Orissa’s Christian leaders meet state chief minister

(May 29, 2009) A delegation of Christian leaders from eastern India’s Orissa state met the State’s Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to discuss the situation of their respective communities, in particular the suffering and threats many of their members are still enduring, especially in Kandhamal District. Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, led the delegation which included other Orissa Catholic bishops, the leaders of other Christian denominations and Asit Mohanty, regional coordinator of the Global Council of Indian Christians. Mohanty told AsiaNews that during the one and half hour meeting the delegation presented Chief Minister Patnaik a memorandum describing the problems Christians have experienced in the state since the anti-Christian violence led by Hindu extremists in August 2008. At present 3,000 of those affected by last year’s violence are still languishing in government-run refugee camps whilst some 900 families are still unable to go home because of persistent threats from extremists. In their plea Christian leaders called on the chief minister to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence, make sure that victims are compensated for their losses and that their homes and places of worship are rebuilt as the State has already pledged. The Orissa chief minister, who led his Biju Janata Dal party to victory in the recent parliamentary elections after breaking away with the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), cordially received the Christian delegation and assured them of the support of his government.