Terror in Orissa
Religiously motivated terrorism is constantly in today's headlines, and Islam has faced its share of scrutiny of late (see, for example, "Islam According to Gallup," page 38). This is not surprising, given that we are barely seven years removed from Osama bin Laden's attacks against the United States. Yet no faith has a corner on the terror market. Bloodshed darkens the ranks of every religion.
India, the world's second most populous country, has long been wracked by sectarian violence. In the six-plus decades since Indian independence, Hindu mobs have attacked Sikhs, Muslims, and other Hindus. In fact, a Hindu assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.
Christians, too, who constitute about 2.4 percent of India's 1.1 billion people, have long been easy targets for those who believe that to be Indian is to be Hindu. This summer, terrorists in Orissa launched a pogrom against the state's defenseless Christian scapegoats after Maoist rebels assassinated a prominent Hindu swami (see page 15). As local police looked the other way, dozens of Christians were murdered, hundreds of homes were destroyed, scores of churches were torched, and thousands of Christians fled to nearby forests for safety. Some faced this stark choice: Become a Hindu or be killed. The mayhem quickly spread to five more states. Pledging aid to the victims, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh—whose secular government did too little, too late—called the violence a "national shame." What an understatement that is.
An Attack Every Three Days
The real embarrassment to the world's largest democracy is not this incident. No, it is the fact that this flashpoint is not all that unusual for India. Orissa witnessed other attacks against
Christians just last Christmas. According to ...
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A Fractured and Beautiful Faith
Streaming This Weekend, May 24, 2013
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Comments
anonymous
The reminders of Christian love and service in India were a touching contrast to the physical and spiritual battles going on. They highlight the injustice of the persecution, and remind us that in this world we will have trouble, but Christ has overcome the world.
Mat
I hope it's not true, but could this be India's "Civil War" moment, wherein its democratic principles can no longer coexist with the systemic hatred of an oppressed underclass? If so, who is the Indian "Abraham Lincoln"? This bloodshed is tragic, though it may have the opportunity to show India its sins in much the same way Lincoln said America should see itself during his second inaugural address.
Gregory Chase
It is time India was called out on not even following their constitution. I have many friends and brothers in Christ being persecuted for their faith in that land. There should be an outcry in the world but there is less than a whimper for these brothers.