Nirmala Carvalho

Nine months after the first attacks in Kandhamal district, a court issues a first conviction for one of the people who instigated the violence. Father Chellan, who was among the victims of Hindu fanaticism, wants the authorities to provide witnesses with full protection because they are still under constant threat.

Each year the United Nations recall the firm and total condemnation of torture and all inhuman treatment. Tibetans in China point out that these practices are still widespread and call on Beijing and the world to intervene.

The Interior Minister has visited refugee camps in Kandhamal and assured the government's commitment to a return to normal. Christians complain of threats, lack of compensation and continuing violations of religious freedom. Even today, the perpetrators of violence go unpunished circulating in the villages.

Tibetan groups slam indiscriminate Chinese mining. The development of Tibet’s mineral riches is undermining its fragile environment and polluting water sources on which 47 per cent of humanity depends.

It is the third person recognized by the religious sister, among the first victims of the anti-Christian pogrom last August. Fr. Chellan who accompanied the nun to Choudwar prison in Cuttack, says: "The change in the political situation seems to have had a positive impact on how investigations are conducted."

Witnesses are being intimidated in order to force them not to testify against Manoj Pradhan, who has been charged in seven murder cases. In the village of Neelungia, Christians are told to pay 4,000 rupees if they want to get back to their homes, whilst Hindus demand they withdraw accusations against those who carried out the pogrom.

There is still no precise data on the number of people living in the centres. Colombo media do not speak of the plight of the internally displaced persons. An operator allowed into the Chettikulam camp states: “The Colombo government is only concerned with one thing: finding remaining members of the LTTE and killing them”.

The vice-president of the National Commission for minorities visits the refugee camps in Khandhamal and asks for paramilitary forces to be deployed until full normalcy is restored in the area. Church reconstruction is also slow.

Over 100 thousand homeless. Almost 7 thousand the number of people directly affected. Fr. Jothi, a Jesuit priest involved in aid relief: A part from immediate aid we need to intervene straight away to restore farmland.

The President of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue led a Catholic delegation in a meeting with 12 Hindu leaders. Card. Gracias and swami Sankaracharya underline the importance of charity and education to foster mutual under standing and benefit the common good.

In 1959 Catholics took to the streets of the Indian state to protest against the Communist government. Clashes caused the death of 15 people and more than 170,000 arrests. The confrontation was sparked by a state law that would have effectively taken over Catholic education facilities. Fifty years on the memory remains alive since the underlying causes have not been resolved.

Only the Church “treats us like a family, without discrimination of any kind,” says Mgr Marampudi Joji. He leads a delegation from the Andhra Pradesh Federation of Churches to meet Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy. He calls on the authorities to defend religious freedom and the right to convert; he wants Christian Dalits to enjoy the same rights as other Dalits, whether Hindus, Buddhists or Sikhs.