ICC Note:

The Church in India has begun to collect data regarding Christians killed in the 2008 anti-Christian violence that swept across districts in India’s Odisha state. According to previous estimates, as many as 100 Christians were killed in the months of violence. Besides those murdered by the mobs of Hindu radicals, some 350 churches were burned, 6,500 Christians homes were destroyed, and over 56,000 people were displaced. Extreme violence was unleashed upon local Christian communities following the murder of a Hindu spiritual leader in Odisha. Christians were initially blamed for the murder despite local Maoist rebels claiming responsibility and were thus targeted with mass violence. What new evidence will this collection of data bring regarding the 2008 violence? 

1/13/2016 India (UCAN) – The church in India has begun assembling data for the canonization process for Christians killed years ago during anti-Christian violence in eastern India, Church officials said.

“The official process has not yet started. But we are working on it and hope to start it in a few months,” said Father Ajay Singh, secretary of the Odisha (formerly Orissa) state’s regional bishops’ Commission for Justice, Peace and Development.

The efforts are aimed at the Vatican declaring as martyrs those killed when Hindu extremists attacked Christians in the tribal-dominated Kandhamal district in Odisha state in 2007 and 2008.

The 2008 anti-Christian violence engulfed more than 600 villages and killed about 100 people, including disabled and elderly people, children and women. Some 350 churches and 6,500 houses were looted and burned down, making 56,000 people homeless. Several rapes were reported, including that of a Catholic nun.

The anti-Christian rioting was sparked by the gunning down in Aug. 23, 2008, of a Hindu spiritual leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, 85, and four of his associates. Hindu extremists blamed Christians for the murders even though Maoists at that time had claimed responsibility for the deaths. The killings unleashed a reign of terror the following day that lasted for four months. The state had also witnessed an earlier round of anti-Christian violence during Christmas 2007.

Documentation of the victims is “not an easy job” as most official documents were destroyed in the rioting, said Father Santhosh Digal, spokesman for the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archdiocese, which covers the area.

“However, we are collecting evidence and data on the victims” to help start the canonization process, he said.

Archbishop John Barwa told ucanews.com that the process will start “within few months” after consultation between India’s bishops, who are to meet in March for their biennial general conference.

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