Kandhamal Violence Had Impact in Europe'

Date : 02 Feb 2010
The communal violence in Orissa's Kandhamal, which claimed 38 lives including Christian Dalits' and Hindu tribals, had its impact on the people of Europe, visiting diplomats from nine European Union countries said today.

"The EU diplomats said people in their countries wanted to know about the ground situation at Kandhamal," a journalist present among the group of mediapersons invited to an informal chat with the diplomats here, said.

The EU diplomats also informed the media persons that they were anxious to know about the condition of the violence-affected people 25 months after the riot in Kandhamal.

Since the EU decided to fund some development activities in Orissa, they wanted to assess the ground situation, especially whether communal harmony prevailed now, said another scribe.

While the diplomats met a select group of scribes from particular media houses at a posh hotel here, a large number of journalists, mostly from local media, expressed their displeasure for being left out by the EU team.

The visiting delegation said it discussed with journalists different issues relating to riot in Kandhamal.

"We collected information from church leaders on how the state government acted after the riot and condition of victims", Christopher Manet, political counsellor in the EU delegation to India, said.

The 11-member delegation met church leaders including Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese Rapheal Cheenath in the evening.

"We have told them that complete normalcy was yet to return to Kandhamal though there had been no violence in the district for the last one year," Cheenath told reporters after the meeting.