FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Carnage Continues in Orissa

ICC Receives First-Hand Reports of 150 Houses and 20 Churches Destroyed

Government Inaction Leads to Questions of Complicity

You are free to disseminate the following news. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address www.www.persecution.org. Contact Jeff King, 1-800-ICC (422)-5441, [email protected]

(August 26, 2008) The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.www.persecution.org has learned from sources within Orissa that anti-Christian violence continues with little to no response from the government. According to ICC sources inside Orissa, 150 houses and 20 churches have been destroyed while some groups are reporting as many as 300 houses and churches destroyed. ICC sources indicate that most places are without curfew in contradiction to the government’s claims

ICC has received numerous reports of carnage including the following: A 20-year-old woman attempted to stop Hindu extremists from attacking children in an orphanage and was thrown alive into a burning building. A priest was hospitalized with serious burn injuries resulting from this attack. A man suffering from paralysis was burned alive when Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) extremists torched his house. A young nun was gang raped by groups of Hindutva extremists. Buses and vehicles were touched. Mobs have surrounded villages to attack Christians. Pastors, priests, and nuns have been injured. Christians have fled to the jungle to save their lives. ICC sources indicate that the Orissa government is not responding and that Christians in Orissa have lost trust in Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

This onslaught began over the weekend when Hindu extremist groups accused Christians of murdering VHP leader Lakshmanananda Saraswati and four of his associates on August 23, even though a Maoist organization has reportedly claimed responsibility.

Jeff King, ICC’s president said, “the lack of government response is alarming to say the least. The national government of India must step up to the plate and get Orissa officials like Shri Naveen Patnaik to act. At this point, the lack of any serious response from Orissa officials looks to the entire world as complicity with the radical Hindus that are doing the actual damage. Orissa officials should be held accountable and the Biju Janata Dal-BJP coalition government should step down.”

All those concerned should contact the Orissa Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik and Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to ask for protection for those being attacked.

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ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.