Protest held against attacks on Christians

After many attacks on Christian communities in the last two months in various parts of the state, the JD(S)’s Religious Christian Minority Wing held a hunger strike to create awareness on the atrocities committed against the Christians. The strike saw over 300 supporters.

Narayan Rao, Bangalore City president of the JD(S), handing out a file detailing atrocities against the Christians—be it attacks on churches or members of the community—said the Christians are largely helpless when it comes to such attacks. “We want to create awareness on this issue, both among the citizens as well as the democratic heads of the state and nation. We will ask our MLAs to raise these issues in the Vidhana Soudha,” he said.

He alleged that the attacks were perpetrated by the Sangh Parivar and the BJP was blindly following their policies.

When asked if a protest such as this one would bear any results—considering that similar attacks in Mangalore had been largely forgotten—Solomon Raju, president of the JD(S)’s Christian Minority Wing, Bangalore City, said that with consistent protests such as this, more people would be aware of the situation and come together to demand action from the government. He also said that most of these attacks happened in rural areas, in churches with a few families.

According to the file he handed out at the Town Hall, where the protest was held, there have been at least eight cases of attacks against churches and the Christians in the last one month. In most cases, according to Rao, the police were hesitant to act.

Deve Gowda, MP, said he would raise the issue of attacks against the Christians in the Parliament.