MASSIVE VIOLENCE AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA (INDIA)

Update - more complete account available here

From Assist News:   Violent attacks against Christians in the eastern state of Orissa continued 5th day..

“Some people have called the violence ‘Hindu-Christian clashes’. But this is not accurate. Innocent Christians – mostly of Dalit origin – continue to be attacked by communal organizations which are mocking the rule of law. Governance in Orissa state appears to have disintegrated,” said Dr. Joseph D’souza, President of the All India Christian Council (aicc).

See more:

According to the Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org  sources inside Orissa, 150 houses and 20 churches have been destroyed while some groups are reporting as many as 300 houses and churches destroyed.

ICC sources indicate that most places are without curfew in contradiction to the government’s claims.

ICC has received numerous reports of carnage including the following:

**A 20-year-old woman attempted to stop Hindu extremists from attacking children in an orphanage and was thrown alive into a burning building.

**A priest was hospitalized with serious burn injuries resulting from this attack.

**A man suffering from paralysis was burned alive when Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) extremists torched his house.

**A young nun was gang-raped by groups of Hindutva extremists. Buses and vehicles were torched.

**Mobs have surrounded villages to attack Christians. Pastors, priests, and nuns have been injured.

**Christians have fled to the jungle to save their lives.

ICC sources indicate that the Orissa government is not responding and that Christians in Orissa have lost trust in Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

This onslaught began over the weekend when Hindu extremist groups accused Christians of murdering VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates on August 23, even though a Maoist organization has reportedly claimed responsibility.

Jeff King, ICC’s president said, “The lack of government response is alarming to say the least. The national government of India must step up to the plate and get Orissa officials like Shri Naveen Patnaik to act.

"At this point, the lack of any serious response from Orissa officials looks to the entire world as complicity with the radical Hindus that are doing the actual damage. Orissa officials should be held accountable and the Biju Janata Dal-BJP coalition government should step down.”

Click here for another report