Fr Edward Sequeira, one of the victims of the violence committed by Hindu radicals in Orissa, does not hesitate to call them terrorists. Hindu fundamentalists have long been conducting a campaign against conversions to Christianity, and against evangelization.
For Fr Edward, 58, missionary activity is something that upholds the dignity of the person.
“I have been working among lepers in Padampur in Bargarh district for the past ten years. I realized that, given the preference for a male child in rural Indian communities, parents many times have more than 4-5 daughters before a son is born - and unfortunately, these girls are rarely sent to school, they are made to graze cattle or even sent at early age as domestic workers or to the landlords, and many girls suffer from malnutrition.
"So I started a very small hostel-orphanage for girls, to give them opportunity and dignity through education and vocational training. One such girl in my orphanage was Rajni Majhi.
Hatred of Christianity and personal development is what drives radical Hindu groups to try to wipe out the presence of Christians and their institutions.
"For more than 25 years I have worked in Orissa, and not a single person have I converted to Christianity".
Fr Edward explains what happened to him: "On Monday August 25th, around 1.30 pm, as I was having lunch, there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, a huge crowd of more than 500 people were outside and asked: 'Who is the priest?'.
This is nothing strange, as often people come requesting my help, for my vehicle to drive them to a hospital or other such emergencies. As soon as I identified myself, they raised their arms holding all the weapons - axes, shovels, spades and iron rods. They took me outside in the courtyard and began hitting me, screaming abuses at Christianity and shouting 'Bajrang Bali Ki Jai; Yesu Christi Murdabada; Hail Lord Hanuman (a Hindu god with the face of a monkey), destroy, eliminate Jesus Christ', beating me on my head, back, all over my body.
"They thrashed me for nearly an hour. Then they entered my room, collected all the clothes and books and whatever they laid their hands on and piled it in the centre of the room, threw some kerosene on the pile, and some crude oil, and threw some gelatin sticks which they had brought with them and lit the fire and threw me into the flames and locked the door from the outside."
“Somehow, I was not frightened, there was definitely the divine presence in the burning room, and I went into the bathroom and locked myself in and shut all the windows. The whole room was engulfed in thick smoke and flames.
"In the meanwhile, the men dragged Rajni outside with the children - some of the children escaped. They brought her outside my bathroom window. I could hear the cries of Rajni.
"These criminals tied her hands together - they made a huge bonfire in the orphanage room and threw her onto the fire."
"I can still hear her voice, 'Father, they are going to burn me', these were her last words to me, after this I lost consciousness".
"Now my concern is for helping the orphans. These children saw the fire. I can't even imagine their trauma; they will be afraid for their whole lives". It was only the arrival of fire-fighters that put an end to the tragedy.
"When the Church makes the people aware of their dignity and gives them self-reliance, we are attacked. We are improving the economic status of the poor and marginalised.
“The international community must unequivocally condemn this terrorist attack, and also impose sanctions. The international community should question India's abuse and lack of human rights and religious freedom”.
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(Source: CIN)