The continuing violence against Christians in the Kandhamal district of Orissa shows that the Union government’s advisory, asking the Naveen Patnaik government to control the situation, has been ineffective.
On Monday, one person was killed and eight were injured in Kandhamal. The Centre has two options: One, continue watching the sad spectacle of innocent citizens being killed. Two, send another warning and, if violence does not abate, take stringent action.
It is anybody’s guess as to why the state government has failed to quell the violence. Lack of security forces is certainly not the cause—all that Orissa had to do was ask the Centre. The latter is duty-bound to help.
Communal violence of the kind seen in Orissa is not only shameful but also shows the state government has abdicated its responsibility towards citizens. Protection of life and property is the first care of any government. The Orissa government seems to have forgotten that.