The last couple of days have seen carnage in Orissa, a state in India. Apparently it all started when a militant Hindu priest and four of his assistance were killed. The Hindu priest was known for his fierce proselytistic “reconversion” of people back to Hinduism. His murder was blamed on Christians and since then Hindus have been on a Christian killing spree in Orissa. It is said that it will continue for fourteen days – the mourning period for the priest’s death. Many Christian facilities such as churches, schools and clinics have been destroyed. Some were burned down with people inside. The killings are not denomination specific; both Catholics and Protestants face the same danger. According to a news report “…thousands of people have been rendered homeless, many churches attacked and at least 33 people killed in [Orissa].” There has been at least one case of a nun being raped. This in full view of police officers that just stood idly by -- they are most likely Hindus. How sad that people can only get police protection from violence, rape and murder if they share the religion of the police.
Probably the most distressing part about this whole thing is how uneventful it seems in the eyes of the media – especially the media of the West. It appears that a couple of religious murders somewhere in the obscurities of India is of little importance to the rest of the world.
Browsing the “World News” sections of some of the leading news agencies it is clear that news that doesn’t somehow affect the U.S. is not worth mentioning.
I find this troubling.
2 comments:
This is the first I've heard of it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this has been going on for quite some time. Maybe it needs to be "breaking news" to make it into the 'mainstream'
The Hindu priest was murdered August 23, and the Christian killings started shortly afterwards. According to an email I received the killings were to continue for 14 days, which is apparently traditionally the length of mourning. However it seems that the killings, violence and destruction of property have continued for most of September, with intensified clusters of days.
Since it never made headline news it is difficult to assess the real situation. The email I received gives somewhat of an insiders view. I will post it.
Post a Comment