Directing to ensure safety of the minorities, the Supreme Court of India Monday pulled the leg of state government and asked the Biju Janta Dal and Bhartiya Janta Party coalition government to cooperate the Centre for ensuring the minority Christians’ safety in the state.
‘Protect the minorities or quit’, said a Bench of three judges Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan, Justice Markandey Katju and Justice P Sathasivam to both the centre and state government, and directed them to make cooperation in the state for ensuring the securities of the minorities in the state.
India is a secular country and it cannot allow any discrimination against minorities. We have to protect the minority, said Justice Katju while speaking from the Bench.
The Bench was hearing the petition of Cuttack Archbishop Raphel Cheenath, who had filed the plea for the sake of Christians’ safety in Kandhamal district after pandemonium; anti-Christian violence held in the revenge of BJP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and his four associates’ murder on Aug 23, 2008.
The apex court has also rebuked on Centre’s decision to rip off paramilitary security forces in a phased manner from the Kandhmal and ordered to continue the deployment of security forces in the district till the forthcoming general election to be held in couple of months.
Commenting upon the reconstruction of churches that had been demolished during the anti-Christian violence in August last year, the panel said, the state government should compensate quickly and generously for the restoring of churches while senior counsel appearing for Orissa government attracted the court’s attention towards the so called controversial ‘land issue’ about which government had claimed that these churches were constructed upon forest and government lands, so providing compensation would be breeching of law.
The court has secured the decision till the next hearing to be held after six weeks.
Earlier, Colin Gonsalves, the archbishop’s counsel had complaint to the court against the state government’s decision of offering a meagre compensation of Rs.45 lakh only as against the community’s demand of Rs.3 crore for repairing and reconstructing of about 150 churches.
The Bench has also advised to both counsels to sort out the matter themselves.
In August 2008, VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati along with his four companions had been killed, allegedly by Christians, which resulted in ghastly violence against the Christians. Maoists had later taken the responsibility of killing the five but till then 38 people had been died and thousands of Christians were forced to flee from their houses in the Kandhmal district.
The situation brought to control after deploying the security forces in the district, but before that it had already caused irreparable damage to the people belonging to minority section.
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