The mob appeared an hour after sunset, armed with axes, clubs and paraffin.
The carnage that followed would have been much worse if the Christians of
Gadragaon, a remote village in northeast India, had not been warned by text
message: “The Hindus are coming to kill you.”
The alert gave most enough time to flee to the jungle, where 114 of them would
hide for a week, drinking rainwater and foraging for food.
But the warning did not come early enough for those unable to run. “They
doused him with petrol and taunted him; we could hear him screaming,” said
Ravindra Nath Prahan, 45, of his paralysed brother, Rasananda, 35, who was
burnt alive by Hindu fanatics. “I could have tried to save him. But we had
to save ourselves.”
The attack on Gadragaon, by a mob that chanted “Hail Mother India” as they
razed the village, was among the first of the grim litany of atrocities
committed against minority Christians in the state of Orissa over the past
two weeks. The Vatican has called the wave of violence “a sin against God
and humanity”.
A nun has been gang-raped; a worker at a church-run orphanage burnt alive. In
the Kandhamal district, the site of the worst attacks, Kamalini Naik, who
was seven months pregnant, was ordered to denounce Christianity and convert
to Hinduism by a baying mob. When she refused, she and her one-year-old son
were “cut into pieces”, witnesses said.
So far 36 deaths have been recorded by the Catholic Church — compared with 16
by the state authorities, which have been accused of being complicit in the
tragedy.
With the worst violence occurring in remote regions, there are fears that the
toll is much higher. “It is hard to tell. The mobs are burning their
victims,” said Father Ajay Singh, who is trying to keep a list of the dead
in the office of the Archbishop in Bhubaneswar, the state capital.
Of the estimated 50,000 Christians forced to flee, most have little to go back
to: more than 3,000 homes and 115 churches have been destroyed.
The villagers of Gadragaon watched from their hiding places as their
possessions were looted, their cornfields and banana gardens spoiled and
their goats slaughtered. Then they walked for more than 200 kilometres (125
miles), most of them barefoot, through the jungle to reach a makeshift
sanctuary at a dilapidated YMCA hall.
“They said that we must convert if we want to return. We can never go back,”
Ravindra Prahan said. A mountain of a man who served in the Indian Army, he
now wears the shell-shocked expression of a wounded veteran.
Many are similarly scarred. Namrata, 8, one of more than 8,000 refugees held
at a camp in Raikia, was badly burnt when Hindu fanatics torched her
family's house. She has bad dreams and says she is too frightened ever to go
home.
Hindu extremists claimed the attacks were a spontaneous reaction to the murder
of a local Hindu leader. Others believe they were orchestrated — as the
purge began trees were felled to block roads across the region to prevent
Christians from escaping.
On Thursday India's Supreme Court ordered the Orissa government to answer
charges that local police had stood by — an accusation also made by
paramilitary forces drafted in from other parts of the country.
Orissa has a dark history of intolerance. Last Christmas 95 churches were
razed and at least five Christians murdered. At the time, the unrest — far
surpassed in the past two weeks — was branded the worst anti-Christian
violence in India since Independence.
The roots of the current misery have festered for generations. Despite being
enormously rich in mineral resources, Orissa is one of the sub-continent's
poorest regions. Its low-caste Hindus and tribal populations are among the
world's most impoverished people.
It is from these groups that most Christian converts have come — attracted by
the opportunity to study at church-run schools and the chance to leave the
lowest rungs of Hinduism's rigid caste system.
“There is resentment among some Hindus that the Church has reached out to
these people, for whom nothing was being done,” said Father Prabodha
Pradhan, one of the many Christians in Orissa who now owe their lives to
Hindus who hid them as they were hunted by fanatics. “Some feel threatened.”
However, the state's Christians make up only 2.4 per cent of the population
— in line with the figure for India as a whole.
Other movements are also recruiting among Orissa's poor — notably, the
Naxalites, a fierce cadre of atheist Maoist militants whose influence now
extends across half of India.
Compared to the AK47-toting communist guerrillas, however, Orissa's Christians
have made soft targets. “We don't fight. We are not many,” Father Prabodha
said.
There are now fears that the attacks directed against Christians in Orissa may
be replicated against other religious minorities across India as far-right
Hindu groups seek to mobilise support ahead of general elections that must
be held before May.
The latest violence was triggered by the murder on August 23 of Swami
Lakhmananda Saraswati, a local figurehead of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP), an extremist Hindu organisation. Ignoring a claim of responsibility
from the Naxalites for the assassination, the VHP immediately accused
Christians.
Some suggest that the VHP and its parent organisation, the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu fundamentalist group that holds sway over
India's largest opposition party, the BJP, have exploited Saraswati's death
to achieve a long-stated mission: to make Orissa “a poster state for
Hindutva (Hindu-ness)”.
Religion and caste
— India's Constitution is secular. Hindus account for 80 per cent of the
country's billion-plus population, while Muslims account for about 13 per
cent
— The most recent Indian census, in 2001, states that 2.3 per cent of the
population is Christian, but converts often claim to be Hindus to retain
government privileges reserved for Hinduism's lower castes
— Most Indian Christians are Dalits, at the bottom of the caste system, who
were once known as untouchables
— Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two children were burnt to
death when their car was set alight by a Hindu mob who went on the rampage
in Orissa state in 1999
— Over Christmas last year, 55 churches and 600 houses were set alight in
Orissa, as part of a vicious anti-Christian campaign
— 35 major incidents of violence against Christians were recorded in the state
of Madhya Pradesh alone between January and August this year
— Last March a United Nations freedom-of-religion investigator gave warning
that the scarcity of prosecutions and “political exploitation of communal
tensions” put India at risk of more religious violence
Sources: www.cia.gov; Times
Archive; Human Rights Watch
The Son of God is truly coming!
andile, Cape Town, South Aerica
What can man do against such hate? God deliver us.
will, London,
BJP (& partners VHP; Bajrang Dal) want to win the Indian national election next year. This party doesn’t having any strong record of winning elections except through communal means (i.e. demolishing the Babri Masjid; riots killing 2000 Muslims regarding Godhra. Now in Orissa.
Christians Crucified!
Swamy, Moscow, Russia
The problem with Christians in India is they describe Hindus as Satan worshippers and pagans. Imagine that in this day and age when enlightened Europeans hardly bother to go to church. Most Hindus rarely go to temples, but Indian Christians go every Sunday and criticize HIndus and their gods.
Rakesh Krishnan, Auckland, New Zealand
Everybody got their rights and power to believe and choose to religion. Nobody got the rights to against their rights! In the bible, God said "If we are for Christ, who can be against us!" India, to the people that killed the precious sons of God, who against the christians rights, b repent!!
tabitha, johor, malaysia
Is this correct using money for conversion...
Rinku, Mumbai,
That's marketing - a modern concept (not exclusive to christians)
You prefer them to continue their poor, lowly caste, lives?
M. O., London,
To
Honourable President of India
Honourable Prime Minister,
and to all leaders of the nation.
Today can the Hindu fanatics, the VHP/Bajarangdal and the BJP who supports them tell us who Mahamata Gandhi was, and why did he bring freedom to India,.... to slaughter the minorities.?
M David, NJ, US
The Hindu extremists are afraid, that what happened after the Islamic conquest of India could once again happen- i.e people belonging to lower casts converted to Islam-a religion that offered acceptance, i.e as equals in the sight of the god of Islam.
Well, partition was the result =Pakistan etc!
Lore, Germers, Germany
I find it interesting that attacks like these are so common in India, yet it wants to join the world stage on equal footing with the greatest powers. When the extremists of the two largest perpetrators of violence (hindu and muslim) get under control, maybe then can the country move forward.
Alex, Alexandria, VA, USA
In India some Christians refuse to worship with or be buried alongside Dalit Christians. So much for equality. And where is the Hindu point of view/interview with the victims of Christian violence in this story? No mention of the decades of charity work the murdered Hindu leader did for the poor.
A. Sen, USA,
This is clearly an effort by Hindus to preserve their discriminatory caste system. Why should low-caste people not embrace christianity? They are humans like all others, yet Hinduism tramples on them. Christianity offers equality and a chance to better their lives. Its not bribery. Its common sense.
Emeka, London,
You fail to mention that last year's violence was triggered by an attack on the swami, whose body parts were cut off in this attack. Also 3 girls were killed by Naxalites - widely believed to collaborate with some missionaries - in the Hindu orphanage. Do their lives not matter?
KS, NA,
R.L. Francis of “Poor Christian Liberation Movement , India: “In the past sixty years the Church has made deep in roots in influencing the powerful echelons of the Indian society. So much so that the powerful and the mighty do not raise their voice even when they see the wrongdoings of the Church."
KS, NA,
This in the land of Gandhi. What will follow will be an explosion of the Christian faith--death where is thy sting. This is the land that took the life of Thomas near Madras as well.
Eric, Shelbyville,
It can never be a bad thing to bring evil actions to light and expose them for the world to see and judge. Past wrongs do not make present murders and terror right. Whatever religion people adhere to, they are human beings. What are the forces of law and order doing to keep these people safe?
Pat Alexander, Oxford,
A british news paper can do only support christianity.No surprise at all. Your legacy left India in a miserable situation now .Look at Kashmir,Pakistan.Think of thousands of Indians brutally murdered by colonial britishers.You lived a lavish life at the cost of millions of Indians.We don't forget it
Renjith Nair, UAE, UAE
In the front of my house there was a poor low caste hindu family.They converted to christianity and suddenly in the next 6 months they had all the luxuries expected with a good middle class family.They did not get any lattery or Jackpot...Is this correct using money for conversion...
Rinku, Mumbai, India
This incident is not at all a very good event in a secular country like India. But Western Media is only showing the things visible to the world, do you know what these Christian missionaries are doing in the interior part of Orissa? I know, because I am from that area. This incident's justified !
gcpradhan1, Kandmal, Orissa, India
History has shown that Christians have done the exact same horrors to non-Christain minorities...look at the Inquisition,pogroms,witch trials...the list goes on. What goes around,comes around, sadly.
Sharon , Palm Beach Gardens,
As a christian born and brought up in India without any thing to fear all these days,these incidents in Orissa disturbs my mind.I can only pray God to give tolerance to all sections of the society so that people don't have to fear to be killed just because they have faith in one particular God.
Mamatha, Hyderabad, India
The BJP and RSS are fanatic organisations. They have murdered minorities in India for far too long. In 2002 thousands of Muslims were slaughtered in the state of Gujarat by BJP fanatics in orchestrated violence - this appears to be Orissa's fate too. India must ban the violent BJP.
farrukh, LONDON, UK
To quote Saint Paul, 'there is no Jew nor Greek, nor slave nor free for all are one in Christ Jesus.' Why does it still surprise people - particularly high-caste Hindus - that low-caste Hindus would want to leave a religion that oppresses them and embrace one that offers equality?
Chris Alexander, Khorog, Tajikistan
It is laughable to use the word forced conversion to deceive the people. Many got converted to christianity because of the outstanding love expressed by christians. Any true religion does not resort to arm as the basis to settle sentiment or grievances. Any religion who does, is diabolic.Don't Kill.
Kingsley, Manchester, UK
What is tragic is that Christians are being targeted for the murder of Swami Saraswati by a terrorist group,the Maoists.It is only because the Christians are not reacting back that the VHP continues to oppress them.I am appalled by the lack of local press coverage and the apathy of the government.
Priyanka Kripalani, Mumbai, India
the western media should further investigate about why the situation has become so dire before commenting. the missionaries come to india and force poor people to convert. they even offer incentives like food, education and money to convert to christianity. this is obviously seen as a threat.
som, columbus, usa
First and foremost, Those are not xians, those are tribal people, who have been targetting for conversion, because it is district where 51% of the people are tribal, and 13% dalit. They are easy target to create foot soldiers for xianity against the state.. Remember Rome ?
da Punjabi, NYC, USA
As an Indian Catholic brought up in the metro areas of India, I am horrified and saddened by the Hindu far left extremism. I am sure many Hindus are equally horrified. The Christians have done enormous good by way of excellent schools and colleges etc. Unless good people protest, this will continue.
nimal raj, Omaha, USA
We Christians have it so easy here in the west, but there may come a day........
Christina Summers, Brighton,