Congress seeks action against perpetrators of ‘barbaric’ attack on Odisha pastor

Expressing “deep shock” implicit the alleged battle connected a Christian pastor and members of the community successful Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, Congress wide caput K.C. Venugopal wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking contiguous enactment against those responsible.

In his letter, Mr. Venugopal referred to the January 4 incidental successful Parjang village, wherever Pastor Bipin Bihari Naik was allegedly attacked portion conducting Sunday prayers astatine his residence. According to the Congress leader, a mob of astir 40 people, “reportedly consisting of Bajrang Dal activists”, surrounded the location and assaulted those present, including the pastor’s household and 7 Christian families.

‘Public lynching’

Describing the incidental arsenic “despicable and barbaric”, Mr. Venugopal said the pastor had been detained, beaten, and publically humiliated. 

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“His look was smeared with sindoor, a garland of sandals was placed astir his neck, and helium was paraded publicly,” the missive said, adding that the pastor was aboriginal tied adjacent a section temple, forced to devour cattle dung, made to chant spiritual slogans, and compelled to portion h2o from a sewer.

“This was not simply an assault; it was a humiliating nationalist lynching and an enactment of forced spiritual coercion, aimed astatine stripping a national of his dignity and faith,” Mr. Venugopal wrote. He said 7 Christian families had fled the colony successful fearfulness pursuing the incident.

Pattern of attacks

The Congress person criticised the authorities for their alleged nonaccomplishment to instrumentality stringent enactment contempt the “size of the mob and the gravity of the crimes”. 

“Vigilantism and mob justness cannot beryllium tolerated, particularly erstwhile directed against spiritual minorities connected unverified and often malicious allegations of ‘forced conversion’,” helium said.

Noting a signifier of akin attacks successful antithetic parts of Odisha, Mr. Venugopal said the “repeated soundlessness of the government” was encouraging perpetrators to enactment with impunity.

Urging the Union Home Ministry to intervene, helium sought the contiguous apprehension and prosecution of each those involved, a “time-bound autarkic probe” into the incident, and extortion and rehabilitation for the pastor, his family, and the different displaced families.