Indian prelate complains of State’s indifference on anti-Christian violence
(November 05, 2011) An angry protest to authorities in India’s Karnataka state, after
the vandalization of another Catholic church on November 2, has been made by Archbishop
Bernard Moras of Bangalore, on Friday. Archbishop Moras wrote to the state’s chief
minister, Sadananda Gowda, complaining that attacks on Christian churches have continued
unabated in the region since September 2008, when Hindu mobs attacked three dozen
churches in an orchestrated campaign. “The life of the Christians has become vulnerable
and people are living in constant fear of being attacks and reviled,” the archbishop
said. “There is a systematic campaign to malign our institutions and our good work.”
Anti-Christian violence has escalated in Karnataka since 2007, when the Hindu-nationalist
BJP party took control of the state government. Over 400 violent incidents involving
Christian victims have been recorded since that time.