Orissa violence shocks visiting German team

(April 14, 2010) A visiting parliamentary delegation from Germany expressed shock at the level of violence in riot-hit Orissa in eastern India. The team concluded on Tuesday, its four-day tour of Orissa to study the situation of victims of anti-Christian violence in 2008. The delegation came to Orissa after completing on April 8, a two-day visit of Gujarat, western India, where Hindu-Muslim violence in 2002 killed more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims.
Pascal Kober from the Free Democratic Party told UCA News “We as politicians will report our findings to our respective parliamentary groups, the German parliament and the German government, as well as to the relevant civil and Church bodies.”
The team met victims, Church leaders and civil and human rights activists during its visit. “We were shocked about the level of violence including rape cases and killings,” the German delegation said in a press note released in the state capital of Bhubaneswar. The delegation visited refugee camps and makeshift dwellings and saw the miserable situation of people without proper homes and livelihood opportunities. “Most of them are yet to be compensated adequately,” they said. The press release also noted that even after two years, police have not registered several complaints and justice is not done to the affected community. They said only few of the responsible have been convicted for the communal violence.
“Missio”, a German-based Catholic pastoral body, organized the delegation’s visit to India.