A painful anniversary in India

John L. Allen, Jr.
National Catholic Reporter
August 30, 2013

August marks one of the most painful anniversaries in recent Christian life.

Five years ago this month, the most vicious anti-Christian pogrom of the early 21st century broke out in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. The official count of the dead stands at somewhere between 75 and 100, though some observers believe the total may be as much as five times higher. Many were hacked to death by machete-wielding Hindu radicals, with thousands more injured and at least 50,000 left homeless.

Tens of thousands of Christians fled to displacement camps, where some languished for two years or more. An estimated 5,000 Christian homes, along with 350 churches and schools, were destroyed. A Catholic nun, Sr. Meena Barwa, was raped, then marched naked and beaten. Police discouraged her from filing a report and declined to arrest her attackers.

The rampage was led by Hindu radicals incensed by the assassination of Hindu leader Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 24, 2008. Although independent observers believe he was killed by Maoist insurgents, radicals blamed it on Christians. Most were members of the Dalit underclass, making them easy targets.

It was not an isolated incident. Last year, according to the Global Council of Indian Christians, there were 170 assaults on Christians in the country, an average of one every other day. The violence in Orissa, however, was unprecedented in terms of its scope and scale.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai recently gave an interview to Vatican Radio on the five-year anniversary, calling the victims of the Orissa pogrom "true martyrs of the faith."

Their persecutors, Gracias said, "wanted them to deny Christ, to say that they didn't believe in Christ, but they replied that this wasn't possible, because for them, Christ was everything. That's why they were killed and suffered such violence."

Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, an archdiocese located in Orissa, recently said his church is flourishing despite the damage done five years ago, and today, it's generating new priests being sent as missionaries to other parts of the country and the world.

So far, Pope Francis hasn't really engaged the issue of anti-Christian persecution in a systematic way. Is there something he could say or do that might be of help to at-risk believers in places such as Orissa?

Here's one possibility. During his press conference on the way home from Rio de Janeiro, Francis said, "I must go to Asia," because Benedict XVI never visited the continent during his eight-year reign and because Asia is "important." Francis mentioned he has standing invitations to visit Sri Lanka and the Philippines, but said "this is all up in the air."

When he gets around to hammering out an Asian itinerary, one dramatic option would be to include a stop in India -- perhaps even in Orissa itself -- at which time he could formally declare the victims of the 2008 massacres martyrs, opening the way for their beatification without the necessity of a miracle.

That step has already been requested by survivors of the 2008 pogrom and relatives of those who died, and church officials in India have endorsed the idea.

If Francis were to take that step in person rather than simply signing a decree in Rome, it could have enormous impact on raising consciousness -- not just about the Indian martyrs, but the broader threats faced by Christians in a growing number of global neighborhoods.

It is, at least, something to ponder.

[This story from last month suggests conditions are still not very good for Christians in Orissa.]

07/15/2013 12:58

INDIA

Christian clergyman's death in Orissa ruled an "accident" by police

by Nirmala Carvalho

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "Once again, a Protestant clergyman in Orissa is murdered and the police tries to dismiss it as an accident," said Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), who spoke to AsiaNews after the discovery of the tortured body of Rev Jaisankar, a medical doctor and pastor at the Blessing Youth Mission, near Lamtaput (Kandhamal district). His funeral will be held today at 4 pm (local time).

Jaisankar went missing Thursday morning as he made his way by motorbike to Lamtaput to provide medical training. Sometime later, his body and bike were found close to the banks of a river. According to the police, it was an accident: the doctor was crossing a bridge when he fell into the river as a result of violent rains, and the current dragged him away.

However, given the type of wounds his body suffered and the conditions under which Christians live in the area, the GCIC believes it was murder.

"In August 2008," Sajan George said, "all the churches and Christian places of worship in the villages of Fufugaon, Chandrasundi Pada and Narakunduliguda were looted and burnt. Hindu extremists often act out their brutality against the Christian minority, especially when the anniversary of the terrible and brutal genocide of Kandhamal approaches."