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 Supporters of Dara Singh convicted for burning Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two minor sons alive are distributing anti-Christian booklets in different parts of Orissa.
According to sources, Dara Sena, an anti-Christian group floated by the fans of Dara Singh, wants to hand out as many as 30,000 copies of booklets describing Dara Singh as a protector of Hinduism. Dara Sena chief Mukesh Jain was to distribute the booklets in the Karanjia area while on his way to visit 11 persons acquitted in the murder case by the Orissa High Court on 19 May 2005. Located in the northern part of Orissa, Karanjia is a rural area dominated by tribes, who have been open to the Gospel message, despite pressure from Hindu militants. Jain had met Dara Singh at Baripada central jail in Orissa's Mayurbhanj district, shortly before the Orissa High Court commuted Dara Singh's death sentence, awarded by a lower court on 22 September 2003 to life imprisonment. It acquitted 11 others whom the lower court had awarded life imprisonment, while one militant retained a life sentence. The Superintendent of Police of Mayurbhanj district has made it clear that he would not allow the distribution of anti-Christian publications, amid fears of new religious tensions. "So far, no booklet has been distributed. But if they start distributing them, the police will arrest them," the official said. But informed sources say the booklet distribution is aimed at creating a base for Dara Sena's political ambitions. "Officials in the state intelligence do not rule out the possibility of at least one of the acquitted persons taking a plunge into politics with the active support of Dara Sena," he said. Even Dara Singh had said earlier he was thinking of joining politics. “It is for Dara Sena to decide on my participation in elections,” he reportedly said. However there is a catch. Dara, being convicted of a crime, would not be allowed by the Election Commission to participate in elections. |
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