Pogrome in Orissa
ENGLISH
Anti Christian Violence and Human Rights Violations in Orissa, India.
In Orissa’s Kandhamal District, the worst-hit region by violence between Hindus and Christians, the Christians are still nursing their wounds from the Christmas 2007 violence, with hundreds of them still live in a refugee camp in Barakhama. Majority of the destroyed churches, which exceeds 100, remain in ruins; burnt houses are still to be fully rebuilt. Kandhamal is a primarily tribal area, where Christian missionaries have worked for decades. Almost 20 percent of the district's people are Christians.
Fresh violence broke out following the killing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his disciples in an ashram at Jalespeta in Kandhmal district on 23 August 2008. Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati was killed by unidentified armed assailants despite the fact that he had supposedly reported threat to his life to the police 12 hours before his assassination. His killing has been widely condemned by various church leaders in India. While the government held Maoists responsible for the killings, the Hindu fundamentalist groups blamed Christians for the incident
Since 24 August 2008, at least nine people have been killed in unabated violence, four of them in police firing, in Orissa's Kandhamal district, as a backlash to the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. Another three persons were killed when their houses were torched in Raikia area. Two others, including a woman, were killed when a missionary-run orphanage was set on fire on 25 August. Another source, the Global Council of Indian Christians, has revealed a staggering number of 18 deaths.
The on-going carnage apparently targets the Christian community, mostly Dalits and tribals, in the Kandhamal district of Orissa and in several other districts including the state capital of Bhubaneswar since 23 August 2008. A large number of churches, houses, and vehicles have been torched by mobs in areas including Nuagaon, Udaygiri, Raikia, Phiringia and Baliguda since 24 August. A nun from the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar has been gang-raped in a separate incident before the building of a social service centre was destroyed.
As the carnage continues unchecked and death toll rising every day, innocent Christians in Orissa find themselves in a very precarious situation. Hundreds of Christians, priests, nuns and children have fled to the jungle in order to escape further attacks.
*** Please respond immediately
ACTION REQUESTED
Please write letters expressing your concern and request the authorities to:
• ensure protection of the lives and properties of the Christians in Orissa;
• provide immediate relief and adequate compensation to the victims;
• create a congenial atmosphere for peaceful civil coexistence; and
• bring perpetrators to justice in order to stop impunity.
Send letters to:
Madam Pratibha Patel, President of India
Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, India,
Fax: (91) 11-2301 7290 & (91) 11-2301 7824
E-mail: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in
2. Mr Naveen Patnaik
Chief Minister of Orissa
Bhubaneswar – 751001, Orissa, INDIA
Fax: (91) 674 253 5100
Email: cmo@ori.nic.in
Send Copies to:
1. Dr. Manmohan Singh
Prime Minster of India
Prime Minster's Office, South Block
Raisina Hill, New Delhi 110 011, INDIA
Fax: (91) 11-2301 9545 / (91) 11-2301 6857
E-mail: manmohan@alpha.nic.in; pmosb@pmo.nic.in
2. Embassy of India Berlin
Consular Wing
Tel:+49 (30) 25795611
Fax: +49 (30) 25795620
E-Mail consular(at)indianembassy.de
For more information about violence in Orissa, please visit http://orissaburning.blogspot.com/)
SAMPLE LETTER
Madam President,
We write with deep concern over the communal violence that has engulfed many districts in Orissa since 24 August 2008. The target of the violence has been the Christian minorities, most of whom are tribals and Dalits. The ongoing carnage has resulted in the death of nine persons. A nun has been gang-raped. Many people, including priests and nuns have been injured. Their properties and places of worship have been vandalized. Hundreds, including Catholic school children, were forced to escape into the forests and live in fear and insecurity.
The uncontained violence in many districts of Orissa, which we understand to be a state notorious for a culture of communal violence in recent years, points out that the state government has failed in its duty to protect the lives of Christians. This violates their right to life and personal liberty – the very right enshrined in the Constitution of India (Article 21) and in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR Article 6) to which the Government of India is a party.
It is time that your Nation State, which is a member of the UN Human Rights Council, honoured the commitment it has made to the United Nations on 19 April 2006, when a pledge was made for its candidacy to the UN Human Rights Council: India’s commitment to “promoting and protecting human rights flows from the realization that in a truly pluralistic society, the growth and well-being of citizens can only be guaranteed through a culture of protection and promotion of human rights.”
In this context, and with great urgency, we appeal to you, Madam President, to initiate suitable measures that:
• protect the rights, lives and properties of Christians in Orissa;
• provide immediate relief and adequate compensation to the victims as per ICCPR Article 2.3.1;
• ensure a climate of peace and harmony in Orissa state so that people may live without fear; and
bring perpetrators to justice in order to stop impunity
