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German delegation visits Orissa

More needs to be done to help Christians in restive eastern state, parliamentarians say
German delegation visits Orissa
Published: August 15, 2011 09:30 AM GMT
Updated: August 15, 2011 09:30 AM GMT

A visiting parliamentary delegation from Germany has urged Orissa's chief minister Naveen Patnaik to take stock of the situation in the eastern state’s volatile Kandhamal district. “After visiting Kandhamal, we had a constructive discussion on security for Christians in his state. I also raised questions regarding reconstruction, the status of indigenous dalits and tribals, affirmative action for dalit Christians,” said Volker Kauder, chairman of the Christian Democrat Party’s parliamentary group. His nine-member team yesterday concluded a two-day tour of the state to monitor the situation of victims of anti-Christian violence in 2008. The sectarian violence that engulfed Kandhamal in December 2007 and August 2008 claimed more than 100 lives and destroyed 6,500 houses. They met people still in a rehabilitation camp in Nandagiri, and in several villages. “Christians still live in fear” is the impression we got after meeting some of the victims of communal violence, Kauder said. He said he also visited villages with newly-constructed homes funded by churches and the state government, but saw people still living in tents. Not all the destroyed homes have been rebuilt yet. Many Christians have been rendered jobless, he added. “The fact that some perpetrators of the violence are still at large is an obstacle to reconciliation and long-term stability. It is a matter of concern and will be discussed with the Indian authorities,” he said. The delegates also met with the wives of tribal men who have spent the last three years in jail accused of killing swami Laxmanand and Saraswati, whose deaths triggered the violence. Related reports: Hindu radical charged with rape of Orissa nunSix-year-old Orissa girl identifies dad’s killerFive sentenced to life for murder during Orissa violence

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