The CPI(M), in its turn, has, however, been the made it a point to make its views known through public forua The Politburo has said that ``targetting churches, priests and nuns is a result of of the hate campaign launched by the RSS and its outfits against the Christian community.'' The CPI(M) has not only made allegations; Left parliamentarians who went to Baripada for an on-the-spot study, have not come up with very surprising revelations. There is now not much of a scope for the Sangh Parivar to wash its hands of the Baripada incidents. Though, indeed, the BJP parliamentarian from Balasore adjoining Baripada, Kharabela Swain,held a press conference in Calcutta on Thursday in which he flaunted ``transcripts'' of conversations he had with five prime suspects in Anadpur jail of Orissa which ``conclusively'' proved that they were Congress supporters. No one reported the press conference except for indicating that there was something seriously wrong with the thought process and concept of logical thinking in the Family and its members. Swain said he had gone to the jail ( why he was at all given access to the suspects could be a different issue altogether) to ``clear the air'' about the Staines' killers being activists of the Bajrang Dal, a member of the Family, and that he had come back with ``evidence'' and ``admissions'' from the men themselves that they were Congress supporters. The audio cassette was there for all to see but Swain could not provoke anybody at the press conference to indulge in the superfluous exercise of listening to the tapes. However, to dismiss the press conference as frivolous would be to miss the point; after all, here was a ``responsible ''parliamentarian trying to prove the innocence of the Family to which he belongs and blaming another political party for the crime while at the same time time clearly saying that the suspects had themselves said that they had not committed the crime in the first place. Confusing_ very confusing _ indeed; but suspicious all the same. And therein lies the diagnosis. The Family is trying very hard to confuse. After all, confusion is the calling card which is used by all master criminals at work.

The rape of the catholic missionary is now opening itself up to new possibilities; newspapers are now indicating that she may not have been raped at all! There seems to be discrepancies in her reports and the nun herself has simply vanished from public view! This correspondent was in Baripada only a fortnight back; a few days after the Staines killing, his widow and comrades were there for all to speak to, all of them blaming the Bajrang Dal in no small measure. But with the nun, matters seem to have taken a different turn. Her report is now being challenged and she is out of bounds. Why ? Is it again methodical confusion at work? Why hasn't chief minister J.B.Patnaik made a single condemnatory statement? Why hasn't any senior official from Delhi met the nun? Why isn't her FIR being made public? Why is there a deliberate mission to subvert the truth?