Orissa, persecution and threats against Christians continue
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Two years after the bloody pogrom Christians in Orissa still live in a state of insecurity and danger. "The Christians of Kandhamal are still living in a situation of discrimination. Sometimes even the government food supplies, and other assets that should be distributed among all the poor are not delivered to the Christians. In some villages, Christian children are not allowed access to government schools. Moreover, some witnesses have been threatened not to appear in court to tell about what they saw during the pogroms" unnamed sources tell AsiaNews. Another signal ì seen as not encouraging by Christians is the fact that the Orissa High Court has got bail to Aruna Suresh, a BJP politician from the Hindu nationalist party, who was in prison from September , after a court of first instance in the district of Phulabani had convicted him of the murder of a young man, Bikram Pradham, in the violence of August 2008.
Concern is also expressed by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. "Some time ago there was a meeting between Christian and Hindu leaders and an agreement was reached, so that it will be possible to celebrate religious festivals and liturgies, and so since then in many parishes there were processions in the villages, and in some cases it was possible to celebrate the feast of Christ the King. This was the first time since the attacks on Christians in Orissa. This year, even though we have formally asked the authorities to ensure security in all churches and institutions for the celebration of Christmas, we have not yet been answered".
The archbishop describes the situation in the country: "There is no violence, but there is no peace. About 16 thousand families have no homes, and Christians are not allowed to return to 20 villages, unless they convert to Hinduism. So fear strikes our people again. In many villages in the district of Kandhamal Christians live with mistreatment and humiliation every day. They are not allowed to take water from the village well, collect firewood, buy food from shops. The authorities do nothing to prevent such abuse, even if we have made complaints. Their silence is disturbing". The archbishop adds: "We are trying to create some kind of relationship between the fundamentalists who attacked us, and Christian communities who still live in fear."
.png)
