Orissa: Hindu temple being built atop rubble of Batticola church
ICC Note: Hindu extremists are now capitalizing on the government's lack of action to prosecute violence against Christians.
by Nirmala Carvalho
02/06/09 New Delhi, India (AsiaNews) - The foundations have been laid for a Hindu temple on the rubble of the church in Batticola, in the district of Kandhamal (Orissa). And the Christians returning to their villages are being pressured to convert to Hinduism. This information comes to AsiaNews from Sajan George, president of the Global Council of Indian Christians, who has received eyewitness testimonies from the northwestern state.
The church in Batticola was rased to the ground and burned last August, at the beginning of the violence against Christians. Now, a foundation about one meter high has been laid in order to build a Hindu temple there. "On Feb 2nd around 12 noon, about 17 people, mostly men, left the G. Udaygiri relief camp to check on conditions at the Dokewadi hamlet in Jhimangia village before returning there. These Christians were surrounded by the Hindu villagers and given a dire warning: if they wanted to come back to the village, they had to convert to Hinduism."
Batticola is one of the primary targets of the anti-Christian campaign... [Go To Full Story]
