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Three more believers were martyred and twelve others were severely wounded in a fresh wave of violence in Orissa, India, on September 30. The latest attacks occurred in villages near Kandhamal, which has been the epicenter of violence against Christians since August 22. –

Christian Newswire reports The violence in Orissa came as attacks in two other Indian states
targeted a Christian pastor and a GFA-related center for children.

A Gospel for Asia correspondent in Orissa said Tuesday’s attacks came
at 4:30 a.m. when mobs of as many as 5,000 Hindu extremists attacked
three separate villages. The extremists burned down about 150 homes and
three churches. The Indian media reports that police opened fire in an
attempt to disperse the violent forces.

The mob also reportedly attacked the local police station, demanding
that two people arrested in connection with the ongoing riots be
released.

CNA reports Another Christian woman was killed and 300 more houses were burned down
in anti-Christian violence in the India state of Orissa on Wednesday.
Her death brings to 60 the number of Christians who have been killed by
Hindu extremists since August 23, with 18,000 people injured and over
50,000 people having fled their homes.

Reuters reports Authorities imposed a curfew in several towns in eastern India on
Wednesday after fresh attacks by Hindus on Christians as clashes over
religious conversions spread, officials said.

Hindu crowds set
fire to houses in two largely Christian villages on Tuesday in the
district of Kandhamal in the state of Orissa on Tuesday, killing one
person. One church was also burnt. “We have now re-clamped day and
night curfew in at least nine towns,” district superintendent of police
S. Praveen Kumar told Reuters. Ten people have been arrested.

The Earth Times reports Hindu rioters defied a curfew and torched Christian homes and a church
in renewed violence against the community in India’s eastern state of
Orissa even as the police arrested 40 people on charges of arson, news
reports said Thursday. At least 30 houses and a church were set afire
in a village near Phulbani, the main city of the central Kandhamal
district on Wednesday, the NDTV network reported.

AFP reports Amnesty International has urged India to act on its words and end
what it said were ongoing attacks by hardline Hindu nationalists
against the country’s minority Christian community.

In a
statement late Wednesday, Amnesty also urged New Delhi to “conduct a
prompt and impartial investigation into the attacks… publish the
results and bring those responsible to justice.”

Reuters further reports Pope Benedict has condemned the attacks and Roman Catholic bishops have
urged the European Union to treat persecution of Christians as a
humanitarian emergency.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
repeatedly questioned about the violence while on a trip to France,
called the attacks a “national shame” and asked the Orissa state
government, run by a Hindu-nationalist coalition, to ensure law and
order.

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