Indian Christians’ ‘catacomb experience’

ICC Note

One year ago, Christians in Orissa faced unprecedented violence from Hindu radicals. Please read this story to understand the challenges faced and the amazing faith demonstrated by the persecuted Christians.

08/27/2009 India (Spero News)-The attacks against and murder of poor Christians in Orissa last year provided a “catacomb experience” for the Indian Church , says Anto Akkara, who produced the first book on the anti-Christian violence in the eastern Indian state. The Catholic journalist and author recently launched an updated version of his book “Kandhamal: A blot on Indian secularism,” which he originally released in April.

In the following interview, Akkara, who also holds a law degree, speaks about the reasons for the violence and the lessons it holds for the Indian Church .

UCA News: What inspired you to write the book?

Christians marked the first anniversary of anti-Christian violence unleashed by Hindus in Orissa. Christians donated blood to recall the blood shed by martyrs.ANTO AKKARA: I went to Kandhamal last Christmas and visited some camps of the victims. The fear of further attacks forced people to live in camps.

The scenes of ill-clad Christians shivering in the winter cold, queuing up for food on Christmas night and sitting aimlessly before their plastic tents made me think of my role as a journalist.

I came across horrible stories about how people were hunted like mad dogs and their dear ones slaughtered before their eyes. Although most were poor and ill-educated, they were not fickle in their faith. Their stories inspired me.

Why do you write that Kandhamal is the “graveyard” of Indian secularism?

Kandhamal is a freehold land for the Sangh Parivar (the association of groups that want to make India a Hindu nation). Criminals who promote a “Hindu nation” ideology enjoy complete impunity. No law can book them, no one questions them. Kandhamal cannot be part of India , because no Indian laws are applied there. The government does not want to act, for political reasons.

The Kandhamal killings were deliberate — thought out and planned. Victims were given a deadline to change their religion. When the deadline passed … they were given a last chance to disown their faith. On refusal, the victims were tortured and killed sadistically. Some were chopped into pieces. This is different from mob violence. And yet, the law does not act.

In one case, a woman whose husband was murdered caught the murderer by the collar and asked the police to arrest him, but the state police said they could not arrest him because officially he was “untraceable.” Later, some federal paramilitary forces patrolling the area intervened and arrested the person.

Government officials in Kandhamal told me the state home ministry had clearly instructed them not to arrest anyone. There is an element of helplessness among some officials.

Some say even federal government action was inadequate to contain the violence.

The federal government didn’t do much. It only paid lip service. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the violence was a national shame. He also promised to give compensations to victims. They are giving that. He had promised a delegation of the World Council of Churches that the government would give money to rebuild churches destroyed, but nothing was done.

Did you face obstacles in collecting your data?

A question lingers in people’s mind: Why is there so much hatred for Christians?

The swami was an excellent leader. He knew the strength and weakness of Christians. There was a social issue, which he manipulated to advance his ideology.

A majority of people in the district are of the Kandho tribe. Dalit (formerly “untouchables” in the Indian caste system) groups account for some 10 percent, but among them the majority, say 90 percent, are Christians. Over the years dalit have become educationally and economically advanced, maybe because of the Church’s help. But in the process, rightly or wrongly, Christians came to be associated with dalit. This gave rise to social issues of class superiority.

The swami knew the problems and capitalized on them. He used hate propaganda and had his own schools and centers. He said directly in many of his speeches: “Attack Christians. They are our enemies.”

Why do you say Orissa gave the Indian Church a ‘catacomb experience’?

You should see the heroism of the poor people in defending their faith, even as far as laying down their lives. Take the case of Kumaro Kanhar. Fanatics attacked the 47-year-old man on Aug. 27, 2008, destroyed all his possessions and gave him a month to convert. Exactly on Sept. 28 they returned. Angry that he had not become a Hindu they set his house on fire and beat him up. He somehow reached Bhubaneswar (the state capital). “I’m ready to give up everything. But I will not give up my faith,” he told me.

There were several such cases.

A pastor’s widow told me how her husband was beheaded while he sat in a chair refusing to part with his Bible.

One woman, sitting alone in her tent in a refugee camp on Christmas night, told me that it was her best Christmas, because she could celebrate in “my heart” the birth of “the one born in the manger.”

How did it affect your faith?

I’m going to write another book on the real stories of those people’s faith. I would say this is the finest moment of Christianity.

How can the Church help these Christians?

The Church can do a lot of things. First, it has to put its own house in order. It should be more inclusive and not give an impression that it works only for an exclusive group. However, this is not the time for a postmortem of the Church; it is the time for fire fighting.