Church calls for federal probe into Orissa violence

(February 02, 2011) Church and social activists in eastern India’s Orissa State are demanding the National Investigating Agency, NIA - probe anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal after a Hindu extremist admitted his involvement in it. A Military Intelligence report recently revealed a senior army official, Prasad Srikant Purohit and his “Abhinav Bharat” or New India group, targeted Christians in several places including Kandhamal. The report said Purohit confessed to killing two people in Orissa, when questioned by army officials..
“We want the truth to come out and the revelation of the Hindu group’s true colours,” said Catholic Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak of Berhampur. The Bishop said he is not surprised to learn of the involvement of the Hindu group in the Kandhamal violence. “It is a part of a larger network under Sangh Parivar and sheltered by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,),” he added.
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, who heads the Catholic Church in Orissa, said the violence exposed the nefarious plan of Hindu extremists to eliminate religious minorities from India. “Minority bashing is becoming more and more frequent in BJP-ruled states. We demand the NIA take over the Kandhamal probe,” he added.
The NIA was formed in 2009 to counter terrorism in the country. Anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal broke out in August 2008 and lasted for seven weeks. The violence claimed 95 lives and destroyed more than 6,500 houses in 450 villages.