Dear Dr Manmohan Singh,
Gujarat 2002 is being repeated in Orissa right now. The minority under attack has changed from the Muslim to the Christian. The perpetrators remain the same. The Vishva Hindu Parishad and various other Sangh outfits.
Knowing their track record of violence from earlier in Orissa as well as in other parts of the country there is nothing which could not be foreseen. The kind of violence and mayhem which they have done in the past and which they are capable of organising is an open secret. Every Bandh call given by the VHP, RSS and the whole Sangh combine has always resulted in large scale violence any where in the country.
Every time a new excuse is created and used by the Sangh outfits as a reason to attack either the Muslims or the Christians. Sangh is a past master in creating enough reasons to attack the minorities is an established fact.
The Sangh is wreaking havoc in Orissa. Schools, orphanages, churches are being attacked, damaged, vandalised. Pastors and priests are being killed and nuns raped and set ablaze. Properties of hundreds of Christians have been burnt down, looted, vandalised. People are hiding in the forest and are witnessing their homes and businesses being burnt. Smoke is rising from all over.
We are witnessing on one hand total failure of the government machinery to control the violent Sangh outfits on the other hand we are witnessing the connivance to save the Sangh. Every past incident has seen the minorities being attacked by the Sangh and then all the cases being filed against the minorities. There is a conspiracy of silence by the government on how minorities are being hounded in India. Golwalker’s agenda of reducing the minorities to second class citizens in this country is in full swing and everyone is partnering in this agenda. Hundreds of innocent people are being picked up, tortured in the name of fighting terrorism.
I am writing to you with the request to intervene immediately, deploy enough central forces to stop the mayhem and violence in Orissa.
With regards
Shabnam Hashmi
Social Activist