Bomb Explosion in Indian Christian Relief Camp Killed One

:: christianpost :: One man was killed and three others got injured when a crude bomb exploded in a Christian refugee camp, that houses the victims of anti-Christian violence in Orissa a year ago.

The incident took place Sunday afternoon at a tent inside a transit camp at Nandarigi village, just outside Kandhamal, the district headquarters, the police official told Press Trust of India.

Bangalore-based Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) said a man allegedly belonging to Sangh Parivar, a Hindu extremist outfit entered the relief camp a few days earlier and threatened the Christians, demanding food and shelter.

Reports said the ground was soggy and wet due to the heavy rains and this man slipped and fell and the bombs exploded, killing one on the spot and injuring three others, Patrasen Mallick of Batikola village, one of the injured admitted to a nearby hospital is in a critical condition, according to Union News International.

According to GCIC, the officials claim that the incident was accidental, but the voice of the persecuted Christians has questioned such claims saying, “Why was this man was permitted to enter the camp in the first place and stay among the Kandhamal Christians and cause trouble to the camp and the traumatized the Christians?”

GCIC said the same guy was heavily intoxicated the previous night and “caught hold of two Christian boys and further threatened them.”

Police said they have also seized four guns packed in a sack and buried under the earth from the relief camp; prompting GCIC to ask, “Why did the security not apprehend this unknown person, who was armed with bombs and spreading fear among the Kandhamal Christians?”

The identity of the person killed in the explosion yesterday has not been ascertained so far, PTI report said. Those living in the camp are unable to return to their homes as Hindu extremists have threatened to kill them if they return without converting to Hinduism, according to Union of Catholic Asian News.

The anti-Christian violence broke out in Orissa after a Hindu fundamentalist - Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader, Laxmananda Saraswati, was murdered in August 2008. Hindus blamed Christians for killing Saraswati even though Maoist rebels had publicly claimed responsibility for the murder.

Following the swami’s death, Hindu mobs attacked Christians, burning their homes, shops, churches and orphanages. More than 30,000 Christians from Orissa were forced to take shelter in refugee camps under fear for further attacks.

About 4,500 Christian homes were burned and 180 churches destroyed. At least 60 Christians were killed, according to the Orissa government’s report, but church leaders in Orissa report higher figures and have accused the government of intentionally undercounting the number of deaths.

Christians were just beginning to settle down a year after the violence. However, they said, they suspect the extremists do not want to see Christians “live in peace” even inside the forest.

Police said further investigations are on after they made the arrests of three people. The Christian advocacy group has demanded the case to be investigated by an acclaimed Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It also asked the security for Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) living in the camp.