60,000 Christians Take Refuge in Forests

Orissa Violence Forces 60,000 Christians to Take Refuge in Forests

UCA News has this story:

The violence has forced some 60,000 Christians to take refuge in forests, it said. Despite government assurances of protection, it added, the fundamentalists move about with weapons threatening Christians.

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Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, another delegation member, told UCA News on Aug. 28: "Christians hiding in the forest don't have anything to eat. Yesterday evening one priest called me and said they were hiding in the jungle for the past three days. The attackers are sparing no one."

The archbishop added: "This is a collapse of the total police force. Sometimes they (policemen) don't even have a lathi (baton) to defend themselves. The state administration is not doing anything to restore peace."