About 3,000 survivors of India’s anti-Christian riots of more than 10 years ago joined Church authorities, lay leaders and rights activists on Jan 12 in Raikia, Odisha state’s Kandhamal district, to assess the state of justice.
By Robin Gomes
The Catholic Church of eastern India’s Odisha state organized a meeting on Saturday to assess the state of justice and compensation with regard to the victims and survivors of the terrible anti-Christian violence in the state more than 10 years ago.
About 3,000 survivors of the violence of Christmas 2007 and August 2008 and thereafter, together with Catholic Church authorities, lay leaders and rights activists gathered on Jan. 12 in Raikia town of Odisha’s Kandhamal district that was the epicentre of the outrage.
Hell broke loose on the Christians of Kandhamal on August 25, 2008, after Hindu extremists blamed Christians for the August 23 murder of Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati, even though Maoist rebels claimed the assassination.
The Justice, Peace and Development Commission of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar under whose jurisdiction comes Kandhamal district, organized the Raikia meeting. It was attended, among others, by local Archbishop John Barwa, senior Supreme Court advocate Colin Gonsalves, Thomas Minze, president of the “All India Catholic Odisha” association and several lawyers, priests, activists and lay leaders.
Those present reiterated their approach to peace, justice and human dignity, noting the urgency of compensation for those whose homes were completely damaged by the wave of violence.
Father Ajaya Kumar Singh is the secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Odisha Bishops’ Regional Council (OBRC). The priest of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar Archdiocese who was at the Raikia meeting spoke to Vatican News about it.
