Karnataka urged to drop ‘unjust’ prosecutions

(December 21, 2010) A Church delegation has asked the government of southern India’s Karnataka state to withdraw “unjust” prosecutions registered against Christians in the state. Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza of Mangalore on Sunday led the delegation to present a memorandum to state chief minister B.S. Yediurappa in the presence of L.K. Advani, former federal home minister and president of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, that has been ruling Karnataka since May 2008. That year, there were at least 24 attacks on Church institutions and Christians. The police registered a number of criminal cases against Christians when they protested against the attacks. Bishop D’Souza told Ucanews on Monday that former state home minister V.S. Acharya had promised to withdraw the cases when another Christian group met him in Bangalore, the state capital, a week earlier. Father Onil D’Souza, who coordinates diocesan proceedings on the attacks, said the memorandum noted that criminal cases against 199 Christians were registered. Cases against 22 persons were withdrawn. Father D’Souza said the chief minister assured the delegation to withdraw the cases, but asked them to wait until the government submits its report on the attack. Bishop D’Souza said the BJP leaders expressed surprise that Mangalore diocese alone manages more than 350 educational institutions.