There are currently 50,000 Christians hiding in the jungles in the state of Orissa, India, because Hindu mobs are systematically killing, raping, burning, and destroying Christians and their property throughout this rural state.

Jubilee Campaign has drafted a letter to the Indian government to take immediate steps to stop the violence against Christian and other religious communities in the state of Orissa. The recent attacks are the second outbreak of religious violence in Orissa since December and call for the government to implement preventative measures for these attacks.

So far the hard line extremist Vishwa Hindu Parishad group has claimed potentially 100 lives, put 10,000 in displacement camps, and sent 50,000 into hiding in the forests in less than 2 weeks. Gospel for Asia reported yesterday that the Indian Supreme Court ordered four additional federal police battalions to be deployed to the Kandhamal district specifically to protect Christians in the worst-affected area.

On August 23, one of the leaders of a large and influential radical Hindu group was assassinated by Communist (Maoist) guerillas. This man was said to be responsible for a devastating series of attacks on Orissa Christians over the 2007 Christmas holiday, less than one year ago. Even though a Maoist group claimed responsibility for the assassination, the Hindus blamed the Christians.

Starting on August 24, radical Hindus began a systematic campaign to take revenge on the innocent Christian community. Hindu extremists have burned 300 villages where Christians were a majority and destroyed more than 4,000 houses. In addition, they have demolished almost 100 churches. Here is a list of a few of their atrocities so far:Orissa map

1. Three persons were burnt after their houses were torched at midnight of August 25th 2008.
2. The Compassion East India office (an NGO) in Bhubaneswar was ransacked. At the same time, a man named Ramesh Digal was brutally cut into pieces.
3. Kandhamal district has already witnessed the death of 15 christians so far. Two in Mutungia village, 1 in Petaponga village, 1 in Borimunda village, 3 in Katinga village, 3 in Tianga village, 3 in Adikuppa village and 1 in Bakingia village were hacked to death by the rampaging Hindu mob.
4. Hindu extremists burned one nun alive in the district of Bargarh, and raped another from Bubaneshwar's Social Centre.

See here for the latest updates.

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