Bangalore: Miscreants Vandalise Catholic Church - Mob Protests
by Amarnath Dinesh Roy - Bangalore
Bangalore, Sep 10: Over 10 window glasses and two statues were destroyed at St. francis de Sales church in Hebbagudi on Hosur road, about 20 kms from Bangalore, on the night of september 09th. In incident came to light when Fr. Selvaraj, the assistant parish priest of the church woke up on 10th morning to turn off the compound lights.
He said "The vandals broke and toppled down the statues of John the disciple and another image of Mary" These statues were part of the Calvary scene. Youth at the venue who were found shouting slogans against the government and against the police pointed to a site where there were ahses. "The misreants must have attempted to set fire to portions of the church" they said.
Speaking to SAR NEWS Fr Selvaraj Assistant Parish Priest said” we did not have a watchman but a boy was staying in the watchman quarters. They had locked the room of that boy and had indulged in this vandalism. Though the church has a burglar siren, it functions only when the doors are broken and entered-in. They had only broken the window panes but had not entered inside the church”.
Fr.Selvaraj further added that “Since we have mass in the evening today, it was only when we came for a visit in the morning at about six we realized the damage.
Father Aloysius Parish Priest of St.Francis de sales church estimated the loss over two lakhs.
The Francis de sales Church belongs to Members of the Society of Francis de Sales (MSFS). The campus comprises a hospital, formation house, PUC and Degree colleges, besides the church. The School and college were closed. The students and parishioners from neighbouring parishes blocked the Hosur Highway and staged a protest demanding justice and a probe. Police assured them of immediate action and protection.
Father Francis C, Finance officer of the archdiocese and Father Adolf Washington, Public Relations Officer of the Archdiocese visited the spot to take stock of the damage and loss. They interacted with the Police officials and Local BJP MLA Narayanswamy. It may be recalled that this attack comes exactly after a year from the churches in Bangalore and Mangalore were attacked. Fr. Francis while pacifying the agitated crowds told media persons "We do not want to comment without knowing the fact of the matter. We will definitely want an inquiry into the reason behind this attack. None of us want any disruption of peace, be it the hindu, muslim or christian community"
The Archbishop who was away for the Karnataka Bishops Council Meeting was unable for comment. Answering queries from media persons, Fr. Adolf Washington, PRO of the archdiocese said "This is not a time to speculate and make blatant accusations against anybody. We have an incident of vandalism at hand and none of us are in the know of who could behind this. We can hardly suspect anyone given the fact that this church has always enjoyed a peaceful fellowship. We must allow the law to take its course. We have asked the police to register a case of vandalism and a case of disruption of communal harmony." It is our hope that the Government and the police machinery will take congnisance of this incident and bring the culprits to book." When asked if he saw any internal problem in the Church that sparked off this act of vandalism, he said "if this was an internal church conflict, no christian in his right senses would destroy a sacred image or cause physical destrution to the church". "There has to be an outside hand" he said.
Superintendent of Police Dr. Mahesh, Police Officer Shankarappa from Anekal Police Limits, area BJP MLA Narayanswamy and panchayat officials visited the spot to pacify the agitated crowd.