It was supposed to be the plight of Christians in Orissa that motivated the US Commission on International Religious Affairs (USCIRF) to announce that they were adding India to their "Watch List" of nations in which religious freedom is imperiled. But among those who have protested against this move are prominent representatives of the Christian community in Orissa, according to an article on the Christian Today India website: "Orissa Christians reject USCIRF report, defends 'secular' India".Most of what is reported by Christian Today India was already known from other sources, but the fact that this story is now being run in a major Evangelical Christian news outlet dramatically undermines the legitimacy of the USCIRF's statements regarding India.
Christian Today India cites both Catholic Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, and Swarupananda Patra, president of the Orissa Minority Forum. Patra is also a professor of Christian Theology and an officer of the All Orissa Baptist Churches Foundation.