The violence between Hindus and Christians in Orissa, sparked by the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, is bad and continues to escalate. The Hindu village people have strong reason to believe that Swami Laxmanananda was murdered for his activism against the radical conversion tactics of Christian missionaries in Orissa. Christian organizations have been paying poor Hindus to convert to Christianity for many years, and in some parts of India missionaries then force women and kids into low-paying mission jobs that do not provide enough money to meet basic needs. Maybe these people are happy with what they are doing but the missionary policies and practices are not good and should not continue. Swami Laxmananandaji was opposed to practices of this kind and understood that this is the biggest kind of terrorism in India. Swami Laxmananandaji was killed and the evidence suggests that he was killed by Christians. His killing should be condemned and the murder(s) brought to justice. Hindus are right to be upset by the situation, however, there are right and wrong ways to protest and demonstrate. Arson, mob violence, rape, and the like are not proper Hindu ways of fighting. Religious violence will not solve this situation. Hindus and Christians around the world are becoming polarized, with Hindus thinking that the Christians are responsible for the killing of Swami Laxmananandaji and Christians thinking Hindus are raping and killing Christians. This violence creates a bad image for both Hinduism and Christianity.
The government of Orissa has failed to protect both communities. I have reason to believe that Naveen Patnaik is responsible for this whole situation. He has created the situation in order to manipulate the elections. In his press conference he said that he has arrested thousands of Bajrang Dal, VHP, and RSS workers in connection with the violence, but not a single person actually belonging to these these organizations believe in the violence. The members of these organizations stand behind the principal of ahimsa. Those people arrested in Orissa and held out as Bajrang Dal, VHP, and RSS members are nothing more than small farmers and village people used by Patnaik and his police to manipulate the media reports and public opinion. Now these poor Hindu people are in prison and being tortured. Think back to the day after Swami Laxmananandaji was killed. It was Naveen Patnaik who came forward with information alleging Christian perpetrator(s). Patnaik set up the situation and continues to grow the violence for political profit. People should not vote for these kind of politicians because they are quite literally sacrificing human beings.
To all my Christian and Hindu brothers and sisters I would like to say that I am extremely sorry for what is happening and that we should create understanding between these two religions. If we want to live by our respective religious prinicipals then we need to consider peaceful ways of coexisting. India is a democratic country. Indians must be free to follow the religion and practices of their choice, but religious choice should never be influenced by money or coercion.
Hindus and Christian missionaries in India should understand the origin of the situation and not use this violence for religious propaganda. I would like to say to Christian and Hindu leaders, work together and solve the situation with a positive mind. A lot of people would like to construe this matter as one of Christians versus Hindus and escalate the situation. There are bad people who want to take advantage of Swami Laxmananandaji's murder and the rape of the Orissa nun. We must not let this happen. We should accept that both Hindus and Christians have committed wrongs and we should solve the issue of what is happening right now. A lot of people are suffering in Orissa and we should put their welfare first. We should give the Nation the truth and stop the situation. We should stop this misunderstanding and build new relations between these two religious communities. We should stop religious politics. We have a lot of issues in India to discuss politically but we should keep religion and politics separate. India is already facing a huge internal terrorist problem and we should avoid making matters worse. We do not need to turn this situation into fundamentalist terrorism.
I, Kalik Ji Maharaj, extend my wishes and support to the Christian and Hindu communities in Orissa. May Lord Shiva protect Christians and Hindus. Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Jai Shri Ram.
Kalik Ji Maharaj
International President - Shri Ram Sena
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