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Bla bla bla fundie Hinduists burn churches, christians flee
Bla bla bla fundie Hinduists burn churches, christians flee
POLICE reinforcements were rushed to the Indian state of Orissa yesterday after Hindu mobs burned down 15 Christian churches in the worst outbreak of religious violence in the areasince Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burned to death eight years ago.
"The situation is desperate and there is fear and anxiety among Christians," the Reverend Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Bhubaneshwar, the state capital, told reporters.
A report in the respected newspaper The Hindu described the situation in the worst affected areas as "a virtual war zone".
As curfews were imposed in those areas, the state's Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, made an urgent appeal for calm.
A former close associate of Mr Staines was quoted as saying that the violence showed "the same hatred and trouble is brewing again".
Most of the violence took place in the Kandhamal district 250km west of the capital, after members of the state's 800,000-strong Christian community tried to put up a decorative Christmas arch.
About the same time there was an as yet unexplained attack on a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parisha, which has been leading a campaign against conversions to Christianity in the state, and clashes immediately erupted across a large part of the district, with Catholic as well as Baptist and Pentecostal churches coming under attack.
"Some fundamentalists forcefully removed a Christian welcome arch," Archbishop Cheenath said. "This was followed by heated arguments.
"Within minutes, a group of people with sticks and knives pounced on the group making preparations for Christmas."
Soon, according to local reporters, 15 shops had been looted and burned and Christian churches were under attack from a mob screaming "death to all Christians".
Priests and Christian worshippers were bashed, and there was an unconfirmed report of one death.
Orissa director-general of police Gopal Nath said armed police were being rushed to the area. "The situation is tense but we are trying to get back in control," he said.
At a time when millions across India - members of the dominant Hindu religion as well as adherents of Christian and other minority faiths - have been celebrating Christmas, the outbreak of violence in Orissa is embarrassing to the strongly secularist Government in New Delhi.
The state of Orissa remains a hotbed of anti-Christian and anti-conversion ferment eight years after Mr Staines and his two sons, Philip and Timothy, were burnt to death in their station wagon in an atrocity by religious extremists that remains seared in Indian consciousness as one of the worst acts of bigotry in the country's history.
One of Mr Staines's former co-workers in Orissa, Subhankar Ghosh, told Indian newspapers "the current incidents in Orissa bring back the horrific memories of 1999" when the Australian missionary and his sons were killed.
"The situation is desperate and there is fear and anxiety among Christians," the Reverend Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Bhubaneshwar, the state capital, told reporters.
A report in the respected newspaper The Hindu described the situation in the worst affected areas as "a virtual war zone".
As curfews were imposed in those areas, the state's Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, made an urgent appeal for calm.
A former close associate of Mr Staines was quoted as saying that the violence showed "the same hatred and trouble is brewing again".
Most of the violence took place in the Kandhamal district 250km west of the capital, after members of the state's 800,000-strong Christian community tried to put up a decorative Christmas arch.
About the same time there was an as yet unexplained attack on a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parisha, which has been leading a campaign against conversions to Christianity in the state, and clashes immediately erupted across a large part of the district, with Catholic as well as Baptist and Pentecostal churches coming under attack.
"Some fundamentalists forcefully removed a Christian welcome arch," Archbishop Cheenath said. "This was followed by heated arguments.
"Within minutes, a group of people with sticks and knives pounced on the group making preparations for Christmas."
Soon, according to local reporters, 15 shops had been looted and burned and Christian churches were under attack from a mob screaming "death to all Christians".
Priests and Christian worshippers were bashed, and there was an unconfirmed report of one death.
Orissa director-general of police Gopal Nath said armed police were being rushed to the area. "The situation is tense but we are trying to get back in control," he said.
At a time when millions across India - members of the dominant Hindu religion as well as adherents of Christian and other minority faiths - have been celebrating Christmas, the outbreak of violence in Orissa is embarrassing to the strongly secularist Government in New Delhi.
The state of Orissa remains a hotbed of anti-Christian and anti-conversion ferment eight years after Mr Staines and his two sons, Philip and Timothy, were burnt to death in their station wagon in an atrocity by religious extremists that remains seared in Indian consciousness as one of the worst acts of bigotry in the country's history.
One of Mr Staines's former co-workers in Orissa, Subhankar Ghosh, told Indian newspapers "the current incidents in Orissa bring back the horrific memories of 1999" when the Australian missionary and his sons were killed.
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