The archbishop leading the Church in India through one of the bloodiest episodes in its history has expressed “deep disappointment” following a Supreme Court ruling on the Orissa atrocities.
Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar said the documents, which detail the rulings of the Supreme Court of India investigating the 2007-8 attacks against Christmas, were “terribly disappointing.” Archbishop Cheenath described the rulings as “unspecific” and in marked contrast to Indian newspaper reports which claimed the Supreme Court had set out clear demands for improved security and compensation for the victims.
The court gave its rulings in response to a petition made by the Archbishop who argued for an increase and extension in high-level police protection and better compensation packages for Christians who lost homes in the anti-Christian violence of Christmas 2007 and the following August. Archbishop Cheenath reported that while agreeing to a continuation of central government-sponsored ‘rapid police protection,’ the court had ruled that it should be scaled back and had failed to give clear guidelines on compensation bids.
Speaking on Monday, Jan. 12th, from Bhubaneswar in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, the archbishop said, “When I read through the court papers, I was terribly disappointed. What the newspapers had reported just wasn’t there.” According to the bishop, the newspapers had mistaken the court’s rulings for arguments made during the hearing, outlining the Church’s case.
The bishop said the rulings will come as cold comfort for Christians in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district, which was targeted by the aggressors. He said people there were still too afraid to go home and were struggling to buy even the most basic of needs with the government compensation so far distributed. The archbishop was speaking a day after a risky weekend tour of Kandhamal, which until recently has been too unsafe for him to visit.
Archbishop Cheenath explained that families made homeless in the attacks had received 10,000 Rupees ($207) in Government aid for house-rebuilding, with the promise of another 40,000 ($826) to follow, but that people were spending all the money on basic provisions lost in the violence. He continued by saying, “There is still great fear among the people, including the local administrators [government officials] who realize that it’s still difficult and that the people should not be forced to leave the refugee camps and return to their villages.”
Determined to fight on, the archbishop said he was already beginning to draw up evidence to be submitted in a month’s time, underlining the grave security and financial needs of the people. He said fixed plans concerning the rebuilding of homes, churches and other buildings destroyed in the violence could not be expected until after the next round of elections expected in March.
Help to rebuild the Church in Orissa is a top priority for Aid to the Church in Need.
