Nagaland Catholic Women Association (NCWA) has submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Orissa expressing serious concern over the ongoing violence and persecution against Christians in Orissa.
The memorandum signed by NCWA president Celine Lea and general secretary Annie Kath, earnestly appealed the governor to treat the matter not just as a state or regional issue but as a national threat which called for immediate restoration of peace and harmony in the state and also adopting long- term measures at the national level to ensure security, justice and freedom for every citizen and every community in the country.
The NCWA said that the Nagaland Catholic Women Association is sending this letter to protest against the persecution of Christ in Orissa and learnt through the media, reports of pastors and priests beaten, Mother Teresa Brothers’ Ashram attacked and patients beaten, a nun molested, a woman burnt to death, a Christian orphanage housing 150 children burnt, 3 Christian shops looted and burnt, 20 churches destroyed, Archbishop’s house attacked, 50 homes burnt, 17 people killed, 5,000 Christians escaped to the forest seeking refuge, and 10,000 Christians put in relief camps, and so on. The scenario is that of a full- scale persecution. And it is terrifying.
However, the matter doesn’t end there. The events imply consequences far beyond destruction of property and life; they threaten the secular fabric of the country and the sacrosanctness of the constitution, which enshrines freedom of religion. And thus if the situation is not wisely handled with firmness, determination and vision, events such as these in which a section of people are deprived of justice and freedom their humanity is denied and this strikes at the very soul of nationhood.
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