Cady Barrett
27 August 2008
Religious Conflicts
On August 23th, 2008, Swamiji Laxmanananda Saraswat, the World Hindu Council leader, was killed. While in his ashram, 30 men with AK-47’s attacked and killed Saraswat and 5 others in his presence. The attack was assumed to be done by local Christians in response to last Decembers attack on Christian homes. After the death of Saraswat, Hindu extremists took to burning large amounts of Christian homes and killing innocent people. The violence has forced Christians in hiding and in relief camps. With the death of an influential leader the violence can only get worse.
Saraswat was against religious conversion, which many think is the reason for his death. This takes another odd turn with the leader of Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party talking to the Press Trust of India and saying that “those who oppose his anti-conversion had killed him”. His speech goes on to say that the Christians killed him for that sole reason.
Since the death of Saraswat, the tension and violence between Christians and Hindus has only gotten worse. Two people have been burned alive and numerous buildings torched or destroyed. With the violence raging, all schools and colleges have been closed for the safety of all that reside in the Kandhamal. The population of Kandhamal is 600,000, which includes 150,000 Christians.
When I first came across this article, I was stunned. How could something so terrible be happening and no one knowing much about it at all? How come I can’t find this on the front page of the New York Times, or even of my local paper?
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religiontoday/11580889/
This was interesting to me becuase I didn't know too much about the tensions between Hindus and Christians in India, becuase I mostly here about conflicts between Hindus and Muslims. I agree with your last commment. It seems like our news leaves out a lot of important information from around the world or doesn't give it much attention compared to Paris Hilton or other equally dumb things.
ReplyDeleteI just wish that I could trust what I'm hearing from the media. This article came from a Christian resource site, so can I be sure they are being unbiased in their reporting?
ReplyDeleteAmerica loves entertaining news, and people dying isn't too entertaining. It's a sad day when we want to know if Angelina Jolie's twins are healthy and not if the people of India are safe to walk out their front door.