By Matters India Reporter
Bhubaneswar – The ongoing prayer campaign for the release of seven Christians of Kandhamal languishing in jail for nine years has been launched in Odia language with a series of programs in Odisha, Eastern India.
“Anto Akkara, a journalist with international acclaim, is our friend who has been visiting Kandhamal district repeatedly and speaking up for us with his books. We are happy that now he has brought out the Prayer Campaign in Odia. We wish him all the best in this endeavour for justice,” said Divine Word Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack Bhubaneswar that comprises Kandhamal.
The prayer campaign has been initiated by Akkara who has been publicizing the plight of the seven innocent Christians with the prayer and an online signature campaign
www.release7innocents.com based on the facts brought by the investigative book ‘Who Killed Swami Laxmanananda?’
Archbishop Barwa, head of the Catholic church, made this remark while introducing the senior journalist and author to a meeting on December 11 attended by all the six Catholic bishops of Odisha and seminarians at regional spirituality centre at Padanpur, near Bhubaneswar.
“Seven innocents of Kandhamal are living martyrs of the faith. I urge all of you recite this prayer every day and share it with others. Nobody can stop you from praying. Since the prayer was launched at Kochi, Kerala, South India, on October 15, it has been spreading like wildfire. It is already in English, Malayalam, Nepali and Hindi,” Akkara urged.
“I have come our safely from Kandhamal after my silver jubilee – 25th trip – there last night,” pointed out the author before handing over the prayer card in Odia to Archbishop Barwa.
Earlier on December 10, the prayer was launched at the largest Catholic church at Raikia, in the heart of Kandhamal, with excited Catholics reciting the prayer in unison with the illiterate wives of the seven Christians languishing in jail.
This was followed by the launch of the prayer at packed Baptist service in Raikia with the wives of the innocent convicts being the cynosure of attention.
Sushanto Nayak, head of the Baptist Church in Kandhamal ‘thanked’ Akkara for documenting with evidence the travesty of justice and highlighting the plight of the innocent Christians in jail with his book, online signature and prayer campaign.
The seven Christians from remote Kandhamal district in Odisha have been languishing in jail following the mysterious murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008. These innocent Christians – six of them illiterates – were convicted in 2013 for the murder touted as a Christian conspiracy.
Following the Hindu leader’s murder, nearly 100 Christians had been killed and 300 churches and 6,000 Christian houses plundered and torched in unabated violence that continued for weeks, rendering 56,000 Christians homeless. Hindu masses – most of them illiterates – had been incited to take revenge on the Christians after the slain Swami’s body was paraded across Kandhamal for two days along zigzag routes. Thousands could not return to their villages even after months as they were asked to forsake their faith.
A third judge of the trial court – after two judges had been transferred – sentenced the accused Christians to life imprisonment on the basis of a fabricated Christian conspiracy theory despite hardly any credible evidence brought before the court. In mid-2015, two top police officials – who had relied upon the same conspiracy theory to ensure the conviction of the accused – have testified before the Kandhamal judicial Inquiry commission that the allegations were false. These facts have been documented in the book ‘Who Killed Swami Laxmanananda?’
As a fruit of the prayer, Akkara pointed out that since the prayer campaign was launched on October 15, the appeal of the innocents – Bhaskar Sunamajhi, Bijay Sanseth, Buddhadev Nayak, Durjo Sunamajhi, Gornath Chalanseth, Munda Badamajhi and Sanatan Badamajhi – has been taken up for hearing in the Odisha High Court, Cuttack.
While praying for the innocents, Akkara said that every Christian “must raise voice for the voiceless innocents in jail” and urged all those who have personal email ids to sign the online petition for their release at www.release7innocents.com. Each online signature, he said, generates three instant e-mails messages to the Chief Justice of India, President of India and Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission of India demanding the release of the innocent convicts.
Earlier the Odia Prayer was launched on December 10 at Udaigiri (in Kandhamal) by the Church of North Bishop Bijay Kumar Nayak of Phulbani. On December 7, the prayer was launched first in Odia at St Aquinas College (major seminary) at Gopalpur – 160 kms south of Bhubaneswar – where over 100 seminarians, nuns and priests attended the Kandhamal presentation by the journalist-author who has been crisscrossing the county with the campaign.
On 19th November, the campaign had been endorsed by Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, at the Catholic Council of India national assembly, in Bangalore after similar launches in Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Bhopal and New Delhi.
After a powerful presentation by the author at the conference and launch of the prayer, Cardinal Cleemis also hailed the ‘remarkable’ dedication shown by the journalist author “for the release of the innocents and revealing the stories of those struggling to keep their faith alive. Anto is doing his duty on our behalf and for us.”