| Orissa |
By Abhishek
Kandhamal burns as communal harmony is disrupted
Kandhamal violence
In the month of August a prominent Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati belonging to Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) was shot dead. Saraswati was shot dead while he was urging the lower caste people not to convert to Christianity. Alleging that their leader was killed by Christians; mobs of Hindus started attacking the houses of Christians in the Kandhamal besides vandalizing properties of over 100 churches and prayer halls across the state.
Scores of people were doused in petrol and then burnt alive. The violence forced thousands of Christians in the area to flee their homes while Hindus were also forced to fly saffron flags in front of their houses so that their houses are not targeted by mobs. Following the violence many converted Christians re-converted and embraced Hinduism.
Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was accused of being ineffective, incompetent and inactive. Later Centre had to dispatch heavy paramilitary forces and a curfew was clamped in the area.
The communal violence later spread to the adjacent states as well.
However, later Maoists claimed the responsibility of killing Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.
Nun rape case
During the widespread communal violence in the state an Orissa nun accused the Hindu mobsters of raping her. After making this accusation and registering an FIR the nun goes into hiding. She later appears before the media and asks for a CBI probe into the case accusing state police of being involved with the mobsters. The nun had taken a refuge in a church when an angry Hindu mob attacked it and beaten her and the Bishop of the church. She was later raped several times and an attempt was made to kill her but she survived it. She was made to walk on the streets stark naked and Orissa police refused to register her FIR. |
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