The Left parties on Wednesday condemned the attack on Christians and the institutions run by them in Orissa, urging the Government to beef up the security in the area. Condemning the “the organised attacks against Christians and Christian institutions in Kandhamal,” the CPI(M) demanded “immediate measures to protect the Christian community and its institutions in the district by deploying adequate security forces”. The culprits must be arrested and proceeded against, the party said, adding that the Orissa Government and district administration had failed to take adequate steps to protect the minority community. CPI national secretary D Raja said the attacks on Christians were not new to Orissa, and was a matter of serious concern in the “light of what had happened after the cold blooded murder of missionary Graham Steines and his children and a number of incidents after that”. Seeing a pattern in the attacks in Orissa as well as states ruled by the BJP, he demanded severe action against those targeting people belonging to minority communities.
