Hundreds of victims of anti-Christian violence in Orissa State, India celebrated a small victory this week as they were awarded more time to file affidavits detailing the violence that took place during a series of brutal attacks this past Christmas. The attacks left hundreds of homes and churches destroyed, more than 2,000 Christians in refugee camps and an unknown number of Christians beaten, tortured and killed.
The judicial committee delayed the beginning of the formal investigation until July 14 to help the victims. “We are relieved the deadline was extended by three weeks, given the enormity of the task ahead of us (involving 61 villages),” a priest told AsiaNews. “Victims are trying to rebuild their lives and are under pressure and being intimidated not to testify.” The original start date had been July 5.
The good news was tempered, however, by reports of separate incidents of violence just this week against a bishop and 40 pastors in Andhra Pradesh state adjacent to Orissa. The Christians were praying and worshipping at the start of a Bible seminar in the Khammam district, when a group of radical Hindus broke down the door and attacked the parishioners. In a sick turn of events, the police then arrested the parishioners (the victims) and detained them overnight without food or water.
The dual news reports highlight a frightening–and growing–trend of violence against Christians in India. Some reports suggest that Hindus fear and hate Christianity because of those who embrace it. Many “Untouchables,” the lowest members of India’s archaic caste system, have embraced Christianity because it gives them the dignity and freedom their own country denies them. The Untouchables are considered lower than animals in most cases, unworthy of even the smallest amounts of love or respect.
As a result, they have turned to Christianity and are converting in great numbers. Christ himself favored the weak, the impoverished and the hurting, and this is a viewed as a terrible threat to upper-caste Hindus, for they realize that their power in society is diminishing. The Hindus also fear an uprising among the great numbers of Untouchables, who no longer view themselves as the scum of the earth, but as the princes and princesses of Heaven, the special, beloved children of God. For the first time in their lives, they are experiencing real freedom and true empowerment, and the radical Hindus will do anything to crush those feelings of hope and love.
The Church runs schools and ‘orphanages’ to catch them young. There is no altruism involved; it is all only proselytization zeal. The priests and nuns from South India consider assignments in Orissa and Bihar as plum postings because of the funds involved. They send lakhs home every month, presumably from Church funds. The militant activities in the North East and in Orissa are all Christianity-oriented.
The cold-blooded killing of 84-year-old Swami Lakshmanananda on the night of Janmashtami is a grim reminder of a deepening divide. The pre-meditated attack sent a sense of revulsion amid concern about possible repercussions. It was not just on a sadhu, rather on an institution that epitomised the Hindu ethos and fought religious conversion in Orissa.
Missionaries have rendered yeoman service to the nation , there are no ” plump postings ” and proselytization targets…if rendering service to fellow human beings is something obnoxious….lets try to redefine the word “service”