Up to 20,000 Indian Christians face Christmas as refugees two years after a wave of attacks by militant Hindus in the state of Orissa.
Release International warns many displaced by the worst sectarian rioting in India are still unable to return to their villages for fear of death or forcible conversion to Hinduism.
Many who were witnesses to the riots face threats and intimidation by mobs gathered outside courtrooms. Up to 75 people were killed in the ultra-nationalist riots and 50,000 were driven from their homes, yet two years on, hundreds of cases have yet to be dealt with effectively by the judicial system.
Release International, which is part of the Religious Liberty Partnership (RLP), is calling for the Indian government to do all in its power to bring about justice, and for churches around the world to remember at Christmas the Indian Christians who were victims of the riots.
Andy Dipper, CEO of Release International, which serves persecuted Christians worldwide, said: "Please pray for Christians in India this Christmas, especially those in Orissa who still face the high risk of attack and marginalisation from the Hindu fundamentalists."
Release partner, the All India Christian Council, estimate up to 20,000 Christians who were driven from their villages by Hindu ultra-nationalists have been unable to return home.
