Christians seek refuge from religious persecution in Orissa

The numbers at the camps were expected to swell to 10,000 later on Friday, Kumar said.

Most of India's billion-plus citizens are Hindu and about 2.5 percent are Christians. In the Kandhamal area, more than 20 percent of the 650,000 people are mainly tribal inhabitants who converted to Christianity.

Religious violence has troubled the tribal regions of Orissa for years, with Hindus and Christians fighting over conversions.

While Hindu groups accuse Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and low-caste Hindus to change their faith, the Christians say lower-caste Hindus convert willingly to escape a complex Hindu caste system.

CHRISTIANS PROTEST

About 3,000 Christians demonstrated outside the Orissa state building in New Delhi, holding placards calling for peace and condemning the state government.