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Friday, September 12, 2008
Indian Court Fiddles while Orissa burns
Have you heard of Orissa? A story about religious persecution seems to be getting scant media coverage.
Here are the facts: By last count 10,000 refugees have fled the state of Orissa in India. Another 50,000 are hiding in the surrounding country-side. According to both AsiaNews and Assyrian news association, mobs are giving locals an ultimatum to convert or have their homes burned or even lose their lives.
However, the Indian government seems reluctant to clamp down on the violence. A report to the Indian Supreme Court said, "that the situation in communal riots-hit Kandhamal district of Orissa was ‘much much better’ and the situation was ‘under control’."
I was amazed that the only way that I can keep tabs on what can only be called a pogrom is to check my trusty google news alerts. Where is George Clooney and Matt Damon? Where's 60 Minutes?
Where is the outcry? I did a quick search on CNN and found one story and not a single video clip from either CNN or FoxNews on youtube. Christians are being forced to convert to Hinduism or lose their lives. Hundreds have been burned alive and the Catholic News Service says that there are reports that nuns have been raped and burned alive.
What I did find on youtube was an excerpt from a documentary about the violence that explains a great deal. I have no idea if its credible but I include it here:
Ostensibly, the spark that lit this conflagration was an accusation that Christians killed prominent Hindu Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati several weeks ago.
However, the forced conversions tell me this isn't about self-defense or political unrest. Saraswati was the head of an anti-conversion movement in India. Even though Maoists claimed responsibility for his death, a note reportedly left by the body claimed the attack was in retaliation for the Swami's thugs who attacked Christians on Christmas Day.
That self-proclaimed Hindu armies are forcing conversion tells me that this is about the untouchables. The Hindu caste system relegates dalits or outcasts to a sub-standard existence. They are not allowed in temples or homes. When some dalits dared enter a temple in Orissa, it had to be cleansed.
Orissa has seen many dalit converts to Christianity. A militant sect of Hinduism led by the Swami seeks to end any conversion of dalits to Christianity. This IBN video has an interview with one such sect leader who vows that India will always be Hindu and any one who impinges on Hindu rights will be eliminated
Whatever your thoughts about proselytizing, there is no evidence dalits are being forced to convert. But there is a verifiable fact that the late Swami's thugs were committing violence before his death. It is also justifiable to accuse them of using the assassination as an excuse to ramp up the body count.
I call on Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists, and everyone in-between to let people know about what is going on in Orissa.
Posted by Jay Lafayette on September 12, 2008 in Religion | Permalink
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Comments
Excellent post, Jay.
Where's the outrage from the left on this?
Terrence
Posted by: Terrence Watson | 2008-09-12 1:59:57 PM
Hi,
Thanks for publishing about this!
Just to let you know, your link in your second sentence is to articles dating from January 2008, after the violence and riots in December 2007 in Orissa. A more up-to-date link can be found here: http://www.sindhtoday.net/world/20023.htm. It's an Indian news agency too, which lends greater credibility (sometimes I doubt whether news agencies in the West really have staff in Orissa to report first hand.)
It does underscore how complex and difficult to resolve the situation is. This is not the first time in a year.
Posted by: Colleen H. | 2008-09-12 2:26:49 PM
Forget the left, Terrence. Where is the outrage in general? I'm going to go ahead and dig into this a bit, and see if I can't figure something out.
If you, dear reader, find anything about this in the press--whether mainstream or otherwise, please drop it into our comments. We'll follow this story much more, and could use your help.
Posted by: P.M. Jaworski | 2008-09-12 2:27:21 PM
Bihar is one of the most poor, ignorant, backwards places on earth.
Bihar has honor killings, roving bands of goondas (outlaws), completely backward local leaders (who lead mobs often), it is the poorest and most desolate place in India.
Nothing there makes sense and it is ungovernable. The central government largely ignores Bihar because it is endless poverty & misery and bizarre and primitive custom,s and traditions.
Most of Indians Christians live in Kerala state and make up 20% of the 35 million people in that tiny state, so there won't be a pogrom there. I lived there for a year. Apparently, the origin of Kerala's Christians dates back to 52 AD, when St. Thomas came to the region landing in the port of Cranganore near Cochin. He visited different parts of Kerala and converted local inhabitants including many from the upper sect known as Namboodiri Brahmins. It is also believed that St. Thomas established Churches in seven places in Kerala. Kerala is quite civilized and it is usually the Hindus and Muslims who go after each other, as I saw in 1992 when Hindus razed a Mosque (Ayodhya) built on the site of some mythical Hindu temple. Born-again Hindus claimed that the 500 year old mosque has been built on the same site where Lord Rama was born. They claimed that the mosque has been built after pulling down the existing temple. The razing of the Mosque led to communal (religious) riots that engulfed whole nations and killed tens of thousands throughout India and Pakistan.
But you know another place thats like Bihar? Ungovernable. Death to anyone who converts to Christianity. Barren impoverished landscape. Lawlessness everywhere. Afghanistan.
Posted by: Marc Scott Emery | 2008-09-12 9:04:36 PM
My bad, while Bihar is incredibly backward, the state of Orissa is not quite as horrible, although visitors to Orissa are extremely rare. It is an insulated state that few from other parts of India visit (except the outlandish annual immersion ceremony at Puri which is really something to see), so it has very little outside influence to mitigate the inherent chauvinism of the radical Hindu nationalists who want to purge India of Muslims and Christians.
Posted by: Marc Scott Emery | 2008-09-12 9:08:07 PM
My bad, while Bihar is incredibly backward, the state of Orissa is not quite as horrible, although visitors to Orissa are extremely rare. It is an insulated state that few from other parts of India visit (except the outlandish annual immersion ceremony at Puri which is really something to see), so it has very little outside influence to mitigate the inherent chauvinism of the radical Hindu nationalists who want to purge India of Muslims and Christians.
Posted by: Marc Scott Emery | 2008-09-13 8:05:09 PM
But you know another place thats like Bihar? Ungovernable. Death to anyone who converts to Christianity. Barren impoverished landscape. Lawlessness everywhere. Afghanistan
That's actually false. There was a high profile case where a man was tried for converting to Christianity but was declared insane because anyone who could convert away from Islam must be insane so they didn't kill him. Your statement is false. You, Mr. Emery, are a sensationalist, alarmist and a downright liar!
Posted by: Ike | 2008-09-13 8:16:05 PM
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