Thursday, June 10, 2010

Communal incident raises concerns among Orissa Christians

A young man, who along with his family embraced Christianity four years back, was allegedly attacked by Hindu fundamentalists in Nuapada district of Orissa.
Even as Kandhamal is slowly turning to normalcy, this incident has raised concerns among the Christian community, Global Council of Indian Christians reported June 10.
According to the report, on June 8, a group of six Hindu fundamentalists attacked Bhakta Bivar. Five of the attackers have been identified.
The fundamentalists forcibly entered Bivar’s house when he was alone and ransacked it. They also assaulted him.
The men while attacking Bivar shouted why he and his family believe in Christianity and why they had gone to attend a prayer service at Raj Khariar conducted by their pastor Mishra Behera of Believers Church India.
They forcibly took away four bibles from the house and dragged Bivar through the village road.
They took him to a temple and asked him to deny Christ and bow before the Hindu idol. They then burned the bibles.
The family has taken shelter in their pastor’s house at Raj Khariar.
This incident has sent shockwaves within the Christian community in the state which is coming to terms after the Kandhamal carnage, the GCIC report said.
Meanwhile, members of a Hindu radical group Sri Rame Sene attacked a pastor Vasanthe Kathedar (30) at his church members’ house in Alledakere in Karnataka.
Kathedar was later detained for creating communal disharmony and disrupting peace.

No comments:

Post a Comment