Orissa: More Christian homes set on fire, three bodies fished out of river
(September 30, 2008) More violence is reported from Orissa, even after one month
of persecution against Christians. Three bodies were recovered from a river in Kandhamal,
the district in Orissa state hit by a wave of anti-Christian violence for more than
a month now. The bodies belong to a couple and a woman reported missing after they
visited a local village to administer immunisation. Elsewhere Hindu radicals continue
their rampage in areas like Raikia, Tikabali and Didrabadi. “The situation is unbearable.
A systematic plan to wipe out Christian life is underway, killing people and destroying
their property,” a local source told AsiaNews. Fr Nithiya Executive Secretary, CBCI
Commission for Justice, Peace and Development, confirms that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) and the Bajrang Dal (BD) are carrying out forced conversion to the last Christian.
He described in detail the pattern the plan follows. They set a date before which
they are to be converted. They also have to bring their relatives who have fled to
the refuge camps. They have to sign a document that they are freely converted and
also pay a fine of Rs 1000 to Rs 1500 for having remained a Christian. As a token
of conversion they have to vandalise the church and destroy a statue or two.