Bhubaneswar, Dec 29 : A helicopter hovered over Kandhamal today as Christians in the riot-scarred Orissa district went to church to pray.
State police chief Manmohan Praharaj said the helicopter was provided by the Centre for aerial patrolling in Kandhamal and the neinghbouring district of Gajapati.
Praharaj said he himself went on aerial surveys in Baliguda, Brahmanigaon, G Udaygiri, Tiakabali and Raikia areas of Kandhamal and some areas in Gajapati.
“Surveillance by helicopter helps build confidence among people who are afraid of coming out of their villages,” Praharaj told PTI.
“I have visited several churches in Kandhamal and people were found to be happy with the security arrangement,” the state police chief said.
The archbishop of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar diocese, Raphael Cheenath, agreed the prayers had been peaceful everyhere. “We had a very peaceful Christmas at all places in Kandhamal and in the coastal districts,” he said.
No report of violence was received from other communally sensitive districts either, Praharaj said.
Communal riots broke out in Orissa in August-September after the murder of a Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Swami Laxmananda Saraswati. Sixty people died, most of them Christians.
Sangh parivar outfits had called a bandh on Christmas but at L.K. Advani’s instance it was called off as the BJP did not want to lose ally Biju Janata Dal before general elections.
Union home minister P. Chidambaram called up Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik yesterday urging him to ensure a peaceful Christmas. Naveen directed the police to take all possible steps to ensure a trouble-free Christmas.
Praharaj today visited the area of Barakhama in Kandhamal where Hindu tribals had organised a congregation under the banner of the Kui Samaj Samanwaya Samiti to commemorate the “martyrdom” of Khageswar Mallick, who was killed in the riots. Christians too wanted to hold service in a church near the site. The district administration persuaded the Hindu tribals to move away from the church and organise the meeting.
Low-key celebration
A Catholic church in a Nadia village in West Bengal held a low-key midnight mass yesterday to protest the attacks on Christians in Orissa.
The Saguna church will send the money it has saved from its celebrations to the Christians in Kandhamal.