GCIC doubts 'peaceful' elections in Orissa

A leading Christian advocacy group in the country has raised doubts over the success of election in Orissa's riot-hit districts.

According to the Global Council of Indian Christians, several local Christians were coerced to vote for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been accused of instigating violence on the minority community.

GCIC President Sajan George said he received reports from villages like Gujapanga where the Hindu extremists repeatedly told the Christians to "Mark the lotus!" - symbol of the BJP.

"Extremists standing outside polling stations told Christians to vote for the 'lotus' if they wanted to avoid threats to their life." Although no incident was recorded, "these elections cannot be said to have been peaceful and calm," AsiaNews quoted him saying.

Fr Ajay Singh who heads Jan Vikas, a social organisation in the diocese of Bubhaneswar, said, he found trees uprooted in Kandhamal to block the road.

"In the villages of Kattingia and Lingagada, anyone who dared to vote got threats. In Nulungia where a tribal Christian was killed a few months ago, people told me that at least 40 Christians (who fled last year's violence) did not vote for fear of being beaten," he said.

"One must remember that thousands of affected people who are still living in Berhampur, Bhubaneswar, Jharsuguda, Maharastra, Gujurat had not exercised their franchise. I hope at least on this there is no dispute among the civil society organizations," he added.

Although the Election Commission claims to have issued duplicate voter ID's to all riot victims, some alleged that they were ignored and disallowed from voting.

Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar agrees that although the election was "peaceful", scores of Christians could not vote due to threats. The results will show if the election process was affected by such threats or not, he said.