Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Cuttack (Agenzia Fides) - Justice for Christians in Orissa affected by violence is still far off, despite faint steps forward. The Supreme Court has officially asked the National Commission for Human Rights to submit within six months a new report on the situation and on the reintegration of refugees in Orissa, specifically in the Kandhamal district, the theater in 2008 of anti-Christian violence and ransacking. The order of the Court follows an appeal presented by the Catholic Church in Orissa which reported many gaps, the violation of the rights of Christian citizens, inadequate compensation granted to those who suffered the loss of homes and properties.
The Supreme Court said it is "dissatisfied" with the local government's response, stating that it intends to further investigate alleged failures regarding the programs of reconstruction and rehabilitation of displaced persons, reviewing the matter in six months time. The Court also censured the government of Orissa due to the delays in paying compensation to the victims.
"The government has failed miserably in all the rehabilitation activities", says the appeal signed by His Exc. Mgr. John Barwa, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, asking for a new independent investigation and the Supreme Court to quantify damages suffered by Christians. The Church's action cites, among other things, 230 damaged or demolished churches and chapels.
The wave of violence caused 100 deaths and struck 54 thousand people in 415 villages, who were forced to flee and to evacuate. According to data given to Fides by the local Church, there were at least 6,000 cases of houses burned and destroyed. Out of 3,232 cases of violence reported to the police, 828 have officially been registered. Of these 828 cases, only 327 ended with a court case against 749 people arrested. The lower courts have already acquitted 639 and only 19 trials for murder ended in a conviction. 1,597 militants were well identified and then cleared, and thousands of other attackers have not even been contacted by the police.
In an interview with Fides, Fr. Dibakar Parichha, priest and lawyer for the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar who is directly following the trials, notes that the response of the government and the courts against the Christian community in Orissa, affected by the massacres of 2008, is "too weak: too many culprits are on the loose, too many crimes, like murders and rapes, are still unpunished". The Christians, he says, "are discouraged and feel abandoned by the institutions: it is urgent that the judicial system, at the federal level, guarantees and protects the rights". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 31/08/2011)
