Tue, 09/02/2010 - 6:37am Justice Soaskhar commission resumes and party activists sought ban on Sangh Parivar

Bangalore
9th Feb-10
The Justice B K Somasekhara Commission of Inquiry resumed its hearing after submitting its interim report on church attacks, to the State Government.
Advocates Madhusudan Adiga, representing pro-Hindu organisations, and Prasad, appearing for Christian groups, entered into a heated argument over the issue of provocations for church attacks when the latter was cross-examining PSI Raghukumar. Adiga and another advocate Srinivas Reddy, representing the Home Department raised objections to Prasad’s cross-examination.
The advocates criticised Justice Somashekhar’s style of functioning. The chairman of the commission tried to bring order in the hall reminding the advocates that they were attending the court’s proceedings.
Prasad took objection to Adiga’s pronunciation of the word ‘pastor’ while referring to head of a Christian organisation. He continued with his pronunciation arguing that he was not well-versed in English as Prasad was. Vasanthkumar Bhavani, president of Srirama Sene’s Bangalore City wing, submitted an affidavit before the Commission objecting to the submission of the interim report without listening to activists of the group. He, in his affidavit, said, “So far none of the activists have been issued notices to appear before the Commission. But the organisation has been listed among the accused in the interim report. This is not acceptable. The Commission should withdraw the allegations made against Srirama Sene
‘Ban Hindutva organisations’
Madikeri: The president of the Kodagu District Committee, Veena Achaiah, has said the Government should impose a ban on “Hindutva organisations for creating ‘anarchy’ in the State, including attacks on churches”.

Sun, 07/02/2010 - 10:11pm Believer arrested in Puttur, Karnataka

Believer Harish 35 years was arrested just after returning from a friend’s house after prayer on 7th February at 4.30 pm.

The arrest was made on the basis of a false complaint of forceful conversion filed by Bajarang Dal leader Sekhar. Police from Kadaba Police arrested Harish. Believer Harish hails from Mardala Village in Puttur taluk . He has been charged under IPC 149, 295 and 295A. Harish was produced to the Puttur Magistrate's residence in the night and was sent to Mangalore Jail. The police also detained believer Harish's wife Lakshmi, 28 years and their 2 months old baby. The mother and child was released after 5 hours of interrogation.

Believer Harish is a member of New India Church of God., which is ministered by Pastor Sam T Varghese. The church is about 15 years old and has about 35 members.
Please pray for the believer

Sun, 07/02/2010 - 8:13am Kandhamal promises-Fed and state govts failed?

PM, CM have not delivered on Kandhamal promises'
Bhubaneswar, Feb 6

Church leaders today alleged that promises made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of providing adequate relief to those affected by the 2008 riots in Orissa's Kandhamal district had not been fulfilled.
"Both the prime minister and chief minister have not fulfilled their promises to the victims immediately after the riots and the people have been left to their fate," Cuttack- Bhubaneswar diocese Archbishop Raphael Cheenath told reporters here.
Demanding full compensation for re-building damaged houses, he said that the administration had arbitrarily fixed Rs 50,000 for fully destroyed ones even though the cost was much more.

"Altogether 5,347 houses were damaged and over 75 people were killed in the riots, but the government is not giving compensation to all the affected," he claimed.
The Archbishop also spoke of taking legal help to ensure that no riot victims would live through another summer and monsoon without shelter.
"I will have no hesitation in again approaching the Orissa High Court or the Supreme Court if the miseries of the people are not ameliorated."

Though the riot victims had filed 3,232 complaints in police stations in Kandhamal, only 832 cases were registered, while 89 persons were convicted and 251 acquitted due to lack of evidence, the Archbishop alleged.

Seeking transfer of district officials, Cheenath said "the chief minister must investigate the role of the district administration including the collector, block and tehsil officers and others".
"It is strange that officers in whose presence the violence took place and thousands of houses were burnt are still in office and are declaring that there is peace in the district."

Fri, 05/02/2010 - 11:14pm Attacks on Christians in India’s Karnataka Frequent, Furious

INTERNATIONAL
02/04/2010 09:59:55 PM
Attacks on Christians in India’s Karnataka Frequent, Furious
Southern state has become epicenter of religious assaults, Christians say.
By Vishal Arora
NEW DELHI, – Karnataka state recorded the highest number of anti-Christian attacks in India last year, and it is keeping pace this year.
Christians in Karnataka are being attacked “at rapid regularity” and “with near impunity,” and it is “a serious matter of concern for the Christian community,” said Dr. Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).
Much of the violence occurs under the vigilante pretext of rounding up Christians supposedly involved in “forcible” or “fraudulent” conversion efforts. On Monday (Feb. 1) in Thagadur village, Kodagu district, Hindu extremists dragged 11 Christians – including four women – from their homes and colluded with police to arrest them on such false charges.
The Global Council of Indian Christians reported that all of the Christians, members of the Beraka Gospel Church in Suntikupa village, were tortured at the Siddapur police station to pressure them to admit to the charges. Most of the jailed Christians are tribal, daily wage laborers who work on coffee plantations.
Police denied torturing the Christians, but like many people in India easily confused by Hindu extremist propaganda, Inspector Ratan Singh of the Siddapur police station seemed to erroneously believe that laws against fraudulent conversion apply to any kind of proclamation of faith.
“According to the complaint we received, the accused were inviting local Hindus for prayer meetings to convert them,” Singh told Compass, as if such activity were illegal in India. “We did not beat them. When they were produced before the judicial magistrate, they said they were not mistreated by the police.”
The GCIC recorded 72 attacks on Christians in Karnataka in 2009. That represents a decline from the 112 attacks the previous year, when three months of anti-Christian violence in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district in 2008 led Hindu extremists in Karnataka to lash out as well, according to Christian leaders.
Justice Michael F. Saldanha, a retired judge of the Karnataka High Court and president of the Catholic Association of South Kanara (a district in Karnataka also known as Dakshina Kannada), told Compass that attacks on Christians in the state increased after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began to rule.
In May 2008 the BJP came to power in Karnataka, thus making it the first southern state with a stand-alone BJP government in the history of India. The party’s rule was preceded by a 20-month rule in alliance with a local party, the Janata Dal (Secular).
Although Karnataka has had a dominant presence of the Hindu extremist Sangh Parivar since 1950, its cadres obtained free rein only after the BJP’s electoral victory, Saldanha explained.
“The real headquarters of the Sangh Parivar is not in Maharashtra [official headquarters of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, in Nagpur), it’s in Karnataka,” said Saldanha, who conducted a private inquiry into a series of attacks that rocked Karnataka in September 2008 following the unprecedented anti-Christian bloodbath in Orissa state’s Kandhamal district.
Between Aug. 17 and Sept. 21, 2008, more than 28 attacks on churches, led mainly by the Hindu extremist Bajrang Dal, a Sangh Parivar offshoot, were reported from various parts of Karnataka.
Saldanha pointed out that Brahmins, the highest or priestly class in the caste hierarchy in Hinduism, from Udupi district and Mangalore city in neighboring Dakshina Kannada district played a special role in leading the Hindu right-wing movement. The retired judge also accused the BJP government of supporting Sangh Parivar outfits with public money.
“The Karnataka government gives money to right-wing groups for festivals in the name of celebrations, and also through donations to certain temples,” he said.
Agreeing with Saldanha, the CBCI’s Joseph said the violence in Karnataka points to a “decline in civility and collapse of administration.”
“It is indeed sad that Karnataka, which enjoyed communal harmony and social amity for so long, has recently been pushed into the cycle of hate crimes perpetrated by the extreme elements in society that do not believe in mutual tolerance or acceptance,” Joseph said.
Karnataka Gov. H.R. Bhardwaj reportedly said earlier this week that protection of people’s lives and liberties, including the right to propagate their religion, was “the essence of Indian democracy.”

Thu, 04/02/2010 - 9:40pm European union team interacted with kandhamal Christians

BHUBANESWAR: An 11-member European Union (EU) team on Thursday (4th Feb)interacted with riot victims in Orissa's Kandhamal district to find about the situation in the region and heard their accounts, police and eyewitnesses said.

Several victims of the riots apprised the visiting team about the steps the state government has taken for their rehabilitation and the difficulties they are currently facing.

The team members, led by EU's counsellor (head of political affairs) Christophe Manet, visited several affected villages and rehabilitation camps and saw the restoration work carried out by government and private agencies. They also gave the victims a patient hearing.

An eyewitness said that tribals danced to the tune of their traditional music and welcomed the delegation at Nandagiri, a riot-hit village, showering flower petals on the delegates. He said that the team also visited a church nearby.

"The government kept us in relief camps... provided food... provided us land... and helped us to build our houses," a victim told the delegation.

Some people, including women, were in tears while narrating the hardships they went through and their plight in the aftermath of the violence to the team.

Sushama Digal, a woman standing along with over a dozen women at G. Udayagiri village, said: "We are still facing trouble. People are still threatening us."

The delegation will also meet local police and district officials and representatives of NGOs working in the region.

The team, which comprises members from Spain, Hungary, Poland, Ireland, Finland, Sweden and Britain, had earlier met top police officials, Christian leaders and social activists in Orissa capital before heading for Kandhamal.

"Events in Kandhamal had their impact in Europe. Our visit is a reflection of the concern," a member of the team told select mediapersons here.
Kandhamal, about 200 km from here, witnessed widespread violence after the murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four of his aides at his ashram Aug 23, 2008.
VHP and Bajrang Dal activists staged protests at the Biju Patnaik airport on Tuesday night when the EU team arrived here, saying the visit will only flare up the situation in Kandhamal. There was, however, no such protest in any part of Kandhamal

Thu, 04/02/2010 - 4:52pm Cross desecreated in Andhra Pradesh

Holy Cross mounted on Madiga Konda of Katrenipadu village of Musunur Mandal , Krishna district, was desecrated on 1st February.
Past 15 years, Christians were worshipping the 25 feet height Holy Cross. The Local elders obtained permission . Local government authorities had no objection to erect a renovated cross on the mountain on 23rd Jan-2010 .
More than 6000 pilgrims attended the cross dedication service on 26/01/2010 in the presence of the authorities and all media, but the cross was found demolished on 1st February.. The Christian community members (Gurindapalli Chittibabu Madiga ) are deeply hurt by the desecration of cross and consider this as an attack on Christian faith.
The villagers have Condemned the demolition of Holy Cross mounted on Madiga Konda of Katrenipadu village of Musunur Mandal , Krishnadist
A case is filed in Musunur Police Station wide FIR no 15/2010. Dated 02/02/2010