Supreme court ruling reported inaccurate, says Archbishop Cheenath

The Supreme Court verdict on Orissa violence has been inaccurately reported by Indian media, says Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.

Expressing "deep disappointment" over the ruling of the highest judicial court in the country, Cheenath said, it failed to extend the police protection and has further given vague details on the compensation of victims.

"When I read through the court papers, I was terribly disappointed. What the newspapers had reported just wasn't there," Cheenath told ACN News on Monday.

According to the Archbishop, the court agreed to continue the central government-sponsored "rapid police protection" but scaled back its extent.

Furthermore, Cheenath rued that victims are forced to leave the refugee camps and some were even struggling to manage the basic amenities. Most of the government financial aid has been spent on basic provisions lost in the violence, he said.

"There is still great fear among the people, including the local administrators [government officials] who realize that it's still difficult and that the people should not be forced to leave the refugee camps and return to their villages," Archbishop Cheenath said.

The Supreme Court on January 5, while responding to a petition filed by Archbishop Cheenath, said the state government has failed in protecting Christians and it should 'Quit if you can't protect the minorities'.

"We will not accept the persecution of minority. If the state government is unable to protect them it should resign," Justice Katju observed and added, "We have to protect the minority".