European leaders meet victims of Orissa violence

|PIC1|Envoys of five European countries met victims of the 2008 attacks on Christians in Orissa on Monday.

The five-man delegation from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Finland met the victims of last year’s violence at the Bishop House in Bhubaneshwar after they were denied permission to visit the riot-hit district of Kandhamal.

Joseph Nayak from Kritangia village told the envoys that although the violence had stopped, last year's attacks had left a deep scar on the psyche of Christians. Nayak was among 10 victims selected to share their stories with the European leaders.

Runima Digal, who lost her husband during the violence, said that compensation from the Indian government had been too insufficient to rebuild her house and educate her four children.

Following their meeting with the victims, the envoys met senior police officials at Cuttack to hear about the law and order situation.

"We had a private discussion with the victims. We cannot share it with the public," said Denmark ambassador Aoulsen Ole Lonsmann.

The Archbishop of Orissa Raphael Cheenath later told media that "the envoys were concerned and listened to the victims" who narrated their plight and sought for help.

The Christian leader lamented that although violence has stopped, people still continued to live in relief camps because of housing problems. He guessed that about half of the 50,000 people who fled Kandhamal are still in want of houses and appealed to the state government to act on the problem.

The persecution of Christians in India was raised during the EU–India Summit in Paris last year. At that time, the EU delegation led by French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned the violence and urged strong measures to prevent such atrocities in the future.