In India 3000 people pray, pay tribute to Armenian Genocide victims

April 25, 2011 - 14:25 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - On April 24, 2011, in Kolkata, India, about 3000 people prayed and paid their respect to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. Every year, on Easter Day, Christians in Kolkata gather in the premises of the historic St. Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate the Glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The religious and cultural program concluded with the religious message by the Catholic Archbishop of Kolkata. This year, out of respect to the Armenian Genocide victims, Father Khoren Hovhannisyan, Pastor of Armenians in India and Manager of Armenian College and Philanthropic Academy was invited to pray and deliver his message on this occasion.

The master of ceremonies, Reverend Father Andrew Simick, before inviting the Pastor of Armenians in India to stage, announced that this year Easter coincided with the 96th anniversary of Armenian Genocide and asked the congregation to pray for one and a half million victims of the Genocide.

Father Khoren Hovhannisyan prayed for Genocide victims in Armenian and addressed the congregation, saying: “Every year, on April 24, Armenians all over the world commemorate the attempt to exterminate their nation by the Ottoman Turks, the murder of 1.5 million innocent and defenseless children, women, elderly people and men.

The wound left behind from the Armenian Genocide is yet to heal … the wound is still bleeding because of Turkish denial … The whole nation was nailed on the cross because they were Christians, because they were Armenians.”

The Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide (1915-23) was the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I. It was characterized by massacres and deportations, involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of deaths reaching 1.5 million.

The majority of Armenian Diaspora communities were formed by the Genocide survivors.

Present-day Turkey denies the fact of the Armenian Genocide, justifying the atrocities as “deportation to secure Armenians”. Only a few Turkish intellectuals, including Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk and scholar Taner Akcam, speak openly about the necessity to recognize this crime against humanity.

The Armenian Genocide was recognized by Uruguay, Russia, France, Lithuania, Italy, 45 U.S. states, Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Argentina, Belgium, Austria, Wales, Switzerland, Canada, Poland, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, the Vatican, Luxembourg, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Paraguay, Sweden, Venezuela, Slovakia, Syria, Vatican, as well as the European Parliament and the World Council of Churches.