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Anti-Christian Groups Plan Orissa Shutdown On Christmas Day
BHUBANESWAR, Orissa, Nov. 19, 2008, 11.00 Hrs (SAR News):
Some religious groups in this strife-torn eastern Indian state November 15
announced 'Orissa Bundh' on Christmas Day, December 25, over the government's
failure to arrest the culprits involved in the murder of a Hindu seer. Swami
Laxmanananda Saraswati of the pro-Hindu outfit, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, was shot
dead at his ashram in Kandhamal district along with some of his aides August
last. Hindu groups, who have blamed the Christian missionaries for the murders,
are demanding that the Naveen Patnaik-led government arrest the culprits
forthwith, or face a broader agitation across the state.
The warning was issued at a massive rally held in the state capital
Bhubaneswar. About sixty-five thousand activists and leaders of different Hindu
organisations from across the country turned up for the meeting.
The 'Sradhanjali Samaroho' rally, organised by Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati
Smuti Samiti, was backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sangh Parivar
outfits like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal.
National vice-president of Bajrang Dal, Subash Chouhan, speaking at the rally
said: "Though two and a half months have already gone by since the killing of
the swamiji, the Orissa government is yet to nab those behind the crime. This
rally is to warn the government to act immediately and get the killers of
Laxmanananda. "
Other speakers too lashed out the Patnaik government, pointing out that the
administration had arrested innocent tribals in Kandhamal instead of hunting
down the killers of the VHP leader. They charged that the police were hand in
glove with the "murderers" of the Hindu leader.
Several leaders of the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party were also present at
the rally, though they did not share the dais with the religious leaders. The
BJP is a coalition partner in the Biju Janata Dal government in the state that
is headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Tight security arrangements were made for the rally with nearly fifty platoons
of armed police guarding the venue and the various sensitive locations in the
city.
The security cover was put in place after the Union Home ministry's warning to
the state government not to allow the programme as it may again create communal
tension in the state, which had recently witnessed large-scale violence in
Kandhamal. However, the state government went ahead and permitted the rally
saying it had taken sufficient measures to prevent any untoward incident.
Laxmanananda' s killing unleashed a reign of terror on the Christian community
in the tribal-dominated Kandhamal, claiming the lives of more than three scores
of people, including some Hindus. Churches, Christian institutions and prayer
halls and other places of worship were damaged in the violence
