Our Only Fault Is That We Worship Jesus Christ

In what some are calling genocide, dozens of Christians were killed in a series of attacks in India. Now thousands have fled their homes in fear of more violence. Carlos Amezcua has more in this video report:

Attacks on Christians in India Continue, Thousands Flee

'Our Only Fault is that we Worship Jesus Christ'

Hindustan Times reports: It was an arduous journey for widow Sumitra Diggal (67), a widow from Gadragaon village - nearly 240 km from Bhubaneswar- to reach a Bhubaneswar relief camp. She had to spend three nights in jungles. "We could never imagine that we would face such a terrible tragedy Nothing is more tragic in life than being forced to leave one's own village and home."

Indranath Naik, a 53-year-old pastor of the Udaygiri Baptist Church Union, is staying in a tiny tin-roofed house in a Bhubaneswar slum. His house was completely gutted during the riots. He was in the jungles for 10 days before going to a local relief camp. But later, he decided to come to Bhubaneswar "The fare was Rs 130 and I had only Rs 60 with me. The bus conductor after listening to me, waived the rest," he said.

Tears Unstopping in Orissa

Times of India Reports: Salmina Digal, now a homeless woman and whose son Ajit has been missing since clashes broke out on August 24, is living in the memories of good old days, remembering those days in tears. Like Salmina there are thousands who have lost everything, and have long stories to tell about their ordeal. They recount tragic tales of separation — mother from child, husband from wife, brother from sister, friend from friend. After 40 nights of nightmare their lives continue to face the horrors. "I knew things would go wrong," Salmina said, pain, anger and helplessness etched on her face. In Kui, her tribal language, she said, "Even my daughter-in-law is missing. I hid in the forests but others in the family went back. They wanted to check if our house was fine. I am told they are not there in the camps at Kandhmal. Can someone find them for me? My husband died a few years ago and I am all alone. What will I do?"

In Bhubaneswar, Archbishop Raphael Cheenath said things may have changed for Orissa's Christian community forever. "There was systematic, thorough cleansing."

The stories are unending, each more heart-wrenching than the other.

Naranjan Pradhan, a 33-year-old from Raikia is still looking for his brother. "On the morning of August 24, we heard on the radio that Swamiji had been killed. But before we could make plans of escape, we were caught, beaten, murdered and hounded out. Riots broke out in Raikia the next day. Soon, roads were blocked and vehicular movement cut off to trap us all inside. They burnt my house. My wife, two sons and two daughters are at one relief camp and I am at another. It's been so many days I haven't seen them. I especially miss my eight-year-old twins so much."

One family, which didn't want to be named, said they had to leave their old mother in the jungles as they walked through rain and darkness for 60 hours to get out of Kandhmal.

"We had no choice," the son said, tears pouring. "I could either save my wife and two kids or stay with her and ask for death for all of us. But I am sure God has saved her, though I have no idea where she is."

Minority panel favours ban on Bajrang Dal

New Delhi: PTI reports: Taking a serious note of the role of Bajrang Dal in the series of attacks on churches in the BJP-ruled Karnataka, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has suggested a ban on such organisations "responsible for breakdown of communal harmony".

The Commission in its report submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a few days back said, "The state must keep a close watch on the activities of all such organisations that have contributed to the breakdown of communal harmony there. Remedial action, including a ban and prosecution should be initiated. Communal harmony should be maintained at all costs."

The report said the district magistrate and the SSP of Udupi district told NCM that all 17 persons arrested in the district for violence belong to Bajrang Dal. The NCM team also took up the matter of the Bajrang Dal state chief Mahendra Kumar who reportedly issued statements claiming that he damaged the prayer halls in Karnataka.

First They Came

"First they came…" is a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group. Niemöller said he was not quite sure when he had said the famous words but, if people insist upon citing them, he preferred this version:

In Germany

"In Germany, they came first for the Communists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist;

And then they came for the trade unionists, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist;

And then they came for the Jews, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew;

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

In India

They came first for the Pentecostal , And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Pentecostal;

And then they came for the Catholic, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Catholic;

And then they came for the Evangelical, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Evangelical ;

And then they came for the Ecumenical, And I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t an Ecumenical,

And then . . . they came for me . . . And by that time there was no one left to speak up."

Rev. Dr. Richard Howell
General Secretary
Evangelical Fellowship of India
New Delhi, India

Evangelical Fellowship of India (established 1951) is a charter member of World Evangelical