BHUBANESHWAR, India: Indian police fatally shot two people in eastern India as they tried to disperse a mob attacking churches, bringing the death toll in recent violent Hindu-Christian clashes to at least 19, police said yesterday.
The clash occurred late Saturday in the remote Kandhamal district, which has been at the center of religious violence sparked by the killing of a Hindu religious leader, Orissa state police Chief Gopal Chandra Nanda said.
“The police and paramilitary forces were trying to disperse a rampaging mob of rioters when some people in the mob opened fire at the security personnel, seriously injuring one paramilitary man,” said Nanda. “Police also opened fire in return, killing two people on the spot.” More than 20 homes of Christians and a prayer hall were burned over the weekend and five people were arrested, he said.
Khandamal is about 250 km west of Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa.
The Press Trust of India news agency reported that several churches were also attacked and stoned in the southern city of Mangalore. There were no reports of injuries, it said.
Local police could not immediately be reached for confirmation and it was not clear if the violence was linked to the turmoil in Orissa.
Orissa has been plagued by religious tensions between Christian missionaries who work with mostly poor tribes in the region and hard-line Hindu groups that claim the Christians are forcing or bribing people to convert.
Churches deny that residents have been pressured or paid to change their religious beliefs. Indian law accepts missionaries but bars forced conversions. Nevertheless, any missionary activity generally provokes controversy.
The recent violence was sparked by the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 24.
