India: official promises churches will not be demolished
September 12, 2011
A top government official in the troubled Kandhamal district of India’s eastern Orissa state has assured Christians that orders to demolish churches, or to stop reconstruction of damaged church buildings, will not be enforced.
Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, the District Collector of Kandhamal, told a delegation of Christian leaders that the order to prevent church construction had been issued by junior officials, and he would overrule them. Five churches in Kandhamal had been covered by the orders for either demolition or a halt to reconstruction. The orders were issued in August, on the 3rd anniversary of a burst of mob violence against Christian in Orissa, which had resulted in damage to many churches.
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