Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Real Story
Once up ona time there was a country. The country occupied second place in the world in population.It occupes 7th largest in the world.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
India: Glimmers of hope
India: Glimmers of hope
On November 13, the state of Andhra Pradesh in India signed an order
to accommodate the financial interests of Christians. This significant
mercy is notable, considering the ongoing persecution in neighboring
Orissa.
The new legislation was created in response to several Christian pleas
to the government over the course of a decade. Despite the fact that
80 percent of Christians in the state live in poverty, they have only
now been given the opportunity to share a piece in the welfare
system.
It is not an uncommon practice in India to provide welfare by allowing
the poor to receive low interest rate government loans to be paid off.
Not only are these Christians poor, but they are an extreme minority,
representing only 1.6 percent of the Andhra Pradesh population, while
Muslims account for 9.2 percent and Hindus for 89 percent. As a result
of new law, the Christian minority will be able to obtain cheaper
loans, thus giving them an opportunity to maintain quality of life
while still being responsible for payments.
Christian leaders in the state have praised God for the order which,
although just, was rather unexpected. Andhra Pradesh borders the state
of Orissa in which dozens of Christians have been murdered in the past
few months. Believers have fled their houses, have lost family members
and have watched their belongings burn just meters away from an area
that is now allowing Christians the opportunity to have better lives.
As minimal as this new order may be, it is ironically a glorious mercy
to believers considering their treatment elsewhere.
The hope now is that this initiative will catch on. If nothing else,
the government of Orissa will take note that their southern neighbors
are subtly disagreeing with their treatment of minority Christians.
Pray that this may be the beginning to the end of the life -
threatening persecution of Christ followers in India.
INDIA: NEWS BRIEFS
Recent Incidents of Persecution
Karnataka, November 18
Police on Nov. 16 arrested a pastor and charged him with “hurting
religious sentiments” in Vangasandra, Hosur Road, Bangalore, after a
mob of Hindu extremists stormed into his house church service and
struck him. Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global
Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), said that at 11 a.m. a mob of
nearly 25 Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) barged into the house
church service and repeatedly slapped the pastor, identified only as
Sujnanamm, and shouted filthy curses at the 15 other Christians
present.
Laxminarayan Gowda, GCIC regional coordinator, told us that the
extremists beat one of the Christians who tried to help the pastor.
The intolerant Hindus forced Pastor Sujnanamm, with his nose bleeding,
to go with them to the Madivala police station and registered a false
complaint of forcible conversion against him, Gowda said. “On being
questioned about his Christian activities, Sujnanamm told the police
that he was a student at BBBC [Bhirian Baptist Bible College],” Gowda
said. “This angered the police, who summoned the Rev. Edwin Chilli,
president of the BBBC, to the police station and charged him under
Section 506 for criminal intimidation.” At press time both Christian
leaders were still in jail.
Karnataka
Police arrested three Christians on Nov. 12 on charges of attempted
Christian conversion by allurement in Cox Town, Bangalore. The Global
Council of Indian Christians reported that a Christian man identified
only as Chandrasekhar and two Christian women, identified only as
Kamlamma and Sandhya, all of Pavithra Agni Church, went to a slum area
in Jeevanahalli to pray for a sick couple. On their way back home,
nearly 20 Hindu extremists belonging to the Hindu extremist Rashtriya
Swamyamsevak Sangh attacked them, snatched their bags, verbally abused
them and falsely accused them of forcible conversion, then phoned a
local police station.
The Frazer Town Police took the three Christians to the police station
and arrested them for “hurting religious sentiments” and “uttering
words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any
person.” The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that an
employer of the slum dwellers identified only as Mr. Gowda also filed
a complaint against the Christians for allegedly inducing people to
convert to Christianity by fraudulent means. The two women were
remanded to custody, and Chandrasekhar was sent to a jail the next
day. The three Christians appeared in court on Nov. 13 and were
ordered to remain in police custody till Nov. 28, according to the
EFI.
Karnataka
Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists belonging to the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) on Nov. 9 falsely accused a
pastor of forced conversion, beat him and verbally abused Christian
women in Banavara, Arasikere Taluk, Hassan district. The Global
Council of Indian Christians reported that pastor Ravi Charles of
Jesus Prayer Hall was summoned to perform the funeral service of a
church member, a convert from Hinduism identified only as Girijama.
As the pastor, his wife and other Christians reached the house of the
deceased, an argument broke out among family members on whether the
funeral was to proceed under Christian or Hindu rites. Hindu relatives
informed VHP extremists. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported
that the VHP extremists arrived, accused the pastor of forced
conversion and started beating him, as well as verbally abusing the
Christian women. The extremists called police, who detained them for
four hours and released them without charges.
Karnataka
Police on Nov. 4 arrested Benjamin Bommai, 52, of the Manonidhi
Institute of Nursing (MIN) in Chamarajanagar district, on charges of
forced conversion. MIN Manager Shailaja Krupanidhi told us that police
summoned Bommai for questioning regarding a case filed by Hindu
extremists from the Bajrang Dal in 2006 for distributing gospel tracts
at Manonidhi College.
The extremists had charged Bommai with trying to forcibly convert
students. “On Nov. 4, Bommai was only called for enquiry – he did not
distribute tracts or anything, but police arrested him,” said
Krupanidhi. Bommai appeared before the district magistrate and was
later sent to the Chamrajanagar jail. The Evangelical Fellowship of
India reported that police arrested Bommai for promoting enmity
between different groups of religion under Section 153A of the Indian
Penal Code. “Bommai was released on bail the next evening,” said
Krupanidhi.
Uttarakhand
Hindu extremists vandalized a church, severely injured a pastor’s ear
drum and stole donation and offering bags on Nov. 3 in Dehradun.
According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India, about 30 Hindu
extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bajrang Dal barged
into the worship hall of Bethesda Church and damaged Bibles and gospel
literature and furniture. The assailants took the church’s offering
and donation boxes along with important papers.
The extremists also attacked Asher Wasker, a pastor from God’s Church
in neighboring Rajpur, who had come to the aid of the attacked church.
Pastor Wasker suffered internal injuries and his right ear drum was
severely injured. Bethesda Church’s caretaker and Pastor Wasker filed
a complaint with the help of area Christian leaders, and three Hindu
extremists were arrested for voluntarily causing hurt and damage, for
trespassing and wrongful restraint, for theft and for defiling a place
of worship.
Karnataka
Police on Nov. 2 disrupted the Sunday worship service of a house
church in Thimannakatte village, Haveri district, based on an
accusation of forced conversion. According to the Christian Legal
Association, police barged into the house church of the Dheiwah
Ministry because villagers had accused pastor Rangaiah Nagaraj of
forcible conversion.
Police warned the pastor to obtain prior permission in order to
conduct future worship meetings. But Inspector Krishan Junoor later
said the pastor could continue to conduct worship meetings under
police protection, adding that normalcy had returned to the area. No
arrests had been made.
Andhra Pradesh
Nizambad district police detained a pastor for one-and-a-half days on
a complaint of forced conversion filed against him by Hindu extremists
on Oct. 24 in Nandipet Mandal, Nizambad. The Global Council of Indian
Christians reported that at about 8 a.m., 20 Hindu extremists from the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh barged into the house of pastor Martin Luther of
Believers Church and attacked him, dragging him to the police station
and accusing him of forcible conversion. The pastor was released after
local Christian leaders met with Sub-Inspector Shiva Shankar.
Madhya Pradesh
Police on Oct. 12 arrested a pastor on charges of “fraudulent
conversion” in Dhamnod town, Dhar District. The Global Council of
Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that a complaint from a local
resident led police to raid pastor Ganesh Bharud’s house church, seize
Bibles, hymnals and gospel tracts, chase away the 25 Christians
assembled for Sunday worship and force Bharud to the Dhamnod police
station. A GCIC representative told us that the local resident had
accused Bharud of inducing people to convert with false promises of an
overseas job. Police officials said that Bharud was released on bail
on Oct. 13 at 5:30 p.m.
On November 13, the state of Andhra Pradesh in India signed an order
to accommodate the financial interests of Christians. This significant
mercy is notable, considering the ongoing persecution in neighboring
Orissa.
The new legislation was created in response to several Christian pleas
to the government over the course of a decade. Despite the fact that
80 percent of Christians in the state live in poverty, they have only
now been given the opportunity to share a piece in the welfare
system.
It is not an uncommon practice in India to provide welfare by allowing
the poor to receive low interest rate government loans to be paid off.
Not only are these Christians poor, but they are an extreme minority,
representing only 1.6 percent of the Andhra Pradesh population, while
Muslims account for 9.2 percent and Hindus for 89 percent. As a result
of new law, the Christian minority will be able to obtain cheaper
loans, thus giving them an opportunity to maintain quality of life
while still being responsible for payments.
Christian leaders in the state have praised God for the order which,
although just, was rather unexpected. Andhra Pradesh borders the state
of Orissa in which dozens of Christians have been murdered in the past
few months. Believers have fled their houses, have lost family members
and have watched their belongings burn just meters away from an area
that is now allowing Christians the opportunity to have better lives.
As minimal as this new order may be, it is ironically a glorious mercy
to believers considering their treatment elsewhere.
The hope now is that this initiative will catch on. If nothing else,
the government of Orissa will take note that their southern neighbors
are subtly disagreeing with their treatment of minority Christians.
Pray that this may be the beginning to the end of the life -
threatening persecution of Christ followers in India.
INDIA: NEWS BRIEFS
Recent Incidents of Persecution
Karnataka, November 18
Police on Nov. 16 arrested a pastor and charged him with “hurting
religious sentiments” in Vangasandra, Hosur Road, Bangalore, after a
mob of Hindu extremists stormed into his house church service and
struck him. Dr. Sajan K. George, national president of the Global
Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), said that at 11 a.m. a mob of
nearly 25 Hindu extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) barged into the house
church service and repeatedly slapped the pastor, identified only as
Sujnanamm, and shouted filthy curses at the 15 other Christians
present.
Laxminarayan Gowda, GCIC regional coordinator, told us that the
extremists beat one of the Christians who tried to help the pastor.
The intolerant Hindus forced Pastor Sujnanamm, with his nose bleeding,
to go with them to the Madivala police station and registered a false
complaint of forcible conversion against him, Gowda said. “On being
questioned about his Christian activities, Sujnanamm told the police
that he was a student at BBBC [Bhirian Baptist Bible College],” Gowda
said. “This angered the police, who summoned the Rev. Edwin Chilli,
president of the BBBC, to the police station and charged him under
Section 506 for criminal intimidation.” At press time both Christian
leaders were still in jail.
Karnataka
Police arrested three Christians on Nov. 12 on charges of attempted
Christian conversion by allurement in Cox Town, Bangalore. The Global
Council of Indian Christians reported that a Christian man identified
only as Chandrasekhar and two Christian women, identified only as
Kamlamma and Sandhya, all of Pavithra Agni Church, went to a slum area
in Jeevanahalli to pray for a sick couple. On their way back home,
nearly 20 Hindu extremists belonging to the Hindu extremist Rashtriya
Swamyamsevak Sangh attacked them, snatched their bags, verbally abused
them and falsely accused them of forcible conversion, then phoned a
local police station.
The Frazer Town Police took the three Christians to the police station
and arrested them for “hurting religious sentiments” and “uttering
words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any
person.” The Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFI) reported that an
employer of the slum dwellers identified only as Mr. Gowda also filed
a complaint against the Christians for allegedly inducing people to
convert to Christianity by fraudulent means. The two women were
remanded to custody, and Chandrasekhar was sent to a jail the next
day. The three Christians appeared in court on Nov. 13 and were
ordered to remain in police custody till Nov. 28, according to the
EFI.
Karnataka
Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) extremists belonging to the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad (World Hindu Council or VHP) on Nov. 9 falsely accused a
pastor of forced conversion, beat him and verbally abused Christian
women in Banavara, Arasikere Taluk, Hassan district. The Global
Council of Indian Christians reported that pastor Ravi Charles of
Jesus Prayer Hall was summoned to perform the funeral service of a
church member, a convert from Hinduism identified only as Girijama.
As the pastor, his wife and other Christians reached the house of the
deceased, an argument broke out among family members on whether the
funeral was to proceed under Christian or Hindu rites. Hindu relatives
informed VHP extremists. The Evangelical Fellowship of India reported
that the VHP extremists arrived, accused the pastor of forced
conversion and started beating him, as well as verbally abusing the
Christian women. The extremists called police, who detained them for
four hours and released them without charges.
Karnataka
Police on Nov. 4 arrested Benjamin Bommai, 52, of the Manonidhi
Institute of Nursing (MIN) in Chamarajanagar district, on charges of
forced conversion. MIN Manager Shailaja Krupanidhi told us that police
summoned Bommai for questioning regarding a case filed by Hindu
extremists from the Bajrang Dal in 2006 for distributing gospel tracts
at Manonidhi College.
The extremists had charged Bommai with trying to forcibly convert
students. “On Nov. 4, Bommai was only called for enquiry – he did not
distribute tracts or anything, but police arrested him,” said
Krupanidhi. Bommai appeared before the district magistrate and was
later sent to the Chamrajanagar jail. The Evangelical Fellowship of
India reported that police arrested Bommai for promoting enmity
between different groups of religion under Section 153A of the Indian
Penal Code. “Bommai was released on bail the next evening,” said
Krupanidhi.
Uttarakhand
Hindu extremists vandalized a church, severely injured a pastor’s ear
drum and stole donation and offering bags on Nov. 3 in Dehradun.
According to the Evangelical Fellowship of India, about 30 Hindu
extremists from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bajrang Dal barged
into the worship hall of Bethesda Church and damaged Bibles and gospel
literature and furniture. The assailants took the church’s offering
and donation boxes along with important papers.
The extremists also attacked Asher Wasker, a pastor from God’s Church
in neighboring Rajpur, who had come to the aid of the attacked church.
Pastor Wasker suffered internal injuries and his right ear drum was
severely injured. Bethesda Church’s caretaker and Pastor Wasker filed
a complaint with the help of area Christian leaders, and three Hindu
extremists were arrested for voluntarily causing hurt and damage, for
trespassing and wrongful restraint, for theft and for defiling a place
of worship.
Karnataka
Police on Nov. 2 disrupted the Sunday worship service of a house
church in Thimannakatte village, Haveri district, based on an
accusation of forced conversion. According to the Christian Legal
Association, police barged into the house church of the Dheiwah
Ministry because villagers had accused pastor Rangaiah Nagaraj of
forcible conversion.
Police warned the pastor to obtain prior permission in order to
conduct future worship meetings. But Inspector Krishan Junoor later
said the pastor could continue to conduct worship meetings under
police protection, adding that normalcy had returned to the area. No
arrests had been made.
Andhra Pradesh
Nizambad district police detained a pastor for one-and-a-half days on
a complaint of forced conversion filed against him by Hindu extremists
on Oct. 24 in Nandipet Mandal, Nizambad. The Global Council of Indian
Christians reported that at about 8 a.m., 20 Hindu extremists from the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) and the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh barged into the house of pastor Martin Luther of
Believers Church and attacked him, dragging him to the police station
and accusing him of forcible conversion. The pastor was released after
local Christian leaders met with Sub-Inspector Shiva Shankar.
Madhya Pradesh
Police on Oct. 12 arrested a pastor on charges of “fraudulent
conversion” in Dhamnod town, Dhar District. The Global Council of
Indian Christians (GCIC) reported that a complaint from a local
resident led police to raid pastor Ganesh Bharud’s house church, seize
Bibles, hymnals and gospel tracts, chase away the 25 Christians
assembled for Sunday worship and force Bharud to the Dhamnod police
station. A GCIC representative told us that the local resident had
accused Bharud of inducing people to convert with false promises of an
overseas job. Police officials said that Bharud was released on bail
on Oct. 13 at 5:30 p.m.
CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA FEAR VIOLENT CHRISTMAS
INDIA: CHRISTIANS IN ORISSA FEAR VIOLENT CHRISTMAS
Hindu extremists move to stop yuletide celebrations as suffering in
Kandhamal continues.
Christians in Orissa state are anticipating Christmas with fear as
Hindu extremists have called for a state-wide bandh, or forced shut-
down on all sectors of society, on Dec. 25 – a move that could provide
Hindu extremists the pretext for attacking anyone publicly celebrating
the birth of Christ. The state’s chief minister has said there should
be no such shut-down but stopped short of prohibiting the Hindu
extremists’ plan, and the Hindu extremist umbrella organization Sangh
Parivar has vowed to press ahead with it, reported newspaper Outlook
India on Nov. 20.
Though such shut-downs were declared illegal by India’s Supreme Court
in 1998, the president of the Laxmanananda Saraswati Condolence
Society (SLSSS) sent a threatening notice to the Orissa government on
Nov. 15, warning that the Hindu extremist group would impose a bandh
on Christmas unless the state government arrested those who murdered
Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23. Ratnakar Chaini,
president of SLSSS, called for the shut-down in a massive rally in
Delhi on Nov. 15.
Inflammatory speeches at the rally by Chaini and others led Christians
to believe the shut-down would serve as the pretext for another spate
of violence against those publicly celebrating Christmas. At the same
time, in Orissa’s Kandhamal district, more deaths of Christians have
been reported in the past two weeks.
----------
Hindu extremists move to stop yuletide celebrations as suffering in
Kandhamal continues.
Christians in Orissa state are anticipating Christmas with fear as
Hindu extremists have called for a state-wide bandh, or forced shut-
down on all sectors of society, on Dec. 25 – a move that could provide
Hindu extremists the pretext for attacking anyone publicly celebrating
the birth of Christ. The state’s chief minister has said there should
be no such shut-down but stopped short of prohibiting the Hindu
extremists’ plan, and the Hindu extremist umbrella organization Sangh
Parivar has vowed to press ahead with it, reported newspaper Outlook
India on Nov. 20.
Though such shut-downs were declared illegal by India’s Supreme Court
in 1998, the president of the Laxmanananda Saraswati Condolence
Society (SLSSS) sent a threatening notice to the Orissa government on
Nov. 15, warning that the Hindu extremist group would impose a bandh
on Christmas unless the state government arrested those who murdered
Hindu leader Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23. Ratnakar Chaini,
president of SLSSS, called for the shut-down in a massive rally in
Delhi on Nov. 15.
Inflammatory speeches at the rally by Chaini and others led Christians
to believe the shut-down would serve as the pretext for another spate
of violence against those publicly celebrating Christmas. At the same
time, in Orissa’s Kandhamal district, more deaths of Christians have
been reported in the past two weeks.
----------
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
pray for Cirrohoes of Liver Patient
I need all pastors and christian brothers prayers about a patient who is suffering from the disease
cirrhosis of liver. now he is on the bed. he is experiencing non stop blood vomiting. really it was a terrible condition. The doctor said that takehim away from hospital no hopes. we are all know this except the patient. he still has a ray of hope to recover from this situation. but no body dare to tell him about his last hours.
a request all the christians to pray for this patient.
cirrhosis of liver. now he is on the bed. he is experiencing non stop blood vomiting. really it was a terrible condition. The doctor said that takehim away from hospital no hopes. we are all know this except the patient. he still has a ray of hope to recover from this situation. but no body dare to tell him about his last hours.
a request all the christians to pray for this patient.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Mumbai terror suspect’s Pakistan link “confirmed”
LONDON: Contradicting Pakistani denials that its nationals were involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, The Observer reported on Sunday that it had established that Ajmal Amir ‘Kasab,’ the lone surviving suspect, ...
LONDON: Contradicting Pakistani denials that its nationals were involved in the Mumbai terror attacks, The Observer reported on Sunday that it had established that Ajmal Amir ‘Kasab,’ the lone surviving suspect, ...
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Centre not doing enough: Karat
Centre not doing enough: Karat
HYDERABAD: CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has criticised the Centre for not doing enough to contain the violence against Christians in Orissa and urged it to take strong action against the Bajrang Dal. He wanted it to issue directives to the Naveen Patnaik government under Article 355 of the Constitution.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he said the situation in Kandhamal district continued to be serious. There had been similar attacks in Karnataka also. “There is enough evidence that the Bajrang Dal is participating in these violent attacks on Christian minorities. Our demand has been that the Central government should initiate strong action against the Bajrang Dal.”
He said the ‘Unlawful Activities Act’ should be applied to all extremist groups that indulge in violence, whether they belonged to the minority community or the majority community.
It was not enough to issue advisory letters to the Orissa government. Under Article 355, the Centre could issue directives to State governments for the arrest of all culprits, ensuring that cases were filed and telling them how serious crimes like the rape of a nun and killing of people should be probed.
“We have, of course, demanded that the CBI should be handed over the investigation of such cases.”
Replying to a question on invoking Article 356, he said the CPI(M) was against its use in general, except when there was a serious threat to national unity and the country’s secular fabric. In the present situation in Orissa, he wanted the Centre to issue directives under Article 355.
He also accused the BJP of fomenting communal trouble all over the country, with an eye on the coming elections. Citing the incidents in Assam and Dhule in Maharashtra, he said the RSS and its outfits were fomenting communal tension and creating communal polarisations. This was “condemnable.”
He faulted the Securities and Exchange Board of India for removing restrictions pertaining to Participatory Notes and said that it was trying to bring back speculative finances which had left India.
“We are trying to import the financial crisis in America into our country,” he said. He demanded that the RBI and SEBI tighten the regulations and prevent speculative financial flows.
Asked about the clean chit given to Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh by the Parliamentary Committee set up to go into the cash-for-votes scam, he said one must wait for the final report.
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HYDERABAD: CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat has criticised the Centre for not doing enough to contain the violence against Christians in Orissa and urged it to take strong action against the Bajrang Dal. He wanted it to issue directives to the Naveen Patnaik government under Article 355 of the Constitution.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he said the situation in Kandhamal district continued to be serious. There had been similar attacks in Karnataka also. “There is enough evidence that the Bajrang Dal is participating in these violent attacks on Christian minorities. Our demand has been that the Central government should initiate strong action against the Bajrang Dal.”
He said the ‘Unlawful Activities Act’ should be applied to all extremist groups that indulge in violence, whether they belonged to the minority community or the majority community.
It was not enough to issue advisory letters to the Orissa government. Under Article 355, the Centre could issue directives to State governments for the arrest of all culprits, ensuring that cases were filed and telling them how serious crimes like the rape of a nun and killing of people should be probed.
“We have, of course, demanded that the CBI should be handed over the investigation of such cases.”
Replying to a question on invoking Article 356, he said the CPI(M) was against its use in general, except when there was a serious threat to national unity and the country’s secular fabric. In the present situation in Orissa, he wanted the Centre to issue directives under Article 355.
He also accused the BJP of fomenting communal trouble all over the country, with an eye on the coming elections. Citing the incidents in Assam and Dhule in Maharashtra, he said the RSS and its outfits were fomenting communal tension and creating communal polarisations. This was “condemnable.”
He faulted the Securities and Exchange Board of India for removing restrictions pertaining to Participatory Notes and said that it was trying to bring back speculative finances which had left India.
“We are trying to import the financial crisis in America into our country,” he said. He demanded that the RBI and SEBI tighten the regulations and prevent speculative financial flows.
Asked about the clean chit given to Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh by the Parliamentary Committee set up to go into the cash-for-votes scam, he said one must wait for the final report.
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Continue taking stern action: Sister Nirmala
APPEAL FOR PEACE: Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, meets Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday. She stressed the need for strong action in Kandhamal district to restore peace.
BHUBANESWAR: The situation in riot-hit Kandhamal district was bad and the Orissa government should continue taking strong measures to bring the situation under control, Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, said here on Tuesday.
Talking to journalists after she met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Sister Nirmala said she was happy that the government had started taking strong measures to restore peace in Kandhamal.
“I am happy now that the State government has started taking strong measures. They should continue their efforts so that peace may return and violence-affected families could return to their homes,” she said.
The people who had been affected by the communal violence in Kandhamal were unsafe and reluctant to return to their villages out of fear, she said.
Sister Nirmala had written to Mr. Patnaik on August 28 urging him to restore peace in Kandhamal when Christian families and their houses were being attacked in the wake of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda. In her letter, she had also referred to the rape of the Catholic nun at K. Nuagaon.
The Crime Branch of the State police have arrested the main accused in the nun rape case taking the number of arrests in the case to five. More arrests were expected soon, according to Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj.Bid to reach nun
Mr. Praharaj also appealed to the nun to participate in the legal proceedings in the case. A police team was camping in New Delhi to reach to the nun.
Mr. Patnaik reviewed the situation in Kandhamal and directed the authorities to keep a close watch on the situation to restore normality in the district. He also emphasised the need for rehabilitating thousands of riot-affected people who had taken shelter in relief camps.
In another development, as many as 40 riot-affected people from Kandhamal led by Opposition Leader J.B. Patnaik met Governor M. C. Bhandare and demanded that the CBI should be asked to probe all cases pertaining to the communal violence in the district.
The violence-affected people countered the government’s claim that those taking shelter in relief camps had started returning to their villages.
Those living in the camps were leaving for distant places as there was no safety in their villages, they said.
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BHUBANESWAR: The situation in riot-hit Kandhamal district was bad and the Orissa government should continue taking strong measures to bring the situation under control, Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, said here on Tuesday.
Talking to journalists after she met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Sister Nirmala said she was happy that the government had started taking strong measures to restore peace in Kandhamal.
“I am happy now that the State government has started taking strong measures. They should continue their efforts so that peace may return and violence-affected families could return to their homes,” she said.
The people who had been affected by the communal violence in Kandhamal were unsafe and reluctant to return to their villages out of fear, she said.
Sister Nirmala had written to Mr. Patnaik on August 28 urging him to restore peace in Kandhamal when Christian families and their houses were being attacked in the wake of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda. In her letter, she had also referred to the rape of the Catholic nun at K. Nuagaon.
The Crime Branch of the State police have arrested the main accused in the nun rape case taking the number of arrests in the case to five. More arrests were expected soon, according to Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj.Bid to reach nun
Mr. Praharaj also appealed to the nun to participate in the legal proceedings in the case. A police team was camping in New Delhi to reach to the nun.
Mr. Patnaik reviewed the situation in Kandhamal and directed the authorities to keep a close watch on the situation to restore normality in the district. He also emphasised the need for rehabilitating thousands of riot-affected people who had taken shelter in relief camps.
In another development, as many as 40 riot-affected people from Kandhamal led by Opposition Leader J.B. Patnaik met Governor M. C. Bhandare and demanded that the CBI should be asked to probe all cases pertaining to the communal violence in the district.
The violence-affected people countered the government’s claim that those taking shelter in relief camps had started returning to their villages.
Those living in the camps were leaving for distant places as there was no safety in their villages, they said.
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Monday, October 6, 2008
prayer request
Dear Saints in the LordWe request you all to pray for the following on urgent basis.also requesting to forward to your mailing list.
1. Karnataka ( India) Government is planning to bring ANTI-CONVERSION LAW as earlier as possible in this state. Please pray that our Lord will intervene and stop these kind of devil's plan which is well planned against Christianity.2. The Central Minister for Health in India, Dr.Anbumani, is trying to legalise the Homesexual and lesbian in INDIA. Pls pray that these kind of devil's plan will be vanished by the Lord's intervention
1. Karnataka ( India) Government is planning to bring ANTI-CONVERSION LAW as earlier as possible in this state. Please pray that our Lord will intervene and stop these kind of devil's plan which is well planned against Christianity.2. The Central Minister for Health in India, Dr.Anbumani, is trying to legalise the Homesexual and lesbian in INDIA. Pls pray that these kind of devil's plan will be vanished by the Lord's intervention
BHUBANESWAR: A three-member Orissa police team led by B. Radhika, Inspector-General (Training), on Monday left for New Delhi to bring to the State the nun who was raped at K. Nuagaon village in Kandhamal district on August 25.
“We want the nun to be in Orissa to help us in the investigation and the judicial proceedings pertaining to the case,” Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj told The Hindu. She would be provided adequate security wherever she lived in the State, he said.
The nun, along with a priest, was beaten up by a mob of about 40 men, one of whom later raped her. The incident took place even as violence was spreading in Kandhamal after the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda.
Meanwhile, Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, has reached the city. She is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday. 900 cases booked
Mr. Praharaj said more than 900 cases were registered in connection with the communal violence in Kandhamal district and at least 465 people arrested. More arrests were likely in connection with the riots.
The cases registered in different police stations in the strife-torn district pertained to killings, rape, rioting and burning down of houses, churches and other prayer houses.
Mr. Praharaj said that in each police station a police official would accept complaints from the affected people.
Besides, cases were being registered on complaints received by post.
Although violence spread to the neighbouring Kalahandi district on Monday, the DGP claimed, the number of violent incidents had come down in Kandhamal during the past few days due to strengthening of security in interior areas. Patrolling had been intensified in sensitive areas to prevent blocking of roads by those indulging in violence.
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“We want the nun to be in Orissa to help us in the investigation and the judicial proceedings pertaining to the case,” Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj told The Hindu. She would be provided adequate security wherever she lived in the State, he said.
The nun, along with a priest, was beaten up by a mob of about 40 men, one of whom later raped her. The incident took place even as violence was spreading in Kandhamal after the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda.
Meanwhile, Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, has reached the city. She is scheduled to meet Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday. 900 cases booked
Mr. Praharaj said more than 900 cases were registered in connection with the communal violence in Kandhamal district and at least 465 people arrested. More arrests were likely in connection with the riots.
The cases registered in different police stations in the strife-torn district pertained to killings, rape, rioting and burning down of houses, churches and other prayer houses.
Mr. Praharaj said that in each police station a police official would accept complaints from the affected people.
Besides, cases were being registered on complaints received by post.
Although violence spread to the neighbouring Kalahandi district on Monday, the DGP claimed, the number of violent incidents had come down in Kandhamal during the past few days due to strengthening of security in interior areas. Patrolling had been intensified in sensitive areas to prevent blocking of roads by those indulging in violence.
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Anti christian
3 held in Lakshmanananda case
Attacks on houses of Christians reported in Kalahandi
BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa police on Monday arrested three people for their alleged involvement in the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda.
Duryodhan Sunamajhi, Munda Badamajhi and Sanatan Badamajhi, arrested from the Tumudibandha area of riot-hit Kandhamal district, were active members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Two guns, masks and black dresses were recovered from them, the new Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj told The Hindu over telephone.
Mr. Praharaj, who did not comment on the religious identity of the three, said more arrests were likely in the case.
Soon after Lakshmanananda was killed, by about 40 armed men at his ashram at Jalespata in Kandhamal on August 23, the then DGP Gopal Chandra Nanda said the crime was committed by suspected Maoists. However, confusion was created after leaders of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal claimed that militant Christians had killed the Swami.
Attacks on the houses of Christians were reported from the neighbouring Kalahandi district. The houses were burnt down in Sukuli village in Kalahandi early in the day.
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Attacks on houses of Christians reported in Kalahandi
BHUBANESWAR: The Orissa police on Monday arrested three people for their alleged involvement in the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda.
Duryodhan Sunamajhi, Munda Badamajhi and Sanatan Badamajhi, arrested from the Tumudibandha area of riot-hit Kandhamal district, were active members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Two guns, masks and black dresses were recovered from them, the new Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj told The Hindu over telephone.
Mr. Praharaj, who did not comment on the religious identity of the three, said more arrests were likely in the case.
Soon after Lakshmanananda was killed, by about 40 armed men at his ashram at Jalespata in Kandhamal on August 23, the then DGP Gopal Chandra Nanda said the crime was committed by suspected Maoists. However, confusion was created after leaders of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal claimed that militant Christians had killed the Swami.
Attacks on the houses of Christians were reported from the neighbouring Kalahandi district. The houses were burnt down in Sukuli village in Kalahandi early in the day.
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Sunday, October 5, 2008
Predential rule in India
Orissa’s inaction a violation: Patil
“Demand growing for President’s rule”
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Saturday hinted that the Centre might have to invoke Article 356 of the Constitution to impose President’s Rule in Orissa if the continued violence in the State was not brought under control.
In an interview to a private television channel, Mr. Patil termed the “inaction” of the Orissa government in controlling the violence a “violation of the Constitution” and said “there is a growing demand for President’s rule if the situation worsens.”
Noting that police forces and helicopters had been provided to control the situation, he said the Centre was unhappy with the Orissa government’s lack of action. Six warnings sent
The Centre had already sent six warnings to the State government and “merely continuing to ask for additional forces after every few days cannot be a solution. The State government has to implement [an] overall strategy for creating [an] environment of security,” he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to react. Senior leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said while violence anywhere was condemnable, the United Progressive Alliance government did nothing when there were violent incidents in Nandigram in West Bengal and an agitation against Hindi-speaking people in Assam led to the cold-blooded murder of some people. Why did not Mr. Patil then think about imposing President’s Rule in those States?
The violence in Orissa began on August 23 following the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist Lakshmanananda, who was aggressively pursuing the VHP’s re-conversion programme, ghar vapasi (homecoming). Since then hundreds of Christian homes have been set on fire and thousands have fled their villages and taken shelter in forests or relief camps.I can identify men who raped me: nun
PTI reports:
While demanding justice, a nun who was raped in Kandhamal district has claimed that she can identify the culprits.
The nun said she was dragged by the hair by men from a Hindu household where she was hiding. “...Two men were holding my hand, one raped me,” she told CNN-IBN from an ‘undisclosed location.’
She demanded justice not only for herself “but for the sake of the people I was working with.” The nun appealed to the State government to ensure protection to the people of Kandhamal and said the situation had been bad for far too long.
Blaming the police for inaction, the nun claimed that when she and others were being taken towards a market, the policemen present there failed to protect them. “... they were sitting like stones. They did not talk or move,” she said.
Speaking to NDTV, the nun said: “I asked the police for help but they just looked on. Those who were mute spectators should also be punished.”
She has left Orissa and is not sure whether she will return to Kandhamal
“Demand growing for President’s rule”
NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Saturday hinted that the Centre might have to invoke Article 356 of the Constitution to impose President’s Rule in Orissa if the continued violence in the State was not brought under control.
In an interview to a private television channel, Mr. Patil termed the “inaction” of the Orissa government in controlling the violence a “violation of the Constitution” and said “there is a growing demand for President’s rule if the situation worsens.”
Noting that police forces and helicopters had been provided to control the situation, he said the Centre was unhappy with the Orissa government’s lack of action. Six warnings sent
The Centre had already sent six warnings to the State government and “merely continuing to ask for additional forces after every few days cannot be a solution. The State government has to implement [an] overall strategy for creating [an] environment of security,” he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was quick to react. Senior leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said while violence anywhere was condemnable, the United Progressive Alliance government did nothing when there were violent incidents in Nandigram in West Bengal and an agitation against Hindi-speaking people in Assam led to the cold-blooded murder of some people. Why did not Mr. Patil then think about imposing President’s Rule in those States?
The violence in Orissa began on August 23 following the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist Lakshmanananda, who was aggressively pursuing the VHP’s re-conversion programme, ghar vapasi (homecoming). Since then hundreds of Christian homes have been set on fire and thousands have fled their villages and taken shelter in forests or relief camps.I can identify men who raped me: nun
PTI reports:
While demanding justice, a nun who was raped in Kandhamal district has claimed that she can identify the culprits.
The nun said she was dragged by the hair by men from a Hindu household where she was hiding. “...Two men were holding my hand, one raped me,” she told CNN-IBN from an ‘undisclosed location.’
She demanded justice not only for herself “but for the sake of the people I was working with.” The nun appealed to the State government to ensure protection to the people of Kandhamal and said the situation had been bad for far too long.
Blaming the police for inaction, the nun claimed that when she and others were being taken towards a market, the policemen present there failed to protect them. “... they were sitting like stones. They did not talk or move,” she said.
Speaking to NDTV, the nun said: “I asked the police for help but they just looked on. Those who were mute spectators should also be punished.”
She has left Orissa and is not sure whether she will return to Kandhamal
Friday, October 3, 2008
useless steps
Manmohan directs Patil to submit report on Orissa, Karnataka
New Delhi (PTI): Taking note of the continuing violence in Orissa and Karnataka, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday sought a detailed report from Home Minister Shivraj Patil on the situation in these States.
"The Cabinet took note of the latest situation prevailing in Orissa and Karnataka and the Home Minister was asked by the Prime Minister to apprise the Cabinet of the situation in its next meeting," Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi told reporters.
He said serious concern was expressed on Orissa, particularly Kandhamal where "some organisations" were actively taking part in the violence and the Home Ministry has been asked to give an appraisal report at the earliest.
"The situation is very grave. The government is quite concerned," he said.
Pointing out that 7,500 para-military personnel had been rushed to Kandhamal, with 100 jawans posted at every village, he said the Centre strongly felt that the "Orissa government has to do more, which they are not doing".
Asked whether imposition of President's rule in the State was discussed, he replied in the negative saying matters pertaining to the Constitution were not discussed arbitrarily.
New Delhi (PTI): Taking note of the continuing violence in Orissa and Karnataka, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday sought a detailed report from Home Minister Shivraj Patil on the situation in these States.
"The Cabinet took note of the latest situation prevailing in Orissa and Karnataka and the Home Minister was asked by the Prime Minister to apprise the Cabinet of the situation in its next meeting," Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunsi told reporters.
He said serious concern was expressed on Orissa, particularly Kandhamal where "some organisations" were actively taking part in the violence and the Home Ministry has been asked to give an appraisal report at the earliest.
"The situation is very grave. The government is quite concerned," he said.
Pointing out that 7,500 para-military personnel had been rushed to Kandhamal, with 100 jawans posted at every village, he said the Centre strongly felt that the "Orissa government has to do more, which they are not doing".
Asked whether imposition of President's rule in the State was discussed, he replied in the negative saying matters pertaining to the Constitution were not discussed arbitrarily.
International opinion
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who faced tough questions over violence against Christians in Orissa and Karnataka during his visit to France, told his Cabinet colleagues on Friday that the incidents in these States had affected the image of the country.
At a Cabinet meeting here, the Prime Minister mentioned how he faced embarrassing questions over the incidents during his meetings with the leaders of the U.S. and European Union, official sources said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is the current head of the 27-nation European, raised the issue of attacks on Christians in Orissa and Karnataka during his meeting with Dr. Singh in Marseilles earlier this week. He described these incidents as “massacre” against Christians.
Facing such embarrassment, Dr. Singh termed these violent incidents as a “national shame.” — PTI
At a Cabinet meeting here, the Prime Minister mentioned how he faced embarrassing questions over the incidents during his meetings with the leaders of the U.S. and European Union, official sources said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is the current head of the 27-nation European, raised the issue of attacks on Christians in Orissa and Karnataka during his meeting with Dr. Singh in Marseilles earlier this week. He described these incidents as “massacre” against Christians.
Facing such embarrassment, Dr. Singh termed these violent incidents as a “national shame.” — PTI
stop
Stop the violence against Christians
The continuing large-scale violence targeting Christians in Orissa’s Kandhamal district is indicative of a constitutional breakdown in the area. More than a month after organised violence broke out in the wake of the August 23 murder of an anti-conversion Hindutva activist, Swami Lakshmanananda, by suspected Maoist elements, the district continues to be out of bounds for the secular Constitution and the rule of law. Numerous atrocities have been committed — inc luding murder, rape, arson, assaults on Christians, their churches, and service institutions, the intimidation of Dalits to make them give up the Christian faith, and the conversion of large numbers of people into refugees. This reign of terror, which has been reported in depth and with fresh detail in the columns of The Hindu, calls for the strongest action by the State government. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik professes modernity and secularism but his Biju Janata Dal is locked in a political alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In consequence, the coalition’s response to the crisis has been worse than inept. If it is to regain credibility, the State government must act urgently to stop the semi-fascist attacks carried out by extremist saffron organisations. It must protect the people and places targeted, restore public order in Kandhamal district, ensure the safe return of the internally displaced, and enforce the rule of law. At another level, the situation calls for effective intervention by the Central government. Up to this point, it has done precious little to stop the mischief, with its Article 355 advisories failing to have any effect on the ground. As many as 77 companies of Central paramilitary forces are available to the State government but it has avoided their effective deployment to act against the thugs and protect their target. Now, after enormous damage has been done, the Central Cabinet has bestirred itself over the “very grave situation” and Home Minister Shivraj Patil has issued a stern warning to the Patnaik government.
What is evident from the published accounts of the victims, clerical and lay, is that in several instances the police have watched the atrocities in silence. They have refused to register cases — even when the crime was murder — on the basis of complaints made by the affected families. Such extreme indifference suggests complicity of a dangerous political kind. So bad was the situation that the Orissa High Court had to direct the Superintendent of Police of Kandhamal to take stringent action against policemen found sympathising with the rioters. The rape of a 28-year-old nun and the brutal assault of a priest on August 25 at K. Nuagaon took place in front of a police outpost. It was only after the media began to focus on this shocking case that it was handed over to the State police’s Crime Branch, four persons were arrested, and the inspector in charge of the Baliguda police station was placed under suspension. Unfortunately, under the circumstances, there will be little confidence that any arm of the State police can uphold the law, free from political interference. In the interest of an objective and speedy investigation, pressure must be brought on the State government to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation; if this fails, the higher judiciary can be approached through a petition seeking the transfer of the case, by court order, to the CBI. Equally important, tough disciplinary action must be taken against senior police officers guilty of dereliction of duty. This will send out a salutary signal and help turn the situation around.
The continuing large-scale violence targeting Christians in Orissa’s Kandhamal district is indicative of a constitutional breakdown in the area. More than a month after organised violence broke out in the wake of the August 23 murder of an anti-conversion Hindutva activist, Swami Lakshmanananda, by suspected Maoist elements, the district continues to be out of bounds for the secular Constitution and the rule of law. Numerous atrocities have been committed — inc luding murder, rape, arson, assaults on Christians, their churches, and service institutions, the intimidation of Dalits to make them give up the Christian faith, and the conversion of large numbers of people into refugees. This reign of terror, which has been reported in depth and with fresh detail in the columns of The Hindu, calls for the strongest action by the State government. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik professes modernity and secularism but his Biju Janata Dal is locked in a political alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In consequence, the coalition’s response to the crisis has been worse than inept. If it is to regain credibility, the State government must act urgently to stop the semi-fascist attacks carried out by extremist saffron organisations. It must protect the people and places targeted, restore public order in Kandhamal district, ensure the safe return of the internally displaced, and enforce the rule of law. At another level, the situation calls for effective intervention by the Central government. Up to this point, it has done precious little to stop the mischief, with its Article 355 advisories failing to have any effect on the ground. As many as 77 companies of Central paramilitary forces are available to the State government but it has avoided their effective deployment to act against the thugs and protect their target. Now, after enormous damage has been done, the Central Cabinet has bestirred itself over the “very grave situation” and Home Minister Shivraj Patil has issued a stern warning to the Patnaik government.
What is evident from the published accounts of the victims, clerical and lay, is that in several instances the police have watched the atrocities in silence. They have refused to register cases — even when the crime was murder — on the basis of complaints made by the affected families. Such extreme indifference suggests complicity of a dangerous political kind. So bad was the situation that the Orissa High Court had to direct the Superintendent of Police of Kandhamal to take stringent action against policemen found sympathising with the rioters. The rape of a 28-year-old nun and the brutal assault of a priest on August 25 at K. Nuagaon took place in front of a police outpost. It was only after the media began to focus on this shocking case that it was handed over to the State police’s Crime Branch, four persons were arrested, and the inspector in charge of the Baliguda police station was placed under suspension. Unfortunately, under the circumstances, there will be little confidence that any arm of the State police can uphold the law, free from political interference. In the interest of an objective and speedy investigation, pressure must be brought on the State government to hand over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation; if this fails, the higher judiciary can be approached through a petition seeking the transfer of the case, by court order, to the CBI. Equally important, tough disciplinary action must be taken against senior police officers guilty of dereliction of duty. This will send out a salutary signal and help turn the situation around.
Anti christian
Orissa Crime Branch to probe nun’s rape
Only a CBI investigation can bring the guilty to book: Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar
BHUBANESWAR: Bowing to building political and media pressure to take action against those guilty of the rape of a nun in K. Nuagaon village in Kandhamal district on August 25, the Orissa government ordered on Friday an investigation by the Crime Branch into the incident, on which a case was registered under Section 376 and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The government has suspended the Inspector in charge of the Baliguda police station where the nun had filed her complaint. It has also arrested four accused in the case, although the principal accused, the man who raped the nun, is still at large, the Kandhamal district Superintendent of Police, Praveen Kumar, said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told a news channel on Friday that “stringent action” would be taken against the “shameful incident” of the nun’s rape.
For many Christian organisations, whose clergy and followers have been under sustained attack in Kandhamal district since December 2007, and particularly after the murder of the VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswathi by Maoists on August 23, this announcement by the State government is action too little too late. They want the government to hand this case, and other cases of communal atrocities, to the Central Bureau of Investigation for investigation and prosecution.
“If the State government is interested in bringing the guilty to book, why is it not handing over the case to the CBI?” asked Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Raphael Cheenath. Criticising the State government’s handling of the situation, he told The Hindu that the case relating to the murder of Lakshmanananda Saraswathi, the upsurge of communal violence that followed, and the case of the nun’s rape should all be handed over to the CBI. It is a demand that Swarupananda Patra, President of the Orissa Minority Forum, supports. “We cannot expect a fair probe by the Crime Branch,” he told this newspaper.
Dazed and terrified, the victims of the violence and of the attempts at forced conversion (to Hinduism) that these attacks are invariably followed by, stream into the relief camps with nothing but the clothes they wear. According to the State government, there are 14,000 persons living in government relief camps in Kandhamal. This figure is contested by Christian groups. Archbishop Cheenath told The Hindu that the number of displaced people from Kandhamal is actually close to 40,000.
“We had to leave our homes after some 100 people came to our village at night and threatened to kill us if we continued to live as Christians,” Royal Kumar Nayak, a resident of Malikapaudi village who is now in the YMCA relief camp at Bhubaneshwar, told The Hindu. Meanwhile, peace eludes Kandhamal district, with each day bringing reports of fresh cases of violence by Hindutva organisations against Christians.
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Only a CBI investigation can bring the guilty to book: Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar
BHUBANESWAR: Bowing to building political and media pressure to take action against those guilty of the rape of a nun in K. Nuagaon village in Kandhamal district on August 25, the Orissa government ordered on Friday an investigation by the Crime Branch into the incident, on which a case was registered under Section 376 and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The government has suspended the Inspector in charge of the Baliguda police station where the nun had filed her complaint. It has also arrested four accused in the case, although the principal accused, the man who raped the nun, is still at large, the Kandhamal district Superintendent of Police, Praveen Kumar, said.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told a news channel on Friday that “stringent action” would be taken against the “shameful incident” of the nun’s rape.
For many Christian organisations, whose clergy and followers have been under sustained attack in Kandhamal district since December 2007, and particularly after the murder of the VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswathi by Maoists on August 23, this announcement by the State government is action too little too late. They want the government to hand this case, and other cases of communal atrocities, to the Central Bureau of Investigation for investigation and prosecution.
“If the State government is interested in bringing the guilty to book, why is it not handing over the case to the CBI?” asked Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Raphael Cheenath. Criticising the State government’s handling of the situation, he told The Hindu that the case relating to the murder of Lakshmanananda Saraswathi, the upsurge of communal violence that followed, and the case of the nun’s rape should all be handed over to the CBI. It is a demand that Swarupananda Patra, President of the Orissa Minority Forum, supports. “We cannot expect a fair probe by the Crime Branch,” he told this newspaper.
Dazed and terrified, the victims of the violence and of the attempts at forced conversion (to Hinduism) that these attacks are invariably followed by, stream into the relief camps with nothing but the clothes they wear. According to the State government, there are 14,000 persons living in government relief camps in Kandhamal. This figure is contested by Christian groups. Archbishop Cheenath told The Hindu that the number of displaced people from Kandhamal is actually close to 40,000.
“We had to leave our homes after some 100 people came to our village at night and threatened to kill us if we continued to live as Christians,” Royal Kumar Nayak, a resident of Malikapaudi village who is now in the YMCA relief camp at Bhubaneshwar, told The Hindu. Meanwhile, peace eludes Kandhamal district, with each day bringing reports of fresh cases of violence by Hindutva organisations against Christians.
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Thursday, October 2, 2008
Government sponsored in Atrocities India (Orissa )
unopened white envelopes, soiled and crumpled, with the acknowledgement due slip affixed, addressed to the officer-in-charge, Baliguda police station, Kandhamal district, with a scribbled noting by the postman that reads: “Address refused. Have returned back.”
In them are two written complaints, the first by Ravindra Pradhan (35) on the killing of his physically challenged brother, Roshanand Pradhan, by a Hindutva mob on the night of August 24, and the second by his niece, Ashwini Pradhan, on the burning of her house by the same mob.
Sent to the OIC of the Baliguda police station by registered post, it was refused by him and returned to them by post. Both letters mention the names of those who committed the crimes. The incident took place at Rupagaon village in the Baliguda sub-division. “When we heard the attackers entering, we ran around 200 metres to the nearby field, but my brother being a cripple could not run. I saw the incident with my own eyes, and mentioned the names of those responsible in my complaint,” Mr. Pradhan told. He is now in a relief camp run by the Young Men’s Christian Association in Bhubaneswar with 12 members of his family. He said his brother told the family to run and not worry about his safety as the attackers, who were from the same village, knew him and would not attack a physically challenged person.
“We brought this to the notice of the Governor when he came to the relief camp, but we have heard nothing further. We have not even been able to go back to the village to perform the last rites for my brother,” said Motilal Pradhan, father of Ashwini and serving army jawan, who has fought in Kargil. All 38 Christian homes in the village were burnt, but not before they were looted of valuables by the mob.
This is one of the four specific incidents of violence in Kandhamal that was brought to the notice of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday by a fact-finding team comprising P.C. Thomas, Member of Parliament, and V. Surendran Pillai, Member of the Kerala Assembly, both of the Kerala Congress (Joseph).
The other incidents that the delegation has asked the Chief Minister to act on with the utmost urgency, Mr. Thomas told , the killing of RSS leader Lakshmanananda Saraswathi on August 23, the rape of a nun and attack on a priest at Nuagaon village on August 25, and the murder of Divyalochan Digan, a pastor, on August 25. In the last case, the attackers came to the house of the pastor after they had killed him, and, after informing his wife Pushpanjali and their 11-year-old daughter, Mona Lisa, of the murder, proceeded to douse them with kerosene to set them alight. On the pleading of the distraught family, they let them off, but burnt the house.
What is common in three of the four incidents is that there are eyewitnesses ready to give evidence on the precise identity of the killers. “The Chief Minister told us that a few persons have been arrested in connection with Lakshmanananda Saraswathi’s murder. A whole community is in the dock for his murder, and it is imperative that the killers be apprehended if the violence is to stop,” Mr. Thomas said.
“We also told him that the middle level leaders who are giving leadership to the atrocities in Kandhamal must be arrested,” he said.
The team was not able to go to Kandhamal because the district was now curfew-bound. “The Chief Minister promised that he would take immediate action on all four cases. If nothing is done, then I will raise it in the next session of the Lok Sabha,” Mr. Thomas said. He said his party had already demanded of the Prime Minister that a Central Bureau of Investigation probe be ordered into the Kandhamal violence. He has also formally asked the Speaker to constitute a parliamentary delegation to visit Kandhamal. Police assurance
State Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj told that anyone who left his home on being affected by the communal violence and was living elsewhere could send his complaint by post to the Kandhamal Superintendent of Police.
The Kandhamal police would verify the matter and if a case was made out a formal case would be registered in the police station concerned, Mr. Praharaj said.
If it was found that a case had already been registered on the basis of a complaint filed by any of the relatives of the persons sending their complaints by post, they would be informed of it by the Kandhamal police, the DGP added.
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In them are two written complaints, the first by Ravindra Pradhan (35) on the killing of his physically challenged brother, Roshanand Pradhan, by a Hindutva mob on the night of August 24, and the second by his niece, Ashwini Pradhan, on the burning of her house by the same mob.
Sent to the OIC of the Baliguda police station by registered post, it was refused by him and returned to them by post. Both letters mention the names of those who committed the crimes. The incident took place at Rupagaon village in the Baliguda sub-division. “When we heard the attackers entering, we ran around 200 metres to the nearby field, but my brother being a cripple could not run. I saw the incident with my own eyes, and mentioned the names of those responsible in my complaint,” Mr. Pradhan told. He is now in a relief camp run by the Young Men’s Christian Association in Bhubaneswar with 12 members of his family. He said his brother told the family to run and not worry about his safety as the attackers, who were from the same village, knew him and would not attack a physically challenged person.
“We brought this to the notice of the Governor when he came to the relief camp, but we have heard nothing further. We have not even been able to go back to the village to perform the last rites for my brother,” said Motilal Pradhan, father of Ashwini and serving army jawan, who has fought in Kargil. All 38 Christian homes in the village were burnt, but not before they were looted of valuables by the mob.
This is one of the four specific incidents of violence in Kandhamal that was brought to the notice of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday by a fact-finding team comprising P.C. Thomas, Member of Parliament, and V. Surendran Pillai, Member of the Kerala Assembly, both of the Kerala Congress (Joseph).
The other incidents that the delegation has asked the Chief Minister to act on with the utmost urgency, Mr. Thomas told , the killing of RSS leader Lakshmanananda Saraswathi on August 23, the rape of a nun and attack on a priest at Nuagaon village on August 25, and the murder of Divyalochan Digan, a pastor, on August 25. In the last case, the attackers came to the house of the pastor after they had killed him, and, after informing his wife Pushpanjali and their 11-year-old daughter, Mona Lisa, of the murder, proceeded to douse them with kerosene to set them alight. On the pleading of the distraught family, they let them off, but burnt the house.
What is common in three of the four incidents is that there are eyewitnesses ready to give evidence on the precise identity of the killers. “The Chief Minister told us that a few persons have been arrested in connection with Lakshmanananda Saraswathi’s murder. A whole community is in the dock for his murder, and it is imperative that the killers be apprehended if the violence is to stop,” Mr. Thomas said.
“We also told him that the middle level leaders who are giving leadership to the atrocities in Kandhamal must be arrested,” he said.
The team was not able to go to Kandhamal because the district was now curfew-bound. “The Chief Minister promised that he would take immediate action on all four cases. If nothing is done, then I will raise it in the next session of the Lok Sabha,” Mr. Thomas said. He said his party had already demanded of the Prime Minister that a Central Bureau of Investigation probe be ordered into the Kandhamal violence. He has also formally asked the Speaker to constitute a parliamentary delegation to visit Kandhamal. Police assurance
State Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj told that anyone who left his home on being affected by the communal violence and was living elsewhere could send his complaint by post to the Kandhamal Superintendent of Police.
The Kandhamal police would verify the matter and if a case was made out a formal case would be registered in the police station concerned, Mr. Praharaj said.
If it was found that a case had already been registered on the basis of a complaint filed by any of the relatives of the persons sending their complaints by post, they would be informed of it by the Kandhamal police, the DGP added.
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Stop anti- Christian violence
Amnesty: stop anti-Christian violence
LONDON: Amnesty International has urged the Indian Government to “match its words with action” and ensure that violence against Christians in Orissa stops.
In a statement here on Thursday, it said that despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that what was happening in Orissa was a “national shame” and that his Government had taken firm action to halt it, Christians in the state continued to face attacks.
“The last two days have witnessed renewed attacks by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, against the Christian minorities and their places of worship in Kandhamal district in Orissa, leaving three people dead, more than 15 people injured, including some policemen, and hundreds homeless,” it said adding that Amnesty volunteers had spoken to people who confirmed that an atmosphere of insecurity prevailed.
Amnesty also called for adequate security for relief camps and an impartial inquiry into the attacks.
LONDON: Amnesty International has urged the Indian Government to “match its words with action” and ensure that violence against Christians in Orissa stops.
In a statement here on Thursday, it said that despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement that what was happening in Orissa was a “national shame” and that his Government had taken firm action to halt it, Christians in the state continued to face attacks.
“The last two days have witnessed renewed attacks by supporters of Hindu nationalist organizations, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, against the Christian minorities and their places of worship in Kandhamal district in Orissa, leaving three people dead, more than 15 people injured, including some policemen, and hundreds homeless,” it said adding that Amnesty volunteers had spoken to people who confirmed that an atmosphere of insecurity prevailed.
Amnesty also called for adequate security for relief camps and an impartial inquiry into the attacks.
100houses burnt
Although no incident was reported from Kandhamal district of Orissa on Thursday, more than 100 houses were burnt down in the neighbouring Boudh district.
Police, however, claimed that the attacks in Kandhamal block of Boudh during the early hours of the day was not communal in nature, but ethnic in which Kondh tribals attacked houses of Dalit Panas.
Director General of Police (DGP) Manmohan Praharaj said security forces were being sent to Kandhamal.
The administration was expecting a backlash in Kandhamal following the arrest of 45 persons, including some leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Kui Samaj, on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, there was no protest till Thursday evening. Meanwhile, the DGP visited several riot-hit areas of Kandhamal, including G. Udayagiri and Raikia blocks, to assess the situation.
In another development, curfew was relaxed in nine towns of Kandhamal district from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The district administration, however, cancelled a district level peace rally which was to be held at Phulbani, the district headquarters town of Kandhamal.
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Police, however, claimed that the attacks in Kandhamal block of Boudh during the early hours of the day was not communal in nature, but ethnic in which Kondh tribals attacked houses of Dalit Panas.
Director General of Police (DGP) Manmohan Praharaj said security forces were being sent to Kandhamal.
The administration was expecting a backlash in Kandhamal following the arrest of 45 persons, including some leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Kui Samaj, on Tuesday and Wednesday. However, there was no protest till Thursday evening. Meanwhile, the DGP visited several riot-hit areas of Kandhamal, including G. Udayagiri and Raikia blocks, to assess the situation.
In another development, curfew was relaxed in nine towns of Kandhamal district from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The district administration, however, cancelled a district level peace rally which was to be held at Phulbani, the district headquarters town of Kandhamal.
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Rape of nun confirmed
Rape of nun confirmed
Medical examination done at Baliguda government hospital
BHUBANESWAR: medical examination conducted on the 28-year-old Catholic nun, who was sexually assaulted at K. Nuagaon in Kandhamal district on August 25, has confirmed she was raped.
“The medical examination report suggests that the nun was raped,” District Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar told The Hindu over phone from Phulbani on Thursday.
The nun, along with a Catholic priest, was publicly beaten up by a mob and she was raped in a nearby building when anti-Christian violence was at its peak in Kandhamal in the wake of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda on August 23.
The medical examination was done at the Sub-Divisional government hospital at Baliguda.
The rape case, registered under 376 and other Sections of the IPC, is being investigated under the supervision of a Deputy Superintendent of Police. Senior police officials are also monitoring the progress of the investigation, Mr. Kumar said.
The Kandhamal police are also making efforts to contact the nun, who left the district along with the priest, Father Thomas Chellan, after filing her complaint with the Baliguda police.
No one has been arrested in the rape case so far. “The Baliguda police are trying to ascertain the identity of the accused persons,” Mr. Kumar said.
In her complaint, the nun said she was ill-treated by a group of 30 to 40 persons and one from among them raped her. “We are trying our best to solve the case,” he said.
Sister Nirmala, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, who is here, on being informed of the result of the medical examination, told The Hindu: “I am satisfied that they have established this and hope the investigation will proceed.”
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Medical examination done at Baliguda government hospital
BHUBANESWAR: medical examination conducted on the 28-year-old Catholic nun, who was sexually assaulted at K. Nuagaon in Kandhamal district on August 25, has confirmed she was raped.
“The medical examination report suggests that the nun was raped,” District Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar told The Hindu over phone from Phulbani on Thursday.
The nun, along with a Catholic priest, was publicly beaten up by a mob and she was raped in a nearby building when anti-Christian violence was at its peak in Kandhamal in the wake of the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda on August 23.
The medical examination was done at the Sub-Divisional government hospital at Baliguda.
The rape case, registered under 376 and other Sections of the IPC, is being investigated under the supervision of a Deputy Superintendent of Police. Senior police officials are also monitoring the progress of the investigation, Mr. Kumar said.
The Kandhamal police are also making efforts to contact the nun, who left the district along with the priest, Father Thomas Chellan, after filing her complaint with the Baliguda police.
No one has been arrested in the rape case so far. “The Baliguda police are trying to ascertain the identity of the accused persons,” Mr. Kumar said.
In her complaint, the nun said she was ill-treated by a group of 30 to 40 persons and one from among them raped her. “We are trying our best to solve the case,” he said.
Sister Nirmala, Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, who is here, on being informed of the result of the medical examination, told The Hindu: “I am satisfied that they have established this and hope the investigation will proceed.”
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BJPGovernment sponsored attacks on christians in India (Orissa)
Curfew
Refugee camp
Police console on christian victimsGovernment sponsored atrocitiesin orissa India
ANTI CHRIATIAN
Communal violence continued in the interior areas of Orissa’s Kandhamal district on Saturday even as Chief Minister visited Phulbani, the district headquarters town to take stock of the situation.
One church was burnt at Kupaguda village under G. Udaygiri block of the district during the morning hours. Also many houses were burnt down in Kiramal village under G. Udaygiri area and Lamangia village under Raikia block.
Reports indicated that around 50 houses were burnt down in Rajenpanga village under Daringbadi police station limits on Friday night. The areas witnessing more violence include Raikia, G. Udaygiri and Tikabali blocks.
Although the main road linking Phulbani with Berhampur remained open for traffic, miscreants blocked many interior roads making it difficult for the police to reach the places of violence.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said three persons were missing in Sankarakhol area since Thursday evening. It was being apprehended that they had been killed.
During his visit to Phulbani, the Chief Minister attended a meeting to assess the law and order situation. He returned to Bhubaneswar after announcing a development package for the riot-hit district. He did not visit any of the villages where violence took place in the past five days. “Peace and harmony must be maintained at all costs. There should be no leniency towards perpetrators of violence,” Mr. Patnaik said.
The government has termed the violence a conflict between the Kondh tribals and Dalit Panas, as there is long-standing animosity between the Kondhs and Panas in Kandhamal.
One church was burnt at Kupaguda village under G. Udaygiri block of the district during the morning hours. Also many houses were burnt down in Kiramal village under G. Udaygiri area and Lamangia village under Raikia block.
Reports indicated that around 50 houses were burnt down in Rajenpanga village under Daringbadi police station limits on Friday night. The areas witnessing more violence include Raikia, G. Udaygiri and Tikabali blocks.
Although the main road linking Phulbani with Berhampur remained open for traffic, miscreants blocked many interior roads making it difficult for the police to reach the places of violence.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports said three persons were missing in Sankarakhol area since Thursday evening. It was being apprehended that they had been killed.
During his visit to Phulbani, the Chief Minister attended a meeting to assess the law and order situation. He returned to Bhubaneswar after announcing a development package for the riot-hit district. He did not visit any of the villages where violence took place in the past five days. “Peace and harmony must be maintained at all costs. There should be no leniency towards perpetrators of violence,” Mr. Patnaik said.
The government has termed the violence a conflict between the Kondh tribals and Dalit Panas, as there is long-standing animosity between the Kondhs and Panas in Kandhamal.
ANTICHRISIAN
Bhubaneswar: “Simply out of control,” is how Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, described the situation in Kandhamal, the district in central Orissa that has seen sustained violence against Christians by Sangh Parivar groups since December 2007.
“I see an attempt to appease the majority, because of the coming elections, in the statement given by the Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, when he went to Phulbani [the district headquarters of Kandhamal] yesterday [on Saturday],” he told The Hindu in an interview in Bhubaneswar at the Archbishop’s House. “There was not one word in his statement about the 40,000 persons displaced and in relief camps, not one word about the 4,200 homes destroyed, and not one word about the 45 persons — including a pastor who was cut to pieces just a few days ago in front of his wife — who have been murdered. Why did he go?”
A tired and anguished Archbishop severely indicted the State and Central governments of insensitivity and inaction in respect of the violence and injustice perpetrated against the Dalit Christians of Kandhamal.
“My impression is that the State government is trying its best to cover up the violence by giving the impression that the normalcy has been restored, and that there is no need for further action.” The Supreme Court, he said, in response to a petition filed before it on September 8 seeking protection from the relentless violence against Christians, had given the State government four weeks to respond. The Archbishop said the Sangh Parivar had used this period to “systematically destroy one village after another.” “Excuse unacceptable”
The excuse of the State government that marauding mobs often outnumbered the police force present at the spot, he said, was unacceptable. “Why did they allow the numbers to swell in the first place?” “We know that in cases of attack and even rape the police just stood by and took no action. What is left to destroy now?”
The Archbishop said he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh three times, President Pratibha Patel twice, Home Minister Shivraj Patil twice and Congress president Sonia Gandhi once over the situation in Kandhamal. The Prime Minister, he said, called it a “national shame” and promised help, but there had not been any real change in the situation as Dalits continue to live in relief camps and were too frightened to return to their villages.
According to the Archbishop, the Sangh Parivar has “issued a fatwa” that by September 30, residents must return to their villages to be re-converted to Hinduism. “I am issuing a letter that will be distributed to Christians telling them not to worry and to be firm. No conversion is valid unless it is free. A document signed under duress is not valid under law.”
He is also planning to call a meeting of Bishops and heads of religious groups to organise a rally in Bhubaneswar protesting the grave violence and injustice against Christians in Kandhamal.
“I see an attempt to appease the majority, because of the coming elections, in the statement given by the Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, when he went to Phulbani [the district headquarters of Kandhamal] yesterday [on Saturday],” he told The Hindu in an interview in Bhubaneswar at the Archbishop’s House. “There was not one word in his statement about the 40,000 persons displaced and in relief camps, not one word about the 4,200 homes destroyed, and not one word about the 45 persons — including a pastor who was cut to pieces just a few days ago in front of his wife — who have been murdered. Why did he go?”
A tired and anguished Archbishop severely indicted the State and Central governments of insensitivity and inaction in respect of the violence and injustice perpetrated against the Dalit Christians of Kandhamal.
“My impression is that the State government is trying its best to cover up the violence by giving the impression that the normalcy has been restored, and that there is no need for further action.” The Supreme Court, he said, in response to a petition filed before it on September 8 seeking protection from the relentless violence against Christians, had given the State government four weeks to respond. The Archbishop said the Sangh Parivar had used this period to “systematically destroy one village after another.” “Excuse unacceptable”
The excuse of the State government that marauding mobs often outnumbered the police force present at the spot, he said, was unacceptable. “Why did they allow the numbers to swell in the first place?” “We know that in cases of attack and even rape the police just stood by and took no action. What is left to destroy now?”
The Archbishop said he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh three times, President Pratibha Patel twice, Home Minister Shivraj Patil twice and Congress president Sonia Gandhi once over the situation in Kandhamal. The Prime Minister, he said, called it a “national shame” and promised help, but there had not been any real change in the situation as Dalits continue to live in relief camps and were too frightened to return to their villages.
According to the Archbishop, the Sangh Parivar has “issued a fatwa” that by September 30, residents must return to their villages to be re-converted to Hinduism. “I am issuing a letter that will be distributed to Christians telling them not to worry and to be firm. No conversion is valid unless it is free. A document signed under duress is not valid under law.”
He is also planning to call a meeting of Bishops and heads of religious groups to organise a rally in Bhubaneswar protesting the grave violence and injustice against Christians in Kandhamal.
AntiChriastian
Hindu Rashtra our aim: Bajrang Dal chief
NEW DELHI: Bajrang Dal chief Prakash Sharma has admitted that Bhupinder Singh, one of the two men who died in an explosion while bombs were assembled in a private hostel in Kanpur on August 24, was a “former activist.” But “he left the Dal several years ago. The Dal cannot be held responsible for his actions,” Mr. Sharma told The Hindu here on Wednesday
When the Bajrang Dal was set up in 1984 as the youth arm of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Mr. Sharma was made its Kanpur unit convener. At that time, it was “active only in a few districts of Uttar Pradesh. Today it has some 13 lakh activists spread across most of the States and our aim is to cover every district of the country,” said Mr. Sharma, who had just returned from a visit to Kanpur.
On August 24, the police found at the site of the bomb explosion at Rajeev Nagar “11 country-made pistols, explosives, seven timers, batteries and gelatin sticks,” according to reports quoting Kanpur Inspector-General S.S. Singh. No further breakthrough has been made.
“Yes, Bhupinder Singh was one of us, but I do not know Rajeev Mishra, who also died in that explosion,” Mr. Sharma said. “Statement a mistake”
The Bajrang Dal chief denied that his organisation was involved in the violence against Christians in Kandhamal district of Orissa or in Mangalore and elsewhere in Karnataka, although the Karnataka unit chief Mahendra Kumar, had issued a statement accepting its role.
Mr. Sharma dismissed that statement as a “mistake.” “How can you say Hindus are involved? How can you be sure Christians are not killing each other? I know of two Christians who set fire to a church in Orissa.”
Senior VHP leader Giriraj Kishore, who was present at the interview, said: “There was bound to be reaction when Lakshmanananda [VHP activist] was murdered. After all, he was working in that area.”
Mr. Sharma said although the BJP was a coalition partner in the Orissa government “the murderers” of Lakshmanananda had not been caught. “The government has done nothing to catch the culprits.”
Mr. Sharma listed the tasks before the Dal as “seva” (service of the people) and “suraksha” (protection). Its volunteers were given tough physical training to help them protect themselves and the people. He insisted that they were not trained in firearms, and were trained only in “aiming with air guns for which we run regular camps.”
The larger aim of the Dal, Mr. Sharma said, was “to establish a Hindu Rashtra.“Stop conversion”
As for the minorities, Mr. Sharma said, “they can live in a Hindu Rashtra. We do not say do not go to mosques or churches. But conversion must be stopped … We have re-converted to Hinduism through the ghar vapasi (home-coming) programme about 10,000-15,000 people since I became Bajrang Dal convener in 2002.”
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NEW DELHI: Bajrang Dal chief Prakash Sharma has admitted that Bhupinder Singh, one of the two men who died in an explosion while bombs were assembled in a private hostel in Kanpur on August 24, was a “former activist.” But “he left the Dal several years ago. The Dal cannot be held responsible for his actions,” Mr. Sharma told The Hindu here on Wednesday
When the Bajrang Dal was set up in 1984 as the youth arm of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Mr. Sharma was made its Kanpur unit convener. At that time, it was “active only in a few districts of Uttar Pradesh. Today it has some 13 lakh activists spread across most of the States and our aim is to cover every district of the country,” said Mr. Sharma, who had just returned from a visit to Kanpur.
On August 24, the police found at the site of the bomb explosion at Rajeev Nagar “11 country-made pistols, explosives, seven timers, batteries and gelatin sticks,” according to reports quoting Kanpur Inspector-General S.S. Singh. No further breakthrough has been made.
“Yes, Bhupinder Singh was one of us, but I do not know Rajeev Mishra, who also died in that explosion,” Mr. Sharma said. “Statement a mistake”
The Bajrang Dal chief denied that his organisation was involved in the violence against Christians in Kandhamal district of Orissa or in Mangalore and elsewhere in Karnataka, although the Karnataka unit chief Mahendra Kumar, had issued a statement accepting its role.
Mr. Sharma dismissed that statement as a “mistake.” “How can you say Hindus are involved? How can you be sure Christians are not killing each other? I know of two Christians who set fire to a church in Orissa.”
Senior VHP leader Giriraj Kishore, who was present at the interview, said: “There was bound to be reaction when Lakshmanananda [VHP activist] was murdered. After all, he was working in that area.”
Mr. Sharma said although the BJP was a coalition partner in the Orissa government “the murderers” of Lakshmanananda had not been caught. “The government has done nothing to catch the culprits.”
Mr. Sharma listed the tasks before the Dal as “seva” (service of the people) and “suraksha” (protection). Its volunteers were given tough physical training to help them protect themselves and the people. He insisted that they were not trained in firearms, and were trained only in “aiming with air guns for which we run regular camps.”
The larger aim of the Dal, Mr. Sharma said, was “to establish a Hindu Rashtra.“Stop conversion”
As for the minorities, Mr. Sharma said, “they can live in a Hindu Rashtra. We do not say do not go to mosques or churches. But conversion must be stopped … We have re-converted to Hinduism through the ghar vapasi (home-coming) programme about 10,000-15,000 people since I became Bajrang Dal convener in 2002.”
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AntiChristian
PHULBANI: Acting on a public interest petition filed by the Utkal Christian Council, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice B.S. Chauhan and Justice B.N. Mohapatra has asked the State government to deploy paramilitary forces at the relief camps where thousands of riot-affected Christian families have taken shelter.
The Court also directed the Kandhamal police to ensure immediate registration of cases at different police stations on the complaints filed by affected families living in relief camps and other places. The Superintendent of Police of Kandhamal was further directed to take stringent action against any policeman found sympathising with the rioters.
In Kandhamal, official sources said daytime curfew was reimposed in the nine towns as the administration apprehended a backlash in the wake of the arrest of local leaders. The towns include Phulbani, G. Udaygiri, Tikabali, Raikia, Tumudibandha, K. Nuagaon, Gochhapada, Phiringia and Baliguda. Night curfew was already in force in these towns since long.
In fact, over 200 people were arrested in the district since communal violence broke out after the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda last month. But arrest of prominent local leaders started only after Tuesday’s attack in G. Udaygiri area.
At least 45 persons were taken into custody from G. Udaygiri, Phulbani and others areas. General secretary of Kandhamal District unit of the BJP Bhagaban Mohanty was among them.
The administration had also asked the licensed gun holders in the district to surrender their weapons.
Life was paralysed in the areas where curfew remained in force during the day. Top district officials advised media persons not to visit interior areas in communally sensitive pockets. “We are apprehending trouble in some areas,” District Collector Krishan Kumar said.
Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj reached Phulbani on Wednesday evening to take stock of the law and order situation.Christians seek refugee status
Special Correspondent writes from New Delhi:
Accusing the Centre of failing to protect the minorities, 100 Christians from the Kandhamal district of Orissa approached the United Nations here on Wednesday seeking refugee status for the community. Led by civil rights activists, a delegation submitted a memorandum to U.N. officials.
Holding placards stating “Government of India has failed to protect its minorities,” the group said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees should declare “Oriya Christians” as refugees and bring them under the legal framework to protect their human dignity from rights violations and abuse.
“Currently, they along with tens of thousands, are a stateless people as the writ of the Government of India does not run in the State of Orissa. There is no rule of law and ‘mobocracy’ by Hindutva terror outfits like the RSS, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal is the political system which is in place. The Prime Minister has not visited Orissa and earlier, even the Home Minister of India could not visit the victims.”
According to the memorandum, these Oriya Christians fulfil the requirements as per U.N. conventions to be ‘Internally Displaced Persons’. Seeking relief from U.N. agencies and the International Red Cross, it said the community would either be killed by “Hindu extremists” or die of malnourishment if no attention was paid immediately.
Stating that the Orissa government had prevented Christian NGOs from working in the affected areas, the memorandum questioned the Centre’s refusal to use its constitutional powers. Also, the delegation urged the international community to mount pressure on India to fulfil its obligations under the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which it ratified in 1948.
The Court also directed the Kandhamal police to ensure immediate registration of cases at different police stations on the complaints filed by affected families living in relief camps and other places. The Superintendent of Police of Kandhamal was further directed to take stringent action against any policeman found sympathising with the rioters.
In Kandhamal, official sources said daytime curfew was reimposed in the nine towns as the administration apprehended a backlash in the wake of the arrest of local leaders. The towns include Phulbani, G. Udaygiri, Tikabali, Raikia, Tumudibandha, K. Nuagaon, Gochhapada, Phiringia and Baliguda. Night curfew was already in force in these towns since long.
In fact, over 200 people were arrested in the district since communal violence broke out after the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Swami Lakshmanananda last month. But arrest of prominent local leaders started only after Tuesday’s attack in G. Udaygiri area.
At least 45 persons were taken into custody from G. Udaygiri, Phulbani and others areas. General secretary of Kandhamal District unit of the BJP Bhagaban Mohanty was among them.
The administration had also asked the licensed gun holders in the district to surrender their weapons.
Life was paralysed in the areas where curfew remained in force during the day. Top district officials advised media persons not to visit interior areas in communally sensitive pockets. “We are apprehending trouble in some areas,” District Collector Krishan Kumar said.
Director-General of Police Manmohan Praharaj reached Phulbani on Wednesday evening to take stock of the law and order situation.Christians seek refugee status
Special Correspondent writes from New Delhi:
Accusing the Centre of failing to protect the minorities, 100 Christians from the Kandhamal district of Orissa approached the United Nations here on Wednesday seeking refugee status for the community. Led by civil rights activists, a delegation submitted a memorandum to U.N. officials.
Holding placards stating “Government of India has failed to protect its minorities,” the group said the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees should declare “Oriya Christians” as refugees and bring them under the legal framework to protect their human dignity from rights violations and abuse.
“Currently, they along with tens of thousands, are a stateless people as the writ of the Government of India does not run in the State of Orissa. There is no rule of law and ‘mobocracy’ by Hindutva terror outfits like the RSS, the VHP and the Bajrang Dal is the political system which is in place. The Prime Minister has not visited Orissa and earlier, even the Home Minister of India could not visit the victims.”
According to the memorandum, these Oriya Christians fulfil the requirements as per U.N. conventions to be ‘Internally Displaced Persons’. Seeking relief from U.N. agencies and the International Red Cross, it said the community would either be killed by “Hindu extremists” or die of malnourishment if no attention was paid immediately.
Stating that the Orissa government had prevented Christian NGOs from working in the affected areas, the memorandum questioned the Centre’s refusal to use its constitutional powers. Also, the delegation urged the international community to mount pressure on India to fulfil its obligations under the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which it ratified in 1948.
Antichrist
DRIVEN TO DESPERATION: Christians from Kandhamal hold placards outside the office of the United Nations in New Delhi on Wednesday, protesting the failure of the Centre to protect minorities in Orissa. In a memorandum submitted to the U.N., the delegation said ‘Oriya Christians’ had become stateless people and should be given refugee status.
NEW DELHI: As the fury of communal violence continued to engulf Kandhamal district of Orissa, the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday rushed 10 more companies of Central para-military forces to help the State government.
While six companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were immediately sent, the remaining companies would be leaving in a day or two, according to a Ministry spokesperson here.
As reported by The Hindu earlier, the Orissa government had sought 10 additional companies to tackle the situation in Kandhamal district arising out of incidents of violence against Christians. The Home Ministry said Orissa already had 67 companies, and it would be severely constrained to pull out personnel from other States.
The Ministry asked the State government to deploy Central forces in a “proper” manner and also advised it to utilise the services of 24 companies given for anti-naxalite operations.
However, even the redeployment failed to put down lawlessness in Kandhamal district. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes has also decided to send its team to Orissa after October 9 to assess the situation.
In view of the festival season, particularly Eid, Durga Puja and Dussehra and in the wake of the recent blasts in the national capital, the Ministry has given nine companies of Central forces to the Delhi government.
It is sending four companies to Malegaon (Maharashtra), which witnessed a bomb blast in a hotel on September 29. Two persons were killed in the incident.
Prafulla Das reports from Phulbani:
Violence continued in the interior areas of Kandhamal district. Pro-Hinduvta protesters burnt down five houses at Paningia village in Chakapad area in the early hours of the day.
At least 30 houses were torched in two villages in the Rakia block in the afternoon.
Indefinite curfew was imposed from midnight as the police arrested local leaders belonging to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Kui Samaj, an organisation of Kondh tribals.
Earlier, the Orissa High Court directed the Centre to send additional paramilitary forces as sought by the State government.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Nun was gang raped and priest brutally assaulted in Kandhamal
Parvathi Menon
FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to Christians
— Photo: AFP TERRIFYING VIOLENCE: A vandalised church in Tengedapathar village in Kandhamal district. A mob shouting anti-Christian and Hindutva slogans targeted this church three days after the gang rape of a nun and attack on a priest in K.Nuagaon.
Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity. These incidents took place on August 25 at K. Nuagaon, 12 km from the Baliguda subdivision in Kandhamal district. Both victims filed First Information Reports at the Baliguda police station. Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister specifying the atrocities.
The brutalisation of the nun and the priest by a mob raising anti-Christian, Hindutva slogans took place around 1 p.m. at the site of the Divya Jyothi Pastor Centre. The church was burnt the previous day in reprisal against the murder of an RSS activist, Lakshmanananda Saraswathi, and four of his associates on August 23. The gang rape of the young nun, whose “virginity [was] grossly violated in public” (and whose identity is being withheld by this newspaper to protect her privacy) took place in front of a police outpost with 12 policemen from the Orissa State Armed Police present and watching, according to Father Thomas Chellan, the priest who was dragged out and badly beaten.
“Around 1 p.m., a gang came and pulled me and the Sister out of the house where we had taken shelter and started assaulting us,” Father Chellan told The Hindu in a telephonic interview from Kerala where he is recuperating.
“My appeals to the policemen who were standing nearby and watching only resulted in further beating. At one point the nun slipped away to plead with the police for help but she was dragged back by the mob and her blouse torn,” he said. The nun was gang raped in a nearby building, and he was doused with kerosene by the mob, which threatened to set him on fire. They were saved by a group of youth who took them to the police outpost where “one among the attackers was present with the police between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.,” Father Chellan said.
News of the K. Nuagaon atrocity was conveyed through mobile phones to several priests and nuns hiding in the forests, fearing for their lives as the anti-Christian hunt was on. The victims were taken to the Baliguda police station around 9 p.m. where they lodged First Information Reports. “I believe the Sister wrote in her complaint that she was raped,” Father Chellan said.
The atrocity, about which the State government has not gone public, has outraged and terrified Christian organisations working in Kandhamal district. News of it was brought to the notice of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik by Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese.
Sister Nirmala wrote letters to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister on this and other brutal attacks on Christians in Orissa. In her letter, dated August 28, 2008, to Chief Minister Patnaik, she took up “a very sad incident, soon after the eruption of the violence” of “one young sister, consecrated to God, who was administrator of an institute, being hunted out of her hiding place and stripped naked by the mob and her virginity grossly violated in public, without any help from the police present there.”
In her appeal for protection to Christians, Sister Nirmala urged the Chief Minister to “ask the Central Govt. for as many extra forces from the Centre as they are willing to give and you need.”
When contacted, Praveen Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Kandhamal district, told The Hindu that investigations into the episode by a Deputy Superintendent of Police were on and “the law will take its course.” He confirmed that no arrests have been made in connection with the incidents.
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Parvathi Menon
FIRs lodged but no arrests by State government; no response from Centre; Sister Nirmala wrote to CM and PM appealing for protection to Christians
— Photo: AFP TERRIFYING VIOLENCE: A vandalised church in Tengedapathar village in Kandhamal district. A mob shouting anti-Christian and Hindutva slogans targeted this church three days after the gang rape of a nun and attack on a priest in K.Nuagaon.
Bhubaneswar: The Orissa government has failed to take any action, under the law of the land, against those who committed bestial crimes — the gang rape of a 28-year-old Catholic nun and the brutal attack on a Catholic priest who courageously resisted their attempts to force him to participate in the atrocity. These incidents took place on August 25 at K. Nuagaon, 12 km from the Baliguda subdivision in Kandhamal district. Both victims filed First Information Reports at the Baliguda police station. Sister Nirmala, Superior-General of the Missionaries of Charity, wrote to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister specifying the atrocities.
The brutalisation of the nun and the priest by a mob raising anti-Christian, Hindutva slogans took place around 1 p.m. at the site of the Divya Jyothi Pastor Centre. The church was burnt the previous day in reprisal against the murder of an RSS activist, Lakshmanananda Saraswathi, and four of his associates on August 23. The gang rape of the young nun, whose “virginity [was] grossly violated in public” (and whose identity is being withheld by this newspaper to protect her privacy) took place in front of a police outpost with 12 policemen from the Orissa State Armed Police present and watching, according to Father Thomas Chellan, the priest who was dragged out and badly beaten.
“Around 1 p.m., a gang came and pulled me and the Sister out of the house where we had taken shelter and started assaulting us,” Father Chellan told The Hindu in a telephonic interview from Kerala where he is recuperating.
“My appeals to the policemen who were standing nearby and watching only resulted in further beating. At one point the nun slipped away to plead with the police for help but she was dragged back by the mob and her blouse torn,” he said. The nun was gang raped in a nearby building, and he was doused with kerosene by the mob, which threatened to set him on fire. They were saved by a group of youth who took them to the police outpost where “one among the attackers was present with the police between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.,” Father Chellan said.
News of the K. Nuagaon atrocity was conveyed through mobile phones to several priests and nuns hiding in the forests, fearing for their lives as the anti-Christian hunt was on. The victims were taken to the Baliguda police station around 9 p.m. where they lodged First Information Reports. “I believe the Sister wrote in her complaint that she was raped,” Father Chellan said.
The atrocity, about which the State government has not gone public, has outraged and terrified Christian organisations working in Kandhamal district. News of it was brought to the notice of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik by Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese.
Sister Nirmala wrote letters to the Orissa Chief Minister and the Prime Minister on this and other brutal attacks on Christians in Orissa. In her letter, dated August 28, 2008, to Chief Minister Patnaik, she took up “a very sad incident, soon after the eruption of the violence” of “one young sister, consecrated to God, who was administrator of an institute, being hunted out of her hiding place and stripped naked by the mob and her virginity grossly violated in public, without any help from the police present there.”
In her appeal for protection to Christians, Sister Nirmala urged the Chief Minister to “ask the Central Govt. for as many extra forces from the Centre as they are willing to give and you need.”
When contacted, Praveen Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Kandhamal district, told The Hindu that investigations into the episode by a Deputy Superintendent of Police were on and “the law will take its course.” He confirmed that no arrests have been made in connection with the incidents.
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Sunday, September 14, 2008
PRAYER HALLS ATTACKED
Bangalore: Twelve Christian prayer halls were attacked allegedly by pro-Hindu groups in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Chikmagalur districts of Karnataka on Sunday. In Dakshina Kannada district alone, at least eight prayer halls were targeted and one person was stabbed.
Three halls were attacked in Mangalore (at Hampanakatta, Kulur and Kodical), and Nettana in Puttur taluk, Madantyar in Belthangady taluk, Moodbidri, Puttur and Permannur near Thokkottu.
In Kankanady, police prevented an attack and arrested three persons.
Thousands of Christians took to the streets to protest against the attacks.
Eighteen persons, including 10 policemen and three women, were injured in three incidents of stone throwing — two in Mangalore and one at Madantyar in Belthangady. The demonstrators pelted stones at the policemen when they tried to disperse them.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr. PC have been imposed for three days in Mangalore taluk.
The stone-throwing incident at Milagres in Mangalore occurred minutes before Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes visited it..
All the attacks reportedly took place when people were offering prayers around 10.30 a.m. The miscreants claimed the attacks were in protest against religious conversion.
Dakshina Kannada district president of Bajrang Dal Sudarshan Moodbidri said the attacks were carried out by the Hindu community.
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Three halls were attacked in Mangalore (at Hampanakatta, Kulur and Kodical), and Nettana in Puttur taluk, Madantyar in Belthangady taluk, Moodbidri, Puttur and Permannur near Thokkottu.
In Kankanady, police prevented an attack and arrested three persons.
Thousands of Christians took to the streets to protest against the attacks.
Eighteen persons, including 10 policemen and three women, were injured in three incidents of stone throwing — two in Mangalore and one at Madantyar in Belthangady. The demonstrators pelted stones at the policemen when they tried to disperse them.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Cr. PC have been imposed for three days in Mangalore taluk.
The stone-throwing incident at Milagres in Mangalore occurred minutes before Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes visited it..
All the attacks reportedly took place when people were offering prayers around 10.30 a.m. The miscreants claimed the attacks were in protest against religious conversion.
Dakshina Kannada district president of Bajrang Dal Sudarshan Moodbidri said the attacks were carried out by the Hindu community.
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Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
For Jesus..
Just walk it.
Just talk it.
Just preach it.
Just teach it.
Just tell it.
Just live it.
Just give it.
Just wear it.
Just share it.
Just shout it.
Just sing it.
Just proclaim it.
Just prove it.
JUST DO IT.
Live For Jesus!
Just talk it.
Just preach it.
Just teach it.
Just tell it.
Just live it.
Just give it.
Just wear it.
Just share it.
Just shout it.
Just sing it.
Just proclaim it.
Just prove it.
JUST DO IT.
Live For Jesus!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
attack
my Lord blessed me through this miracle. But Satan also entered in to this ministry to spoil the belief of man who had been miraculously healed , he is very interested about Jesus .people of this village started to discuss about this healing and Christianity. Some traditional elders bluntly opposed to preach the Christianity in even streets also. they strictly ordered me to not enter in to the presence of the caste Hindus. the man is fed by anti Christian message. but he does not hear their words ,he continues to stay in Jesus.
Satan started his work very strongly. The village planned to isolate the man who baptized and isolated too. but he does not left his faith on Jesus.My lord also blessed us to strengthened.
The entire village had very serious on this incident. at last they have planned to scourge me. One day while I was on return to home,after completion of proclamation of gospel in near by village by walking it was around night 10-11 night, in the midst of paddy fields A mob suddenly attacked me and without discrimination they beaten up and dragged me on the roadside. They warned me" Never come to this village and never tell abut Jesus, you are contaminating our religion". I don't know Then , with full of wounds with body at night I started to pray My Lord Jesus Help me".My wife is awaitng me at home. With all my strength I managed to reach Home. Praise The lord!My wife weeping at me but I said her" don't afraid this is service of glorious God. We will be Blessed.Washed out all my wounds ,with pain we prayed all night "My lord, save the mob who scourged me in this mid night"Raise Money for Your Religious Organization
Satan started his work very strongly. The village planned to isolate the man who baptized and isolated too. but he does not left his faith on Jesus.My lord also blessed us to strengthened.
The entire village had very serious on this incident. at last they have planned to scourge me. One day while I was on return to home,after completion of proclamation of gospel in near by village by walking it was around night 10-11 night, in the midst of paddy fields A mob suddenly attacked me and without discrimination they beaten up and dragged me on the roadside. They warned me" Never come to this village and never tell abut Jesus, you are contaminating our religion". I don't know Then , with full of wounds with body at night I started to pray My Lord Jesus Help me".My wife is awaitng me at home. With all my strength I managed to reach Home. Praise The lord!My wife weeping at me but I said her" don't afraid this is service of glorious God. We will be Blessed.Washed out all my wounds ,with pain we prayed all night "My lord, save the mob who scourged me in this mid night"Raise Money for Your Religious Organization
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Great Healing!
By the double spirit of god we are strengthened and praying for soul wining. The Other day has arrived,to enjoy the presence of Jesus. The family of the village head not serious as earlier, as his wife is favored towards gospel!
She often called us and interested to hear the word of god at times.
One day I went to the house of the village head. After I read some scripture, I began to start prayer about their family. neibhours are watching. The brother of the old woman who invited me to pray , came from agriculture field with big rashes on his body, he is suffering like any thing caused by the itching of those rashes. He is crying, shouting by the pain, even blood is coming out of his itching wounds. A poisonousness snake bite him!.we disturbed by the cry , and woke up from the prayer. when I saw him ,spirit says" come , this is for the glory of the god knee down and pray for him,he will be healed in the name of Jesus"
Even that person is against gospel nothing i told him ,but he started to say hallelujah, hallelujah with a great voice,. All the family members and surrounding people gathered and viewing this with amazingly. Because a upper caste and traditional Hindu and a son of village head is saying hallelujah a word of untouchables!.But he did not stop to say hallelujah.After a little moment he slowly stopped to say . he lifted his eyes, he and the mob stared to see the rashes on his skin were disappeared!!What a wonderful, Incredible!
He was healed from a poisonous snake bite by saying hallelujah!I have no words to speak. my heart filled with joy ,tears coming from my eyes unexpectedly ."O my Lord Jesus How great You are my Lord., How blessing you have done to me in this Day, How glorious miracle this was,I prayed.
The man stood up,hug me , and said" pastor What can I do now ?How to become a Christian? Tell me from now onwards I will fallow what you told me about Christ?
I surprised, some youth among the mob opposed saying want to mingle in untouchables?
He firmly said ," Yes"To day I come across the power of the God of an Untouchable, Look how I had been healed without medicine?Is there any God power full than Jesus?
he answered.Praising the Lord I told him about repentance ,water baptism .He understood the things and accepted Jesus as his Saviour and healer on the same Day. praise the Lord!
She often called us and interested to hear the word of god at times.
One day I went to the house of the village head. After I read some scripture, I began to start prayer about their family. neibhours are watching. The brother of the old woman who invited me to pray , came from agriculture field with big rashes on his body, he is suffering like any thing caused by the itching of those rashes. He is crying, shouting by the pain, even blood is coming out of his itching wounds. A poisonousness snake bite him!.we disturbed by the cry , and woke up from the prayer. when I saw him ,spirit says" come , this is for the glory of the god knee down and pray for him,he will be healed in the name of Jesus"
Even that person is against gospel nothing i told him ,but he started to say hallelujah, hallelujah with a great voice,. All the family members and surrounding people gathered and viewing this with amazingly. Because a upper caste and traditional Hindu and a son of village head is saying hallelujah a word of untouchables!.But he did not stop to say hallelujah.After a little moment he slowly stopped to say . he lifted his eyes, he and the mob stared to see the rashes on his skin were disappeared!!What a wonderful, Incredible!
He was healed from a poisonous snake bite by saying hallelujah!I have no words to speak. my heart filled with joy ,tears coming from my eyes unexpectedly ."O my Lord Jesus How great You are my Lord., How blessing you have done to me in this Day, How glorious miracle this was,I prayed.
The man stood up,hug me , and said" pastor What can I do now ?How to become a Christian? Tell me from now onwards I will fallow what you told me about Christ?
I surprised, some youth among the mob opposed saying want to mingle in untouchables?
He firmly said ," Yes"To day I come across the power of the God of an Untouchable, Look how I had been healed without medicine?Is there any God power full than Jesus?
he answered.Praising the Lord I told him about repentance ,water baptism .He understood the things and accepted Jesus as his Saviour and healer on the same Day. praise the Lord!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Miracle
one day as usual lam walking on the street of upper caste dwelling area. I found a little group gathered at one place and discussing about some thing. That is an area of village elder whom warned me to not to enter in to this area.with a little fear and curia city I stopped at a moment there and observed the situation. The thing is a most important document of the village head land was missed. it was very crucial to retain their property with them. other wise the property will be occupied by some others. for the last one week they had been searching for that documents but they did not found. every place in their house and cattle shed were searched thoroughly and they did not found any where.the entire family were in a bad and sorrow condition. the village head sat in a corner of that house he lost all his hopes in getting their missed documents.
At that time lam walking in that street with bible in my hand. some body noticed me and called
"He man come here!"I saw for a while and moving again called me" he, he We are calling you come on". I stopped and asked them "yes lam here Why you have called me sir"
One women probably the wife of that village head"Does your God is Great?"
"Yes my mother"Answered constantly."If so ask your God one thing Which I will tell you". I could not under stand her. But I replied "My Jesus Is Great god He will do any thing He will provide all things what ever you need".
by this conversation some people gathered to this place and started to watch this with ridiculous .
"Is your God that much Great? If so find our missed document, we had been searching for that since one week but we weren't getting".
The spirit of Lord saying me from inside "this is a time That Lord been glorified, Go Mighty Lord with you,"Immediately I answered them Yes my Mother lam sure that my God will show his miracle to day" I knee down and started to pray "My Lord Help me show your presence among this people, Use me as your believable tool to day...."
I completed my prayer. Every body is watching this with excitement This a very strange issue for that people , An untouchable entrance in to their house and praying for God to found the missed one
I slowly raised my head, stood up The spirit of the Lord is directing me" keep your hand in the box before you"with great belief I put my hand in to the box before me , The little mob is laughing at me,
a bundle of papers touched my hand , Slowly I picked up "Thats it"a loud voice from the head of the village . "surprise That was the paper where we had been searching for "she shouted with great excitement. The laughing of the naughty mob stopped. They did not digest this even myself too.I praised the Lord , my heart filled with joy and happiness, tears were dropped from my eyes My God how Great are you?What a miracle you have done in my life my Lord, thank you lam praying." Babu," called some one "Yes, mother"Your god is great she said thanksgiving.
Yes my mother He is mighty Proclaimed Gospel for that gathering.
She bring some water with ful of bucket and told me" babu wash this place where you sat down"
I remembered lam a untouchable person!I picked the water and washed the place .
She offered me some rice and little vegetables .
I praised the Lord and happily returned to house to share this miracle with my marry. At my hut my marry sleeping, with empty stomach! Mary get up look Our God miracle I told every thing to her. she prepared food. That day we have had our dinner after two days!Praise the Lord!!
At that time lam walking in that street with bible in my hand. some body noticed me and called
"He man come here!"I saw for a while and moving again called me" he, he We are calling you come on". I stopped and asked them "yes lam here Why you have called me sir"
One women probably the wife of that village head"Does your God is Great?"
"Yes my mother"Answered constantly."If so ask your God one thing Which I will tell you". I could not under stand her. But I replied "My Jesus Is Great god He will do any thing He will provide all things what ever you need".
by this conversation some people gathered to this place and started to watch this with ridiculous .
"Is your God that much Great? If so find our missed document, we had been searching for that since one week but we weren't getting".
The spirit of Lord saying me from inside "this is a time That Lord been glorified, Go Mighty Lord with you,"Immediately I answered them Yes my Mother lam sure that my God will show his miracle to day" I knee down and started to pray "My Lord Help me show your presence among this people, Use me as your believable tool to day...."
I completed my prayer. Every body is watching this with excitement This a very strange issue for that people , An untouchable entrance in to their house and praying for God to found the missed one
I slowly raised my head, stood up The spirit of the Lord is directing me" keep your hand in the box before you"with great belief I put my hand in to the box before me , The little mob is laughing at me,
a bundle of papers touched my hand , Slowly I picked up "Thats it"a loud voice from the head of the village . "surprise That was the paper where we had been searching for "she shouted with great excitement. The laughing of the naughty mob stopped. They did not digest this even myself too.I praised the Lord , my heart filled with joy and happiness, tears were dropped from my eyes My God how Great are you?What a miracle you have done in my life my Lord, thank you lam praying." Babu," called some one "Yes, mother"Your god is great she said thanksgiving.
Yes my mother He is mighty Proclaimed Gospel for that gathering.
She bring some water with ful of bucket and told me" babu wash this place where you sat down"
I remembered lam a untouchable person!I picked the water and washed the place .
She offered me some rice and little vegetables .
I praised the Lord and happily returned to house to share this miracle with my marry. At my hut my marry sleeping, with empty stomach! Mary get up look Our God miracle I told every thing to her. she prepared food. That day we have had our dinner after two days!Praise the Lord!!
Friday, August 8, 2008
power of prayer!
praying always with great burden, and spreading the gospel was the commitment to us.everybody was against us. Simply they had been treating us beggars, because we are walking all the streets with barefoot containing Bible in our hands, at night standing in the junction of the streets and saying john3:16! We feel it was our blessing. we had been praying God for miracle.
.One day the elder of that village called me and threaten me to stop the entering in to the streets of Hindus and also stop the word of Jesus. I returned to my hut and we both prayed all night for salvation of the elder who threaten us. My lord has listen us.Our God does not forsake me , a great miracle happened next day!
.One day the elder of that village called me and threaten me to stop the entering in to the streets of Hindus and also stop the word of Jesus. I returned to my hut and we both prayed all night for salvation of the elder who threaten us. My lord has listen us.Our God does not forsake me , a great miracle happened next day!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The begining of Glorious Service
We both in the age group of 20's dedicated and led by the spirit of God. Prayerfully we started to proclaim the mighty word of Jesus the area, which we reside is a slum. We are associated with pet animals like cows and dogs and mud around our resident hut.
One day we started to go along side in the streets of upper castes living people who had been followers of traditional and orthodox Hinduism. They did not even like to hear the name of Jesus Christ, because they think that Christianity is meant for only untouchable lower caste community. When the India had been ruled by the British, majority of untouchables consoled by the Christian missionaries in their in human treatment and plight. So that these community adopted Christianity for their spirituality and also to meet their hunger. Upper castes were not allowed missionaries into their environment as all Christians are belongs to untouchable caste even now in India this opinion is prevailed.
Keeping in mind all these social issues we decided to start our ministry in upper caste Hindus. Daily we are going through in the streets saying with loud voice John:3:16. So many youth commented upon us even on my wife. People made us ashamed by blasphemy. We does get feared, we moved constantly and continued this practice day by day. At night we had been prayed to God for even one soul to start our great service. We have no other sources to met our hunger we often used to slept with empty stomach
Annals Of a Pastor
I was born in a untouchable caste,around 1950-55 resembles apartheid in south Africa.Here in India there are a system called caste system. Some people are having land and money followed by power called upper caste and some people are called lower caste or untouchables. As in their name this people are not touched by upper caste people nor even not able to enter in to the streets of upper caste people. If any body wanted to walk in the street of upper caste dwellers he has to make a sound that he is coming so that upper caste peoples went in to their houses. If any body does not performs this he will be punished . In that untouchable caste I was born. Imagine how my mother and father's situation at that time , they are illiterates , labor in the fields , lives in the outskirts of villages so far to the upper caste community people. That is my status in community.The untouchables are not allowed to the temples the worship centers of upper caste Hindus.(unfortunately this practice had been in in some of the areas)at that period the rule of British in India introduced Christianity in India.Because of the christian love and humanity and concern towards poor and untouchable by missioners many of this people accepted Jesus as their savior and God.My mother was one of the person among them.
My mother was a believer. He used to pray at house always after return from her daily labor. She often tells about Prayer and Jesus Christ. She joined me in a government school. She had been influenced by a pastor about me to make me a pastor!Praise the Lord!!
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