By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Christian organisations Wednesday filed a writ petition in the Orissa High Court seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the murder of a Hindu leader last week and subsequent communal violence in the state that has claimed at least 11 lives.
“We have filed a writ petition seeking direction from the court for a CBI inquiry into the heinous murder of Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati and his associates and subsequent violence,” Christian leader Swarupananda Patra told IANS.
The petition was filed on behalf of all Christian organisations of the state, he said.
“We have also urged the court to direct the government to re-build the churches, educational institutions, houses and other structures damaged during the violence,” said Patra, a leader of the Orissa Minority Forum and the All Orissa Baptist Churches Federation.
“The Christian community in Orissa is pained at the heinous murder of Swamiji and his four associates. While we condemn the murder, we are shocked by the escalating mindless violence against Christians,” he said.
Orissa has been on the boil since the killing of Saraswati, a member of the central advisory committee of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), and four others Saturday evening by suspected Maoist guerrillas at his Jalespata ashram in Kandhamal district.
On Monday, the VHP called for a statewide shutdown, which turned violent, claiming at least 11 lives, 10 of them in Kandhamal.