Report on anti-Christian massacres in Karnataka full of falsehoods, Bangalore bishop says
New Delhi (AsiaNews) – Catholics have reacted harshly to the report by the commission presided by Justice Somashekara that investigated the anti-Christian massacres of 2008 and 2009. On Saturday, Archbishop Bernard Moras told a press conference at Archbishop House in Paalanaa Bhavana, Bangalore, that the report could sow divisions and lead to persecution rather than the truth.
Mgr Moras, who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Council of Karnataka, called the document divisive because it refers to Christians as “The Others”, fails to go beyond generalities (even if it acknowledges that some attacks were deliberately planned, it does not identify the people and organisations behind them) or propaganda (since it alleges that conversions to Christianity were bought with foreign money, something that requires special laws to control Christian activities and places of worships as if they were dens of anti-social activity). In addition, the report “legitimises the position of the state” (which did nothing to stop or prevent violent and prolonged anti-Christian attacks) and advocates a “police state” (through the creation of a special police to deal with religious conflicts that, in a democracy, would undermine pluralism and diversity).
In concluding his statement, Mgr Moras, speaking on behalf of the Catholic Community, called on the state government to “hand over the inquiry to the CBI [. . .], to bring out the truth on Church attacks and violence on the innocent personnel of the churches,” identify “the culprits” and take “the necessary legal actions [. . .] against them”. He also called on the “State Government” to withdraw “all pending cases related to the church attacks levelled against the innocent individuals of the community” as well as provide “adequate and just compensations” for “the individuals and the institutions that were attacked and suffered a great loss”. Finally, he said the Church in the Indian state was committed “to maintain and further foster the tenets of secularism, pluralism and harmony with deep respect to all faiths, traditions and heritages”.
The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) also came out against the report. GCIC president Sajan K George sent a letter to Karnataka Governor Sr Hans Raj Bhardwai, urging him to reject the conclusions of the commission, and instead pursue it for “perjury and defamation” because of the biased findings that demonise Karnataka’s tiny Christian community.
For the GCIC, the commission, instead of investigating who was responsible for attacks against Christians, used the report to tinker with “constitutional rights guaranteed to Christians to preach, practice and profess their faith.”
The Council also appealed to the governor to order an inquiry into the reasons behind the continuing series of anti-Christian attacks by extremist groups like the Sangh Parivar. (NC)
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