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THE leading Philippine newspapers have ignored news about violent
communal attacks by “fundamentalist Hindus” against Christians
in Orissa, India, while the newspapers of the West and in our
region—Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand,
Vietnam, Pakistan, India, etcetera—have all carried the story and
follow-ups.
What does this news blackout signify?
That Filipinos don’t give a damn, are not in
solidarity with fellow Christians?
That Filipinos are too sophisticated, have the
trendy secularist outlook that considers news about religious
conflicts and massacres not worth paying attention to?
I’m sure this news embarrasses Ambassador
Rajeet Mitter. The Indian government does not condone communal
violence. Sadly, as in our own country, it does happen.
At least 100 have been killed since last week.
Some 10,000 Christians are in shelter camps set up by the government
and just as many are taking refuge in forests to escape the violence
of Hindu fundamentalist gangs.
On August 29 45,000 Catholic schools, institutes
and colleges all over India shut their doors in protest against the
series of violent attacks against Christians in Orissa.
Zenit reported that Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil,
major archbishop of Ernakulam-Ankamaly and president of the
episcopal conference of India (equivalent to our CBCP), called for
the protest as a way to voice concern against the attacks.
Christians, Zenit said, have been on the
receiving end of numerous acts of violence in Orissa after a Hindu
political leader Swami Laxmananada Saraswati and several of his
companions were killed on Saturday August 23. Christians were blamed
for killing the Hindu leader.
The Times of India however reported on
August 29 that a leader of the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army,
a Maoist organization, claimed responsibility for the leader’s
death.
On August 29, the episcopal conference of India
had put the number of deaths at 26. But violence continued (and
still does), the latest count by Christian news sources is 100 dead.
On September 1, Dr. Sajan George, national
president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said: “We
have received authentic information that the death toll is 100 and
more butchered bodies and burnt corpes are being found.” He is
calling for the resignation of the entire state government of Orissa,
which is incapable of stopping the massacres against the Christian
community.
He added, “In Bakingia, two families of seven
Christians - Daniel Naik and Michael Naik and their families - were
tortured and killed, their bodies were found with their heads pulped
and smashed, they were recognized by their clothes. Bakingia is
about 8 kilometers from Raikia police station.”
GCIC has been holding protest demonstrations to
spur the Indian central government to move more effectively against
the Hindu fundamentalists of Orissa.
India’s ruling party, United Progressive
Alliance, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is upset by the
violence and sympathetic to all religions.
GCIC said the leading opposition party, the
Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (which had been in power
when it defeated the Congress Party and was defeated by the UPA),
attacked the Catholics for holding the school strike and claimed
that the school officials had forced “non-Christian students to
participate in the protest marches.” Fundamentalist Hindu sects
that had also been responsible for acts of anti-Christian violence
in various parts of India in previous years heavily influence the
BJP.
Anti-Christian attacks have continued outside
Orissa. In Madhya Pradesh state, fanatics attacked five schools and
a church—in retaliation against the closing of the buildings. The
attacks took place in the districts of Gwaliar (three schools and a
church) and Barwani (two schools). Swift intervention of the police
stopped the Hindu mobs from causing worse injuries to victims and
damage to the buildings.
The police, however, GCIC reported “blocked a
peaceful demonstration of the students from the school of St.
Francis, for unspecified reasons of ‘public safety” although
they [the police] were informed about the demonstration
beforehand.”
The Indian bishop of Vasai, Thomas Dabre, a
member of the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue,
described the schools in his diocese to be in “total paralysis.”
“Thousands of young people,” the prelate said according to GCIC,
“ended their march in front of the buildings of the bishop’s
residence. I told them to promote interreligious dialogue, and to
and trust themselves completely to the protection of the Virgin
Mary.”
Pope Benedict XVI, saddened by these events, has
called for prayers to end the prosecution of Christians in India.
Something that reminds me of the mess in
Mindanao is that the Christian community in Orissa is being treated
with solidarity by Muslims and “normal” Hindus. The latter have
strongly condemned the attacks and are disassociating themselves
from “the pogrom against the Christians” by their fundamentalist
co-religionists.
rqb@manilatimes.net
rq_bas@yahoo.com
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