The editorial in the latest issue of People’s Democracy titled “Anti-Christian Violence: Centre Must Act” observes: “The orgy of violence against the minority Christian community continues unabated in Orissa and other places. Despite strong presence of police, armed gangs continue to raid Dalit Christian villages killing many more in the Kandhmahal district. Their houses continue to be torched and prayer halls vandalised. “The inhuman savagery unleashed by the RSS/ BJP tentacles, particularly the Bajrang Dal, has now come to light with the exposure of bestial crimes from August 24, 2008 onwards. The RSS and the Bajrang Dal have now threatened that only those Dalit Christians who convert to Hinduism can return to rebuild their destroyed homes in Kandhmahal. The allegation of forcible conversions has been the basis for launching these bestial attacks. It needs to be repeated once again that tribals all over India have their own animist religious practices. It is a patent travesty of facts to dub the tribals as belonging to the Hindu religion.”

The editorial concludes: “In Kandhmahal there were two major tribes — the Kandhas and the Dalit Pannas. Over the years sections of the former embraced Hinduism while sections of the latter embraced Christianity. It is the latter the RSS and its tentacles target in order to consolidate their Hindu vote bank. Unable to defend such atrocities unleashed by his parivar, Advani claimed that he has a soft corner for Christians as he studied in a missionary school in Karachi. In the same breath, he repeated his favourite pastime of calling for a national debate on religious conversions..”

... contd.