New book says, 2008 murder of Hindu leader in Kandhamal not by Christians
The killing of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in eastern India’s Odisha state in 2008 was carried out not by Christians but by forces who had envisaged subsequent collateral damage, a new book released on Thursday said. The book entitled, “Who Killed Swami Laxmanananda?” authored by Anto Akkara, a rights advocate and journalist with international media, was released on Thursday by veteran journalist and former high commissioner to the UK, Kuldip Nayar, at a function at New Delhi’s Constitution Club. The investigative book gives details about sequence of events demolishing the theory of Christian conspiracy in the killing of the 81-year-old swami in Kandhamal District on Aug. 23, 2008. In the rioting that followed nearly 50 Christians were officially confirmed killed.
The book said that since Saraswati had said the Pope and Sonia Gandhi were people who considered him a threat to the Christianization of Kandhamal, it was easy to spread rumours that Christians killed him. The book says that after the murder, a list of names of about 25 Christians were distributed in Kandhamal, accusing them of the murder. Four Christians from the area were picked up by the Hindu fundamentalists - two of them brutally tortured by the mob - before they were presented to the police as the swami's killers. They were illegally detained by the police for 40 days until their release on October 3. The four Christians also narrated their story at the May 5th release of Akkara’s book. Seven Christians have been sentenced to life for killing Saraswati.
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