On Saturday 23 August the Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda and four of his associates were assassinated Kandhamal district, Orissa. Saraswati, who was a senior figure in the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad), strongly opposed the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. The police and state officials have blamed the attack on suspected Maoist rebels, and Christian leaders in India have clearly condemned it. The Maoist guerillas later on September 9 offifically claimed responsibility for the killing. After the killing of Swami Laxmanananda, the VHP called for a statewide shutdown on August 25. The same day rioters burnt a Christian orphanage where an employee was burnt alive. Since then some 50 people have been killed and over thousand of houses and hundreds of churches set on fire. Thousands of people are now living in relief camp as they are scared to return home. Things get worse as the violence spread to other states. Christians in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka felt the heat of the hindu ext