RSSNEW DELHI (UCAN) — Hindus are trying to block a visiting European Union (EU) delegation from visiting the riot-hit Kandhamal district.
Catholics in Orissa are getting ready to meet the delegation during its Feb. 2-5 visit to the eastern Indian district, the center of a seven-week long anti-Christian violence in 2008, a Church official said.
But some Hindu groups have demanded the state government withdraw permission for “outsiders” to visit the riot-torn area, where Christian groups say normalcy is not yet restored.
Gouri Kumar Rath, the Orissa state secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP-world Hindu council), asked the state to revoke the permission.
“Outside elements have no business studying the situation in any part of the country. It is the responsibility of our government to deal with the problem,” Rath told media Jan. 31.
Church people reacted to it saying the protest was expected.
“These groups were part of the violence. How could we expect them to support moves for justice,” asked Father Dibya Parichha, spokesperson of the Cuttuck-Bhubaneshwar archdiocese, which covers Kandhamal.
He said Hindu groups are afraid that the visit will expose the “real situation” in Kandhamal. Hundreds of people are still homeless, living in fear of fanatic violence, he said. Many are afraid to speak out.
‘The state was incapable of protecting its people’
The Hindu groups are “trying to cover up their violent face. The riot showed that the state was incapable of protecting its people. What happened in Orissa was not an internal matter. It was a global issue of human right violation,” he said.
The priest said groups of Catholics are preparing to meet with the EU team but they do not have any official information on the itinerary or schedules of the delegation. The team is also expected to meet with Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttuck-Bhubaneshwar but no date is confirmed, he said on Feb. 1.
Father Parichha said the Church hopes the visit would put some “pressure on the state to expedite its action toward getting justice to the victims” such as providing them compensation, helping them rebuild homes and ensuring their safety and religious freedom.
The diplomats will also meet some state officials such as the home secretary, reports say.
The team had earlier canceled the trip when the state government refused to permit it to visit Kandhamal Jan. 27. It later backed down.
The team has reportedly been asked not to act as a fact-finding mission, which may mean not publish an official report of the meeting or speak to the media.
IE08686.1587 February 1, 2010 40 EM-lines (419 words)
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