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| India-Pakistan |
| Christians move to camps to avoid Hindu attacks |
| 2007-12-30 |
| Nearly 700 Christians fearing attacks by Hindu hard-liners took shelter in government-run relief camps Saturday after sectarian violence in eastern India left at least four people dead last week. Authorities were providing food, medicine and security to Christians who moved into the four relief camps on Friday in the rural district of Kandhamal in eastern Orissa state, said Pradeep Kapoor, the inspector-general of police. Meanwhile, two police officers were suspended for failing to prevent violence on Christmas Eve, when long-standing tensions between the Hindu majority and the small Christian community erupted over conversions to Christianity, Kapoor told The Associated Press. Nearly 800 police and paramilitary forces were trying to restore calm, he said. No fresh incidents of violence were reported Saturday for a second day in Kandhamal, nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles) west of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa state, Kapoor said. The state government also transferred the top district administrator, Bhabagrahi Mohapatra, as punishment for failing to stop the fighting. Three people were killed Thursday when police opened fire on a group of hard-line Hindus who set fire to a police station in Kandhamal districtÂ’s Brahmangaon village. They said police failed to protect them after a group of Christians burned down several Hindu homes in apparent retaliation for attacks on churches, officials said. Another person also died last week in communal fighting. About 19 churches have been ransacked and burned since Monday and several homes have been destroyed. At least 25 people have been arrested, Superintendent of Police Narsingh Bhol said. India is overwhelmingly Hindu but officially secular. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Under the latest forest act passed by the Indian parliament (but yet to be proclaimed) there are additional advantages to being a "tribal" instead of a "dalit". As "indigenous people" they get land rights to vast areas of forest - logging, mining revenue etc. Environmentalists are opposed to the law , believing it will result in widespread destruction of forests as land previously protected is opened up for tribal use. Other activists support the law, believing the tribals are the traditional custodians of the land and should benefit from "sustainable use" of it. |
| Posted by: john frum 2007-12-30 17:20 |
| #4 The Kui tribals are the ones who called for the 'Bandh' over Christmas. Note what this is all really about... if the 'Pana' get recognized as "ST" (Scheduled Tribe), they will cut into the ST affirmative action quota monopolized by the 'Kui'. Into this morass of Indian entitlement politics, you have two groups of outside activists ... Hindu and Christian |
| Posted by: john frum 2007-12-30 17:16 |
| #3 This seems to have flared up in September... Communal trouble brewing up in Kandhmal district Tense situation prevails as Kui tribals and Pana harijans are on collision course Pana harijans want to be identified as Kui tribals Kui tribals warn government of violent clashes |
| Posted by: john frum 2007-12-30 17:02 |
| #2 The issue here is the politicians stirring up the locals by using the Christians as a target for all the pent up anger. It keeps the locals from looking at (and running off) the politicians who are living well while screwing the people and their area with socialist policies. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-12-30 10:59 |
| #1 Shame on you Hindus. Foolish cow worshipping multithiests. Knock this off. |
| Posted by: newc 2007-12-30 00:32 |