‘PM assured safety for Orissa minorities’

Dimapur, September 5 (MExN): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is said to have assured safety and security for minorities in communal-violence hit Orissa and in the country where minorities are under threat from communal forces. This assurance was given to NPCC president KV Pusa, information received here said.
Singh’s assurance came when MLA K V Pusa, president of the Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee called on him last evening and apprised him of the prevailing situation in Khandhamal district where minorities are being persecuted by Hindu fundamentalists like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal. According to information received here the Prime Minister is said to have expressed concern for the Indian minorities, particularly those in  Orissa. The PM is said to have assured that all possible means would be explored to contain atrocities committed against minorities.
“Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has assured me to ensure safety and security of minorities in Orissa and rest of the country” the information quoted him saying. He said the prime minister was equally concerned with the situation in Orissa and that to contain such incidents, Dr. Singh had rushed Home Minister, Shivraj Patil to assess the situation.
Singh also condemned the Orissa violence. Pusa last evening requested intervention of the PMO so that no such outbreaks take place in any part of the country in future. Further, the information claims that the prime minister was also ‘very concerned’ with the ‘ongoing rampant corruption’ in Nagaland by the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN) government. “The Prime Minister is very much concern with the ongoing corruption in the state” Pusa said.

Prez urged to ‘protect the persecuted’

Dimapur, September 5 (MExN): The President of India is urged to promptly intervene and curb the persecution of minority Christians in Orissa by Hindu fundamentalists. The president is also urged to protect the persecuted. This appeal was made today by the Nagaland Christian Forum in a letter addressed to the President.
“The list of violence meted out on the Christians at Orissa is never-ending. We are deeply aggrieved to see our brothers and sisters in Orissa targeted, victimized and slaughtered for their ingenuousness (sic). Therefore, we appeal to the head of the Republic of the India and also the State Governments to take strong measures to curb violence caused by any group in the country. The psychological damage done to the Christian brothers and sisters in Orissa is very grave” stated the letter
The forum reminded that the murder of a VHP leader one Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati along with four other people in the Tumiliband region of Kandhamal district of Orissa on August 23 was by Maoists. The forum reminded the President of India that Maoist leader, one Azad, has already claimed responsibility for the killing.
“Swami Lakshmananda who was 84 years old is also believed to have orchestrated the Christmas 2007 riot against Christians in the Kandhamal district of Orissa which has left thousands of Christians homeless to this day. Whatever Swami Saraswati was, the Christians in Nagaland true to its belief and practice condemn the dishonorable act of murder of such a religious leader in Orissa and appeal for maintenance of harmony and peace” the Christian forum said.
Narrating the course of events, the NCF said, extremist Hindu wings in retaliation pointed fingers at the Christian community and has engaged in a series of attacks against Christians since the 24th.  “As violence and atrocities on Christians continue, situation is very serious and worsening day by day with violence being intensified. Fearing for their life many Christians including women and children, have fled to forests for refuge. They are deprived of food and other basic necessities of life. We are deeply pained to see our brothers and sisters in Orissa targeted for no fault of theirs. They have become victims of malicious campaign by certain unruly fundamentalists who take the law in their own hands.
We wish to also tell that in all these violence and atrocities, Christians have never retaliated against the Hindus” The NCF reminded. Wondering ‘why Hindus hate Christians’, the NCF reminded that the Christians have contributed not less than any other religious groups in the building of the country. “We are proud of what we have built together with other people. But we feel really sorry and betrayed that we are always looked upon as a despised lot of people” NCF said.
The NCF also reiterated that as a secular country, India’s constitution guarantees “right to freedom of Conscience and religion”. While people in Nagaland irrespective of religion, sex and race uphold the constitution dearly, NCF said, Christians in Orissa are barred of safety to live in the great Republic of India which boasts of its democratic and secularist Constitution. “We feel sorry that these Hindu extremists have made the Constitution of India a farce and mockery” NCF added.