[Reader-list] Hindutva terrorism against Christians in Orissa

[radhikarajen at vsnl.net]

Oh, please be happy, now a fact finding commission will be constitued, and then a retired judge will form a judicial commisssion to "find ' the truth like in Godhra all will be in right time for general elections so that these retired tired judges can dish out jhoota reports to please their political bosses likethe Bannerjee and his report of train burn. ?

----- Original Message -----
From: Shivam Vij शिवम् विज् <mail at shivamvij.com>
Date: Friday, August 29, 2008 8:08 pm
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindutva terrorism against Christians in Orissa
To: Rohit Shetti <rohitism at gmail.com>
Cc: sarai list <reader-list at sarai.net>

> Orissa violence: lies and media reports
> 
> The newspaper report, which is being circulated by email and on the
> Web by supporters of the Sangh Parivar, is not only inflammatory, but
> also factually incorrect. VISHAL ARORA says lies get propagated by the
> media.
> 
> Posted Wednesday, Aug 27 23:34:31, 2008
> from The Hoot: 
> http://thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=3286&mod=1&pg=1&sectionId=5&valid=true
> 
> The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) spokesperson Ram Madhav told CNN
> IBN yesterday that Christians were behind the killing of Vishwa Hindu
> Parishad (VHP) leader Laxmanananda Saraswati and four others in
> Orissa's Kandhamal district on August 23. Madhav pointed out that
> Orissa police had arrested workers of the Christian organization World
> Vision for the killing. He should have had his facts right before
> making a statement on a national channel.
> 
> 
> 
> Madhav's statement may have been based on a report in a newspaper (The
> Pioneer, August 25): "The police have arrested Pradesh Kumar Das, an
> employee of the World Vision, a Christian Charity, from Khadagpur
> while escaping from the district at Buguda. In another drive, two
> other persons Vikram Digal and William Digal have been arrested from
> the house of Lal Digal, a local militant Christian, from Nuasahi at
> Gunjibadi, Nuagaan. They have admitted to having joined a group of 28
> other assailants."
> 
> 
> 
> The newspaper report, which is being circulated by email and on the
> Web by supporters of the Sangh Parivar, is not only inflammatory, but
> also factually incorrect.
> 
> Disturbed by the report, I spoke to Deputy Inspector General (Southern
> Range) R.P. Koche in Bhubaneshwar, who categorically denied it. "No
> one has been arrested in 'connection' with the attack on Swami's
> Ashram. We have merely made some preventive arrests for
> interrogation," he said.
> 
> 
> 
> Then, Jayakumar Christian, the executive director of World Vision
> India, narrated how his organisation's employees landed up in a police
> station. "Two of our workers were fleeing sensitive areas on a
> motorbike to escape attacks. They started from Daringbari and were
> going to Bhubaneswar. However, when they reached Behrampore (Ganjam
> district), security personnel deployed there asked them to take
> shelter in a police station for their safety. The police informed us
> that our employees are in the police station, and asked us to take
> them to a safer place. And they came back safely the following day."
> He spoke to me on the phone today.
> 
> 
> 
> One wonders what is the source of the newspaper's report, which claims
> that those arrested also confessed to the crime – when the police have
> denied it. God alone knows how many false reports could be taking the
> rounds.
> 
> 
> 
> It is unfortunate that at least nine people, mainly Christians, have
> been killed or burnt alive and hundreds of homes belonging to
> Christians have been destroyed by mobs allegedly led by the VHP in the
> name of retribution. And the violence is carrying on. This is in spite
> of the fact that a Maoist group, the People's Liberation Revolutionary
> Group, has claimed responsibility for the killing. A leader of the
> group, who identified himself as Azad, reportedly called up a
> newspaper office and said they killed Saraswati because he mixed
> "religion with politics…" That Kandhamal is a Maoist-affected district
> is also common knowledge. Further, the police found a threat 
> letter in
> Saraswati's ashram that was sent prior to the attack. Furthermore, the
> attack was launched with sophisticated weapons, which also indicates
> Maoist involvement.
> 
> 
> 
> Does the VHP not know that the culprits are most likely to be Maoists?
> Perhaps they do, but it is typical of the VHP and other members of the
> timid Sangh Parivar to attack soft targets. They raise the issue of
> Islamist terrorism, but kill and beat common Muslims – as they did in
> the post-Godhra violence in Gujarat in 2002. And now, in Orissa, they
> are killing Christians and destroying their property when there are
> clear indications that Maoists launched the August 23 attack. All that
> is needed is a lie to target the minority community, and thanks to
> sections of the media, there is no dearth of falsehoods being
> propagated.
> 
> 
> (Vishal Arora is a Delhi-based journalist, and can be contacted at
> vishalarora_in at hotmail.com)
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