ASIA/INDIA-
New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - The government's response, courts and institutions, against the Christian community in Orissa, affected by the massacres of 2008, is still "too weak, similar to a farce." This is what Joseph Dias, head of the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), an ecumenical organization that defends the rights of believers of the Christian communities in India reports to Fides.
Two days ago a court in Orissa sentenced 13 people to five years in prison for their involvement in anti-Christian violence in 2008. The 13 were involved in the riots and burnings of the houses in the village of Sartaguda, but the people to be arrested and judged - the CSF tells Fides - should be thousands, "too many culprits are at large, many crimes such as murders and rapes , remain unpunished. "
The judicial data acquired by Fides are merciless: only one-twentieth of the Hindu radicals responsible for the attacks have been identified and interrogated; out of 3232 complaints from Christians, only 828 were considered and translated into FIR (First Information Report) The report states an official investigation and proceedings on behalf of the police. Out of 828 cases, only 327 ended up with a trial in court: 167 acquittals, 86 convictions imposed (very light punishment), 90 cases still pending. About 1,597 militants were identified and then cleared, and thousands of other attackers have not even been contacted by police.
Also today, denounces the CSF, "Christians are victims of constant harassment by Hindu extremist groups, because they do not testify in court, withdraw the charges, abandon the trials. Even judges and lawyers are under threat: all this leads one to think that there are trials full of anomalies and irregularities. "
Yesterday, in an interview with Fides (see Fides 05/19/2011), Bishop John Barwa Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar said that "Christians from Orissa feel abandoned by the institutions" and that the case of Orissa will be exemplary in order to test the actual operation of justice in India. " (PA) (Agenzia Fides 05/20/2011)
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