Kandhmal (Orissa), Sept 25 (ANI): Curfew was clamped in nine sensitive areas of Orissa's Kandhamal district today in the wake of fresh violence in the region. Nearly 100 houses and a couple of churches and prayer houses were either set afire or damaged in about half-a-dozen places under Daringibadi, G Udaygiri and Tikabali police stations around dawn break.

At least 42 companies of security forces including CRPF and Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed since violence broke out after the recent killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati.

Though additional forces were rushed to several sensitive areas to control the situation, movement of security personnel was badly affected due to obstructions on roads placed by miscreants.

Huge logs and boulders were placed at around 42 places in Tikabali and G Udaygiri areas, making it virtually impossible for security forces to proceed.

Hindu hard-liners claim that missionaries force or bribe people to convert to Christianity.

The missionaries, who work mostly with poor tribes in the region, deny that anyone has been pressured or paid to change their religious beliefs. (ANI)

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Chennai, Sept 25 (ANI): Security has been stepped up in five major temples in Tamil Nadu following an intelligence alert of terror attacks.

The Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, the Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameswaram, the Murugan temple in Palani, the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai and Sri Ranganathar Temple in Srirangam in Tiruchirappalli have come under a heightened security.

Besides these temples, commercial hubs in Chennai and elsewhere have also been placed under surveillance.

However, officials are wary about security arrangements in the temples, as they want the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department, that administers temples, to be more proactive.

Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmadabad and Bengaluru were hit by serial blasts in recent months killing and injuring hundreds of people. (ANI)

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Karachi, Sept 25 (ANI): Members belonging to minority communities in Pakistan like Hindus, Christians, Parsis, want a change in the laws to lessen their miseries. In the absence of proper family laws to protect their interests in the country, Hindu couples are often harassed by the Police on lame pretexts like not carrying marriage certificates to prove their marriage, or holding proper national identity cards to prove their identities.

The Hindu Law introduced by the British government in 1946 has not still been officially included in Pakistan's judicial system.

As a result, legally wedded couples belonging to minority communities are not allowed to hire hotel rooms or move freely at public places before they prove marriage with a nikahnama.

"It's not just hotels but the police, who some times harass young couples at the seaside, also ask for marriage certificates," said Rajnesh Kumar, a newly married school teacher who faced problems in occupying hotel while traveling with his wife.

As there are no separate family laws for Parsis, Hindus, Christians and other minorities, which form about five percent of the population, marriage certificates, national identity cards, passports and other legal documents are sometimes hard to acquire if a relationship with their spouse needs to be proven. This also leads to problems when there are matrimonial disputes, divorces, separations and property distribution, reported the Daily Times.

Citing another example, the paper reported that a woman who married her classmate despite objections from her family got divorced after two years also had trouble with the system. "There is no divorce in Hinduism and after many fights he divorced me but doesn't pay alimony for our child," the paper quoted her as saying.

The woman, whose name was not revealed, presently stays in a rented house located within the compound of a Hindu temple in Soldier Bazaar. She started working as a teacher after her divorce and lodged a suit in court three years back to win back her dowry and alimony. "It is a lengthy process that needs lots of money and every time I return from court there [is no hope] as there are no certain family laws for Hindus," she said.

Advocate Sunil Kumar Talreja explained that in the Pakistani judiciary they refer to the Hindu Law introduced by the British government in 1946 but even this is not officially included in the judicial system.

Widows suffer especially when they need to fight to acquire their due share of the property of their husbands. "There are thousands of suits about family matters which are still pending in the local courts due to the absence of family laws," said advocate Sunil Kumar.

In the absence of such laws, most of the Hindus resort to the Panchayat system in which they contact an elder from the community to help sort out matters. "There must be separate laws for Hindus so that people have a way to get justice," said Professor K.S. Nagpal, an expert and author on religious matters. (ANI)

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Washington, Sept.25 (ANI): US President Bush is under pressure to use a meeting with India's Prime Minister today to press for urgent action to halt the anti-Christian riots that continue to sweep the subcontinent.

At least 45 Christians have been murdered by mobs of Hindu fanatics over the past month, according to church officials.

An estimated 50,000 people have been driven from their villages and 4,000 homes destroyed amid an upsurge in Hindu nationalism.

Amid evidence that the violence is spreading, a US federal commission has called on Bush, a Christian who has worn his faith on his sleeve while in office, to press the issue when he meets the Indian Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Felice D. Gaer, the chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, said: "If India is to exercise global leadership Prime Minister Singh should demonstrate his government's commitment to uphold the basic human rights obligations to which it has agreed ... The Indian government's response remains inadequate."

The criticism comes after condemnation of India's record in policing anti-Christian riots by the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Singh will be hoping to use his meeting with Bush to help ease a deal past the US Congress that will give India access to American civilian nuclear technology.

The White House has already been instrumental in ending India's decades-old status as a nuclear pariah, giving the country access to outside atomic equipment despite its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The deal is regarded as an indicator of America's desire to nurture India as a counterforce to the rise of China in Asia. (ANI)

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