Churches damaged in India as religious riots spread

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - Hindu mobs clashed with police and attacked homes of Christians in Orissa, police said on Tuesday, the latest outbreak of communal violence that has killed 22 people in the region.

Thousands of Christians have already taken shelter in makeshift government camps in the state, after Hindu mobs torched their homes and damaged churches last month to protest the killing of a Hindu leader. Most of the dead were Christians.

Violence has also spread to southern India, where at least 20 churches have been damaged in the past three days by Hindu mobs, complaining against forced conversions.

In Orissa, a Hindu mob set fire to a police station and a smaller post, before killing a police constable in Kandhamal, the worst-hit district in weeks of violence.

Earlier this month, India's Supreme Court had asked the government to deploy four additional police battalions to protect Christians, but violence has continued.

Armed with axes and sticks, the men beat up policemen and drove them away.

"They also burnt several vehicles, including a police jeep and a motorcycle," said S. Praveen Kumar, a senior police officer.

Police said Hindu mobs targeted them because they had opened fire on protesters at the weekend after clashes between Hindus and Christians broke out.

The tribal regions of Orissa have seen violent clashes for years over the issue of conversions.

Hindu groups accuse Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and low-caste Hindus to change their faith, while Christians say lower-caste Hindus convert willingly to escape discrimination.

The latest trouble started after a Hindu leader and four others were killed by unknown gunmen last month in Kandhamal district. Hindu mobs have been on the rampage since then.

In southern India on Tuesday, Hindu political activists called a strike in and around Mangalore city in Karnataka state, after police arrested 173 Hindu activists, a senior officer said.

"Barring some stone throwing incidents, the situation is slowly returning to normal," A.R. Infant, a senior police officer said.

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