(January 14, 2011) Christians and rights workers in Kandhamal district of eastern
India’s Orissa state live in fear, with only armed security personnel standing between
them and further violence, a Catholic nun told a visiting United Nations Special Rapporteur
on human rights on Thursday. “We celebrated Christmas under the shadow of guns. How
long can the gun-totting security forces protect the community’s religious freedom?”
Sister Justine Senapati asked. Margaret Sekaggya, who is responsible for compiling
reports on human rights situation in various countries, visited Orissa on Thursday.
She arrived in New Delhi on Monday on a 12-day visit and is scheduled to also tour
Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal states. Sister Senapati, who works among
victims of the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Orissa, said local activists explained
the human rights situation in Kandhamal when the official visited Bhubaneswar. The
nun a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Annecy congregation, told the visitor
that Christians in Kandhamal still face problems to practice their religion. She also
told the UN official that even human rights activists of Kandhamal work in a “frightening
situation” amid armed security forces and Hindu militant groups, and that many victims
of the 2008 anti-Christian violence in the state have not been rehabilitated.