India is known for its pluralism and multi-ethnic harmony; but in an age of terrorism madness is like a cancer.
Raphael Cheenath is the Catholic Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, in India's troubled region of Orissa. Archbishop Cheenath and other bishops in the region are leading an effort to halt the persecution of Christians at the hands of Hindu extremists. The region is plagued with violence against Christians and with forced conversions, compelling Christians to “accept Hindu Samskaras under oath and under pain of divine punishment.” The area has also seen the burning and looting of Christian homes, churches, and institutions.
The bishops have rejected attempts to characterize these attacks as an ethnic conflict: “Hindu Fundamentalist groups have been trying to name the communal violence as an Ethnic Conflict between the Tribals and the Pano Christians. A cursory look at facts reveals that this conflict is a calculated and pre-planned master plan to wipe out Christianity from Kandhamal district, Orissa, in order to realize the hidden agenda of Sangh Parivar of establishing a Hindu Nation.”
The madness spreads.
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