'Tension has gripped Mahima Betta near Devanahalli on the outskirts of north Bengaluru after a statue of Jesus Christ was removed by the local authorities following a complaint by some “Hindu organisations”. This comes over a month after a major controversy erupted in connection with the proposed installation of a Christ statue in Kapalabetta hillock, 30 km from Bengaluru.
'ight wing organisations will on January 13, Monday, take out a massive rally at Kanakapura in the Ramnagara district in Karnataka, in protests against the construction of a statue of Jesus Christ. Several news portals have reported that the rally is being organised by the Hindu Jagarana Vedike, an organisation whose leaders are known for making inflammatory speeches, and will see the participation of nearly 5,000 workers from the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
'After Hindu right-wing outfits decided to call for a rally demanding “proper identification” of people belonging to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) who have converted to Christianity in the tribal Dang district of Gujarat, the situation there has become tense. According to the Indian Express, the Rashtriya Janjati Sangh, a Hindu outfit, has called for a rally on December 16 in Dang with the primary demand that all tribal Christians must change their religion on their school’s leaving certificate (LC) from Hindu ST to Christian ST.
'More than three months after a 55-year-old Christian tribal was lynched in Jharkhand’s Jurmu village by a mob of Hindu villagers for carving an ox, the local Gumla district police’s chargesheet in the case has revealed new evidence pointing to police apathy. Testimonies of three Christian tribals injured in the attack reveal that the police ignored the victims of the mob attack for more than an hour-and-a-half as they lay on a street outside the police station, where the accused had allegedly dumped them after a four-hour assault.
'Adding one more incident to the long list of lynchings in Jharkhand, a 50-year old adivasi from Jurmu village of Gumla’s Dumri block was beaten to death on suspicion of cow slaughter by a mob allegedly belonging to the Sahu community of neighbouring Jairagi village on April 10, says a fact-finding team’s report. The deceased – Prakash Lakda – had gone there for skinning a dead ox along with three others – Peter Kerketta, Belarius Minj and Janerius Minj – who sustained injuries in the murderous assault, it said.
'Karnataka’s roster of incidents of intolerance is only growing. The latest headline on the subject has been the abuse of Kannada filmmaker and writer Chethana Tirthahalli. Tirthahalli filed a complaint against a man who threatened her with dire consequences after she endorsed beef consumption and questioned certain Hindu practices on social media, newspapers reported.
"Joseph Dias is an angry man. He has been one for a while now, possibly because upon his able shoulders lies the burden of making sure the Christian faith in India is safe from any form of attack. These attacks can come from anywhere, apparently. In August, 2012, for instance, they came in the form of a Hindi film called Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum which, according to the honourable Mr Dias and the organisation he represents – the Catholic Secular Forum – outraged the sentiments of the Christian community.
"The Mangalore church attacks of September 2008, for which the Bajrang Dal claimed responsibility, triggered a massive change within the usually apolitical Catholic community in the three districts of coastal Karnataka. That change was most visible in the assembly elections of May 2013. In a surprisingly bold political statement, the Catholic clergy used the pulpit to tell the devout: "Vote for a secular political party". Things didn't have to be spelled out.
"It is seven years since the worst carnage against the Christian community took place in Kandhamal in Odisha. I, along with some others, was there to attend the annual observance, this time in Raikia, of the anniversary organized by the Kandhamal Committee for Peace and Justice in the memory of those killed, injured in 2008 and for those whose lives have been forever marked by the trauma and terror of the communal conflagration that lasted for several months.
'Hazaribagh police on Tuesday detained 16 activists of the RSS-affiliated ABVP for minor vandalism outside two town-based Christian schools, forcing one of them to be closed for the day. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad was unhappy that Holy Cross and St. Xavier’s, CBSE-affiliated, were open despite an education bandh call by the organisation. The ABVP has been protesting the high fees at educational institutions across the state, something the BJP-led government of Raghubar Das has been trying to regulate.
