‘Master plan’ to rid Indian region of Christianity
By Mark Greaves
21 November 2008

The Catholic bishops of Orissa in India have said Hindu extremists have a "master plan" to wipe out Christianity from the area.

They said that mob attacks on Christians were not caused by ethnic tension but were carried out by nationalists who wanted India to become a purely Hindu nation.

The bishops expressed their concerns in a letter to the state's chief minister, Naveen Patnaik.

They said: "Hindu fundamentalist groups have been trying to label the communal violence as an 'ethnic conflict' between the Tribals and the Pano Christians. A cursory look at facts reveals that this conflict is a calculated and pre-planned master plan to wipe out Christianity from Kandhamal district, Orissa, in order to realise the hidden agenda of Sangh Parivar of establishing a Hindu nation."

The bishops said that thousands of Christians were too scared to go home for fear of being attacked or forced to convert "under pain of death".

They said: "Many are unwilling to return because the criminals are still at large and moving about with swords, guns, weapons."

They explained that even though the number of Christians in refugee camps had halved from 24,000 to 11,000, most of them had fled to refugee camps in other parts of India and not returned to their own villages. Some, they said, had started renting elsewhere or moved in with friends or relatives. "It is estimated that 10,000 to 15,000 Christians of Kandhamal district are living outside the district," they said.

The bishops urged the state government to start rebuilding the 180 or so churches destroyed by rioters so that they could be ready in time for Christmas.

They also asked that India's troops remain stationed in the area. "The state police are few and can not defend themselves and their outposts," they said.

The bishops also complained that in spite of a promise by the government Christians whose houses had been burned down had not yet been compensated.

But they praised a government plan to set up a fast-track court to deal with the perpetrators of the violence. They asked that the judges be neither Christian nor Hindu so they could be impartial.

In particular the government is trying to speed up the case of a nun who was allegedly raped by a mob in front of a dozen policemen who did nothing to help her.

The bishops who signed the letter were Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, Bishop Thomas Thiruthalil of Balasore and Bishop Sarat Nayak of Berhampur.

Bishop Thiruthalil told Asia News, a Rome-based news agency, that priests were slowly returning to the area but were "stalked by fear". He said: "They are prime targets for elimination or re-conversion by Hindu fundamentalists and their parents and families have often been compelled to... shave their heads and drink water mixed with cow dung and urine and perform Hindu chants."

The bishop said that until recently the Kandhamal district - the area worst hit by violence - was a place of religious tolerance. "People helped each other working in the fields, sowing and harvesting crops; Hindus and Christians even celebrated religious festivals together," he said. "Regrettably, fundamentalists sowed hatred and suspicion in the minds of Hindus who then turned against the Christians."

Mob attacks against Christians started after a Hindu fundamentalist leader was assassinated along with four of his associates. A Maoist group claimed responsibility for the killings but Hindu activists blamed Christians.

In the violence that followed, nuns were raped, a missionary was burned alive and a priest was stripped and beaten with iron bars.