Innocent Hindus targeted in Orissa: RSS

Bhubaneswar, Sep 3 (UNI) RSS National Executive Member Ram Madhavji today alleged that innocent Hindus not connected with the violence, which erupted in the aftermath of Swami Laxamanand Saraswati's murder, were being arrested by the police without any reason.

Mr Madhavji told newspersons here that the Hindus connected with the Sangha Parivar were being picked up by the police on the allegations of Christians in Koraput, Bolangir and Gajapati districts and being tortured.

Stating that such cases were only increasing tensions and spreading violence, the RSS leader demanded the government to stop harassment of the Hindus and withdraw all false cases lodged against them.

'' Christian groups were intimidating the Hindus. Handwritten posters threatening to eliminate the community appeared in several Hindu villages like Katangia, Jhinjiliguda and Brahamanigaon in Kandhamal districts and Adoba and Chandipur in Gajapati districts,'' he said.

He alleged that the christians were provoking villagers and some even destroyed the idols of Lord Ganesh today.

Describing the violence in the aftermath of the killing 'nfortunate', the RSS leader said the government should act and arrest the killers at the earliest to assuage hurt sentiments of the Hindus.

He regretted that even ten days after the incident the government failed to arrest one person in connection with the incident. He said the government action was confined only to detention.

Mr Madhavji said the widescale illegal conversion, cow slaugter and illegal occuption of the tribal land by the chrisitisnas were the main reasons for the tension between the two communities and the murder of the swamiji.

He said the christians population rose to 28 per cent in 2001 from 6 per cent in 1971 and demanded the government to strictly enforce the anti conversion law, cow slaughter act and initiate steps to return the tribals under the church occuption.

He said the government had utterly failed to check conversion, and provide security to Swamiji.

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