India, an Exporter of Priests: New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN Published: December 29, 2008 ALUVA, India — In the sticky night air, next to a grove of mahogany trees, nearly 50 young men in madras shirts saunter back and forth along a basketball court, reciting the rosary. James Estrin/The New York Times FOCUSED ON FAITH In Kerala, a state in the southwest part of the country where 20 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, families like the Alengadans pray together at home and Mass attendance is high. They are seminarians studying to become Roman Catholic priests. Together, they send a great murmuring into the hilly village, mingling with the Muslim call to prayer and the chanting of Vedas from a Hindu temple on a nearby ridge. Young men willing to join the priesthood are plentiful in India, unlike in the United States and Europe. Within a few miles of this seminary, called Don Bosco College, are two much larger seminaries, each with more than 400 students. more

Kandhamal killings split Orissa Maoists on religious lines

December 30th, 2008 - 11:51 am ICT by IANS - Send to a friend: Berhampur (Orissa), Dec 30 (IANS) The killing of a Hindu leader and his associates that triggered attacks on Christians in Orissa have split the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) on religious lines for the first time, with many Hindu members breaking away to form a rival group.The unexpected development, which have taken many by surprise, came to light when the breakaway faction put up posters threatening to target Christian members of the CPI-Maoist in the state. The new group calls itself “IDGA-Maoist”, which some posters say is the acronym for “Idealize of Democrat Garila (Guerrilla) Army (Maoist)”. According to informed sources, the new group’s formal inauguration will take place Jan 3 at an undisclosed location under the leadership of a guerrilla identified only as M2. The origin of the split is the Aug 23 gunning down of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swamy Laxmanananda Saraswati and four associates at Jallespata in tribal-dominated Kandhamal district. It sparked off an orgy of violence against Christians, whom the VHP blamed for Saraswati’s killing. About 40 people, mostly poor Christians in rural areas, were killed. While the police blamed the Maoists for the killings, the VHP insisted that Christians were responsible. The CPI-Maoist claimed responsibility for the murder, saying Saraswati was creating a sectarian divide in the impoverished region. The breakaway IDGA’s posters have denounced the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA), the military wing of the CPI-Maoist, and its leader Sabyasachi Panda for the VHP leader’s death. A Maoist sympathiser close to the new faction told IANS that the main reason behind the break-up was the Kandhamal violence, for which he blamed Panda. “Maoists don’t have any religion. Their religion is to safeguard the vulnerable people and fight exploitation and oppression. But those under Panda are acting like a mafia,” he said, requesting anonymity. People familiar with the Maoist movement in the state believe that the split will result in escalation of violence. Sixteen of Orissa’s 30 districts are considered Maoist- dominated. Six southwestern districts - Malkangiri, Koraput, Raygada, Kandhamal, Nayagarh and Gajapati - are the worst hit. The existing Maoist group active in southern Orissa is known as the Bansadhara Divisional Committee. This is expected to face the wrath of the splitters. Nihar Nayak, an expert on Maoists at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses in New Delhi, told IANS that if a split has indeed taken place on religious lines, it would mark a first in India’s Left history. “Since the Maoist movement began in India, they have never supported a specific religion or caste or community,” he said. Nayak added that the objective of the splinter group would be “to protect Hindus from Maoist attacks and retaliate by killing Christian leaders” in the state. In its posters, the new group has threatened to kill one Christian on the 23rd of every month — to avenge Saraswati’s murder Aug 23. The new group’s area of influence includes three regions: southcentral Orissa, Ghumsar division in southern Orissa and Bansadhara division which shares a border with Andhra Pradesh. Some police officials here fear the law and order situation in the region might worsen if the new group starts revenge killing, inviting retaliation. “It is certain that violence will escalate and this split is going to be a major headache for the already burdened police force,” a senior officer told IANS requesting anonymity. Deputy Inspector General of Police P. Koche told IANS: “I don’t have any information regarding this new Maoist group.” Sanjeeb Panda, another deputy inspector general of police, added: “We don’t have any official information regarding the split. But I can’t rule out that there has been a split among the Maoists.” source

Orissa proposes deletion of 'Kui' from tribal list

Published: December 30,2008 Bhubaneswar , Dec 30 Orissa government has proposed deletion of the term&aposkui&aposfrom the list of tribals in a bid to resolve the controversial fake caste certificate issue believed to have contributed in triggering the Kandhamal riot. A meeting of the state level Tribal Advisory Committee will be held on January 19 to formally decide on deleting the term from the list, official sources said here today. There had been reports of a large section of population, including the schedule caste people converted to Christianity in Kandhamal, obtaining schedule tribe certificate by claiming that they were Kui tribals. A senior SC and ST development department official said that there is no specific group known as Kui tribe. " Though Kui being considered as a specific tribal group, but in fact it was never a tribe but a language,"he said, adding that though a large number of people speak Kui language in Kandhamal, all of them are not tribals. As per the existing law, a schedule caste person can not avail reservation and other benefits after getting converted to other religion. However, a tribal can retain his status and get benefits even if he converts to any other religion. The fake caste certificate issue had turned out to be a major problem for the administration. The officials had received as many as 600 complaints relating to fake tribal certificates mainly from areas in Kandhamal where people, mostly non-tribal Christians, had acquired tribal certificate on the basis of speaking Kui dialect. Kui Samaj Samanway Samiti (KSSS), a tribal body in Kandhamal, had been agitating since a long time demanding cancellation of fake caste certificates acquired by non-tribals in the district. more Discusssion : A move to deprive christians tribal status?

Why Christmas was peaceful in Orissa, India?

nalysis: Why Christmas was peaceful in Orissa, India? Monday, 29th December 2008. 8:35am By: Vishal Arora. New Delhi: Christians and rights groups across the world feared re-eruption of violence around Christmas in the east Indian state of Orissa, which witnessed a macabre spate of attacks on Christians in August and September in 2008. But thanks to changing political atmosphere in the country, the festival season passed off largely peaceful in the region. The ebb and flow of the targeting of the Christian minority in India in the last 10 years can put in context both the wave of anti-Christian violence in Orissa’s Kandhamal district in August 2008 and the absence of more attacks in December 2008 despite a call for a state-wide shutdown by Hindu extremist groups on Christmas Day. The decade of organised Christian persecution, which began in 1998 and climaxed in 2008, can be divided into four episodes, the ongoing being a period of restraint. I. The Genesis and Rise of Christian Persecution (mid-1998 to mid-2004): Until 1998, Hindu nationalist groups targeted only the Muslim community, which accounts for around 14 per cent of India’s population, which is more than one billion. But due to two developments, the targeting of Christians began in 1998. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came into power at the federal level for the first time in 1998 – though through a coalition, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The BJP, but its admission, was started under the leadership of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or the RSS, India’s chief Hindu nationalist organization that acts as an umbrella for a plethora of smaller groups. The BJP original agenda is to make India a Hindu nation; not a theocracy like in Saudi Arabia, but a national state in the European sense of the word. The party wants to create a nation that will be recognized as a land belonging to the Hindus, who account for more than 80 per cent of the population, and where Christians (who comprise 2.3 per cent of the population) and Muslims will be seen as outsiders and in subordination to the majority community. It will also be a nation where minorities will not be allowed to preach their religion and religious conversions will be banned. In March 1998, Sonia Gandhi, the wife of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, became the president of the Indian National Congress, India’s grand old party and the biggest threat to the BJP’s rule at the time. Given that Mrs Gandhi is an Italian-born Roman Catholic, the BJP launched a campaign, including violent attacks, against Christians to provoke her to defend the minority community, whereby she could be branded as a minority leader as opposed to BJP’s leadership to the majority community. By launching attacks, the BJP also hoped to suggest that Christians were using money and force to convert Hindus under the protection provided by Mrs Gandhi. Following the two developments, the Independent India witnessed its first large-scale, indiscriminate attack on Christians in the Dangs district of the western state of Gujarat in December 1998. The violence led to a mass destruction of property belonging to local Christians and Christian organizations in Dangs, a tribal (aboriginal people) majority district (with 93% tribal population). The violence began after an alleged attack on a Hindu nationalist rally -— an allegation that had no evidence. In January 1999, an Australian missionary, Graham Staines, and his two underage sons were burned alive in the western state of Orissa’s Keonjhar district, another tribal district. In March 2004, India’s second massive spate of anti-Christian attacks took place in the Jhabua district of the central state of Madhya Pradesh. The violence erupted after a nine-year-old Hindu girl was found murdered in a Christian school — a Hindu man was later arrested for the murder. Over 85 per cent of the people in Jhabua are tribal. From 2000 to 2004, around 200 anti-Christian attacks were reported each year from various parts of the nations, but mainly from the states situated in the tribal belt of central India (including some eastern and western states), where 75 per cent of India’s tribal population lives. II. The Period of Sustenance (mid-2004 to 2006-end): In the general elections of 2004 –after the NDA federal government completed its five-year term, the BJP-led coalition lost to the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The RSS blamed the BJP’s defeat on the party’s reluctance to whole-heartedly implement its Hindu nationalist agenda (Most political analysts, however, said it was a vote against the BJP’s non-inclusive economic policies, and that people’s interest in emotive, identity-based issues was gradually fading away.). However, Christians continued to face attacks, as the BJP was a ruling party in various states (India is a federation, and law and order is a state subject). According to the Christian Legal Association (of India), at least 165 anti-Christian attacks were reported in 2005, and over 130 in 2006. more

Over 1 lakh accused in Kandhmal case

29 Dec 2008, 0224 hrs IST, Sandeep Mishra, TNN

PHULBANI (Kandhmal): Holding trial for the accused in the recent communal riots in Kandhmal district of Orissa could turn out to be an onerous

and long drawn process as over a lakh people have been accused of their involvement in the violence.

The police, based on 698 FIRs filed in connection with the carnage that happened mostly in August and September in the southern Orissa district, have found that 11,348 people are named accused, while over 89,424 people have been categorized as others in the complaints. "The number would go further up as 75 more cases have been lodged since we made the assessment a few days ago,'' a senior police officer said.
Conducting investigation, arresting the accused and organizing trial for such a huge number of accused is being viewed as a "big challenge'' for the state administration, admitted officials. "This is an unprecedented situation in Orissa. We have never dealt with a law and order situation of this magnitude,'' pointed out a top cop. Officially, 39 people were killed in the religious mayhem. Police have so far arrested around 700 people in connection with the murders, arson and other violence that took place in Kandhmal. Even incarcerating those arrested has been a major headache as the states prisons are overcrowded. The jails in Kandhmal district could not accommodate such large number forcing us to shift a good person of the under trials to jails in Ganjam and other places, official sources said.


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Christmas peaceful in Kandhamal: Hindus join the celebrations

Christmas mass passes off peacefully in Kandhamal Bhubaneswar (IANS): Midnight Christmas mass was attended by thousands of Christians amid tight security across Orissa, including Kandhamal district that had witnessed widespread anti-Christian violence earlier this year. In many places Hindus joined Christians in the celebrations, officials said Thursday. "We have not received information of any trouble. It seems to be all peaceful," the Archbishop of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar Raphael Cheenath told IANS. "We held the Christmas mass with prayer and singing," Cheenath said, adding that he is satisfied with the security arrangements made by the government. "We are confident the Christmas celebrations will also pass off peacefully in the state," Cheenath said. Midnight mass was held peacefully in Kandhamal amid heavy security cover. Officials said except for the felling of two trees on the road in two places early Thursday no untoward incident was reported. The trees were promptly removed by security forces. "There has been no problem so far," Kandhamal district collector Krishan Kumar told IANS by phone. About 8,000 people still living in government-run relief camps in the district also attended the Christmas mass and decorated their camps, officials said. more

Kadamphul Nayak forgives her husband's killers in Orissa

Orissa: Christian Widow calls for Forgiveness By Nirmala Carvalho 12/20/2008 Asia News (www.asianews.it/) Christian Widow speaks about the attack by Hindu fundamentalists who killed her husband. BANGALORE (AsiaNews) - "This Christmas, Samuel will celebrate with Jesus, whom he loved so much. This Christmas I only ask Jesus that my husband's ministry - to spread the Gospel - will continue, that people will learn the Good News of our Savior, that people will learn to forgive and believe in His Name." There is no hatred or desire for revenge in the words of Kadamphul Nayak, 47, whose husband was killed by Hindu fundamentalists in the early days of anti-Christian violence in Orissa. "For me, it was a privilege to be his wife," the woman says, "and although we no longer have a home, the presence of Jesus in our hearts is a reason for comfort for us." .................. "The extremists, who were also carrying inflammables like gasoline and kerosene, came to our house, shouting Hindu chants. They dragged my husband outside and thrashed him severely, some of the men placed a knife and this throat and demanded that Samuel renounce Christ, which he refused to do. This angered the extremists, who then poured kerosene on my mother in-law and set her aflame. As she was burning, they repeated their demand to renounce Christ. One of them had tied me up with a knife to my throat also, but Samuel refused to embrace Hinduism. The extremists began slashing him on his neck, back and heels, they also slashed me on my stomach reaching up to my back. For the third time, they asked him to denounce Jesus, and in spite of the heavy bleeding and being in great pain, in a gasping low tone he said: 'For 25 years, I have been in the Gospel ministry, I have walked all over Orissa telling people that Jesus loves and Jesus saves, I will never abandon my Jesus'. This angered the extremists, who then slashed his throat, and shouted, 'Now let us see how your Jesus will save you'." more