Ostracised, Christians in Orissa again see their homes destroyed and water wells poisoned

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Daily life is becoming a nightmare again for many Christian communities in the state of Orissa (Odisha), scene of the worst anti-Christian pogrom in India's history in 2008, this according to Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC). In some parts of the state, many Christian families have seen their newly-rebuilt homes destroyed. Many of them have also been driven out of their villages, forced to give up water, property, and other essentials.

George, who spoke to AsiaNews about new acts of "intimidation and persecution against Christians," said that the situation has been "made worst by the complicity of local police and administrators." One of the latest episodes occurred during the week before Easter in the village of Budruka.

Here, a local Christian, Praful Digal, had his house destroyed by a fire set by a group of Hindu extremists. His original home had been destroyed during the violence of 2008. Later, with government compensation money, he was able to rebuild. Now he lost it again.

After he and his family filed a complaint with the local police, Sudershan Mallick, Mallick and Pabitra Mallik Nageswar were arrested in connection with the fire. However, on 25 April, the three were released.

Things are even worse for three Dalit Christian families - Manasida Barla, Masid das Lugun, and Lodha Barla - and their 16 members. They live in an area inhabited by tribal people where Naxalite (Maoist) insurgents are very active.

In the name of religion, they were driven out of their village by the hundred or so Hindu families that live there. The latter also took away what they had "because they were believers and followers of Christ."

The neighbours threw garbage and other waste in the well used by the Christian families in order to deny them water; they also banned them from mixing and speaking with other residents, or take part in any community programmes and initiatives.

"In addition to this kind of torture, some Hindu extremists are threatening to strike the families' names off a government list for land allotment, to seize the land they already own and tear down their homes," Sajan George said.

"How will these families survive without water, now that hot weather is approaching with temperatures that can reach the mid-40s Celsius.

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Christians in Orissa suffer abuse and intimidation

Christians in Orissa who survived the violence in 2008 cannot find peace and are still victims of abuse and intimidation, Catholic priest Fr Ajay Kumar Singh, stated this week. Fr Singh, who received an award for his work among the victims of the 2008 pogroms in Kandhamal in Orissa, said that recently the police arrested and then released three people accused of having destroyed the home of a Christian family who survived the massacres of 2008.
Praful Digal, a Catholic from the village of Budruka, had rebuilt his home thanks to aid received by the government for the reconstruction. Radical Hindu groups attacked the new house, razed it to the ground. Fr Pradosh Kumar Nayak, Rector of the Minor Seminary of St Paul in Balliguda near Budruka confirmed that the attack had taken place. After the family filed a complaint, the police arrested Sudershan Mallick, Pabitra Mallick and Mallick Nageswar, but the three were inexplicably released.
Fr Nayak pointed put that this is the third house the Digal family have built over the past six years. Hindu radicals have demolished all of them.
"The last demolition shows that these groups are strong and determined to keep Christians out of the country. Christians continue to lead a terrible life in Kandhamal district" Fr Nayak said.
The Digal family was among the 834 whose homes was destroyed in the first round of anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal which took place in December 2007. The family took courage, returned to the village and rebuilt the house, which was again destroyed in the violence in August 2008. After years of exile, in recent months and after having received compensation from the government, the Digal decided to return to their village again and start a normal life. But this new attack has shattered their hopes.
Fr Singh said : "The State has failed to protect and guarantee the basic rights to Christian citizens in Orissa".
Source: Fides
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=24652

Fresh attacks against Christians in Karnataka

by Nirmala Carvalho

Three new attacks occurred in the Indian state of Karnataka in August alone, all by Hindu extremists.

The latest occurred on 18 August in Chikkamalaguru District when Hindu radicals stormed the home of Ms Doddamma, a member of the Rehebothe Prarthana Mandir Pentecostal Church.

The group of men asked her why she visited Hindu families and who gave her permission to preach Christianity.

Faced with her silence, the men dragged her and her daughter to a nearby Hindu temple, where they ordered some holy men to reconvert them to Hinduism. Faced with their refusal, the Hindus brutally beat the two women, as others destroyed their home.

On 11 August, in Chitadurga District, Rev Paramajyothi, the pastor at an independent Pentecostal Church, was attacked by Hindu ultra-nationalists. Dragged out of his church, he was stripped him and beaten mercilessly under the eyes of his congregation and family. The religious leader suffered several injuries, including three broken teeth.

Once discharged from the hospital, he turned to the police in Bejikere for protection since the fundamentalists had issued threats against him, ordering him to leave the village. Police instead filed a complaint against the attackers, as well as the clergyman.

On 3 August, 50 Hindu extremists violently attacked Somashekarwas, an Evangelical Christian in Bijapur District. Pulling his hair and ripping his clothes, they ordered him to reconvert to Hinduism. They also swore at his wife Kusumabhai and ordered the couple to leave the village if they were not willing to renounce Christianity. Because of their refusal, the attackers reported them to the police in Nedugundhi, accusing them of practicing forced conversions.

Adapted from Asianews.it

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