MILITANT HINDUS ATTACK CHURCHES IN SOUTHERN KARNATAKA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENNAI 000315

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR KIRF IN
SUBJECT: MILITANT HINDUS ATTACK CHURCHES IN SOUTHERN KARNATAKA


1. Summary: Militant Hindu groups attacked three churches and six
prayer houses located in three southern districts of Karnataka on
September 14. The attacks took place between 10:15 and 10:30 as
Sunday morning services were in progress. According to Christian
groups three individuals including a two and half year old child
were critically injured, while twelve individuals suffered minor
injuries. Christians launched impromptu protests soon after the
attacks and continued protesting on September 15 disrupting traffic
and leading to police action. Aggressive proselytization by certain
Christian groups allegedly prompted attacks. However, human rights
groups blame the ruling Bharthiya Janata Party (BJP) for condoning
earlier attacks and thereby emboldening militant Hindu groups. The
Christian leadership hope international pressure will prevent
further attacks. The Consulate is investigating these incidents to
determine the underlying causes and whether the allegations being
made by various groups are correct. At this time, there is no
indication that the attacks are connected to the recent violence in
Orissa. End Summary

Churches and prayer houses attacked in south Karnataka
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2. (U) Activists of the Bajrang Dal, a militant Hindu organization,
on September 14 attacked three churches; six prayer halls and the
residences of recent converts to Christianity in the districts of
Mangalore, Chikmangalur, and Udupi in south Karnataka. The attacks
were carried out while Sunday services were in progress. According
to Sajan George, Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC),the
attacks left three persons critically injured, including a two and
half year old child, while fourteen others visited various hospitals
for treatment.


3. (SBU) Parishioners from the three districts spontaneously
launched largely peaceful protests consisting mainly of sit-downs at
major thoroughfares on two consecutive days. Protests in Mangalore
town disrupted traffic. In response, state police organized baton
charges and lobbed tear gas canisters. A.R. Infant, Additional
Director General of Police (Law and Order) told post that the
situation in the three districts was tense but under control.
Additional elements of the Karnataka special police were being
rushed into the area to prevent further outbreaks of violence.


4. (SBU) Christians continued protests on September 15 staging
sit-down protests at various points across Mangalore city. Police
again responded with tear gas and baton charges. Some protestors
took refuge in Churches. Lakshminarayan, Secretary to Karnataka
Chief Minister Yeddyurappa, who toured the affected districts, told
post that police entered churches to make arrests after church
authorities refused to cooperate. To attract international
attention Christian groups posted on the internet video clips of
police action inside Churches.

Aggressive proselytization blamed for attacks
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5. (U) Aggressive proselytization by the Good Life Church and Bible
Readers Church is blamed for the attacks. Murlidhara Kajane, a
correspondent at The Hindu, a respected English daily told post that
tracts distributed by these two churches contained disparaging
references to Hindu gods. He said that local Hindu militants used
these tracts to justify attacks while local police used the same
publications as evidence to register cases against church
authorities for "wounding religious sentiments."

Ruling BJP allegedly fosters indifferent policing
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6. (SBU) Human rights groups allege that indifferent police
responses to attacks organized by the Bajrang Dal on evangelical
Christian churches earlier this month spurred further attacks.
Manohar, of the South Indian Cell for Human Rights Education and
Monitoring (SICHREM),told Post that attacks on Christians did take
place in the three districts over the past two months. These
attacks were sporadic and focused on evangelical Christian groups
with none of the perpetrators apprehended. Possibly emboldened by
police inaction, the Bajrang Dal targeted a wide range of Christian
churches in the latest round of attacks. Manohar claimed that the
police in the southern districts had prior information of possible
attacks on Churches but were unable to act in the absence of orders
from the political executive. He provided no evidence to support
this assertion.


7. (SBU) SICHREM's Manohar told post that state Home Minister
Acharya, who hails from the area, began his career protesting
against the proselytization efforts of the local churches and was
unlikely to take on Hindu militants. R.V. Deshpande, a senior
Congress leader told post that a tough police response to earlier
attacks would have prevented further escalation. The BJP, he said,
relied heavily on the Bajrang Dal during elections and hence could
not act decisively. Karnataka Chief Minister Yeddyurappa in a

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statement to the local media condemned the attacks and promised to
bring perpetrators to book.

Christian leadership hope for international pressure
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8. (SBU) Comment: Faced with poor state response to attacks on their
community, Christian leaders in Karnataka now pin their hopes on
international pressure. Sajan George of GCIC said that his
organization in partnership with other Christian groups planned to
raise awareness in the large Indian American community of the plight
of Christians in Karnataka. He hopes their intervention would force
the state to afford greater protection to the community. Consulate
General Chennai is investigating these disturbing incidents further
and will continue to report as additional information becomes
available. End Comment.

SIMKIN