18 Bishops in a Hunger Strike -- 56 Churches Destroyed, And Government Exonerates Perpetrators

(New Delhi) Thousands of Christians from Karnataka are protesting with demonstrations and hunger strikes against a government report.  Instead of reaffirming justice for the Christians, it vindicated both anti-Christian Hindu organizations who were behind the unrest in 2008.  At that time, 56 churches were burned or destroyed.  The president of the Global Council of Indian Christians greeted the report as "a bundle of lies that will  misinform and confuse people."  A counter-report was sent today to the Governor and the Prime Minister of Karnataka.

 18 Bishops [13 Catholic] participated in a silent hunger strike on the property of St. Mark-University of Bangalore, among them the Archbishop of Bangalore, Msgr Bernard Moras.  At the protest and the hunger strike the Bishops present, the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) and the Christians of Karnatakas have forged a counter-report with the title: "1000 Day Government, 236 Attacks, 1000 traumatized people".

The official report of the Somsekhar-Investigative Commission exonerated the radical Hindu organizations Bajrang Dal and Sangh Parivar.  The Bishops called a press conference to make note of this, that this exoneration is "politically motivated".  At the end of the report, where both Hindu organizations were exonerated, was a listing of the 56 churches destroyed by the perpetrators.  In 12 cases Bajrang Dal was named, in one case Sangh Parivar.  For that reason it was inconceivable, say the Christians, how the report came to its final ruling.

Te President of the GCIC, Sajan K. George, reiterated the complaint which the Christians have been making for two years:  "28 attacks, which took place between August and September 2008, were accomplished by Hindu extremists, in the first line of Bajrang Dal.  The Somakeshar-report made the exact opposite report after a year of published investigations, which named the leaders of the Hindu National Party and National Hindu Organizasions as responsible for the anti-Christian excesses of the police.  At that point the contacts between the radical organizations and the Hindu government party of Karnatakas were proven.

Sajan K. George portrayed the Somasekhar-report during the press conference, as the "exoneration of unjust violence of the police against women and children in the churches of Kulschekara and Vamanjoor."

(Asianews/Giuseppe Nardi, Bild: Asianews)

As the Guardian reports, they are also protesting that charges against 150 Christians who were injured in the attacks be dropped.