Nun tells UN of fears of Orissa Christians

(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.