Three years after Hindu extremists in Orissa, India killed 100 Christians and forced 54,000 more to flee their homes, Christians "are discouraged and feel abandoned by the institutions: it is urgent that the judicial system, at the federal level, guarantees and protects the rights," Fr. Dibakar Parichha, priest and lawyer for the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, tells Fides News Agency in an article published today.
The Supreme Court of India has now responded to this problem, Fides reports. The Court, acting on an appeal to it from the Catholic Church in India, yesterday lodged a stinging rebuke against the government's feeble response to the anti-Christian rampage, citing its "dissatisfaction" with the pace and quality of justice offered to the victims of violence. The Court announced its intention to investigate failures in the program of reconstruction for the large number of homes and churches that were destroyed, as well as the insufficient efforts to return displaced persons to their homes, and the inadequate compensation offered to those who suffered damages. The government's National Commission for Human Rights is now required to update the Court within six months on steps taken to rectify the situation, Fides News Agency reports.
3,232 cases of violence were reported to the police, yet, three years on, only 828 cases have been officially registered, and only 327 of these have been brought to trial. Out of 749 people arrested, 639 have been acquitted, and only 19 trials for murder have led to convictions. 1,597 militants were "well identified" by authorities yet cleared, and thousands of known attackers have never even been contacted by police. "The government has failed miserably in all the rehabilitation activities," His Exc. Mgr. John Barwa, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, wrote in the appeal lodged with the Court by the Church. The Court, with yesterdays action, agrees. "[T]oo many culprits are on the loose, too many crimes, like murders and rapes, are still unpunished," Fr. Parica tells Fides. Today there is cause for hope that this will change.
The Supreme Court of India has now responded to this problem, Fides reports. The Court, acting on an appeal to it from the Catholic Church in India, yesterday lodged a stinging rebuke against the government's feeble response to the anti-Christian rampage, citing its "dissatisfaction" with the pace and quality of justice offered to the victims of violence. The Court announced its intention to investigate failures in the program of reconstruction for the large number of homes and churches that were destroyed, as well as the insufficient efforts to return displaced persons to their homes, and the inadequate compensation offered to those who suffered damages. The government's National Commission for Human Rights is now required to update the Court within six months on steps taken to rectify the situation, Fides News Agency reports.
3,232 cases of violence were reported to the police, yet, three years on, only 828 cases have been officially registered, and only 327 of these have been brought to trial. Out of 749 people arrested, 639 have been acquitted, and only 19 trials for murder have led to convictions. 1,597 militants were "well identified" by authorities yet cleared, and thousands of known attackers have never even been contacted by police. "The government has failed miserably in all the rehabilitation activities," His Exc. Mgr. John Barwa, Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, wrote in the appeal lodged with the Court by the Church. The Court, with yesterdays action, agrees. "[T]oo many culprits are on the loose, too many crimes, like murders and rapes, are still unpunished," Fr. Parica tells Fides. Today there is cause for hope that this will change.
Read the full Fides article at this link.
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| A Christian girl burned in the anti-Christian violence in Orissa, 2008. |
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