From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Bangalore, Jan 28: Terming the final report of B K Somashekara Commission, which inquired into the series of attacks against churches and other places of Christian worship in September 2008, as ``very unfair,” the Bangalore Archdiocese has said the ``entire Christian Community is disappointed and felt the Commission has very badly let it down.”
The Vicar-General of Bangalore Archdiocese Fr S Jayanathan, in a statement, has taken sharp exception to the Commission’s failure to name the culprits responsible for the church attacks.
"Some incidents of attacks are true,” the Archdiocese said quoting the Commision and asked: ``If they were true, why the Commission has failed to name those who were responsible for these attacks?"
To say that the church attacks were "self inflicted, some make believe, some blown out of proportion and some totally policalised” is indeed very painful and has also hurt the sentiments of the Christian Community, Fr Jayanathan said.
"In spite of presenting video-clippings and the other supporting documents to the Commission to prove that our churches and institutions were attacked and vandalised and that the innocent persons were mercilessly beaten up by the miscreants and also by the police, it is disheartening to note that the commission has failed to bring them to book. Even now many of our innocent members of our community are still being harassed,” the statement said.
When our churches, institutions and innocent people were attacked, the Government had assured us that it would set up a Commission to bring to light those who were behind these attacks. But, Justice Somasekhara Commission has not done justice to the minority community by naming the culprits,” Fr Jayanathan said.
The highest bodies of the respective Christian churches in Karnataka and the Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Rights (KUCFHR) will study the final report of Justice Somasekhara Commission and would initiate the future course of action, he said.
He appealed to all our Christian brothers and sisters, and those who sympathise with the Christian minority to maintain peace and harmony and not to recourse to any violent reactions to protest against this unfair report.
BJP welcomes Commission report
Meanwhile, State unit BJP spokesman C T Ravi welcomed the commission report which he said had brought out the “truth.” The Opposition parties which had blamed BJP for the attacks should desist from such criticisms hereafter, he said.
The judicial panel said there are clear indications of conversions to Christianity in some districts of the State. It said that self-appointed pastors indulged in conversion by giving inducements and recommended some legislation to regulate them within the scope of the Article 25 of the constitution. The BJP urged the Government to frame the legislation to control such conversions, he demanded.
Ravi recalled the Governor’s statements issued during attack on churches and said the Governor should behave in a dignified way like Governors in neighboring states. The Andhra Pradesh Governor had not recommended the President’s rule in that state when several people were killed during the pro-Telengana agitation, he said.
He also took exception to Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara’s statement that the report was biased and said the statement was on the expected lines from the Congress leader.
The BJP leader said the report did not find any truth in allegations that top police officials and civil administration in the area where churches were vandalised had colluded with the attackers.