Mattersindia Reporter
Phulbani, August 25, 2019: Various parishes of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar offered special prayers for the victims of Kandhamal pogrom on August 25.
“We had today prayer service and special prayers were offered for those who died in Kandhamal violence of 2008,” Father Udayanath Bishoyi, parish priest of Christ the King Parish, Phulbani, district headquarters of Kandhamal, told Mattersindia.com.
Every year Church in India observes on August 25 marking the anniversary of the anti-Christian violence in Kandhamal, a district in Odisha state.
This year it was 11th anniversary.
“It is not to forget about the sacrifice and faith of our simple faithful in Christ. They shall ever be inspiring every person to remain firm in loving faith to Jesus Christ in the face of persecution and trials of life on earth,” Bishoyi added.
“For faith life in Jesus has sown seed of love that continues to transform individuals and communities. The faith chronicle of Kandhamal Christians records it and visible as any anthropologist would make surveys or research. Every prayer in this moment calls for peace and reconciliation in the hills,” he said.
Violence against the Christians of Odisha erupted in Kandhamal district with untold savagery, with Hindu right-wing groups blaming Christians for the August 23, 2008, murder of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, despite Maoist rebels claiming the assassination.
More than 100 people were killed and at least 64,000 displaced.
According to local sources, although over 3,300 complaints were made to the police, only 727 cases went to trial in fast-track courts, where more than 88 percent of the accused were acquitted.