(October 24, 2008) Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar says he is
disheartened by the way the Orissa state government has probed violence against Christians.
"I am profoundly distressed," said the archbishop in a press statement on Oct. 21.
He pointed out that the Orissa government did not consult the victims while appointing
an investigatory commission, he said. The Orissa government recently appointed retired
state High Court Judge S.C. Mohapatra to head the commission to probe the seven weeks
of violence in the state that killed at least 58 people, mostly Christians. In attacks
that began on Aug. 24, Hindu extremists also destroyed or burned down around 4,500
houses and 100 churches, prayer halls and other Church institutions. The violence
rendered tens of thousands homeless. The worst affected region is Kandhamal district,
which comes under Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese, which is based in the Orissa capital
of Bhubaneswar, 1,700 kilometres southeast of New Delhi. "The very least that is
expected from the state government is that it takes the victim community into confidence."
The Orissa government had appointed a commission to investigate anti-Christian violence
that swept Kandhamal district last Christmas season, when Hindu mobs attacked and
destroyed churches and Christian institutions, and burned about 400 houses.