Blast near Orissa relief camp kills one, injures four

Published Date: September 30, 2009

Blast near Orissa relief camp kills one, injures four thumbnail

At least one person was killed and four injured on Sept. 27 when a bomb exploded near a camp that houses Christian victims of last year’s riots in Orissa state.

Church people in the state capital, Bhubaneswar, said they suspected Hindu extremists were behind the blast and that it was designed to destabilize the Christian community that had begun to recover from their trauma, UCA News reports.

The explosion happened just outside the Nandamaha refugee camp in Kandhamal district. The camp, situated in a forest, is home to 21 families, comprising about 100 Christians from violence-affected Betticola parish in Kandhamal district.

There were few details available about the deceased who did not live in the camp. The four injured are Christians, however.

Police detained for questioning the four Christians who reported the blast, Church sources said.

Those living in the camp are unable to return to their homes as Hindu extremists have threatened to kill them if they return without converting to Hinduism.

The state administration had offered them alternative land inside the forest to re-settle.

The Christians in the camp, including Catholics and Protestants, were busy clearing up the forest and building homes for each family, Church people said.

Sources in Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese, which covers Kandhamal district, said they suspect the extremists do not want to see Christians “live in peace” even inside the forest.

A Church source said the Christians were just beginning to settle down a year after the violence.

Police in G. Udayagiri town, which covers the area, have reportedly begun an investigation. Church sources said police have recovered guns near the camp.

As Hindu extremists continue to force the displaced to convert to Hinduism, hundreds of people have either left the state or moved to other districts in Orissa.

Betticola parish had witnessed tension for several years before last year’s violence and was severely affected in last year’s flare-up.

SOURCE

Blast near Orissa relief camp kills one, injures four (UCA News)

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