Karnataka, four new anti-Christian attacks
by Nirmala Carvalho
Three occurred on December 28 in different areas of the state, the fourth in the evening of the 25. With these number of attacks in Karnataka in 2011 rises to 49. Sajan George, "The Hindu radicals violate the human dignity of the Christian population."
Mangalore (AsiaNews) - Four new attacks by Hindu fundamentalists have disrupted the Christmas season for Christians in Karnataka. Sajan K George, President of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), calls them "a shame and a blot on the secular and democratic India", because "even if the fundamentalists do not respect the holy period of Christmas, they are proof that government and authorities are complicit in the persecution against Christians. " The first occurred on December 25 last, while the other three all occurred on the 28 in different areas of Karnataka. The number of accidents in the State has thus risen to 49 in 2011.
On Christmas Eve, about 20 activists of a local group, the Jagaran Vedike, attacked a family gathered at dinner. The Hindus have attacked men, women and children with sticks and stones, injuring them seriously and threatening their lives. Many of them were later hospitalized for fractures of the limbs and nose. The minister's wife suffered a serious chest wound. The activists fled immediately after the violence, while the police made a report but did not initiate investigations on the attackers.
On December 28 there were three separate incidents. In Maripalla, in Mangalore district, Hindu extremists set fire to the village crib. Christians immediately condemned the fire to the Bantwal police, who arrested two Hindu radicals. The men defended themselves saying that the Christians during the Christmas celebrations practiced forced conversions.
In Mulky (Mangalore), about 20 Hindu extremists wearing masks stopped the prayer service of the Pentecostal Church of God of Hebron. Armed with stones and sticks, the attackers destroyed windows, rooms and vehicles parked outside the building. The pastor I.D. Sanna was at home with his wife Sarah, children Abhishek and Prerna and five other people, but they were not harmed.
In the district of Davanagere some activists of Sriram Sene (local Hindu nationalist movement) entered the house of a member of the Pentecostal Church Divyadarsana Ministry. There they physically beat Pastor Raju Doddamani and those present, accusing them of practicing forced conversions. Then, the attackers called the Vidyanagar police, which brought out the Christians for questioning.
"The worst thing - Sajan K George said - is that Hindu extremists have perpetrated these heinous human rights violations against Christians. Above all, they violated their dignity as human beings invading the privacy of their homes, attacking women and children, desecrating the sanctity of the family, with physical and verbal abuse. "
The president of the GCIC concludes: "By granting these Hindu extremists impunity, the persecution of religious minorities will become an ordinary event. The Indian Constitution provides that 'all people have equal right to freedom of conscience and to profess, practice and propagate their religion'. Yet the violence shows the status of second class citizens granted to the Christian population. "
On Christmas Eve, about 20 activists of a local group, the Jagaran Vedike, attacked a family gathered at dinner. The Hindus have attacked men, women and children with sticks and stones, injuring them seriously and threatening their lives. Many of them were later hospitalized for fractures of the limbs and nose. The minister's wife suffered a serious chest wound. The activists fled immediately after the violence, while the police made a report but did not initiate investigations on the attackers.
On December 28 there were three separate incidents. In Maripalla, in Mangalore district, Hindu extremists set fire to the village crib. Christians immediately condemned the fire to the Bantwal police, who arrested two Hindu radicals. The men defended themselves saying that the Christians during the Christmas celebrations practiced forced conversions.
In Mulky (Mangalore), about 20 Hindu extremists wearing masks stopped the prayer service of the Pentecostal Church of God of Hebron. Armed with stones and sticks, the attackers destroyed windows, rooms and vehicles parked outside the building. The pastor I.D. Sanna was at home with his wife Sarah, children Abhishek and Prerna and five other people, but they were not harmed.
In the district of Davanagere some activists of Sriram Sene (local Hindu nationalist movement) entered the house of a member of the Pentecostal Church Divyadarsana Ministry. There they physically beat Pastor Raju Doddamani and those present, accusing them of practicing forced conversions. Then, the attackers called the Vidyanagar police, which brought out the Christians for questioning.
"The worst thing - Sajan K George said - is that Hindu extremists have perpetrated these heinous human rights violations against Christians. Above all, they violated their dignity as human beings invading the privacy of their homes, attacking women and children, desecrating the sanctity of the family, with physical and verbal abuse. "
The president of the GCIC concludes: "By granting these Hindu extremists impunity, the persecution of religious minorities will become an ordinary event. The Indian Constitution provides that 'all people have equal right to freedom of conscience and to profess, practice and propagate their religion'. Yet the violence shows the status of second class citizens granted to the Christian population. "
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