Church in India condemns bloody Maoist attack

(May 20, 2010) Church leaders have condemned the killing of 31 people in central India by Maoists who blew up a private bus carrying 50 policemen and civilians. “It is sad that many innocent lives were lost,” said Carmelite Father Abraham Maliekal of Jagadalpur parish in Chhattisgarh state. The outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist, known locally as the Naxalites, is accused of planting a landmine that blew up the bus on May 17, about 450 kilometres south of Raipur, the state capital. The blast killed 16 police personnel and 15 civilians. The Church “condemns all forms of violence” and “wants everyone to sink their differences to work for social peace,” said the priest in the Maoist-infested state. The Maoist movement began some four decades ago as they waged an armed struggle against the government purportedly to bring about an equitable distribution of land. Their growing base and bloodier actions have forced the government to declare them a national security threat. The blast site “was a horrifying scene” with “body parts strewn for around 300 meters,” said Pastor Anish Andrews, secretary of the Chhattisgarh Christian Forum. Carmelite Father Father Joseph Kuttiyanickal said that people are in a state of deep shock over the “huge loss of lives, especially of civilians.