ASIA/INDIA - Local Bishop tells Fides attacks on three Catholic Churches in Karnataka are “only a pretext”

Karwar (Agenzia Fides) – Three Catholic churches have been attacked by vandals in recent days in the state of Karnataka, in Southwestern India. Those responsible for the attacks are youth members of a Hindu extremist organization, the "Sri Ram Sena” (Lord Ram's Army). The attacks are supposedly a response to aggression suffered by some Indian students in Australia, where in recent weeks several students of Indian origin were victims of racially motivated incidents.
Two of the churches affected are located in the Diocese of Karwar. In an interview with Fides, the Bishop of Karwar, Bishop Derek Fernandez, explains: "The attacks are premeditated and are only a pretext. In the past several days, groups of young Hindu fundamentalists issued a memorandum calling for an end to attacks against Indian citizens in Australia, threatening retaliation against the Christian churches in India. The fact is duly verified. They are youth who are manipulated and indoctrinated by fundamentalists. They attacked our churches without reason."
The bishop continued: "We have requested the intervention of police and security authorities have guaranteed us protection and asked us to proceed with caution. But, obviously we cannot close the churches. I invited all the faithful to remain calm, not to respond to the provocations, and to pray. The faithful feel insecure and afraid. I am very worried. Many wonder when the next attack will be."
The confidence of the faithful in the authorities is quite low, the Prelate notes: "The state government of Karnataka, in the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is playing both sides: on the one hand, it says it wants to maintain order, security, and legality; on the other, it protects the Hindu fundamentalist groups (under various acronyms) that form the basis of their electorate. Christians suffer the consequences of this ambiguity."
On January 22, a group of young extremists tried to destroy the cross that is outside the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in the town of Bhatkal (Diocese of Karwar), but were stopped by the parishioners and the Cross was only damaged. Also in Bhatkal, the Lourdes Grotto at the Church of St. Anthony was hit by stones and damaged the night of January 24-25. The third church struck, also on January 25, is the Church of the Holy Family in Mysore, in the same diocese, where the statue of Our Lady was destroyed. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 27/01/2010)