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Days after a house committee of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on backward classes and minorities decided to order a survey of Christian missionary works in the state, the community opposed the move alleging that the order seems to “accuse it guilty of a serious crime”.
“Sporadic and insignificant incidents of conversion should not form the basis of maligning the entire community in a bad light. We serve a notice to you through this memorandum that the entire Christian community will not rest until the draconian order of the Backward Classes & Welfare Department order is withdrawn in total,” Reverend Peter Machado, President of the Karnataka Region Catholic Bishops’ Council said.
Further, in a letter addressed to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Machado demanded that such surveys should cover all communities and not just those following the Christian faith.
The reaction comes in response to the recent meeting of the House committee on October 13 chaired by BJP MLA Goolihatti Shekar. He had earlier raised the issue of religious conversions in the Assembly on September 21 and alleged that his 72-year-old mother had converted to Christianity in Chitradurga district.
“We want to find out the number of authorised and unauthorised people engaged in church work,” the MLA had said after the recent meeting.
Machado cited decades of services offered by educational and health institutions managed by Christian organisations to point out “not a single incident of forced conversion” was reported so far.
“Then, where is the complaint coming from and what is the motive behind such false and fabricated news?” the Bangalore Archbishop asked, seeking a response from the CM, days after the latter said the BJP-led government in Karnataka was “serious” about bringing in an anti-conversion law. “We are looking at similar laws in other states and will decide,” Bommai had said during a recent visit to the communally-polarised Mangaluru region.
Machado claimed no statistics issued by the government could prove any increase in the number of Christians since independence. “It (allegations of conversion) is all made out to suit the political agenda of some political parties,” he said.
The Bishops’ Council, meanwhile, issued a statement saying the Christian community would oppose the proposed anti-conversion bill “tooth and nail”. The Council noted, “If the bill is passed in the Assembly and translated into a law, we fear it will give way for large-scale uncontrolled communal conflagrations. Fringe elements and communal forces will be let loose and they will take law into their own hands. Moral policing will take precedence and will be the order of the day.”
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