Orissa: Another Hindutva Laboratory? - A public event in London, 5 December 2008

Orissa: Another Hindutva Laboratory?

An Awaaz – South Asia Watch Public Forum

On the eve of the 16th anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, Awaaz South Asia Watch invites you to a public meeting on the anti-Christian violence in Orissa and in other parts of India.

5 December 2008, 6.00pm – 8.00pm
Room B111, School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)
University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG
Nearest tube: Goodge Street / Russell Sq
Attendance is free
Speakers:
Baroness Caroline Cox
Ramesh Gopalakrishnan (Amnesty International)
Bipin Jojo (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai)

Merely six years after the Gujarat massacres of Muslim citizens, Christians in Orissa and elsewhere in India are facing attacks from Hindutva groups. Numerous Christian men and women have been killed, injured or raped; several thousand churches have been destroyed, and more than 50,000 people have been rendered homeless in Orissa alone.
What explains this latest and ongoing outbreak of violence against another religious minority in India?
What has been the role of the police and state governments in these episodes of violence?
Is the Hindu Right (specifically the Sangh Parivar) renewing its project of Hindutva by creating new objects of hate?
The meeting will be chaired by Rosemary Morris and Dr. Rashmi Varma of Awaaz-South Asia Watch