PM enquires about displaced Christians

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reportedly enquired the ground reality of Kandhamal during his brief visit to Orissa this week.

"How is the situation in Kandhamal?" Singh is said to have asked a delegation of Congress members.

Media reported that the Congress delegation which tried to impress upon Singh the multi-crore mining scam and issue of farmers' suicides was taken aback by the PM's concern for victims affected by the anti-Christian violence.

Kandhamal has been in focus after the religious violence that took place in August last year in the wake of murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.

"Have all the people returned to their villages?" the PM asked, according to a member of the delegation.

In response, they had informed Singh that the "sense of fear still continues" and many are reluctant to return apprehending fresh violence.

Singh had earlier described the August 2008 violence as a "national shame".