Bhubaneswar, India – Koraput district authorities in Orissa (eastern India) have spared 109 Christian families; their homes will not be demolished for now thanks to the intervention of the State’s Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik.
Local Christians had strongly urged him to stop the eviction of these poor people right before the coming of monsoon rains. The district administration wanted to evict the 109 families and demolish their homes, ostensibly as part of a beautification drive in the town of Jeypore.
As soon as the measure was announced though the Christian community requested the demolition be delayed, but Koraput Collector, Subha Sarma, rejected the demand. Instead, he deployed a heavy police force in the town as soon as communal tensions appeared to rise.
Local Christians are convinced that the measure was inspired by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, a Hindu nationalist paramilitary organisation that recently set up a training camp in Jeypore itself.
The State’s Finance Minister Manmohan Samal and Water Resource Minister Rabi Nanda recently participated in one of their training exercises.