A people's Court to bring justice to victims of Orissa

(Aug.24,2010) Two years after anti-Christian violence first exploded in eastern India’s Orissa State on 24 August, the people of Kandhamal district are still waiting for justice, as until now, the extremist Hindu culprits of the massacres, remain unpunished. To give victims a voice, the National Solidarity Forum – NSF, on Sunday, set up in New Delhi the National People's Tribunal, involving former judges, activists, journalists and political analysts. Until Tuesday, August 24, they are to hear the testimonies of survivors of the massacres, in an attempt to clarify the 43 cases of violence between December 2007 and August 2008, that caused 93 deaths and forced more than 56 thousand people to flee for their lives.
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar told AsiaNews that "the Forum’s three days of national solidarity is our demand for justice for the people of Kandhamal”. The Archbishop stressed that “Christians have the right to practice their religion and have access to security, livelihoods and education. But unfortunately” - he said – “in these two years, nothing has changed and the Government of Orissa has not yet been able to shed light on the case and help the victims."
Dhinarendra Pandha, head of NSF, said: "Much has changed in these two years, but the lives of survivors of Kandhamal has gotten worse. The failure of the Indian judicial system to punish the perpetrators of the violence has frustrated the hopes for justice of 56 thousand people, who have seen their homes go up in flames,” he added.