NEW DELHI - Human Rights Watch, Christian Solidarity Network, Dalit Freedom Network and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty have appealed to foreign ministers in the European Union and the United States to immediately call for an end to the sectarian violence in India's Orissa state.

"International statements of concern are urgently needed to express solidarity with the victims, to help forestall yet more violence and to prevent the further loss of life," stated a letter sent to the European Commissioner for External Relations, the French Foreign Minister, the Minister for European Affairs, the British Foreign Secretary, and the US administration.

"We therefore request that you make a statement to call for an end to the sectarian violence and for the protection of vulnerable communities as soon as possible," it added.

Violence has rocked Orissa state since the killing of a Hindu leader last month. Though police blamed Maoist rebels for the assassination, Subhash Chauhan, a World Hindu Organisation leader, accused "Christian militants" of the death.

In apparent retaliation, Hindu hard-liners set ablaze a Christian orphanage last Monday, killing a Christian woman and seriously injuring a priest. The violence has since spread to mob attacks on churches, shops and homes.

Calling for immediate intervention, the authors of the recent letter condemned the murder of Hindu religious leader Swami Laxmmananada Saraswati, whose death sparked the latest outbreak of violence in Orissa.

"The fact that Christians have been made the scapegoats and victims of a VHP (World Hindu Council) backlash is deplorable," the freedom fighters stated in their letter. The Church in India and abroad has also succinctly declared that it is against violence of any sort and has condemned the murder of the prominent Hindu leader.

Orissa, located on the east coast of India, has a long history of clashes between Hindus and Christians, usually sparked by Hindu suspicions over missionary work.

Thousands of poor and lower caste Hindus have converted to other religions, including Christianity, often in an attempt to escape the rigid confines of Hinduism's complex caste system.

That has long embittered Hindu groups who accuse Christian missionaries of trying to lure the poor and those on the lowest rungs with promises of money and jobs.

Last year, four people were killed and nearly 20 churches destroyed in similar clashes in Orissa.

Hundreds of churches and Christian homes have been torched or damaged by the rampaging mobs, whilst thousands of Christians have been forced to abandon their homes and flee to surrounding forests.

The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) said that as many as 20,000 people may have fled.

"Old, infirm, women and children have left their villages," the group added.

.