Several Christians were killed and a number of churches and homes burnt by Hindu militants in Orissa state in eastern India during a series of preplanned attacks lasting five days.
The incidents, which began Dec. 23, reportedly left an estimated 10 Christians dead, while some 90 churches and approximately 600 homes were torched.
“Fifty to 70 Hindu radicals pulled out Pastor Junas Digal from a parked bus, paraded him on the road, all the way beating him with sticks and hands, and finally shaved his head to claim him a Hindu,” Swarupananda Patra, general secretary of the All Orissa Baptist Churches Federation, reported to the Baptist World Alliance (BWA).
According to Patra, on Christmas eve in Bamunigham in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, two Christians were shot and injured, many shops run by Christians were destroyed, 20 churches were damaged and three were razed to the ground.
Patra said that on Christmas Day, Christians were terrorized, Christmas worship services were disrupted and churches were forced to close. Christians hid in “forests to evade attacks from these Hindus,” he said.
The attacks, which affected approximately 5,000 Christians, leaving most homeless, were allegedly the work of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, or the World Hindu Council.
‘Premeditated’ attack
“It is beyond doubt that the violence was premeditated, preplanned, and the work of a well-disciplined group to ensure simultaneous eruptions across the district within hours of the first incident, and to sustain it for five days despite the presence of the highest police officers in the region,” said Christian leader and human rights activist John Dayal.
BWA General Secretary Neville Callam said BWA “will respond meaningfully to the needs and concerns of those who have suffered and make the appropriate representations to make the case for respect for religious freedom in India.”
Already Baptists in other parts of India have responded to aid those who suffered from the violence. Bonny Resu, general secretary for the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation and BWA regional secretary for Asia, reported that local Indian churches are being mobilized to offer assistance, such as the provision of blankets.
Resu said the level and speed of assistance are being tempered by the sensitivity of the situation as overt assistance from Christian organizations, even from within India, could spark further violence. “Orissa is a place where a Baptist community of about 500,000 live and most of them are in these areas where persecution is most intense. They are also among the poorest of the poor of India, which is why they are often voiceless,” said Resu, who is from Nagaland in northeast India. (BWA, CD)
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