Indian Christians are increasingly concerned about developments in the state of Orissa, where the number of killings of Christians has now reached at least eight and dozens of Christian properties and churches are being vandalized and destroyed. On Sunday, August 24, many churches in Orissa were attacked and services had to be suspended. The unrest is due to the murder of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati, the head of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Orissa, and four of his associates. VHP is one of the fundamentalist Hindu organizations known for fighting against, among other things, the influence of Christianity in India.
The killings are believed to have been carried out by so-called Maoist rebels engaged in armed struggle against the existing Hindu nationalist government, but the Christians have been blamed by the Hindus. This is because the Hindus expect the Christians to take revenge on the Hindus for what they had done when Christians in Kandhamal district of Orissa were the victims of unprovoked attacks at Christmas 2007, which resulted in killings and destruction of property. The accusations against the Christians come despite all major Christian organizations in India condemning the murders of Saraswati and the other four. Both Catholics and various Protestant groups have suffered from the attacks.
Several Indian Christian organizations, including the All India Christian Council, with support from the Danish European Mission and others, have been involved in helping Christians in the Kandhamal district get back on their feet after the violent attacks they suffered just over six months ago. Small steps towards reconciliation had begun to be taken, but now they have to start all over again, yes, where before they had to start from zero, now they have to start from zero.
The Danish European Mission, together with its partners in India, calls for prayers for the situation in Orissa, especially as the unrest may well spread to other areas and other states, where it has been shown that extremist Hindu organizations do not shy away from violence against religious minorities. People are also urged to write and express their concerns to the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh and the Chief Minister of Orissa, Shri Navin Patnaik.
Danish European Mission says: "The gravity of the situation is partly due to the fact that the Orissa government has done far too little to alleviate the plight of the victims of the Christmas atrocities and to protect minorities in the state, and has even prevented outside help from reaching the victims. The blatant injustices caused by the support for Hindu fundamentalism and its contempt for basic human rights have emboldened insurgent groups, and their attacks on the existing society are again giving the Hindu mob and fundamentalist leadership a pretext to attack the weak and defenseless, rather than keeping calm and allowing the authorities to find those responsible for the killings and bring them to justice."
