Orissa, India, Feb 18, 2010 / 04:48 am
Churchmen and other leaders in India’s Orissa state have rejected a Hindu radical group’s claim that the Church perpetrated violence there. The local archbishop said the group spreads “baseless and misleading” information.
A series of violent anti-Christian actions broke out in Orissa in August 2008 after the killing of elderly Hindu leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati. Although Maoists claimed responsibility, Hindu radicals blamed Christians.
Thousands of Christians were injured in the violence and tens of thousands fled their homes out of fear.
Ashok Singhal, president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has said that Saraswati tried to stop conversions, charging that missionaries killed him with the help of the Maoists.