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Justice Somashekar Commission report far from truth - Justice M. F. Saldanha

Justice Somashekar Commission report far from truth - Justice M. F. Saldanha


Mangalore Today News Network

mf saldahnaUdupi, Feb 13: Addressing the gathering at a public meeting held in protest against the Justice Somashekara Commission’s final report on the church attacks of 2008, M. F. Saldanha, the former judge of the Karnataka High Court, said that the report is a bunch of lies and has buried the truth. The protest meeting was jointly organized by the Udupi unit of the International Federation of Karnataka Christian Associations and Bharathiya Christa Okkoota near the DC’s office.

Stating that the police had joined forces with Bajrang Dal activists, Mr. Saldanha said that V. S. Acharya, who was the home minister at that time, cannot escape responsibility for these attacks. He added that a nun has lost her eye in the attack.

 


He said that he had conducted a People’s Tribunal Enquiry into the attacks and has studied all the details regarding the church attacks of 2008, adding that he will submit his report to President Smt. Prathiba Patel in New Delhi on Feb 14.

Pointing out the fact that the commission’s interim report contradicts its final report, Saldanha said that the guilty will feel encouraged if they are not punished.

Accusing the BJP of raising a hue and cry about conversion for political reasons, David Simeon, the former chairman of the legislative council, said that the attacks on minorities began just 6 months after the BJP came to power in Karnataka. Pointing out the fact that a large number of Dalits had recently converted to Buddhism in Gulbarga, he said that no government arrested them and added that political leaders ought to condemn attacks on minorities.

 


Making a strong statement that the commission’s final report is fit to be chucked into the dustbin, K. L. Ashok, the general secretary of the state unit of the Karnataka Komu Sauharda Vedike, said that the report was prepared just to protect the BJP from embarrassment. Demanding to know why the Pejawar Seer was visiting Dalit colonies if conversion is to be stopped, he said that an attack on Christians and Muslims is akin to attack on democracy and the nation’s secular fabric.

Six resolutions were passed during the meeting—demand for a CBI probe into the church attacks, protection to places of worship belonging to minority communities, compensation for the places of worship attacked and individuals who suffered injuries during these attacks, strict action to be taken against individuals and organizations responsible for the attacks, and withdrawal of cases registered against innocent Christian youth.

Baptist Menezes, the Episcopal vicar of Udupi district; Edward Karkada, the area chairman of Karnataka Southern Diocese; G. Rajashekar, the president of Udupi district unit of KKSV; Walter Pinto, the president of Mangalore Catholic Sabha; Khatib Rashid, the president of the district minorities forum; M. P. Moideenabba, the president of the Udupi Muslim Okkoota; Rafiq Majur, the secretary of the Popular Front of India (PFI), and Shekar Hejamady, the president of the Udupi unit of DSS, were also present.


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