After violence in August 2008, at least 60 Christians have been murdered – some say up to 500; 18,000 injured; 4,500 houses and churches destroyed; more than 50,000 forced out of their homes, with an estimated 15,000 remaining in refugee camps.

Compass Direct reported that conditions at the camps were poor and the state administration forced some people to leave relief camps even though they had no homes to return to. Representatives of the Kandhamal Christian Jankalyan Samaj (KCJS) said that threats continued from Hindu nationalists demanding that Christians who returned home had to 're-convert' to Hinduism.

Laxmanananda Saraswati started a Hindu religious centre in Orissa in 1969, dedicated to countering the work of Christian missionaries. With the advance of Hindu extremism over recent years, Orissa has seen increasing levels of communal tension and anti-Christian sentiment. In December 2007 Saraswati incited attacks on Christians, which killed at least four Christians and saw 730 houses and 95 churches burned.

So when Saraswati was ambushed and shot dead in August 2008, Hindu leaders were quick to point the finger at the Christian community, despite evidence that Maoist terrorists were responsible. In fact, as violence erupted against Christians a Maoist group claimed responsibility for the attack, accusing the Hindu extremists of deliberately misleading people about Saraswati's death.

A week after the violence began, police were claiming to be unable to reach many villages and the state government asked for additional central paramilitary forces to control the violence. As attacks continued with little or no police protection for victims, Christian leaders said many fearful believers had been forcibly 'reconverted' to Hinduism.

Dr. Sajan K. George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, said that Hindu extremist groups were 'reconverting' Christians by force. "We have collected evidence and given it to authorities," he said. "However, the police and other state government authorities are not doing anything."

Christians make up 2.4 per cent of Orissa's population, around one million people. Christian leaders are concerned about the rising death toll – though they also report that many Hindu people had hidden Christians as extremist mobs rampaged through villages.

In the light of the lack of an adequate and decisive response by the authorities to protect the Christian minority,Open Doors ran a campaign asking supporters to write to the Indian High Commissioner and their MP to voice concern. The campaign is no longer running but requested that the Indian government did its utmost to restore peace and stability in the region, to deploy sufficient forces to prevent further violence and to ensure compensation for the victims.

Sources:
Compass Direct News
Open Doors International