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 Bhubaneswar: Mobs ransacked a church and clashed with Christian villagers in Orissa on 28 August 2008, as the authorities struggled to control spiralling religious violence in the region.
The mobs have destroyed more than a dozen churches and attacked Christians in Orissa this week after the murder of Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Lakshmanananda and four of his associates in Kandhamal district, a tribal area where Christian missionaries have been active for years.
Shoot-on-sight orders and curfews to control violence have so far failed to end clashes that have killed at least 11 people. The police have deployed more than 3,000 personnel in the streets but they could not stop the ransacking of at least one church. According to local media, as many as four churches were attacked on 28 August 2008. "The police are marching in several areas now," Orissa police chief Gopal Chandra Nanda said. Television pictures showed mobs armed with rods putting up road blocks and others attacking the churches. Other mobs armed with bows and arrows and axes attacked Christian homes, dragging out women and children. Hundreds fled to forests and nearby hills, the officials said. "Moments after we passed by a Christian village, people set it on fire and everything was over within minutes," a senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. Around the Kandhamal area, home to around 650,000 people, more than 20 per cent of the mainly tribal inhabitants are Christian converts. Religious violence has troubled tribal regions of Orissa for years, with Hindus and Christians fighting over conversions. While Hindu groups accuse Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and Hindus to change their faith, the Christians say Hindus convert willingly to escape a complex caste system. The killings have drawn international reactions. Pope Benedict has condemned the violence against Christians in Orissa but also deplored the killing of the Hindu leader. On 28 August 2008, peace committees were set up in villages to bring community leaders together for talks, but Christians in many villages said attacks were worse than what the government had said. (Source: The Indian Express, 29 August 2008, http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Everything-was-over-within-minutes-in-a-Christian-village/354554/) |
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