By Anto Akkara
August 14 marks the fifth death anniversary of Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, who suffered the pangs of Kandhamal violence, one of the worst incidents of Christian persecution in Indian history.
Archbishop Cheenath fostered for over a quarter-century the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archdiocese that has most of its faithful living in the remote, tribal-dominated Kandhamal district in eastern India’s Odisha state.
He had to undergo the agony of seeing his folks being slaughtered and scattered, their houses and possessions plundered, and churches reduced to ashes in the conflagration triggered by the murder of 81-year-old Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati on Aug. 23, 2008.
The unabated violence that followed for weeks killed nearly 100 Christians and destroyed 300 churches and 6,000 Christian houses, rendering 56,000 homeless.
Archbishop Cheenath was branded the villain behind the shocking murder of the Hindu monk in concerted propaganda by Hindu nationalist organizations. I have proved it as false with telling evidence in my investigative book Who Killed Swami Lakshmanananda? and the documentary Innocents Imprisoned.
During our interactions, Archbishop Cheenath frankly shared with me how he had to face flak from even church circles for stepping out on the streets to support his folks’ quest for justice and reparation for the massive damages they suffered.
The rumor mills have not stopped even after his death. I have been stunned hearing church leaders and others repeating the same allegation against him
The common refrain I came across in several church quarters was that he was a coward who fled Odisha when his flocks were being butchered. I raised this topic with Archbishop Cheenath to know the reality.
Contrary to widespread rumors accusing him of fleeing to Kerala when the violence began, Archbishop Cheenath told me that he was at home in Thrissur for a family function.
After hearing of the Swami’s murder, he rushed to Kochi airport the next morning intending to fly to Bhubaneswar. But on his way to the airport, the vicar general cautioned him not to return there.
In Bhubaneswar, saffron foot soldiers had gathered around the Archbishop’s House at upscale Sathya Nagar in the early morning. A heavy posse of police prevented them from breaking into the house, but its glass panes were shattered by the throwing of stones.
This story first appeared on ucanews.com