Put Orissa nun's rapists behind bars: Cong to Patnaik

New Delhi, Oct 6 (UNI) The Congress today called upon Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to take immediate steps to put a stop to violence against minorities in the State and bring to book those responsible for the rape of a nun in Kandhamal.

''The State Government has done nothing to put an end to violence against Christian minorities. It has only allowed the situation to deteriorate further,'' Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natarajan told reporters.

''The Chief Minister has failed in his constitutional responsibility,'' she said, but denied that the party was demanding President's Rule in Orissa.

''We are not demanding President's Rule.... All we want is that the Chief Minister should fulfill his constitutional responsibility to ensure the safety of the minorities,'' she told reporters.

She, however, added that President's Rule could be imposed only if all constitutional parameters were met.

Reeling out statistics on the violence against minorities in Orissa, an Karnataka, she said 50 Christians had been killed, more than 5,000 of their dwellings razed, at least 1,000 churches torched and over 50,000 christians rendered homeless.

The most horrific dimension of the violence had been the rape of a nun last month, but the State Government was yet to arrest the culprit or culprits. It had merely called the incident unfortunate, she said.

She wondered why violence had been unleashed against the minorities when the Maoists were responsible for the killing of VHP leader Lakshmananda Saraswati, which apparently triggered the attacks in the two States.

To a question, she said there was a suitable case for a ban on the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, as they had openly admitted their guilt.

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