Christian and Hindu violence continues in India

Violence between Hindus and Christians erupted again today in eastern India.

Extremists burned down the house of a prominent Christian politician as gangs defied a curfew imposed after two days of attacks on Christians by Hindu hard-liners.

A mob of Hindus torched the house of Radhakant Nayak, a member of India’s upper house of parliament and a Christian leader in the area.

Earlier police said they had deployed hundreds of armed officers to the area, restoring calm after hard-line Hindus marred Christmas celebrations with attacks on Christian targets, ransacking and burning eight village churches in Orissa state, in a corner of the country with a history of violence against Christians. One person was killed.

But Mr Nayak said there was no sign of the officers. “The state government has been saying they have sent forces, but on the ground we are hearing there is no force. The situation is still tense,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the village of Brahmangaon, Christians burned down several Hindu homes in an apparent retaliation for the attack on churches.

Angry Hindus then burned down the village police station, complaining of a lack of protection.

Six village churches, most nothing more than mud-and-thatch houses, were burned on Christmas Day, and two more were attacked yesterday along with 10 houses belonging to Christians.

India is overwhelmingly Hindu but officially secular. Religious minorities, such as Christians, who account for 2.5 per cent of the country’s 1.1. billion people, and Muslims, who make up 14%, often coexist peacefully. Some have risen to the highest levels of government and business.

But throughout India’s history, both communities have faced repeated attacks from hard-line Hindus, with violence against Christians often directed at foreign missionaries and Hindu coverts to the religion.

Orissa has one of the worst histories of anti-Christian violence. An Australian missionary and his two sons, aged 8 and 10, were burned to death in their car in Orissa following a Bible study class in 1999.

Orissa is the only Indian state that has a law requiring people to obtain police permission before they change their religion. The law was intended to counter missionary work.