Christians and human rights activists in India and abroad have condemned the government for turning a blind eye to the violence that has gone on unabated since August and has even spread to several other Indian states.
Indian bishops in the letter contested allegations that the attacks are an ethnic conflict.
“Hindu fundamentalist groups have been trying to name the communal violence as an ethnic conflict between the tribals and the Pano Christians. A cursory look at facts reveals that this conflict is a calculated and pre-planned master plan to wipe out Christianity from Kandhamal district, Orissa, in order to realise the hidden agenda of Sangh Parivar of establishing a Hindu Nation,” they argued.
The bishop did, however, applaud the Orissa government’s decision to establish a fast track court at Kandhamal to accelerate the trials of cases involving attacks against Christians.
The bishops asked the Orissa minister to ensure that the judge of the court be of a religion other than Hindu or Christian to ensure fairness.
In addition to the request, the clergy also asked for the national police to remain in Kandhamal for the time being, and for churches to be rebuilt or repaired by the first week of December in time for Christmas.
“This will also help confidence building among the congregations and bury the past quietly as they approach Christmas 2008,” their letter concluded.
The letter was signed by Raphael Cheenath, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar; Bishop of Balasore Thomas Thiruthalil, and the Bishop of Berhampur, Sarat Nayak.
Similarly, an ecumenical group of US Christian leaders wrote a letter this week to President Bush appealing for a stronger American response to the attacks on Indian Christians.
“You should insist, in the strongest terms, that these reprehensible groups and the assenting local government agencies be brought into conformity with India's rule of law," the letter signed by 24 Catholic, Orthodox, mainline Protestant and evangelical leaders read.
The American Christian leaders also used a similar description to the Indian Catholic bishops to describe what is taking place in India – calling it “religious cleansing”.
