By IANS
Bhubaneswar : A Christian community delegation led by the archbishop Thursday met Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and demanded adequate security to the community in the state after communal violence that left one dead and dozens injured.
The team led by Raphael Cheenath – the archbishop of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar – met Patnaik in the state secretariat and submitted a memorandum to him, a senior official of the chief minister’s office told IANS.
“Christians are not safe in Kandhamal. Anti-social elements are attacking Christians, burning churches, setting fire to the houses of Christians and raising slogans against them,” Cheenath reportedly told Patnaik.
The Christian representatives also demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to find out the forces behind the clashes.
The Christian leaders told the chief minister that at least 50 churches in the district of Kandhamal have been damaged over the past four days, the official said.
The latest trouble started Monday morning in the Christian-majority Brahmanigaon village, 150 km from Phulbani, over Christmas celebrations.
While the Christian community wanted to celebrate the day in a grand way, a section of Hindus opposed the plan. This led to clashes between the Hindu and Christian groups.
The tension escalated when some people attacked the vehicle of local Hindu leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati near Daringbadi when he was on his way to perform a yagna there. Saraswati and a person accompanying him were injured and their vehicle partially damaged. Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for a four-hour shutdown on Tuesday to protest the attack.
The trouble escalated with people burning dozen of churches, torching private and police vehicles and attacking houses of Christians. At least one person died and dozens were injured in the clashes.