From correspondents in Orissa, India, 02:00 PM IST
One woman was killed and more than a dozen people were injured in fresh violence Tuesday in Orissa's Kandhamal district, where clashes between Hindus and Christians have claimed at least 30 lives in the past month.
A mob set fire to Christian homes and a church in Rudangia village under Udauagiri police station. The two sides then clashed with each other using country made guns and other weapons. Police were forced to open fire to disperse the mob.
Forty-year-old Rukmini Nayak was killed in the violence and over a dozen people were injured, Inspector General of Police Pradeep Kapur told IANS.
The region has been witnessing communal violence since Aug 23, when Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at his Jalespata Ashram.
The VHP accused Christians of the murders, a charge strongly denied by Christian organisations.
Since then, thousands of people have been rendered homeless, many churches attacked and at least 30 people, mostly Christians, killed in the state.
Prohibitory orders are still in force in the district and night curfew is imposed in most towns.
Orissa is not new to communal violence between Hindus and Christians. On Jan 22, 1999, Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons, 10-year-old Philip and six-year-old Timothy, were burnt alive by a Hindu mob in their vehicle in Keonjhar district.
Most Recent Comments
In this type of violence and counterviolence, people from both the sides die. Without getting emotional, it is necessary to look at the basic causes that originally cause these bloody flareups. The chief facts here are that poverty removal is NOT a matter of religious missions through conversion, and it is the government's job. And please do not believe that only Jesus Christ was a symbol of nonviolence and mercy esply.for the poor. He was basically a messenger sent by God to take care of a certain geographical area.Every religion has such messengers, each of whom takes care, from time to time, of the needs of the poor and the needy and the distressed. To quote one's scripture and believe that it says only one's religion has the genuine messenger, savior, and castigate all the other messengers borne in other areas of the world as fakes, is utter stupidity, which will be unacceptable, and resisted by other religionists, naturally.
Please pray for the peace of Orissa.. Pray that what the enemy has intended for evil, God will turn it around for good. Plead with the Lord for a mighty revival and outpouring of His Holy Spirit in that region. May the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, touch every life in that area.. May even those who are attacking taste the love of the Resurrected living Jesus.. If Jesus could meet me and change my life even when I openly hated the mention of His name, surely He will touch these people also...
View all comments »