Clean chit for BJP, Sangh Parivar in Mangalore church attacks

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, Jan 28: The Justice Somasekhara Commission of Inquiry into a series of attacks on churches in parts of Karnataka in 2008 has given a "clean chit" to the ruling BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits. Not BJP but missionaries blamed for attacks on Christians.

 

“There is no basis to the apprehension of petitioners that politicians, BJP,  Sangha Parivar and the state government are directly or indirectly involved in the attacks”, the commission has said in its final report which was submitted to Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in Bangalore on Friday.

 

This observation is significant in view of the fact that when Christian nuns were raped in MP in 1998-99, the NDA government, led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said there should be a debate on “conversions”. Recently, while upholding the life term for the killers of Graham Staines, a Supreme Court bench had said the murderers wanted to teach the deceased "a lesson" for his proselytising activities. However, the remark was expunged.

“The attacks (were) indulged in by misguided fundamentalist miscreants of defined or undefined groups or organisations against Christians and Christianity who have mistakenly presumed that they (miscreants) would be protected by the party in power with their policies at the relevant time,” it added.

According to the report submitted to Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa, circulation of derogatory literature with "insulting attitude" against Hindus and issues of conversion were the main reasons behind the attacks.

The churches were attacked in the districts of Mangalore, Udupi, Chikamagalur, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bellary and Davangere during September 2008.

 

The panel received 1,500 petitions and examined more than 800 people.

The commission found fault with the authority’s act of locking the places of worship and preventing devotees from offering prayers as "unprecedented in the history of administrative process and constitutional governance".

Home Minister R Ashok and Law Minister S Suresh Kumar were also present when the report was submitted.
PTI