Orissa pogrom: Church helps victim (Hindu) to get compensation
by Santosh Digal
Kandhamal Authority will pay the man 50 thousand rupees (about 760 euros). During the anti-Christian violence in 2008, Hindu ultranationalists burned the house of Ashor Kumar Ray, 45. A lawyer for the Archdiocese’ Commission for Justice, Peace and Development assisted the man in bringing his trial to the State High Court.
Bhubaneswar (AsiaNews) - Authorities in Kandhamal (Orissa) have compensated a Hindu victims of the pogroms of 2008 to the sum of 50 thousand rupees (about 760 euros). The support of the Catholic Church, through the Archdiocese of Bhubaneswar, was essential as it provided the man a lawyer. The home of Ashor Kumar Ray, 45, was destroyed during the anti-Christian violence, unleashed by the Hindu ultra-nationalists,.
"My family and I - Ashor tells AsiaNews - had a nice house in the village of Nedipadar. During the pogrom, it was burned along with all my possessions. So, I filed a report at the Phiringia police station, but nobody ever followed up. " At first, authorities in Kandhamal included the house on the list of properties for which compensation had been decided. Then, officials rejected any form of compensation, arguing that the man's house was on the list "by mistake".
So at the end of 2011 Ashor turned to the Commission of Justice, Peace and Development of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. "It was said – he reveals - that the archdiocese helped the victims of the pogrom in Kandhamal. I went there, I explained my predicament, and the Legal Aid Centre lawyers assured me of their support in my legal battle. "
Lawyers for the archdiocese submitted the case to the High Court of Orissa, after 42 days it decided in Ashor’s favor and ordered the authorities of the district to pay a compensation of 50 thousand rupees.
Between December 2007 and August 2008, Hindu ultranationalists killed 93 people, burned and looted more than 6,500 homes, destroyed over 350 churches and 45 schools. Because of the pogroms, in 2008 more than 50 thousand people, mostly Christians, were displaced. Today, there are still 10 thousand refugees. The Church in Orissa has begun reconstruction and assistance programs, for both Christians and Hindus affected by the violence.
"My family and I - Ashor tells AsiaNews - had a nice house in the village of Nedipadar. During the pogrom, it was burned along with all my possessions. So, I filed a report at the Phiringia police station, but nobody ever followed up. " At first, authorities in Kandhamal included the house on the list of properties for which compensation had been decided. Then, officials rejected any form of compensation, arguing that the man's house was on the list "by mistake".
So at the end of 2011 Ashor turned to the Commission of Justice, Peace and Development of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. "It was said – he reveals - that the archdiocese helped the victims of the pogrom in Kandhamal. I went there, I explained my predicament, and the Legal Aid Centre lawyers assured me of their support in my legal battle. "
Lawyers for the archdiocese submitted the case to the High Court of Orissa, after 42 days it decided in Ashor’s favor and ordered the authorities of the district to pay a compensation of 50 thousand rupees.
Between December 2007 and August 2008, Hindu ultranationalists killed 93 people, burned and looted more than 6,500 homes, destroyed over 350 churches and 45 schools. Because of the pogroms, in 2008 more than 50 thousand people, mostly Christians, were displaced. Today, there are still 10 thousand refugees. The Church in Orissa has begun reconstruction and assistance programs, for both Christians and Hindus affected by the violence.
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