A new independent report on anti-Christian violence in the southwest
Indian state of Karnataka has charged that the violence was pre-planned
and backed by the state’s highest government authorities.
Justice Michael Saldanha conducted an independent Peoples’ Tribunal
Enquiry to investigate the violence.
He visited over 400 places and
examined almost 3,000 witnesses and victims in addition to forensic
evidence and media reports.
Hindu extremist groups led attacks on churches, schools and homes of
Christians and physically beat hundreds of people.
The report said that
the violence was covered up by the government of Karnataka, currently
run by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Karantaka’s chief minister and home minister allegedly encouraged the
criminals, while the forces of armed police, the state administration
and the lower judiciary were used against Christians and community
institutions.
The religious violence was targeted to have maximum impact and the
persecution has continued over the last three years.
The report also
blamed government inaction in the face of “an atmosphere of anarchy,”
the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India reports.
The report additionally examined the profiling and stereotyping of the Muslim community, which has also been subject to attacks.
The Christian Secular Forum had sought a new investigation of the
attacks.
The report was officially presented in Mumbai on Feb. 23 in the
presence of Archbishop of Bombay Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who is
president of India’s bishops’ conference.
Cardinal Gracias said Justice Saldanha’s report needed to be taken seriously.
“In the case of Karnataka, it seems apparent that a massive cover-up
exercise was underway and this did not augur well for India, which hopes
to take its rightful place at the top among developed nations. Thus,
Michael Saldanha had done a great service not just for the minorities,
but for the country,” commented the cardinal.
He criticized the official Justice B.K. Somasekhara Report, which was
launched by the ruling BJP government in the aftermath of the riots.
That report did not serve its purpose of identifying persons and
organizations responsible for the attacks on churches and Christians, he
argued.
The Saldanha Report is more than a Christian issue, he noted, because
it raises a national question about the credibility of judicial
commissions.
Joseph Dias, general secretary of the Christian Secular Forum, also
welcomed the new report for exposing the people and forces behind the
anti-Christian violence.
He charged that the earlier report exonerated
extremist backers of “Hindutva,” or “Hindu-ness.”
That report gave the
impression of legitimizing the attacks and “kind of justifies attacking
not only those so-called 'involved' but even those unrelated and hapless
onlookers caught in the cross-fire.”
The Catholic Church will present the new report to India’s federal
government to demand action against the Karnataka government, Fr.
Charles Irudayam told Fides news agency.
Dias called for the immediate dismissal and the incrimination of
Karnataka’s prime minister and interior minister for “having endorsed
violence and crimes against defenseless citizens.”
Dr. Abraham Mathai, who is the president of Indian Christian Voice
and vice-chairman of the Maharashtra Minorities Commission, also called
for a rejection of the Somasekhara Report.
He also warned of the “dangerous trend” of parts of the judiciary who
give the impression that charges of forced or suborned religious
conversions can be used as an alibi to attack Christians, even when
there is no evidence of unethical conversion.
The Karnataka government should consider Justice Saldanha’s report
the more credible one and act on it, Mathai commented.
He also called
for the withdrawal of false charges against over 300 Christians and for
adequate compensation to the victims of violence.
Fr. Irudayam, secretary of the Indian bishops’ conference Commission
for Justice, Peace and Development, said that the Catholic bishops and
faithful, all Christians and human rights organizations have protested
against “sectarianism” and the “lies and prejudices” contained in the
Somasekhara report.
“All Christians and honest people have rejected it without
hesitation,” he continued, noting the “overwhelming evidence” of Hindu
extremists’ responsibility for the violence.
Tens of thousands of Christians rallied on Feb. 21 against the
Somasekhara Report, calling it “distorted” and “anti-Christian.”
People
from 45 different denominations marched through the streets of
Mangalore, some with gags covering their mouths.
On Feb. 18 at St. Mark University of Bangalore protesters held a
silent fast which involved 18 bishops, including Archbishop Bernard
Moras of Bangalore, Vatican Radio reports.
The bishops, the Global
Council of Indian Christians and Christian leaders in Karnataka had
presented the state’s governor and the chief minister their own
counter-report on the attacks.