Thirty five-year-old Fr. Aruldas, was brutally murdered on the night of September 1st 1999 at Jamabadi in the district of Mayurthanj in Orissa by a handful of religious fanatics. Fr. Aruldas belonged to the village of Rasiamangalam near Pudukotta in Tamilnadu. He was serving as vicar of Anandpur in the diocese of Baleswar. One more person has been raised to the ranks of martyrs like Sr. Rani Maria F.C.C. and Graham Staines-and that is Fr. Aruldas.

Brutal murder in the land of non-violence! According to newspaper reports his murder took place in the following manner: On September 1st Fr. Aruldas reached Jamalbhani along with the catechist Kotesingh Khundia. After the Holy Mass there was a cultural programme by the adivasis at night. After viewing the programme for some time, Fr. Das and Khundia went to sleep in the thatched hut close by. As soon as the adivasis dispersed, terrorists entered the hut and attacked the first one they met-Khundia. Thinking he had fallen dead on the ground, they rushed out.

Fr. Das, on hearing the noise, ran to Khundia's room. On spying him, the gangsters began giving him blows with rods and sticks. When Fr. Das tried to escape they wounded him with arrows. With the arrows piercing his body, Fr. Das fell on the ground and died in agony. The gangsters left the place at once. On the way they set fire to the thatched church.
 
 

On January 22nd 1999 on the day of Saraswathi Pooja, religious fanatics burnt to death Graham Staines and his two sons who had been engaged in the service of lepers for years . It was on August 26th on the Rakshabandan day that the Muslim businessman Sheikh Rehman had his arms cut off and then was burnt alive. And next came the death of the Catholic priest Fr. Aruldas on Janmashtami day.

On July 17th 1998, Fr.Aruldas, Fr. Varghese Puthumattom and catechist Kattesingh were taken captives, kept in the lock-up for a day and then released on condition that they leave the place. Fr. Puthumattom later testified that it was under the leadership of Narasingh and Bhavaram, school teachers with RSS leanings, that this abduction took place. Though the police were notified their response was cold.
 
 

Nine months have passed after Graham Staines and children were killed. The chief culprits have not been nabbed yet. Neither are the murderers of Sheikh Rehman and Fr. Aruldas identified. The State Government, and the Central Government, to their utter shame, are blaming each other and trying to shirk their responsibility. If the culprits escape to another state, they cannot be caught only by the efforts of the State Government. The Centre and State have to work hand in hand in a responsible manner. If the real villains are not identified and caught, it means there are only two reasons for it. We must admit that either the police and those in authority are reluctant to catch the murderers, who are out to annihilate the minorities, or those who govern us are people who lack the resoluteness and efficiency to capture the culprits. Whatever may be the reason , it is a permanent blot on the country’s prestige and the rule of law.
 
 

There was a paper report that in Jamabani 17 Adivasi families were being instructed in the Christian faith. Could this have provoked these religious fanatics? Adivasis are not Hindus, in fact. Can they not choose the religion they want ? Does not every citizen of secular India have the Fr..eedom to choose the religion he or she likes? Is the religious fascism of the Middle Ages being repeated today through efforts to impose the religion of the majority on others by means of crime and terrorism ?" If anything happens to me while I am engaged in working for the abandoned, do not grieve," Fr. Das had said on his last visit to his family. It is clear Fr..om this that he had been working for the uplift of those poor villagers who were victims of persecution and exploitation. Was this murder the revenge of the landlords who kept the poor villagers as bonded labourers paying them just a pittance for their hard toil?
 
 

India is the land of non-violence. Here it is a sin to slaughter animals like the cow or the monkey. It is also prohibited. In a culture that sees God in every animate or inanimate thing, inability to see divinity in man is nothing but hypocrisy. Is the barbarity of shooting an arrow at a poor man fleeing for his life an honour for any culture or religion ? Is man not worth even a cow ? In the assessment of religious fanatics even Mahatma Gandhi was not as good as a cow.