By Thomas Scaria
Bengaluru, Feb 16, 2022: The Catholic bishops in Karnataka say the demolition of the Jesus statue in a village is the latest example of growing attack on Christians in the southern Indian state.
Father Faustine Lobo, the spokesperson of the Karnataka Regional Catholic Bishops Council (KRCBC) bemoans that the statue in Kolar was demolished in a “very rude and painful way” and without a proper court order.
Kolar that comes under the archdiocese of Bangalore is some 65 km northeast of Bengaluru, the state capital.
Mulbagal taluk administration in the Kolar district of Karnataka demolished the 20-feet tall Jesus statue in Gokunte village on February 15, amid opposition from local Christians.
“The video of the demolition was widely circulated and the Christians are really alarmed and pained at such repeated acts by the pro-Hindu government machinery,” Father Lobo told Matters India February 16.
In Kolar, Tehsildar R Shobhita allowed the demolition claiming that the statue was built on government land which was reserved as an animal pasture field. She also claimed that she acted on a High Court order.
However, Christian leaders from the region allege that the statue was illegally demolished while the case was still pending in the court. The statue was erected in the village 18 years ago by the local St Francis Xavier’s Church. Around 90 percent of the village’s 500 odd people are Catholics.
“We demolished the statue based on the High Court order as it was constructed on government land. We had issued a notice to the church regarding the demolition,” the tehsildar claimed while talking to journalists.
However, local Catholics contested the tehsildar’s claim and said the matter was still pending in the High Court. Father Therese Babu, an advocate, said that the demolition letter was never shown to them despite repeated requests.
According to the villagers, a few activists of pro-Hindu organizations wanted to create tension in the region and filed a plea in the High Court. They also claim that the church possesses a letter of claim on the land.
The Bangalore archdiocese is yet to come out with a statement to condemn the incident. Kantharaj, its public relation officer, told Matters India that the archdiocese opted to wait for its court hearing February 16 before issuing any statements.
Kantharaj said the court had only asked for a status report about the history of the statue, not the compliance report after the demolition. “Local Panchayat and the police were aware of it, but the tehsildar was too hasty to please her masters,” said the first lay PRO of the Archdiocese.
“We don’t understand why the majority Hindus should be afraid of 1.87 percent Christians in the Country,” he said.
The village is just two kilometers away from the Andhra Pradesh border.
Father Lobo said a similar event took place in Mangaluru, a port town some 350 km west of Bengaluru, on February 5. A church there was demolished, alleging that it was built on government land. “There too, the matter was in the court and some people demolished it,” Father Lobo said.
Meanwhile, the United Christian Forum, an ecumenical group, revealed that Karnataka recorded the highest incidents of anti-Christian violence in southern India. It comes third in the number of violence against Christians after Uttar Pradesh in the north and Chhattisgarh in the center.
Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore who released the report said Karnataka was earlier known for its progressive politics for being the IT hub of the country, but “seem to have lost our humanity.”
The statue demolition took place as Karnataka is embroiled in a controversy over Muslim women wearing “hijab” in educational institutions.
It’s condemnable.
But, the number of persecuted Christians by their own leaders is not less, and that’s what I see in my 40 years of experience.
So, persecution by their own leaders should be stopped first to tackle persecution from outside.
Yes, the Bommai’s Government will be paying a heavy price for this wickedness.
It’s very unfortunate to see things happening around us. When one has no peace, he goes around destroying other people’s peace. Time will come and they will learn a bitter lesson. May the GOD who created every human and the entire world, forgive them and cover them with His unfanthomable mercy for they know not what they are doing.
What about all the temples built on govt land???
Fascism in Dravidian States is unthinkable. It must be opposed tooth and nail.
When church authorities do same thing as Government doing now, they are not at fault .My House and plantation demolished by Bishop when dispute was in courts not only that property was sold to third party saying no legal proceeding pending . Dispute is still in court for the last 31 years .Where is the difference in them and Government . Let them prove in courts
Unfortunate incident; but we should set an example by not occupying government land. On the other hand what about all the temples built on roadsides, in government offices and police stations? Thewy should all be demolished.
If the Church possesses documents to prove the ownership of the land, file a case and fight till end. Beware that we should not give a chance to our detractors to attempt to defeat or destroy us. We Christians will not argue for any illegal possession of property or land. But the law of the land must be applied equally to other communities too. They have to find out the thousands of encroachments of public land ,even roadsides where shrines are built and people gather. Will the JUST Sub Ka Vishwas government wake up ?
India is not the same as it was in the 60ts and 70ts when Hindus, Muslims, and Christians lived together in harmony and we used to eat and sleep in our friends place as we didn’t believe in caste. Today due to dirty politics all this is happening in our Country so I condemn attacks on any Religion.
The demolition of the Lord Jesus Christ statue will bring devastating effect on the govt leaders….
“Shame upon you” trouble makers in our beautiful land of India! My questions to you is why don’t you have peace & rest within yourselves? Why do you wage wars against your fellow citizens? Why are you destroying our great Indian heritage preserved by our Constitution & our great Leaders? Why don’t you try to understand the meaning of our National Anthem? Instead of creating riots within the country, use your energy to build and protect our beautiful India where I was born and raised up and sang patriotic songs on our Independence Day!
Further, let us keep in mind that it’s the Christians who brought the light of Education to India. They laboured hard to raise up India unselfishly. They brought up India intellectually, socially, monetarily, morally, economically, spiritually & in every walk of life! Let’s not forget their great congratulation to India!
Long live India!