By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The Orissa government will abide by the Supreme Court’s directions to impart a healing touch to the people affected by communal violence in Kandhamal district, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said here Wednesday.
“We will abide by the Supreme Court’s decision,” Patnaik told reporters.
Earlier in the day, the apex court rejected Cuttack Archbishop Raphael Cheenath’s plea for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape of a nun in Kandhamal district but asked the state government to “take a generous view of the matter” and “take steps towards rebuilding” damaged churches.
It also asked the state to initiate dialogue between the opposing communities in order to ensure their peaceful existence in the state and set up fast-track courts to decide the cases of communal violence.
Kandhamal district has seen large-scale communal violence, mostly attacks on Christians and their places of worship, after the Aug 23 killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda and four of his aides.
Though Maoist rebels have claimed responsibility for the killings, radical Hindu groups hold Christians responsible for the crime.
At least 36 people have died in the violence that has left more than 20,000 people homeless.