Relief camps set to shut down

As speculated, the curtain seems to have finally fallen on Christians in Orissa. The government has begun to shut down relief camps in Kandhamal district, where according to sources still over 5000 Christians seek shelter.

"From an initial strength of 25000, the number has come down to 4000. Of these 4000 we have taken 2500 people to transition relief camps near their respective villages. Currently only 1500 people are staying in block-level relief camps in Tikabali, K Nuagaon and Raikia," Kandhamal district collector Krishan Kumar told The Indian Express.

Eyeing the assembly elections in April, Kumar said, the administration has mooted a strategy to fleetingly shift thousands of people back to their villages.

Christian leaders however are unparalleled over the hasty decision of the government for which they have expressed 'fear'. National Council of Churches in India told Christian Today that victims in the state are reluctant to return to their villages, due to increasing 'religious segregation' and scurrilous threats demanding 're-conversion to Hinduism'.

"We want to ensure that whatever happened in August should not recur. My officials are persuading people in relief camps to go back to their homes. In some cases we have to hold 7-8 meetings to remove any apprehension in the their minds," Kumar said.

The Kandhamal collector explained the process of rehabilitation stating, the administration would primarily shift 2500 people of Mandasur, Mandakia and Tiangia to transition relief camps near their villages. This, he says, will help the people feel more comfortable "since these camps are situated closer to their homes."

"People staying there can go to their homes in the morning to perform daily chores and come back to the transition camp before evening. This would make them confident about returning to their old homes once again," he said.

Since the outbreak of violence in the state, Christians have severely suffered in the hands of religious as well as political activists. Over 5000 Christian homes were burnt during the violence following the murder of Laxmananda Saraswati on August 23, 2008.

The brutal violence by Hindu extremists forced thousands of Christians to flee to forests. At least 50,000 Christians took shelter in relief camps.

Achbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, confirmed with Christian Today that, thousands of victims have already left Orissa seeking asylum in other states. Few hundreds have settled down in Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.