ICC Note:

The families of Christians killed in the 2008 anti-Christian riots that swept across the Kandhamal District of India’s Odisha, then know as Orissa, State gathered together in February to remember their lost loved ones. Following the assassination of a radical Hindu leader by local Maoists, Christians in Kandhamal were scapegoated by the leaders followers. This led to widespread riots targeting Christians across the Kandhamal District. When the violence finally ended after three months, over 80 Christians were killed, 6,000 Christian homes were destroyed, 300 churches were demolished, and 56,000 people were displaced.  

3/1/2016 India (National Catholic Register) – Wives, husbands, brothers, sisters and children of the martyrs of the infamous Kandhamal persecution of 2008, irrespective of denomination, gathered together for the first time on Feb. 9.

The historic gathering was hosted by the Catholic Church at the renovated Divyajyoti Pastoral Center, ground zero of one of the worst arson attacks during weeks of unabated anti-Christian violence that began in late August 2008 in the remote Kandhamal district of eastern Orissa state.

The kin of more than 80 martyrs and others who lost their lives due to injuries from the orchestrated violence in 2008 were brought together by the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archdiocese.

“Violence is not the end. We need to draw inspiration from the martyrs’ faith. You, the loved ones of the martyrs, can keep it up,” said Father Ajaya Kumar Singh, director of the Church’s Odisha Forum for Social Action.

“This gathering of martyrs’ kin is a step forward in this regard,” added Father Singh.

Nearly 100 Christians embraced martyrdom in the violence that engulfed Kandhamal eight years ago, following the mysterious murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23, 2008.

While Church officials and Christian groups condemned the killing of the Hindu leader, Hindu fundamentalists blamed the murder as a “Christian conspiracy” and targeted Christians.

Thousands of Christians were pursued by the mob and fled into jungles to escape being trooped into Hindu temples for reconversion rituals whose purpose was to force them to recant their faith. During weeks of unabated mayhem, mobs led by Hindu fundamentalists plundered and torched 6,000 Christian houses and 300 churches, rendering more than 56,000 of the faithful refugees.

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