A Plea for Orissa

The situation in Orissa, India is getting from bad to worse. The violence by groups linked to prominent Indian political parties, against the minorities especially Christians, have escalated since my earlier post on September 1, 2008. According to testimonials from someone I know in India, the appeals by church officials have so far gone unheeded. It's most commonly thought that the state and federal governments are both reluctant to act fearing voter backlash in the next elections.

The following You Tube videos shed some more light on the urgency of the situation in Orissa.

You Tube 1
You Tube 2
You Tube 3
You Tube 4
You Tube 5
You Tube 6
You Tube 7
You Tube 8
You Tube 9
You Tube 10
You Tube 11

Read here for more news and peace initiatives that have been attempted so far:

• ASSIST (ANS) news service report
• Behind the anti-Christian violence
  

What you can do:

Please write letters expressing your concern and request the authorities to:

• ensure protection of the lives and properties of the Christians in Orissa;
• provide immediate relief and adequate compensation to the victims;
• create a congenial atmosphere for peaceful civil coexistence; and
• bring perpetrators to justice in order to stop impunity.

Send letters to:

Madam Pratibha Patel, President of India

Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi , India ,

Fax: (91) 11-2301 7290 & (91) 11-2301 7824

E-mail: presidentofindia@rb.nic.in

Send Copies to:

1. Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minster of India

Prime Minster's Office, South Block

Raisina Hill, New Delhi 110 011, INDIA

Fax: (91) 11-2301 9545 / (91) 11-2301 6857

E-mail: manmohan@alpha.nic.in; pmosb@pmo.nic.in

2. Mr Naveen Patnaik

Chief Minister of Orissa

Bhubaneswar – 751001, Orissa , INDIA

Fax: (91) 674 253 5100

Email: cmo@ori.nic.in

3. Diplomatic representatives of India in your country.

4. Say a prayer for Orissa. Something like this: "We pray to you, Almighty God, that this senseless violence against all of your children, for whatever the reasons may be, cease. Give us, together with all people of goodwill both far and near, the grace to work to bring about peace to this disturbed land in whatever ways you are calling us to do. May we stop hurting one another in Your name. May we not continue to cause great harm to You by hurting Your own subjects. Help us to once again be one. Amen."