Karnataka: Christians attacked by Hindu extremists

(April 30, 2010) A gang of Hindu extremists attacked a group of Christian women and children on Wednesday night in southern India’s Karnataka state in what is seen as a sign of blatant intolerance against the minority Christian community by the state authorities. Sixteen women and children of Kawdoor village were returning at night from a peace festival in Udupi city, when they were attacked by some 20 Hindu extremists. While attacking and molesting them accompanied by abusive language, the assailants called in police who instead of stopping the attackers, jailed the women and children overnight. The Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) has alleged the gang as affiliated to the Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a rightwing Hindu extremist political movement. In a public statement, the GCIC strongly condemned the attack and slammed the collusion between extremists and police as an example of the progressive “talibanisation” of India. After the CGIC filed charges against a number of Hindu extremists, five of them were arrested.