Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Sep 19: Terming the attacks on churches here as a national shame, ex-chief minister Veerappa Moily opined that the state government should have enforced provisions of Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act (KCOCA) against the attackers who launched pre-planned attacks on 20 churches at a time.

The attacks are a national shame. Such incidents should never have taken place, he stated. The KCOCA is still in force. The government failed to take advantage of this Act, he stressed.

The state government is heading towards constitutional crisis. Attempts are being made to suppress the minorities. BJP is not above the Constitution, he warned and said that he would urge the union government to take stern steps against the state government.

Alleging that the district police have acted arbitrarily and in a partisan manner, he said that the BJP national executive did not discuss the issue although the incidents that occurred here attracted the international attention. The government will collapse after the by-election. The people of the state are waiting to teach the BJP a fitting lesson, he predicted.

"I have visited the churches that came under attack. Police atrocities are evident everywhere. Innocent persons were arrested, he said and asked the Human Rights Commission to hold special court sessions in the city and punish the guilty," he said. He also urged the government not to grant permission for the convention of Vishwa Hindu Parishat and Bajrang Dal scheduled to be held on September 21.

Congress leaders B Ramanath Rai, Vasant Salian, B Sadanand Poonja, Suresh Ballal, Moidin Bava, Bondala Jagannath Shetty, Ivan D'Souza etc., were present at the press conference.

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