The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Shocking

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Wednesday, Aug 27, 2008
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Shocking

The burning alive of a woman in an orphanage and attacks on many churches in Orissa are most shocking. This is not the first time that the religious minorities are bearing the brunt of the Hindu fundamentalists’ ire for no fault of theirs. The violence in the State reminds us of the tragic episode in which Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were killed in the Manoharpur village of Keonjhar district in 1999. What do Christians have to do with the killing of a VHP leader by Maoists?

Thangkhochon Haokip,

New Delhi

The VHP and the Bajrang Dal seem to wait for some flimsy reason to attack Christians and their establishments. All reports point to the fact that VHP leader Swami Lakshmanananda and four others were killed by suspected Maoists. Why, then, are the saffron forces targeting Christians?

Are they angry with the service-minded, pro-poor workers who go to places where others do not? Is it because Christians, in general, do not retaliate to the atrocities perpetrated against them? Or is it because the perpetrators are sure they can escape the law?

K.K. Cherian,

Bangalore

The violence in Orissa exposes the destructive character of communalism. The attacks on the minorities and their institutions are unacceptable. Violence should be contained at the earliest. Religious leaders should rise above parochial considerations and come forward with a positive solution.

R.S. Sreeram,

Thiruvananthapuram

The VHP is at it again. Its activists scaled new heights of brutality on Monday by targeting an orphanage and churches in a mindless act of violence. Whatever the provocation, such dastardly action was uncalled for. The central issue is that the VHP and its ilk have defined themselves through the prism of whom they are against. If hatred is such a strong driving force, is there a difference between them and outfits like SIMI? The VHP should understand that it represents neither India nor Hindus. It only brings shame and suffering to Hindus and the country.

K. Anand

Bangalore

Burning a person alive is an act of cruelty that only dehumanised people are capable of. The country’s competitive strength lies not in unethical leaders but in those who know the difference between right and wrong.

K.G. Koru Kuttan Nair,

Palakkad

The barbarous and gruesome killing of two innocent persons during the bandh organised by VHP and Bajrang Dal activists is shocking. This lunatic fringe which is trying to push India into the dark ages should be stopped and the perpetrators of the horrendous acts punished immediately.

Jabez Pradeep Roy,

Chennai

Just as Nero blamed Christians for the Great Fire of Rome, VHP and Bajrang Dal activists torch churches for the killings perpetrated by Maoists. If left unchecked, these two groups will tinker with the very basis of secular democracy and pluralism.

V. Paul Rajaiah,

Tuticorin

The Orissa administration is but a spectator to the latest attacks on the minorities. The local units of the Bajrang Dal and the VHP should be banned at least temporarily.

The need of the hour is to save the country from the evil designs of the sangh parivar.

Col. Cyril D’Souza (retd.),

Goa

As one who has documented violence against Christians across India, I must say the atrocities by the VHP are a repeat of their 1998 agenda of communal cleansing of tribal Gujarat and Orissa. The barbarism and savagery flourishing even 10 years after the murder of Staines proves that the executive abides not by the Constitution but the pressure of communal forces on whose support it survives.

Ebe Sunder Raj,

Chennai

The Orissa government was sufficiently warned of an outbreak of communal violence in September 2006, with the publication of Communalism in Orissa — the Report of the Indian People’s Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights, headed by Justice K.K. Usha, former Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court. Democracy is at stake in a country where citizens live in the shadow of terror. Any form of religious communalism mars democracy and should be resisted tooth and nail, regardless of our political inclinations and affinities.

Fr. Adolf Washington,

Bangalore

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