Click to play videoBhubaneswar: Fresh violence erupted in Khajuriapada and Phiringia in Orissa while Kandhamal still simmers, even though an indefinite curfew was clamped on Tuesday night.
Two more churches were attacked in Kalinga and Tikabali and CRPF jawans have now been deployed to control rioting mobs.
Communal clashes erupted between Hindus and Christians on Christmas eve, a grim reminder of the Hindu-Christian face off in tribal Orissa.
Said senior VHP Leader Lakshmananda Saraswati, “If the missionaries want to do service to the poor, let them do it, we have no objection to that. But why convert them into Christianity in the name of serving the poor? Now the Hindu communities have united and we will fight it out."
It all started when Hindu and Christian groups clashed over erecting a pandal in the honour of Jesus Christ in remote Bramhini.
Meanwhile, CM Navin Patnaik's detractors allege that he was more focussed on his party's birthday celebrations while Kandhamal burnt.
Patnaik had earlier said that no communal incident had ever happened in his eight-year-long rule.
The message sent by the Christians to the District Administration warning them of possible attacks two days earlier had gone unheeded. It is little wonder that Christians accuse Naveen Patnaik of doing a Narendra Modi..
Archbishop Raphale Cheenath had said, “To remain in power Orissa's BJP-BJD alliance government is following the lines of Gujarat. You beat the minorities and thus appease the majority and continue to remain in power. This had happened in Gujarat and now it is happening in Orissa."
His words sound prophetic as fresh violence against Christians was reported from Gujurat.
As tribal strongholds are again becoming battlegrounds for religious and political supremacy across the country, there is a deep feeling of insecurity among the Christians.
CBCI Spokesperson Father Babu Joseph expressed his dissatisfaction at the state of affairs.
“We are deeply saddened by the violence. Even today, the homes of missionaries were burnt and sisters from four convents are hiding in the jungles for fear of their lives. These incidents show that the sense of security is still elusive.”
This is not the first such incident of violence in Orissa and perhaps won’t be the last one either. But what is a matter of greater concern is that the state government does not seem to have a strategic solution to the problem and only reacts when a big clash occurs.
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