At Least 30 Killed in Hindu Attacks on Christians in Orissa

WASHINGTON, D.C., September 3, 2008 – At least 30 people have been killed in recent violence in Orissa. The violence was initiated by Hindu militants after the Communist Party of India (Maoist) killed a Hindu leader. The CPI(M) has claimed responsibility for the killing. According to Compass Direct, the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that more than 114 anti-Christian attacks have taken place in various parts of the state. The Catholic Bishops Conference of India announced Friday that 40,000 Christian schools and colleges would remain closed to “protest the violence against their community.”

Dr. Gurmit Singh Aulakh, President of the Council of Khalistan, condemned the violence. “The attacks on Christians are unacceptable,” he said. “Unfortunately, they are typical of Indian violence against minorities. India does not belong to Hindus alone, but to all the people,” he said. A former Indian Cabinet member said that anyone who lives in India must either be a Hindu or be subservient to Hindus. “This attitude gives rise to the murders and oppression of Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Dalits, Sikhs, and all minorities,” Dr. Aulakh said. “We condemn the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his disciples as well,” Dr. Aulakh said. “These killings only advance the interests of oppressors and tyrants,” he said. “We extend our sympathies to the families of those who have been killed.”

Pope Benedict has also condemned the violence against the Christians and the killing of Saraswati. “"While I firmly condemn every attack on human life, whose sacredness required respect by all, I express my spiritual closeness and solidarity to the brothers and sisters in the faith who are so sorely tried," the Pope said. He said he was profoundly saddened by the violence.

India has murdered over 250,000 Sikhs since 1984, according to figures compiled by the Punjab State Magistracy and human-rights groups and reported in the book The Politics of Genocide by Inderjeet Singh Jaijee. It has also killed over 90,000 Kashmiri Muslims since 1988, 2,000 to 5,000 Muslims in Gujarat, more than 300,000 Christians in Nagaland since 1947, and thousands of Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the country, as well as tens of thousands of Assamese, Bodos, Dalits (“Untouchables,” the dark-skinned aboriginal people of South Asia), Manipuris, Tamils, and other minorities. The Indian Supreme Court called the Indian government's murders of Sikhs "worse than a genocide."

According to a report by the Movement Against State Repression (MASR), 52,268 Sikhs are being held as political prisoners in India without charge or trial. Some have been in illegal custody since 1984! Amnesty International reported that tens of thousands of other minorities are also being held as political prisoners. We demand the immediate release of all these political prisoners.

Indian police arrested human-rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra after he exposed their policy of mass cremation of Sikhs, in which over 50,000 Sikhs have been arrested, tortured, and murdered, then their bodies were declared unidentified and secretly cremated. He was murdered in police custody. His body was not given to his family. No one has been brought to justice for the kidnapping and murder of Jaswant Singh Khalra.

The latest wave of violence in Orissa is part of an ongoing campaign of violent harassment of Christians that has been going on since Christmas 1998. Churches have been burned, Christian schools have been attacked, and Christian prayer halls have been vandalized. Missionary Graham Staines was murdered in 1999 in Orissa while he slept in his jeep, along with his two sons. They were burned to death by a mob of militant Hindus chanting “Victory to Hannuman,” a Hindu god. The killers have never been punished. In April, according to Compass Direct, about 70 violent Hindu nationalists chased and threatened two Christian women from a Gospel for Asia Bible college after a Christian worship service. They burned the church. All the Christians escaped except the two young women. The Hindu militants threatened, “We will burn you like Graham Staines and his children!”

Missionary Joseph Cooper was so severely beaten that he had to spend a week in an Indian hospital, after which he was expelled from the country. Nuns have been raped and made to drink their own urine. Priests have been murdered. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), an organization under the umbrella of the militant, pro-Fascist Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), justified these crimes by calling the nuns “antinational elements.” The RSS, the Hindu nationalist organization that is the parent organization of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has published booklets on how to implicate Christians and other minorities in false criminal cases.

Christian activists say that militant Hindus are forcibly reconverting Christians and others to Hinduism. Forced conversions are illegal in India, but the law is used to prevent people from converting from Hinduism to another religion. Forcible reconversions by violent Hindu groups are never punished. "Anti-social elements are taking advantage of the Orissa Freedom of Religion Act to intimidate Tribals with the knowledge and consent of the local administration,” said Monsignor Thomas Thiruthalil, Bishop of Balasore.

“It is sad that in the name of religion, violent acts like this are carried out,” Dr. Aulakh said. “We strongly condemn the violence against Christians, which is sadly reminiscent of the violence that has been committed against Sikhs, Muslims, and others,” Dr. Aulakh said. “We must continue to press for our God-given birthright of freedom,” he said. “Unfortunately, the Indian government does nothing but encourage and support this repression and violence. Is this the face of modern Hinduism and the so-called secular India?”

##30##

This material is circulated by the Council of Khalistan, which is registered with the Department of Justice (DOJ) in Washington, DC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act as an agent of the Council of Khalistan, Golden Temple, Amritsar, Punjab. The material is filed with the DOJ where the required registration is available for inspection. Registration does not indicate approval of the contents by the U.S. Government.