Group desecrates cross at St Lourdes Church

Group desecrates cross at St Lourdes Church

Mangalore Today News Network

Bhatkal, Jan 24: A group of Shri Rama Sene activists stand accused of desecrating a cross at St Lourdes Catholic Church at Mundalli Village, Bhatkal. The cross was located at a short distance from the church. The accused persons, who were spotted trying to it pull down, fled when an alarm was raised. 

A few days back, the local Rama Sene unit submitted a memorandum to the president through the assistant commissioner at the end of a protest. The memorandum, dated Jan 19, accused Indian Christians of being responsible for the attacks on Hindu Australians. The memorandum further stated that the unit will destroy every church in Bhatkal if the president did not take any action to prevent the attacks on Indian Hindus in Australia within 2 days. The statement was signed by Shankar Naik, the convener of the Bhatkal unit of Shri Rama Sene. 

V B Gaonkar, the additional superintendent of police, said that Shankar Naik, his brother Keshav Naik, and Shankar Mogera were arrested on grounds of desecrating the cross. He also informed that the 3 had several cases pending against them. The other 5 who have been arrested are Nitesh Mahale, Mahadev Naik, Eshwar Naik, Devendra Naik, and Shekar Kharvi. The police said that all 8 have been produced in court. 

Shivaraj Ambari, the president of the UK unit of Rama Sene, claims that Rama Sene has nothing to do with the incident. He alleged that certain Christian organizations are responsible for it. He said that Rama Sene was blamed for a similar incident, which took place in Bidar a few months ago. Investigation, however, revealed that a former pastor was responsible for the disturbance. 

The situation in Bhatkal, though tense, is still peaceful. Additional police forces have been deployed to the area to prevent any untoward happenings.