Orissa Anniversary not marked for fear of reprisals from Hindu fundamentalists

(August 24, 2 2011) Three years after 100 lives were lost to sectarian violence in the eastern Indian state of Odisha - formerly Orissa, Christians could not muster courage to hold prayer services for the dead on Tuesday, a Catholic leader said. “We feared reprisals from the Hindu fundamentalists, who were on a rally to observe death anniversary of their seer Laxmananda Saraswati,” said Shibani Singh, president of Catholic women of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese and a teacher. Singh also said “we still live in fear and our movements are restricted”. August 23, 2008 will go down as a black letter day in the history of Odisha Christians, said Singh. The killing of the 80-year-old Hindu monk and four of his aides by Maoists that day sparked violence against Christians, leaving 100 dead and over 50,000 homeless.
National integration member John Dayal, who was in Kandhamal on Tuesday said there was palpable fear. Though it looked peaceful, it was quite tense, he added.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese, who took charge in April, said police protection was provided to every parish and fear of any kind was unwarranted. Archbishop Barwa maintained the Church is fully involved with the Catholics and remains informed of the goings on in the state. He said though lower-ranking officials disturb us, high-ranking officials were cooperative. The Church and NGO’s have been rehabilitating the affected people, he added. The prelate claimed that things were limping back to normal in the towns and cities but in remote areas, stray incidents of violence continued. The day, however, passed off peacefully, he said.