Karnataka Attacks: Judicial Probe Ordered

 Karnataka Attacks: Judicial Probe Ordered
(ICNS)
In India’s Southern State of Karnataka, the Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday said the state will order a judicial probe into the attack on churches and prayer halls and the consequent violence in the state early this week. A retired high court judge will head the probe, said the chief minter after opening a development project in Ankola in Uttara Kannada district. The state government had decided on a COD probe on Thursday. However, the opposition had been insisting on a judicial probe into the incident. Christian groups, opposition parties and secularists have been demanding a judicial probe soon after the violence. On last Sunday and Monday Hindu radicals attacked some 14 churches and payer hall in three districts namely, Mangalore, Udupi and Chikamagalur, in the state. Chief Minister was among Hindu leaders who said the Christians conversion activities caused the attack. The BJP leader had then dismissed the demand for a judicial probe, making opposition parties say it was enough proof of state’s support for the fanatic violence. In the meantime, The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) September 18 criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government for its failure to contain the violence against Christians and churches in different parts of the state.NCM chairman Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, who visited areas where Christian prayer halls in various districts were attacked, told reporters here: "Had they (government) been cautious, the attacks could have been avoided. There have been lapses on the part of the government and it's not that the attacks suddenly erupted."