Indian Prime Minister condemns Orissa’s anti-Christian violence as “national shame”; Catholic schools close in protest

(Aug. 29, 2008) A delegation of Catholic and Protestant leaders met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday and asked him to send federal forces to help end the violence against Christians in Orissa and assist victims there. During the meeting Aug. 28 in New Delhi, Singh called the anti-Christian violence in Orissa a "national shame" and announced the government will offer compensation to the families of those killed. By Aug. 28, at least 14 people had died in the Hindu attacks against Christians. The prime minister also promised to make available federal funds to assist the thousands of Christians, most of them women and children, who have fled the violence and become refugees in the forest. Anti-Christian violence flare up in Orissa after the murder, last Saturday, of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his close associates. Police have said Maoist rebels were behind the killing, but Hindu fanatic groups have accused Christians..
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar whose archdiocese is in Orissa and includes Khandamal district, the epicentre of the anti-Christian fury, was among the seven church leaders who met with the prime minister. Speaking to Vatican Radio on the phone from New Delhi after meeting the prime minister, Archbishop Cheenath said the delegation asked Singh to speak to Orissa Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik “to stop the killings, attacks, arson and looting.’ They also asked for an independent enquiry by the national Central Bureau of Investigation into the cause of the violence as well as the murder of Swami Saraswati. Archbishop Cheenath said that some 50 to 60 thousand Christians who have taken shelter in the forests were in a ‘terrible mess’ with no food, relief or rehabilitation. He said local police administration was of ‘no use’ to provide protection to the people or their property. Asked whether attacks were still continuing on Thursday, he said as far as he knew, towns and cities were calm because of the strong presence of anti-riot force, but in villages and rural areas violence was continuing. Archbishop Cheenath however said, majority of Hindus, not their leaders, have silently expressed their sympathies for Christians, but Hindu fanatic groups continue to blame Christians for the murder of Swami Saraswati.
Meanwhile, thousands of Catholic schools across India remained shut on Friday in protest against continuing anti-Christian violence and in solidarity with those suffering in Orissa. Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the highest body of the Catholic Church in India, had called on all Catholic schools and educational institutions to remain closed on Friday. The country’s 160 Catholic dioceses and 239 religious congregations together run some 25,000 educational institutions serving more than 10 million students. Many of these institutions serve the poor in rural areas where government educational institutions have a very poor record. Cardinal Vithayathil, who is Archbishop of Ernakulam-Ankamaly, had also exhorted the Catholic community in India to observe a day of prayer and fasting on Sunday, September 7, for the promotion of communal harmony and peace in the country.
The Evangelical Fellowship of India and the National Council of Churches in India had also joined CBCI in calling their educational institutions to remain shut on Friday, saying they were do so “in deep sorrow and anguish.2 “We hope parents become aware of the implications of the incidents in Orissa," said a letter by the Church groups. Christian organisations had also planned to hold peaceful protest rallies in various cities on Friday, including a sit-in by the All India Christian Council (AICC) outside the Orissa House.
The violence has been condemned by Pope Benedict XVI who called for communities to try to restore "peaceful coexistence.” "I firmly condemn any attack on human life," Pope Benedict told a crowd of pilgrims at his weekly general audience in Rome. "I express spiritual closeness and solidarity to the brothers and sisters in faith who are being so harshly tested." He labelled the death of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati as "deplorable". The latest outrage in Orissa against Christians is the second major instance of the kind in the same areas in the past nine months. Anti-Christian violence erupted in Kandhamal district and spread during last Christmas season, when Hindu mobs attacked and destroyed Christian churches and institutions and burned about 400 houses. In early July, mobs of Hindu radicals cut trees to block roads and again attacked Christian institutions. The damage then was limited to a few areas in Kandhamal.