly called for ethnic cleansing, and others have vowed not to rest from their bloody labours till they have rid Orissa of Christians.

The police have looked on for six months. They have often abetted in the violence and never intervened to save the hapless Christians and their institutions.

Instead, the official machinery and the top policemen and bureaucrats have parroted the lies of the Hindutva Sangh Parivar and its narrow definition of religious nationalism to pin the blame of the acrimony on the Christians.

If the Chief minister and his government have forfeited their right to govern, the Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary and the Director General of Police have lost their right to be in active service. It is a shame they continue to be in office, and speaks volumes for the conspiracy between the Government, the coalition partner Bharatiya Janata party and the State official apparatus against the Christian community and the Christian Faith.

The state apparatus has failed thrice – to protect the Christians in December 2007, to protect the late VHP leader and unravel the mystery of his murder, and then to once again protect the Christians facing annihilation in August 2008.

We therefore call upon you as Governor to:

1.      Write to the President of India to impose President’s Rule in Orissa, and that you take over the reigns of Governance so that peace is restored in Kandhamal and other districts.

2.      Immediately suspend not constables and junior officials, but the Chief Secretary, the Home Secretary and the Director General of Police for gross dereliction of duty, and for joining the conspiracy to wipe out Christians in Orissa.

3.      Hand over the Kandhamal district in particular to the Indian Army, which alone can restore the confidence of the victims.

4.      Trace the many people reported abducted, some feared dead or injured, in the last six days

5.      Bring back the tens of thousands of Christians Tribals and Dalit villagers hiding for their lives in the forests, most of them without food and adequate drinking water

6.      Hand over all investigations relating to the circumstances and course of violence to the Central Bureau of Investigations. The CBI should also investigate the murder of VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati.

7.      Expand the terms of reference of the sitting Judicial Commission headed by Mr. Justice Basudeo Panigrahi to fix responsibility and culpability on government servants of all ranks, as also on guilty politicians.

8.      Grant exemplary compensation to the next of kin of the dead, and to the injured. Grant immediate relief and rehabilitation to the victims so that they can rebuild their homes, get back their jobs and resume
normal human lives.

9.      Compensate the Church to rebuild and restore its religious, educations, and humanitarian institutions.

10.     Set up Fast Track criminal court to try those found guilty at all levels during all phases of the violence.

This alone will prove to the world that India remains a secular country, which gives Constitutional guarantees of the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the freedom of faith to its citizens, and for its children, the right to food, education and a childhood without the trauma of terror and the fear of death,

Thank you

God bless you, and God bless Orissa

In prayer

The Christian Community of Delhi and the National Capital Region
Together with our brothers and sisters from other states.

Nearly 45,000 Christian schools and colleges closed Friday

New Delhi, Aug 29 (IANS) Nearly 45,000 schools, colleges and other educational institutes run by Christian organisations around the country were closed Friday to protest the continued violence against the community in Orissa.

"All our schools and colleges are closed today (Friday). Let me clarify, survival is more important than education," said Babu Joseph, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).

He said they are holding a peaceful protest to voice concern against continued violence against the community in Orissa, where at least 11 people have died in communal violence since Saturday evening.

"There is almost an ethnic cleansing in the state," Joseph told IANS.

Orissa has been on the boil since Saturday when Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and four others were killed at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal district.

His killing triggered violence in the state against the Christian community by some Hindu groups.

Joseph said there are around five million students studying in these 45,000 institutions and this protest will certainly bring spotlight on the issue.

He said their community members have carried out protest marches across the country.

In Delhi scores of Christians marched to Orissa Bhawan, the office of the state resident commissioner, to protest the violence. Several schools and colleges like St. Stephens College, St Columba’s School and Somerville School were closed for the day.

"Our teachers told us Thursday that our school is closed Friday," said Astha Singh, a student of Somerville School in east Delhi.

Similarly institutions run by missionaries in Shimla, Dharamsala and Dalhousie towns in Himachal Pradseh remained closed.

"The college is closed to express solidarity for the violence victims,’ said Shimla’s St. Bede’s principal Sister Melba.

A group of Christian leaders had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday and appraised him about the situation in Orissa. Joseph said the prime minister had assured them the government would "take all steps to bring peace and normalcy".

In Kerala, around 5,900 educational institutions remained closed. The institutions in Kerala included four medical colleges and 11 engineering colleges run by the Catholic Church.

Other Christian denominations like the Church of South India (CSI) and Marthoma Syrian Church joined the protest against the violence.

"All those attending our institutions will attend work wearing black badges,’ said an official of Marthoma Church at its headquarters in Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta district.

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Violence continues in Orissa despite curfew

Friday, 29 August , 2008, 12:34
Last Updated: Friday, 29 August , 2008, 12:52

Bhubaneswar: The communal violence that erupted in Orissa after the killing of five people, including a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, continued for the seventh day on Friday with stray incidents being reported from Kandhamal district despite a curfew, police said.

“There have been stray incidents of violence in parts of Kandhamal” a police official told IANS on phone from district headquarters Phulbani.

The areas where violence broke out included Phiringia, Tikabali and Udayagiri.

"Mobs have blocked roads in several places and police are trying to clear them,” the official said.

"Although 4,000 policemen have been deployed in Kandhamal district, which is the worst hit, Hindu and Christian rioters have clashed in several places. We have arrested at least 137 people in the district since Saturday," he added.

However, officials at the police headquarters here said that things were peaceful in the rest of the state.

Educational institutions run by Christians remained closed across the state on Friday as a part of nationwide protest against the violence in which Christians were targeted, according to its community leaders.

“Policemen have been ordered to shoot rioters at sight and curfew is in force in all major towns of Kandhamal. Security forces have been taking out flag marches in several areas," a government official said.

Police said 11 people have been killed in the violence since Saturday. However, local TV channels and newspapers said at least 17 people have died in the communal violence and the bodies of 13 people had been found.

Asit Kumar Mohanty, regional coordinator of the Global Council of Indian Christians, claimed that 30 Christians had been killed since Saturday.

"As per our estimate, 10,000 Christian families have fled to the forests after their houses were burnt and they were attacked by rioters. Over 4,000 people have been injured and more than 20,000 houses have been burnt," Mohanty told IANS.

However, government sources said the figures given by Mohanty were exaggerated. Kandhamal district officials said about 4,000 Christian families had fled their homes.

"It is an emotional and spontaneous reaction of people to the killing of Swami Laxamanananda Saraswati," Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, an administrative official camping in Kandhamal, said.

The state has been on the boil since the killing of Saraswati, a member of the central advisory committee of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and four others on Saturday evening by suspected Maoist guerrillas at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal district.

Saraswati was leading a campaign against cow slaughter and religious conversion in the communally sensitive district - which with a population of around 600,000 including 150,000 Christians has witnessed numerous clashes between Hindus and Christians in the past.

Radical Hindu groups in the state alleged that Christians killed Saraswati because he was opposing religious conversion. Christian organisations deny the allegation.

Saraswati's supporters have been holding protests since Saturday night, blocking trains and vehicles.

Orissa is no stranger to communal violence between Hindus and Christians.

"People are very angry and the government needs to immediately arrest the Christian militants who killed Swamiji,” said Subash Chauhan, leader of Hindu extremist group Bajrang Dal.

On January 22, 1999, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, 10-year-old Philip and six-year-old Timothy, were burnt alive by a Hindu radical mob in their vehicle in Keonjhar district.

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The Church needs no lesson in Nationalism

T’PURAM: The Christian Church in Kerala need not be taught nationalism by anyone, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said on Sunday.
He was inaugurating an all-faith meeting convened to mark the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church’s St Mary Queen of Peace Pro- Cathedral at Palayam here.
There are few communities that have cultivated a sense of nationalism like the Christians in the state.
No one need to teach them nationalism, he said, referring to the recent attack on Christian educational institutions by Left students’ organisations.
There is no justification for the revengeful attacks on Christian organisations supported by the government.
The Left students’ organisations are competing with one other to launch attacks on Christian institutions. Such acts are unconstitutional and insulting, Vayalar Ravi said.
Catholicos Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis, the head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, presided over the function. Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma delivered the keynote address.

Christians flay Dharna by VHP, BD

By Our Staff Reporter

Bhopal, March 2: Christian community condemned the Dharna organized by Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in front of the Churches in Madhya Pradesh and the one held in-front of the Jehangirabad, St. Francis Cathedral Church in Bhopal.

Archbishop Dr. Leo Cornelio, in a statement issued here on Sunday said, "the Government must treat all communities equally and stop these organizations from destroying the peace and harmony existing in Madhya Pradesh."

In a statement the Regional Public Relations Office said," It is since quiet some time that Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal (BD) and its associates organizations are trying to spread communal hatred against Christian community in Madhya Pradesh.

The fundamental organizations accuse the Church of forced conversions through social service and education. The present crisis is said to be the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commissions to allow reservation to persons who got converted from SC to Christianity and Islam.

The Christian organizations refuses to buy this argument because if it is to protest the decisions of the commission it should be done at a place which is the symbol of Union government.

While talking to the media persons Fr. Anand Muttungal, spokesperson for catholic churches said, "It is an out right violation of Christians to live in dignity and freedom with full honour so it is violation of fundamental rights of Christians." Since all these organizations are from the ruling party it looks like that the ruling party is not in a control of the situation or they knowingly keeps silence. For a healthy society both are very bad.

It is the need of the hour for the administration to be fair and effective in administering justice.

Major Christian organization, Catholic Church M.P, Indian Catholic Youth Movement, All India Christian Council, Christian Assembly, Madhya Pradesh Isai Mahasabha and Christian leaders , Anup Jose , Mrs. Sheela Shantyago, Sr. Sneha , Saji Abraham, Babu Solomon etc. condemned the incident.

Madhya Pradesh Christian Assembly

The Madhya Pradesh Christian Assembly (MPCA) took a serious note on the 'dharna'organized by Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) infront of the Churches in Madhya Pradesh and the one held in-front of the Jehangirabad, St. Francis Cathedral Church in Bhopal.

The Assembly said that party, front or councils should not organise 'dharna' in front of religious institutions which may hurt religious sentiments.

The Government should treat all communities equally and stop such organizations which may disrupt peace and harmony of the State.

Catholic Association of Bhopal Archdiocese

The Catholic Association of Bhopal Archdiocese (CABA) condemned the demonstration carried by members of Akhil Bhartiya Anusuchit Jati Arakshan Raksha Manch Bhopal (Madhya Bharat) in front of Jehangirabad Church. The Association condemned by saying that members shouldn't organise such protests in front of religious place.

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Christians March in Pune, Maharashtra

Pune, February 18 Christian leaders from different denominations will take out a silent protest rally on Monday from YMCA, Quarter Gate, to condemn the attacks on Christian institutions in Orissa and Gujarat. They have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take steps to ensure the safety of the community.

Disrupting church services and burning churches is deplorable, especially during the festive time, and the community fears a repeat of an infamous spate of violence in Gujarat's Dangs district in 1998.

Dangs witnessed violence for ten days in December 1998.

More than 14 churches, four convents, three houses of priests and eight hostels were fully or partially destroyed besides injuries sustained by Christians in Kandhamal district's Baliguda sub-division, Orissa, they said.

Shocked at the violent incidents during Christmas, Christians in Pune will meet on Monday to take out a silent protest rally, Father Sebastian Mony of St. Patrick's Church said. There are at least 1.5 lakh Christians residing in Pune.

The rally is being organised by the Catholic Association of Pune and the Indian Christian Movement to condemn the violent attack on churches in Orissa and Gujarat, Father Mony said. The rally will begin from YMCA at 3.30 pm and wind its way via Hotel Shantai, Narpatgir Chowk, Pudumjee park, Babajan Chowk and culminate at City Church. Bishop of Pune Valerian D'Souza and Bishop of the Church of North India Vijay Sathe will participate and hand over the memorandum of their demands to Suresh Kalmadi MP and district collector Prabhakar Deshmukh at the City Church.

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More than 80,000 people take to the streets to defend missionaries accused of stealing

The Chattisgarh state government, which accuses missionaries of stealing the land of Tribal people in order to convert, has filed 262 cases against the Church to force it to “give back” the land. Demonstrators defend the Church and want politicians to stop manipulating the law.

Jashpur (AsiaNews/Agencies) – More than 80,000 Tribals have taken to the streets in the eastern state of Chattisgarh in defence of the Church accused by the local government of stealing lands from locals in order to convert them.

The land on which Catholic missionaries have built mission institutions “was not stolen from us, but was regularly sold to the Church by our ancestors, which now uses it to help,” said one demonstrator. “We are happy for the schools and hospitals,” which now stand on the contested land, because they “educate us and provide us with medical care”,.

The demonstration, which took place last Monday, is a response to a local court decision requiring the Sisters of the Holy Cross return to Tribals 12 acres of land on which they built a monastery and a school.

The judge motivated his decision based on local legislation 170 (b) which bans land sales in Tribal areas to non Tribals.

The state government, which is controlled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatya Janata Party, filed 262 cases alleging unlawful occupation of tribal land by Catholic missions.

“We have never asked that the land be returned,” said Tarcitius Toppo, one of the demonstrators. “It was never stolen and is not used to convert us but only to help us. The government should stop manipulating the law for its own purposes.”

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