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Christians Face Hindus' Wrath
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The recent violence was triggered by the Aug. 23 killing in Orissa of a shadowy octogenarian figure known as Laxmanananda Saraswati, who had been linked with a Hindu radical group. He was actively trying to re-convert Christians to Hinduism. A letter left at the scene claimed that Maoist rebels had carried out the attack. Federal investigators agree that Maoists were to blame, but many Hindus blame Christians.
Subhash Chauhan, head of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu group with links to the BJP, said in Bhubaneswar that the violence was "spontaneous and a sincere reaction to people being lost from the Hindu fold to a conspiracy to take over our religion." Bhubaneswar is known as India's temple city for its stunning collection of 1,000-year-old carved-stone Hindu temples.
"The church uses cash to steal souls," Chauhan said. "It's destroying Hindu culture."
Outside the camp where the Nayak sisters were staying, more than 100 Hindu women marched past the front gates last week waving sticks. About a dozen police officers with rifles stood by watching. The women were demanding some of the rice and yellow lentils being doled out in the camp.
The camp seems barely able to manage as it is. It's so crowded that children sleep on the floor of outdoor latrines. Most people have nowhere to shower and no fresh clothing.
Hearing the chanting women march by, Shyamala wiped her nose with her unwashed sari. She started to cry, again. Her feet are swollen and bloody, her stomach heavy. And she has a recurring nightmare.
"I am falling and falling down a big ditch. I see my newborn baby below me," she said, weeping. "And it is dead."
